Download Western Civilization II HIS-102

Western Civilization II
HIS-102
Unit 5 - The French Revolution and Napoleon
Introduction
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The ancien régime
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Aristocrats resented monarchical inroads on freedom
Middle class resented a society of privilege that was outmoded
Peasants resented the increasing demands of the central
government
Breakdown of the Revolution
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Moderate stage: 1789–1792
Radical stage: 1792–1794
The Directory: 1794–1799
Napoleon: 1799–1815
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The Three
Estates
Causes of the Revolution
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Social causes are based on the archaic estate system
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Power was in the hands of the first two estates
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First Estate (premier état) - The Church
Second Estate (deuxieme état) - The Nobility
Third Estate (tiers état) – Everybody else
Made up only around 5% of the population
Controlled most of the wealth and political power
Third Estate paid most of the taxes
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Did not enjoy any political power even though its wealth and
numbers were growing
New elite blurring the boundaries between aristocracy and
middle class
Causes of the Revolution
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Social boundaries between noble and non-noble illdefined
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50,000 new nobles created between 1700 and 1789
Nobility of the sword (ancient)—nobility of the robe
(purchased office)
From bourgeois wealth to noble wealth
Most noble wealth was proprietary—tied to land
Influx of new wealth from banking, shipping, slave trade, and
mining
Identified with the nobility, not the common people
Prosperous members of the Third Estate aired their
frustrations in public debate
Causes of the Revolution
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The articulation of discontent
Locke, Voltaire, and Montesquieu appeal to discontented
nobles and middle class
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Noble leaders as defenders of national political community
threatened by the king and his ministers
Economic reform and the physiocrats
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Simplify tax system
Free the economy from mercantilist restrictions
Government should lift controls on price of grain
Causes of the Revolution
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French economy was ailing
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General price rise created hardship for the peasantry and
urban workers
Poor harvests of the 1780s
In 1789, 80% of income of the poor went to purchase bread
Reduced demand for manufactured goods, increasing
unemployment
Finances
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Inefficient tax system
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Based on tax farming
Taxation tied to social status and varied from region to region
Paying off the debts of Louis XIV through Louis XVI
Causes of the Revolution
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Administration
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Louis XVI was anxious to serve as an enlightened monarch
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Turgot and Necker as finance ministers
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His efforts at reform undermined his own authority
Attempted to fix problems but both failed
Marie Antoinette and the dispensation of patronage among her
friends
Tensions between the central governments and the provincial
parlements slowed reform
Parlements defend nobility’s exemption from paying taxes to
pay for the Seven Years’ War
Causes of the Revolution
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The peasantry
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Owed obligations to landlord, church, and state
Direct and indirect taxation a heavy burden
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Included the gabelle, a salt tax
The corvée
General conclusions on the eve of the Revolution
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Louis XVI was a weak monarch
Chaotic financial situation
Severe social tensions
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Louis XVI
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(1774-1792)
Destruction of the Old Regime
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Moderate stage, June 1789–August 1792
Fiscal crisis
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Calonne and Brienne proposed new taxes, a stamp duty, and
direct tax on agricultural produce
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Louis summons the Assembly of Notables
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Parlements refused to pass such measures
Last called in 1626
Hoped that if the Assembly approved new taxes, the Parlements would
Aristocrats used the financial emergency to extract
constitutional reforms
Insisted that any new tax scheme be approved by the EstatesGeneral
Destruction of the Old Regime
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In August 1788, the financial crisis had worsened
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Louis summons the Estates-General
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First time since 1614
The three estates elected delegates
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On August 8, he announced that the Estates General would
meet in May 1789
On August 16, the government stops repaying loans
Delegates draw up the cahiers et doléances, a list of grievances
Delegates of the Third Estate represented the outlook of
the elite
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25 percent lawyers, 43 percent government officials
Strong sense of common grievance and common purpose
Destruction of the Old Regime
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There were numerous areas of disagreement
Should the estates vote by estate or by individual?
