Europe is stunned as Napoleon escapes and marches into Paris
For some, it was the triumphant return of a hero, the banished Emperor whose military genius had made France the dominant European power.
But, for much of Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte’s entry into Paris on March 20, 1815, following his escape from prison on the island of Elba, was the start of a continent-wide crisis.
Napoleon had been exiled to Elba off the coast of Tuscany in 1814 after being defeated by a coalition of European countries that included Austria, Prussia, Russia and the United Kingdom. The coalition then restored the French monarchy, installing King Louis XVIII on the throne.
But, while the allies bickered over redrawing the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna, Napoleon escaped. His tiny flotilla, carrying just 1,000 men, landed between Cannes and Antibes, on March 1, 1815.
Napoleon began to make his way towards Paris. On route, they encountered a number of regiments supposedly loyal to the new French king that promptly switched sides to join Napoleon and swell his army.
Napoleon’s popularity was helped by the tactless way his former soldiers – the Grande Armee – had been treated, and by the behaviour of the returning nobility towards the population at large.
When royalist troops were deployed to stop the march of Napoleon’s force at Laffrey, near Grenoble, Napoleon stepped out in front of them, ripped open his coat and said: “If any of you will shoot his Emperor, here I am.” The men joined his cause.
Marshal Ney, previously one of Napoleon’s most talented and successful generals, was now a royalist commander – but switched sides, bringing 6,000 men with him.
On March 13, seven days before Napoleon reached Paris, the powers at the Congress of Vienna declared him an outlaw and, on March 25, Austria, Prussia, Russia and the United Kingdom, the four great powers, each promised to put 150,000 men into the field to end his rule.
Napoleon entered Paris to the cheers of the gathered crowds, and the period that later came to be known as the Hundred Days began.
Both Napoleon and the Coalition set about raising armies. By the end of May he had 198,000 soldiers, with 66,000 more in training. As the Coalition prepared to invade France, Napoleon decided to attack first.
Hostilities began on June 15, with Marshal Ney holding Wellington at the Battle of Quatre Bras the following day and Napoleon defeating Blücher at the Battle of Ligny.
Napoleon pursued Wellington towards Brussels until, on the night of June 17,
the Anglo-allied army turned to face him, around a mile from the village of Waterloo.
That proved to be the decisive battle of the campaign. The Anglo-allied army stood fast against repeated French attacks, until, with the aid of the Prussians who arrived in the early evening, they managed to rout the French Army.
Defeated, Napoleon returned to Paris where, on June 22, he abdicated.
The French Provisional Government held out until July 3, when it capitulated. Five days later, Louis XVIII returned to the capital. Napoleon surrendered on July 15. This time his exile was to place him out of reach: He was taken St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, where he died in May 1821.