Abdication of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte was a general of the military in France. He became the first emperor or ruler of France. Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne on 11th April 1814 in the Treaty of Fontainebleau and was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba. But within a year he returned to France and regained his control. 

The second time he abdicated his throne was in 1815 after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. This defeat ultimately became the end of his dominance in France and he was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, in the southern Atlantic Ocean. He lived the rest of his life there and died on 5th May 1821 at the age of 52. In the following article, the Napoleon downfall summary is given with the details of the abdication of Napoleon, 1815.

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Napoleon’s Abdication and Return

Napoleon was forced to abdicate the throne on 6th April 1814. His age was around 40 years during his first abdication. He was exiled with the Treaty of Fontainebleau to Elba which was a Mediterranean island off the coast of Italy.

Napoleon escaped Elba and returned to France by sailing to the mainland of France with a group of supporters in less than a year later time dated on 26th February 26, 1815. He was welcomed in Parish with cheering crowds on 20 March 2. Louis XVIII who was the new king fled and Napoleon embarked on his Hundred Days campaign (the War of the Seventh Coalition).

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo took place on 18th June 1815 in Belgium which is marked in history as the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. In the Battle of Waterloo, the forces Napoleon was defeated by the British and Prussians is considered as the signal of the end of his reign and of France’s domination in Europe. Napoleon led his army of some thousands of troops against the British army in the south of Brussels near the village of Waterloo. The Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blücher was leading the British army in the battle.

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Napoleon Downfall Summary

At the beginning of the 1800s, Napoleon Bonaparte was successful in restoring order to France. But after ten years of his rule, he faced some failures which eventually led to his downfall.

With the help of the Continental System, he attempted to conquer or gain an advantage over much of Europe. Napoleon enacted this decree which was meant to weaken England. Through it, he stopped the business or trade with England by encouraging the countries who were either neutral or who were allies with France. His intentions were to make England suffer economically. However, he could not succeed because the Continental System failed due to England having natural resources to sustain itself. Eventually, the country that was weakened was France.

France was involved in the Peninsular War against Portugal from the year 1808 to the year 1814 which helped the conflict by Great Britain. Napoleon wanted to conquer the Iberian Peninsula and he was succeeded in doing so in 1808 when he gained control over Spain. He appointed Joseph as the King of Spain who was his older brother. He ruled shortly from 1808 to 1813.

Spaniards, who had once been allied with France became upset about this. The Peninsular War costs a lot of wealth but France won against Spain despite the loss of money. But his allies understood that Napolean is greedy for land and this was marked as the turning point in the reign of Napoleon.

In 1812, the French under Napoleon set to an invasion of Russia. He went on this invasion in hope of gaining political advantage with Poland and Russia and for conquering troops of Russia. But it results in a total disaster for the troops of Napoleon. The environment was not in favor of the French as it freezing cold and also the Russians were certainly not open to any engagements with the French. This invasion was in vain. The French also suffered due to the “scorched earth” policy, which was a strategy of the military to destroy things that might be useful to the enemy so they burned and destroyed all of the stuff along with crops as they moved further away from the French. At the last, the troops of Napolean had nothing to eat. During 6 months invasion, hundreds of men of the French army.

The list of enemies of Napolean had increased by June 1815. Countries Austria, Russia, Britain, and Prussia were against Napolean due to his actions. These four countries all armed themselves for a war with the forces of Napoleon. He invaded Belgium, which turned into the spark which ignited the Battle of Waterloo. Abdication of Napoleon, 1815 was the final downfall of his empire. Napoleon along with his forces faced defeat in this battle, which is considered as the downfall of the region of Napolean. 

Do You Know?

• After the death of Napoleon Bonaparte was buried on the island. Until 1840, the remains of him were not returned to France. Remains of Napoleon are entombed where other military leaders of France are interred in a crypt at Les Invalides in Paris.

• Military training and organizations were revolutionized by Napoleon. He is known for his Napoleonic Code or the French Civil code which is still in use with some necessary amendments.

Conclusion

In the early 19th century, Napolean Bonaparte gained control over much of Europe. During the French Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the French army and in 1799, seized control of the French government and became emperor in 1804. He stretched his empire across western and central Europe through a series of wars. He abdicated his throne two times. Once in 1814 and then next in 1815. The article provided the summary along with the details of his abdication.