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Parlement of Paris stated that each of the estates would have
only one vote each
Third Estate believed delegates should sit together and vote as
individuals
Abbé Sieyès, What is the Third Estate? (1789)
Third Estate also demanded double representation
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Wanted to have as many delegates as the First and Second
Estates combined
“Doubling the Third”
Louis opposed, then changed his position (December 1788)
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Meeting of the Estates General (May 5, 1789)
The Estates General
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The delegates for the Estates General met at Versailles on
May 2, 1789
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First two estates were greeted by Louis in the Hall of Mirrors
Third Estate was forced to wait until four hours later to meet
the king in a different part of the palace
The Estates General opened on May 5
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The three estates were to be seated in different chambers
The Third Estate refused to be segregated
Requested that all three estates sit in the same chamber
King announced that the voting would be by estate with each
having one vote
Third Estate refused to pass any measures
The Estates General
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On May 28th, the Third Estate began meeting on its own
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Abbé Sieyès also told the Commons that they should
invite members of the other two estates to join them
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They now called themselves the Communes (“Commons”)
They were hoping to attract the parish priests as many of them
were poor
A number of clergy did join them
Commons wanted to create a new legislative body
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This was because more than one estate was in attendance
Sieyès stated that this body represented 98% of the country
It should start work immediately on the restoration of France
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Abbé EmmanuelJoseph Sieyès
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(1748-1836)
The National Assembly
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Creation of the National Assembly
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Assembly continued to invited members of the other two
estates to join
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Created by vote on June 17, 1789
Passed a measure stating that all taxes could not be collected
unless passed by the National Assembly
By June 19, 1789, over 100 clergy and nobility had joined
Louis planned a séance royale (Royal Session)
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The purpose was to try to get the three estates back on track
The location was to be in the Salle des États, the meeting place
of the Assembly
When the National Assembly showed up to the Salle des États
on June 20, 1789, they found the doors locked
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The Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789)
The National Assembly
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The Assembly moved to a nearby indoor tennis court
Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789)
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The members in attendance gave the following oath:
“We swear never to separate ourselves from the National
Assembly, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require,
until the constitution of the realm is drawn up and fixed upon
solid foundations.”
It was passed 576-1 by the members
This was a key action by the National Assembly
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They were going to put together a constitution with or
without the king
The Assembly had true power of the country as it represented
the people
The National Assembly
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On June 22, 1789, the Assembly found itself locked out of
the tennis court
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Louis recalled over 18,000 soldiers to Versailles
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The group went on to meet in the church of St. Louis
He would use them disband the Assembly by force if necessary
By June 24, most of the clergy had joined the Assembly
along with 48 nobility
On June 27, Louis ordered all the delegates to join the
Assembly
On July 9, the Assembly renamed itself the National
Constituent Assembly
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Riots and looting
in France
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(March-May 1789)
Revolution From Below
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The first stages of the French Revolution
Popular revolts
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Public attention to the events in Paris was high
Price of bread soared
Rumors circulated that Louis was about to stage a coup d’état
Parisian workers (sans-culottes) organized a militia of
volunteers
Fall of the Bastille (July 14, 1789)
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Bastille as symbol of royal authority
Its fall as symbol of the people’s role in revolutionary change
Revolution From Below
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The Great Fear
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Rumors that the king’s armies were on their way
Peasants attacked and burned manor houses
Destroyed manor records
The October Days
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Brought on by economic crisis
Demanded Louis return to Paris
Parisian women marched to Versailles (October 5) and
demanded to be heard
The National Guard led Louis back to Paris
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Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789)
Liberal Revolution
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On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly abolished all
forms of privilege
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Church tithe, the corvée, hunting privileges, tax exemptions, and
monopolies
Obliterated the remnants of feudalism
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
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Written in August, issued in September
Declared natural rights
Private property
“Liberty, security, and resistance to oppression”
Declared freedom of speech, religious toleration, and liberty of
the press to be inviolable
Equality before the law
Liberal Revolution
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Man and citizen
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“Passive citizen” was guaranteed rights under law
“Active citizens” paid taxes, could vote and hold office
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Represented about half of all male citizens
They could only vote for “electors”
Women and the Revolution
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Olympe de Gouges - Declaration of the Rights of Women and
Citizen (1791)
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Women have the same rights as men
Mary Wollstonecraft - A Vindication of the Rights of Women
(1792)
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Called for greater equality between the sexes
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Illustration of the monks and nuns celebrating the end of
ecclesiastical orders (February 16, 1790)
Liberal Revolution
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Religion and the Revolution
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The most divisive issue
National Assembly confiscated church property
(November 1789)
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Used this property as collateral for the issue of assignats
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Revolutionary currency used to help pay off country’s debt
Other religious changes:
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End to all ecclesiastical orders and monastic vows (February
13, 1790)
State control of all remaining church property (April 19, 1790)
Liberal Revolution
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Next was the reorganization of the church
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The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (July 1791)
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Bishops and clergy subject to the laws of the state
Salaries to be paid from public treasury
There was much opposition to it from the clergy
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This included putting control of the church in the hands of the
state
Many were upset at the church being subordinate to the state
Others believed it reduced the spiritual authority of the pope
Church reforms polarized France
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Many resented the privileged position of the church
Parish church an institution of great local importance
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French sans-culotte
Radical Revolution
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The Radical Revolution, August 1792–July 1794
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From moderate leaders to radical republicans
Why did the Revolution become radical?
