Download The Fall of Napoleon

The Fall of Napoleon
Fallout from Russia
• Battle of Leipzig
– Napoleon lost
• Opportunity to take
France
– By January 1814, the
allies were pushing
toward Paris
– Napoleon surrendered
and gave up his throne
• Exiled to the island of Elba
What’s happening in
France
• Louis XVIII
– Constitutional monarchy
• Charter of 1814:
–
–
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Freedom of religion
Bicameral legislature
Some freedom of the press
Equality for all men in the
country
– Financial problems
• Unpopular tax on tobacco,
wine, and salt
• Rioting in the countryside
The Hundred Days
• Napoleon decided to take advantage of French
problems
– He escaped from Elba 1 March 1815 and landed in France
– Where he was met with about a thousand volunteers to
take Paris
– He made it to Paris but Louis the XVIII was not worried
because he assumed his army could handle a 1,000 man
force
• Problem: When the king took the throne, he did not purge his
army of Napoleon supporters
• The French army had massive desertions and those men joined
Napoleon’s army
– Including the entirety of the garrison of Paris
– Louis XVIII fled after hearing this
• With the king out of the picture – Napoleon reclaimed control of
France as the emperor
– He would be in power for 100 days
The Battle of Waterloo
• Napoleon had gambled that the allies would divide their response to his return
– He believed that a quick victory would force them to negotiate, leaving him in charge
of France
– However, it was not that easy
• The allies marshaled their army and after giving over to the control of the Duke
of Wellington, he prepared for a battle at Waterloo in Belgium
– Napoleon attacked early but he had made a serious mistake attacking on the
battlefield the duke wanted
– Initially the Prussian force was not on the battlefield (probably by Napoleon decided
to attack) but the duke had known this would be a possibility
• Wellington had set up defenses and decoy attacks that allowed the British to defend the land,
not take any more
• Napoleon loses control of the battlefield
– Ex: he sent a contingent of 30,000 men after a British general who “fled”
• This defense bought enough time for the Prussians to get there at about 5:30 pm
– When they got there, the British and the Prussians combined forces and turned aggressively toward the
French
– The French fought on for two more days before they broke and fled
• Napoleon was captured after this loss and sent to St. Helena, an island in the
South Atlantic
– He did not escape again and died on the island while writing his memoirs
– Possibly died from stomach cancer
The Congress of Vienna
• The five “great powers” – Russia, Prussia, Austria,
Great Britain, and France had been making
decisions in secret from 1814-1815
– Most influential member - Prince Klemens von
Metternich of Austria
• Distrusted the democratic ideals of the French Revolution
and thought Napoleon was a natural evolution of the ideals
of democracy
– Three Goals of the Congress:
• Surround France with strong powers
• Balance of power
• Legitimacy
Surround France with Strong Powers
• Also called the containment of France
– Strengthened the countries of:
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Netherlands and Dutch Republic – controlled by Austria
Germany – controlled by Austria
Switzerland – independent nation
Sardinia in Italy
– They were charged with containing France and
keeping it from ever overpowering weaker nations
again
Balance of Power
• The Congress did not want to leave France
powerless, just reduce its power
– Punishing too severely could lead to revenge
– Breaking France up could make another country
stronger
– So they kept France as a world power but weakened it
• No country in Europe could easily overpower
another
Legitimacy
• Principle of Legitimacy – those who owned the
thrones before Napoleon should be restored
– This lead to the ruling families of Spain, France, and
several Italian states regaining their thrones
– Congress believed the return of these former monarchs
would stabilize political relations among the nations
• Also agreed to come to one another’s aid in case of
threats to peace
– Ensured there would be a balance of power on the
continent
– This peace would last about 40 years (quite a record if you
think about world history)
Changes beyond Vienna
• Conservative Europe:
– Kings and princes resumed power in almost every
country
• They were nervous about the ideals of the French
Revolution that were still floating around
• Holy Alliance
– Russia, Prussia, and Austria pledged to base their relations with
other nations on Christian principles in order to combat the forces
of Revolution
» What do we know the French Revolution did with religion when
it finally got rolling?
• Concert of Europe
– Series of alliances designed by Metternich that ensured nations
would help each other if revolutions broke out
Changes beyond Vienna
• Revolution in Latin America
– With Napoleon’s deposing of the Spanish king, liberal
Creoles (in control of many colonies)
– When the Spanish king was restored, royalist
peninulares attempted to take back control of the
colonies
– This lead to fighting as the king of Spain attempted to
regain control of the colonies
• This lead to a rebellion in Mexico who successfully defeated
the Spanish
• Other Spanish colonies follow suit
• Brazil declares independence from Portugal
Changes beyond Vienna
• Long-term legacy
– By diminishing the power of France, the power of
Britain and Prussia increased
– Nationalism began to spread in areas that had been
put under foreign control
• Like Germany, Italy, and Greece
• This would explode into revolutions and lead to the creation
of new nations