PRUSSIA ON THE RISE
Victory at Waterloo was as much a victory for the Kingdom of Prussia, as it was for Great Britain, and the Prussian commander Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher had agitated for Napoleon’s execution rather than exile. If the Emperor had continued to make trouble and flee his isolated island internment, Prussia’s hardline stance might have been vindicated and Britain would have been left humiliated on the world stage. In response, Europe’s great powers may have looked to Berlin for an answer to the ‘Napoleon problem’, rather than London, perhaps resulting in a more punative occupation of France and a Prussian-led Eighth Coalition. Finding allies in a Spain smarting from the loss of their American possessions, a new balance of power may have emerged on the continent, viewing France as a rogue state, and Britain as the weak link in the international order.