The politicization of the common people, especially in
cities
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Newspapers
Political clubs
Greater political awareness heightened by fluctuations in prices
Demands for cheaper bread
Demands for government to do something about inflation
Radical Revolution
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Lack of effective national leadership
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Louis XVI remained a weak and vacillating monarch
Forced to accept the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Louis urged on by Marie Antoinette, sister of Leopold II of
Austria
On June 20, 1791, the royal family attempted to flee the
country (“the Flight to Varennes”)
Louis now a “prisoner” of the Revolution
War
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All Europeans took a side in the conflict
Political societies formed outside France proclaimed their
allegiance to the Revolution
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Edmund Burke
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(1729-1797)
The Counter Revolution
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The emigrés stirred up counterrevolutionary sentiment
Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
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Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
Attacked the revolution as a crime against the social order
The French had turned their back on history
Men and women had no natural rights
Aroused sympathy for the counterrevolutionary cause
Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
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The Rights of Man (1791–92)
Written in response to Burke’s Reflections
Political liberalism
The Counter Revolution
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Outside France
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National Assembly expected the war to bolster public
opinion behind the Revolution
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Austria and Prussia declared support for French monarchy
(August 1791)
On April 20, 1792, the National Assembly declared war on
Austria and Prussia
Radicals hoped the war would expose “traitors”
In August 1792, Austria and Prussia close to capturing
Paris
On August 10, 1792, Parisians attacked the king’s palace
The National Convention
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The Jacobins
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Held the majority in the Convention
More egalitarian leaders of the Third Estate
Membership extended throughout France
Jacobins proclaimed themselves the voice of the people and
the nation
The September Massacres (September 1792)
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Patriotic Paris mobs convened revolutionary tribunal to try
traitors
Over a thousand killed in one week
The estimated number of assassins involved was 150-200
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Trial of Louis XVI
End of the Monarchy
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Declaration of a Republic (September 22, 1792)
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What to do with the king?
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Convention was to declare a republic and an end to the
monarchy
This day would later become the first day of Year I
Mountain wanted him executed for crimes against the nation
Girondins wanted to spare the king
Smoking gun
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On November 20, 1792, a locked box was found inside the
palace at the Tuileries
It contained Louis’ correspondence with Austria
This proved Louis was guilty of treason
End of the Monarchy
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Trial of Louis XVI (December 11, 1792-January 15, 1793)
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Louis was charged with “having committed a multitude of
crimes in order to establish your tyranny by destroying its
liberty”
Convention voted 693-0 that Louis was guilty of all charges
By a majority of 74, it voted him to be executed for his crimes
Execution (January 21, 1793)
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Louis was executed in the place de la Concorde by guillotine
Over 20,000 people watched the execution take place
Louis’ last words were “I die innocent of all the crimes of
which I have been charged. I pardon those who have brought
about my death and I pray that the blood you are about to
shed may never be required of France”
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Execution of Louis XVI (January 21, 1793)
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“Matter for reflection
for the Crowned
Jugglers of Europe”
Domestic Reforms
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National Convention put through key domestic reforms
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Abolition of slavery in French colonies
Repeal of primogeniture
Confiscated property of enemies of the Revolution
Set maximum prices for grain (loi du maximum)
The revolutionary calendar
Small armies of sans-culottes attacked hoarders and
profiteers
The Convention also had to put through key military
reforms
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By February 1793, France was at war with Britain, Netherlands,
Spain, and Austria
Domestic Reforms
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Levée (February 24, 1793)
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Committee of Public Safety (CPS)
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Convention put through its first draft
It called for 300,000 men for its army
Set up by the Convention on April 6, 1793
Its purpose was defend the country from both domestic and
foreign enemies through the use of terror
The war continued to worsen for the French
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French forces were pushed out of the Austrian Netherlands
Spanish forces crossed over the Pyrenees and Sardinian troops
crossed the Alps into France
The British also installed a naval blockade of France
Domestic Reforms
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Levée en Masse (August 23, 1793)
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All able-bodied men in France between the ages of 18-25 were
to prepare for war
It also mobilized the French people to help with the war effort
By September 1794, the Republican Army had over 1.1
million soldiers
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This was the largest army seen in Europe to date
This army was then able to turn the war to the advantage of
the French
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Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
