1. Western Civilization II HIS-102 Unit 5 - The French Revolution and Napoleon

2. Introduction  The ancien régime  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  Moderate stage: 1789–1792  Radical stage: 1792–1794  The Directory: 1794–1799  Napoleon: 1799–1815

3.  The Three Estates

4. Causes of the Revolution  Social causes are based on the archaic estate system  First Estate (premier état) - The Church  Second Estate (deuxieme état) - The Nobility  Third Estate (tiers état) – Everybody else  Power was in the hands of the first two estates  Made up only around 5% of the population  Controlled most of the wealth and political power  Third Estate paid most of the taxes  Did not enjoy any political power even though its wealth and numbers were growing  New elite blurring the boundaries between aristocracy and middle class

5. Causes of the Revolution  Social boundaries between noble and non-noble ill- defined  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

6. Causes of the Revolution  The articulation of discontent  Locke, Voltaire, and Montesquieu appeal to discontented nobles and middle class  Noble leaders as defenders of national political community threatened by the king and his ministers  Economic reform and the physiocrats  Simplify tax system  Free the economy from mercantilist restrictions  Government should lift controls on price of grain

7. Causes of the Revolution  French economy was ailing  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  Inefficient tax system  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

8. Causes of the Revolution  Administration  Louis XVI was anxious to serve as an enlightened monarch  His efforts at reform undermined his own authority  Turgot and Necker as finance ministers  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

9. Causes of the Revolution  The peasantry  Owed obligations to landlord, church, and state  Direct and indirect taxation a heavy burden  Included the gabelle, a salt tax  The corvée  General conclusions on the eve of the Revolution  Louis XVI was a weak monarch  Chaotic financial situation  Severe social tensions

10.  Louis XVI  (1774-1792)

11. Destruction of the Old Regime  Moderate stage, June 1789–August 1792  Fiscal crisis  Calonne and Brienne proposed new taxes, a stamp duty, and direct tax on agricultural produce  Parlements refused to pass such measures  Louis summons the Assembly of Notables  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 Estates- General

12. Destruction of the Old Regime  In August 1788, the financial crisis had worsened  On August 8, he announced that the Estates General would meet in May 1789  On August 16, the government stops repaying loans  Louis summons the Estates-General  First time since 1614  The three estates elected delegates  Delegates draw up the cahiers et doléances, a list of grievances  Delegates of the Third Estate represented the outlook of the elite  25 percent lawyers, 43 percent government officials  Strong sense of common grievance and common purpose

13. Destruction of the Old Regime  There were numerous areas of disagreement  Should the estates vote by estate or by individual?  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  Wanted to have as many delegates as the First and Second Estates combined  “Doubling the Third”  Louis opposed, then changed his position (December 1788)

14.  Meeting of the Estates General (May 5, 1789)

15. The Estates General  The delegates for the Estates General met at Versailles on May 2, 1789  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  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

16. The Estates General  On May 28 th, the Third Estate began meeting on its own  They now called themselves the Communes (“Commons”)  Abbé Sieyès also told the Commons that they should invite members of the other two estates to join them  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  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

17.  Abbé Emmanuel- Joseph Sieyès  (1748-1836)

18. The National Assembly  Creation of the National Assembly  Created by vote on June 17, 1789  Passed a measure stating that all taxes could not be collected unless passed by the National Assembly  Assembly continued to invited members of the other two estates to join  By June 19, 1789, over 100 clergy and nobility had joined  Louis planned a séance royale (Royal Session)  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

19.  The Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789)

20. The National Assembly  The Assembly moved to a nearby indoor tennis court  Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789)  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  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

21. The National Assembly  On June 22, 1789, the Assembly found itself locked out of the tennis court  The group went on to meet in the church of St. Louis  Louis recalled over 18,000 soldiers to Versailles  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

22.  Riots and looting in France  (March-May 1789)

23. Revolution From Below  The first stages of the French Revolution  Popular revolts  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)  Bastille as symbol of royal authority  Its fall as symbol of the people’s role in revolutionary change

24. Revolution From Below  The Great Fear  Rumors that the king’s armies were on their way  Peasants attacked and burned manor houses  Destroyed manor records  The October Days  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

25.  Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789)

26. Liberal Revolution  On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly abolished all forms of privilege  Church tithe, the corvée, hunting privileges, tax exemptions, and monopolies  Obliterated the remnants of feudalism  The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen  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

