Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Critically examine the following statement in about 150 words: Napoleon’s continental system may be reckoned as the greatest blunder and may be described as a “monument of misdirected energy”.

  • UPSC 2021
  • Origins of Modern Politics

The Continental System, Napoleon's grand scheme to ruin Britain economically after the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) closed off any direct naval challenge, is widely judged his most serious strategic error — a verdict the evidence largely sustains.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • The Original Logic and Its Instruments
  • How the System Misdirected Napoleon's Energy
  • The Self-Defeating Economic Effects
  • A Qualified Defence

Unlock this answer and 1,350+ more

  • 1,350+ solved UPSC History Optional PYQs from 1985 to 2025, Paper-1 and Paper-2
  • Topic-wise across Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Post-Independence and World History
  • Model answers with a clear structure and historian citations
  • Map section solutions included, at no extra cost
  • Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download

₹1,499₹2,50040% off

Get History Optional PYQ Master Pack @ ₹1,499 →

One-time payment · No subscription · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay

See every Origins of Modern Politics question (91 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in