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New radical leaders
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Helped to shift the Revolution into more dangerous territory
Jean-Paul Marat (1743–1793)
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Did not admire Great Britain
Opposed moderates
Edited The Friend of the People
On July 13, 1793, he was assassinated by Girondin Charlotte
Corday
She claimed she “killed one man to save 100,000”
This event sparked anti-Girondist attacks throughout Paris
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“Death of Marat”
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Jacques-Louis David
(1793)
Reign of Terror
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Georges-Jacques Danton (1759–1794)
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Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794)
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Popular political leader
Member of the CPS
Wearied of the Terror
Trained as a lawyer
Became president of the National Convention
Member of the CPS
Enlarged the Terror
Things seemed to fall apart both from outside and within
France
Reign of Terror
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On September 5, 1793, CPS declared “terror is the order
of the day”
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Announced by the Committee
Would be willing to use whatever means necessary to end the
counter-revolutionary movement inside France
This starts the “Reign of Terror”
From this point on, the Committee is the one running the
country
One of the first executed was Marie Antoinette
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She was brought to trial on October 14, 1793
The “Widow Capet” was found guilty the next day
She was executed by the guillotine on October 16, 1793
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Execution of Marie Antoinette (October 16, 1793)
Reign of Terror
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Over the next few months, thousands were arrested and
executed at the guillotine
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By the end of the Terror, over 100,000 were “officially”
arrested
Modern estimates are around 300,000
Over 16,000 were executed “officially”
3,000 in Paris alone
Many historians believe that the actual death total was as high
as 40,000-50,000
The areas hit hardest were those where the counterrevolution was located
Reign of Terror
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At the beginning, the executions were many held in the
cities
In Lyons alone, almost 2,000 were killed
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At one point, the Committee’s agent in the city believe the
executions were not going fast enough so he ordered
executions by cannon as well
By 1794, the Terror moved into the provinces
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There were no class boundaries: 6% of those executed were
clergy, 8% nobility, 15% middle class, and 70% peasants and
working class
The peasants were mainly accused of hoarding bread and
avoiding the draft
Reign of Terror
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In the city of Nantes, those found guilty were placed in
barges in the middle of the Loire River
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In the middle of the night, men would punch open trapdoors in
the boats causing them to sink
Over 2,000 died this way with another 3,000 dying of disease
in overcrowded prisons
In Bordeaux, some of the worst atrocities took place
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One woman was forced to sit under the blade of a guillotine
with blood dripping on her for hours before she was executed
just because she cried over her husband’s death
Reign of Terror
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The executions took on a festival atmosphere
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Tens of thousands would witness them with cries of “á la
guillotine!”
Executions became known as the “red mass” with the
guillotine as the “altar”
Bets would be taken on the order of who would be executed
first
Many lived in fear of being brought up on charges
Others became sick of all the death
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Madame Roland said “The time as come which was foretold
when the people would ask for bread and be given corpses”
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Fashion of the French Revolution
Culture of the Revolution
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Revolution had impact on all aspects of life
Fashion was guided strongly by those in power
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Prior to the Revolution, fashioned was focused on the elite and
privileged
During the radical revolution, fashion mimicked the clothing of
the sans-culottes
People would wear the Red Cap of Liberty
Hairstyles changed
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Instead of long powdered hair, encouraged short hair
Short hair “is the only one which is suited to republicans: being
simple, economical and requiring little time, it is care-free and
so assures the independence of a person; it bears witness to a
mind given to reflection, courageous enough to defy fashion.”
Culture of the Revolution
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Everything associated with the ancien regime was to be
destroyed and a new civilization built on top of it
How you addressed a person was changed
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No longer would a person be addressed as monsieur or
madame
Now they were to be addressed as Citizen
In the arts, there were no longer to be any religious
images
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Artwork now focused on more patriotic images
This included personifying ideas such as virtue, republic, liberty
It also included images of battle and heroism, with people dying
to save the Republic
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Revolution playing cards with the king and queen replaced
with the elements “La Terre” and “L’Air”
Revolutionary Calendar
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Revolutionary Calendar
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The purpose was to rid France of every aspect of Christianity
including the Gregorian calendar
It was adopted on October 5, 1793
There would still be twelve months
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Months had new names based on nature
They were all 30 days long
Weeks (décades) were divided up into ten day slots instead of
seven
The days were also renamed as well: primidi (first day), duodi
(second day), tridi (third day), etc.