27. Liberal Revolution  Man and citizen  “Passive citizen” was guaranteed rights under law  “Active citizens” paid taxes, could vote and hold office  Represented about half of all male citizens  They could only vote for “electors”  Women and the Revolution  Olympe de Gouges - Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizen (1791)  Women have the same rights as men  Mary Wollstonecraft - A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)  Called for greater equality between the sexes

28.  Illustration of the monks and nuns celebrating the end of ecclesiastical orders (February 16, 1790)

29. Liberal Revolution  Religion and the Revolution  The most divisive issue  National Assembly confiscated church property (November 1789)  Used this property as collateral for the issue of assignats  Revolutionary currency used to help pay off country’s debt  Other religious changes:  End to all ecclesiastical orders and monastic vows (February 13, 1790)  State control of all remaining church property (April 19, 1790)

30. Liberal Revolution  Next was the reorganization of the church  This included putting control of the church in the hands of the state  The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (July 1791)  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  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  Many resented the privileged position of the church  Parish church an institution of great local importance

31.  French sans-culotte

32. Radical Revolution  The Radical Revolution, August 1792–July 1794  From moderate leaders to radical republicans  Why did the Revolution become radical?  The politicization of the common people, especially in cities  Newspapers  Political clubs  Greater political awareness heightened by fluctuations in prices  Demands for cheaper bread  Demands for government to do something about inflation

33. Radical Revolution  Lack of effective national leadership  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  All Europeans took a side in the conflict  Political societies formed outside France proclaimed their allegiance to the Revolution

34.  Edmund Burke  (1729-1797)

35. The Counter Revolution  The emigrés stirred up counterrevolutionary sentiment  Edmund Burke (1729–1797)  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)  The Rights of Man (1791–92)  Written in response to Burke’s Reflections  Political liberalism

36. The Counter Revolution  Outside France  Austria and Prussia declared support for French monarchy (August 1791)  On April 20, 1792, the National Assembly declared war on Austria and Prussia  National Assembly expected the war to bolster public opinion behind the Revolution  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

37. The National Convention  The Jacobins  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)  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

38.  Trial of Louis XVI

39. End of the Monarchy  Declaration of a Republic (September 22, 1792)  Convention was to declare a republic and an end to the monarchy  This day would later become the first day of Year I  What to do with the king?  Mountain wanted him executed for crimes against the nation  Girondins wanted to spare the king  Smoking gun  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

40. End of the Monarchy  Trial of Louis XVI (December 11, 1792-January 15, 1793)  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)  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”

41.  Execution of Louis XVI (January 21, 1793)

42.  “Matter for reflection for the Crowned Jugglers of Europe”

43. Domestic Reforms  National Convention put through key domestic reforms  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  By February 1793, France was at war with Britain, Netherlands, Spain, and Austria

44. Domestic Reforms  Levée (February 24, 1793)  Convention put through its first draft  It called for 300,000 men for its army  Committee of Public Safety (CPS)  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  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

45. Domestic Reforms  Levée en Masse (August 23, 1793)  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  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

46.  Reign of Terror

47. Reign of Terror  New radical leaders  Helped to shift the Revolution into more dangerous territory  Jean-Paul Marat (1743–1793)  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

48.  “Death of Marat”  Jacques-Louis David (1793)

49. Reign of Terror  Georges-Jacques Danton (1759–1794)  Popular political leader  Member of the CPS  Wearied of the Terror  Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794)  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

50. Reign of Terror  On September 5, 1793, CPS declared “terror is the order of the day”  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  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

51.  Execution of Marie Antoinette (October 16, 1793)

52. Reign of Terror  Over the next few months, thousands were arrested and executed at the guillotine  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 counter- revolution was located

53. Reign of Terror  At the beginning, the executions were many held in the cities  In Lyons alone, almost 2,000 were killed  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  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

54. Reign of Terror  In the city of Nantes, those found guilty were placed in barges in the middle of the Loire River  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  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

55. Reign of Terror  The executions took on a festival atmosphere  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  Madame Roland said “The time as come which was foretold when the people would ask for bread and be given corpses”

56.  Fashion of the French Revolution

57. Culture of the Revolution  Revolution had impact on all aspects of life  Fashion was guided strongly by those in power  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  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.”

