The+Hundred+Days+and+Waterloo

Ramon Bailon Melanie Gibbs

The Hundred Days was the defeat of Napoleons last bid for power. In April 1814, the French Senate invited the brother of King Louis XVI, who had been executed during the French Revolution, to rule France. In May, he took the throne as Louis XVIII. In March 1815 Napoleon returned to France with about 1,100 supporters. Many of the troop sent to stop Napoleon joined him instead. On March 19, Louis XVIII fled. On March 20, Napoleon took over the government without any violence.

Since 1814, Austrian, British, Prussian and Russian had attended the Congress of Vienna, a series of meetings called to decide how Europe should be divided and governed following Napoleon's defeat. The congress had restored European rulers whom Napoleon had ousted. When the representatives heard of Napoleon's return, they formed a military coalition.

Napoleon attacked the coalition armies in Belgium before the could join together. He drove back a Prussian army at Ligny, Belgium, on June 16, 1815. On June 18, he attacked an army led by the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo. Prussian troops arrived late in the battle to aid Wellington, and the combined force beat back the charges of the French. Overwhelmed, the French retreated. Napoleon then failed to gather a new. He abdicated again on June 22 and was exiled to South Atlantic island of St. Helena.

King Louis XVIII returned to France 100 days after he had fled. France and allies signed the second Treaty of Paris on November 20, 1815, ending the Napoleonic Wars. France had to pay indemnities, which are payments for war damages, and return to its borders as of 1790. In Addition, thousands of allied soldiers occupied France. Napoleon died on St. Helena on May 5, 1821.

The Battle of Waterloo is a battle that happened between Napoleon and Wellington took place at Waterloo, a small town near Brussels. The two armies were about equal size. Napoleon had about 74,000 troops, and superior cavalry and artillery. Wellington had about 67,000 troops. He placed them in a strong defensive position. The French started a fierce attack against the allied lines on June 18. Wellington's troops resisted the French assaults.

Napoleon might have won at Waterloo if he had attacked earlier in the day. But he waited until noon because of a heavy rain the night before. This delay permitted Marshal Gebhard von Blucher to arrive with his Prussian troops to reinforce Wellington. The battle was a draw until the arrival of Blucher's forces. These forces helped turn the battle against the French. Napoleon made on last effort to win the battle. He flung his best troops, the famous "Old Guard," against the enemy's lines. Three battalions of Guard fought bravely. However, they were overwhelmed. The French troops then retreated from a fierce bayonet counterattack.

Both sides lost many killed and wounded in the battle. The French suffered about 40,000 casualties, and the allies about 23,000. After this defeat, Napoleon failed to gather a new army. He had no choice left but to abdicate a second time. media type="youtube" key="5Go5nlOCqi4" height="315" width="420"