The new year would start on the Autumnal Equinox
Revolutionary Calendar

Remaining five days would be holidays
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In leap years, an extra day known as “Fraciade” was put in
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Be a celebration of a Revolution four years in the making
Not everyone was enamored with the new calendar
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They were to be known as the sans-culottides
Devoted to festivals representing the Revolutionary ideals
Many peasants and workers were upset
Others did not like the removal of Sundays and saints’ days
The British enjoyed making fun of the new calendar
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They translated the months as “Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy;
Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery;
Wheaty, Heaty and Sweety”
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Summer
Vendémiaire
(“grape harvest”)
September 22
Nivôse
(“snowy”)
December 21
Germinal
(“seeding”)
March 21
Messidor
(“harvest”)
June 19
Brumaire
(“foggy”)
October 22
Pluviôse
(“rainy”)
January 20
Floréal
(“flowering”)
April 20
Thermidor
(“summer heat”)
July 19
Frimaire
(“frosty”)
November 21
Ventôse (“windy”)
February 19
Prairial
(“pasture”)
May 20
Fructidor
(“fruitful”)
August 18
Dechristianization
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Dechristianization of France
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All of these efforts were part of a greater effort to
dechristianize France
This had been going on since the passage of the Civil
Constitution of the Clergy
During the Reign of Terror, there were even greater
moves to rid the country of Christianity
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Many pushed for a culte de la Raison (Cult of Reason)
Demonstrations broke out to bring an end to Christianity
Notre Dame cathedral was rechristened the Temple of Reason
Convention outlawed Catholic mass on November 24, 1793
In its place, the Cult of Reason was considered the “official”
religion
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Thermidor
End of the Terror
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The Ninth of Thermidor (July 27, 1794)
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Robespierre kicked out of the Convention
Guillotined the following day (along with twenty-one other
“conspirators”)
After Thermidor
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Jacobins driven into hiding
Law of maximum prices repealed
National Convention adopted new conservative constitution
(1795)
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Suffrage for all adult males who could read and write
Indirect elections
Citizens voted for electors, who chose the legislative body
Wealthy citizens held authority
The Directory
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The Directory
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Five men chosen by the legislative body
Could not stabilize the government
Faced discontent on the radical left and conservative right
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On the left
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On the right
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Stopped radical movements to abolish private property
Gracchus Babeuf
Elections in March 1797 returned a large number of constitutional
monarchists
Could not control developments
Called Napoleon Bonaparte to their assistance
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Napoléon Bonaparte
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(1769-1821)
Napoleon
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Napoleone di Buonaparte (1769-1821)
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Recaptured Toulon from the British (1793)
Made brigadier general at age twenty-four
Delivered the “whiff of grapeshot” that saved the Convention
(1795)
Victories in the Italian campaign
Attempted to defeat Britain by attacking British forces in Egypt
and the Near East
French fleet defeated by Nelson at Abukir Bay (1798)
Napoleon declared a “temporary consul” (18 Brumaire,
November 9, 1799)
Napoleon
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The Haitian Revolution
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Led by Toussaint-Louverture (c. 1743–1803)
Victorious over French planters, the British, and the Spanish
Set up a constitution (1801)
Slavery abolished
In January 1802, Napoleon sends twenty thousand troops
to bring the island under control
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Toussaint captured and brought to France (died in 1803)
The war became a French nightmare, the army collapsed
(December 1803)
Haiti declared its independence (1804)
Napoleon
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Did Napoleon consolidate or repudiate the Revolution?