58. Culture of the Revolution  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  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  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

59.  Revolution playing cards with the king and queen replaced with the elements “La Terre” and “L’Air”

60. Revolutionary Calendar  Revolutionary Calendar  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  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

61. Revolutionary Calendar  Remaining five days would be holidays  They were to be known as the sans-culottides  Devoted to festivals representing the Revolutionary ideals  In leap years, an extra day known as “Fraciade” was put in  Be a celebration of a Revolution four years in the making  Not everyone was enamored with the new calendar  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  They translated the months as “Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Wheaty, Heaty and Sweety”

62. AutumnWinterSpringSummer 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

63. Dechristianization  Dechristianization of France  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  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

64.  Thermidor

65. End of the Terror  The Ninth of Thermidor (July 27, 1794)  Robespierre kicked out of the Convention  Guillotined the following day (along with twenty-one other “conspirators”)  After Thermidor  Jacobins driven into hiding  Law of maximum prices repealed  National Convention adopted new conservative constitution (1795)  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

66. The Directory  The Directory  Five men chosen by the legislative body  Could not stabilize the government  Faced discontent on the radical left and conservative right  On the left  Stopped radical movements to abolish private property  Gracchus Babeuf  On the right  Elections in March 1797 returned a large number of constitutional monarchists  Could not control developments  Called Napoleon Bonaparte to their assistance

67.  Napoléon Bonaparte  (1769-1821)

68. Napoleon  Napoleone di Buonaparte (1769-1821)  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)

69. Napoleon  The Haitian Revolution  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  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)

70. Napoleon  Did Napoleon consolidate or repudiate the Revolution?  Consolidating authority, 1799–1804  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  Universal male suffrage  Two legislative bodies  The plebiscite—put questions directly to popular vote  Bypassed politicians and legislative bodies

71. Napoleon and Imperial France  Asked the legislature to proclaim him consul for life (1802)  The reorganization of the state  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

72. Napoleon and Imperial France  The Napoleonic Code (1804)  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  Rationalized the educational system  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)

73. Napoleon and Imperial France  Made allies without regard to their political past or affiliations  Readmitted the émigrés  The Concordat of 1801  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)

74.  Napoleon’s Coronation

75. Napoleonic Empire  Collapse of the First Coalition (1795)  Both Austria and Prussia signed peace agreements after continued French successes  Was renewed again in 1798  This was after Napoleon’s failed attempt to take Egypt  Included Austria, Prussia, Britain, and Russia  Russia and Austria withdrew (1801)  The new empire  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

76. Napoleonic Empire  Napoleon introduced his reforms throughout the new empire  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  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

77. Napoleonic Empire  The Continental System  Blockade of British goods from the continent (1806)  As Britain was the only enemy left, he wanted to hurt it economically  Forced all of his allies to join  Napoleon’s first serious mistake  British developed trade with South America  Europe divided into economic camps  Napoleon’s ambition  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

78. Napoleonic Empire  Divorced Josephine (1809)  She could not provide him with an heir  Married Marie Louise, daughter of Francis I (Habsburg)  Continuing war  France against Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, and Britain  Napoleon on the battlefield  Personally led his men  Shock attacks  The Grande Armee  Battle of Austerlitz (December 1805)  Prussian army humiliated at Jena (1806)

79.  Napoleonic Empire (1810)

80. Napoleonic Empire  French defeat at Trafalgar (1805)  British navy was led by Lord Horatio Nelson  Even with Spanish ships, French unable to defeat the British  The invasion of Spain (1808)  Invasion aimed at conquest of Portugal  Napoleon installed his brother on the Spanish throne  Guerilla warfare  The Russian campaign (1812)  Ended in disaster  Russians drew the French further into Russia  Napoleon ordered his troops to retreat (October 19, 1812)  The Russian winter

81.  Graphic by Charles Minard illustrating the fate of the Grand Army’s Russia campaign (1869)

82. Napoleonic Empire  France was incredibly weakened by the failed Russian campaign  Renewed attacks by Prussia, Russia, Austria, Sweden, and Britain  Wars of liberation  The Battle of Nations (October 1813)  Tsar Alexander I and Frederick William III enter Paris (March 31, 1814)  Napoleon’s abdication  Exile at Elba  Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, took the throne

83. Hundred Days  On February 26, 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba  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  He landed on mainland France on February 28  He had his guards with him  Was quickly joined by French forces once he landed  He arrived in Paris on March 20  Louis XVIII fled Paris  Napoleon declared himself emperor  He took control over both the government and the army  This is considered the start of his “Hundred Days” in power

84. Hundred Days  Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815)  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  This time was to St. Helena  He died there in 1821 most likely due to stomach cancer