Consolidating authority, 1799–1804
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Napoleon rose from obscurity to become the savior of France
Was able to master his plans in every detail
Assumed title of First Consul and governed in the name of the
Republic (1799)
New constitution
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Universal male suffrage
Two legislative bodies
The plebiscite—put questions directly to popular vote
Bypassed politicians and legislative bodies
Napoleon and Imperial France
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Asked the legislature to proclaim him consul for life
(1802)
The reorganization of the state
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Abolition of privileges
“Careers open to talent”
Generally fair system of taxation
Halted the inflationary spiral
Replaced local elected officials with centrally appointed
prefects and subprefects
Napoleon and Imperial France
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The Napoleonic Code (1804)
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Rationalized the educational system
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Uniformity and individualism
Abolition of all feudal privileges
Paternal authority and the subordination of women and
children
Equality before the law
Outlawed arbitrary arrest and imprisonment
Established lycées (high schools) to train civil servants
Brought military and technical schools under state control
Founded a national university to supervise the entire system
Benefited the new elites (businessmen, bankers, and
merchants)
Napoleon and Imperial France
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Made allies without regard to their political past or
affiliations
Readmitted the émigrés
The Concordat of 1801
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Ended hostility between France and the church
Pope had the right to depose bishops and discipline the clergy
Church lands expropriated by the Revolution would not return
to the church
Married the ambitious Josephine de Beauharnais
Napoleon crowns at Notre Dame (December 1801)
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Napoleon’s Coronation
Napoleonic Empire
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Collapse of the First Coalition (1795)
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Was renewed again in 1798
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Both Austria and Prussia signed peace agreements after
continued French successes
This was after Napoleon’s failed attempt to take Egypt
Included Austria, Prussia, Britain, and Russia
Russia and Austria withdrew (1801)
The new empire
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Series of small republics from Austria’s empire and old German
kingdoms
France’s revolutionary “gift” of independence to all European
patriots
Military buffers and system of client states
The Confederation of the Rhine
Napoleonic Empire
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Napoleon introduced his reforms throughout the new
empire
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Eliminated manorial and church courts
Careers open to talent
Equality before the law
Created a vast bureaucratic networks
All government emanated from Paris and Napoleon
The new empire as a mixed blessing
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In some areas of Europe, Napoleon was regarded as the great
liberator
In other areas, the local lord and priest had been replaced by
the French tax collector
Napoleonic Empire
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The Continental System
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Blockade of British goods from the continent (1806)
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Napoleon’s first serious mistake
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As Britain was the only enemy left, he wanted to hurt it economically
Forced all of his allies to join
British developed trade with South America
Europe divided into economic camps
Napoleon’s ambition
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Remaking Europe as new Roman Empire, ruled from Paris
Republican Roman ideals—art, architecture, clothing
Made his brothers and sisters monarchs of newly created
kingdoms
Napoleonic Empire
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Divorced Josephine (1809)
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She could not provide him with an heir
Married Marie Louise, daughter of Francis I (Habsburg)
Continuing war
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France against Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, and Britain
Napoleon on the battlefield
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Personally led his men
Shock attacks
The Grande Armee
Battle of Austerlitz (December 1805)
Prussian army humiliated at Jena (1806)
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Napoleonic
Empire (1810)
Napoleonic Empire
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French defeat at Trafalgar (1805)
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The invasion of Spain (1808)
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British navy was led by Lord Horatio Nelson
Even with Spanish ships, French unable to defeat the British
Invasion aimed at conquest of Portugal
Napoleon installed his brother on the Spanish throne
Guerilla warfare
The Russian campaign (1812)
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Ended in disaster
Russians drew the French further into Russia
Napoleon ordered his troops to retreat (October 19, 1812)
The Russian winter
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Graphic by Charles Minard illustrating the fate of the
Grand Army’s Russia campaign (1869)
Napoleonic Empire
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France was incredibly weakened by the failed Russian
campaign
Renewed attacks by Prussia, Russia, Austria, Sweden, and
Britain
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Wars of liberation
The Battle of Nations (October 1813)
Tsar Alexander I and Frederick William III enter Paris (March
31, 1814)
Napoleon’s abdication
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Exile at Elba
Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, took the throne
Hundred Days
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On February 26, 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba
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He landed on mainland France on February 28
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He had his guards with him
Was quickly joined by French forces once he landed
He arrived in Paris on March 20
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Rumor had spread that the coalition wanted to move him to
the much more remote island of St. Helena in the Atlantic
Also, he was miserable on Elba
Louis XVIII fled Paris
Napoleon declared himself emperor
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He took control over both the government and the army
This is considered the start of his “Hundred Days” in power
Hundred Days
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Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815)
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Napoleon met British forces just south of Brussels
France had 72,000 troops against Wellington’s 68,000
By that evening, 50,000 Prussia troops joined the British
Decisive defeat against Napoleon
He was once again forced to abdicate
Napoleon was once again forced into exile
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This time was to St. Helena
He died there in 1821 most likely due to stomach cancer