The Hundred Days Louis XVI’s brother assumed the throne as Louis
XVIII. (The executed king’s son, Louis XVII, had died in prison in 1795.)
However, the new king quickly became unpopular among his subjects,
especially the peasants. They suspected him of wanting to undo the Revolution’s land reforms.
The news of Louis’s troubles was all the incentive Napoleon needed to
try to regain power. He escaped from Elba and, on March 1, 1815, landed
in France. Joyous crowds welcomed him on the march to Paris. And
thousands of volunteers swelled the ranks of his army. Within days, Napoleon was again emperor of France.
In response, the European allies quickly marshaled their armies. The
British army, led by the Duke of Wellington, prepared for battle near the
village of Waterloo in Belgium. On June 18, 1815, Napoleon attacked. The
British army defended its ground all day. Late in the afternoon, the Prussian army arrived. Together, the British and the Prussian forces attacked
the French. Two days later, Napoleon’s exhausted troops gave way, and the
British and Prussian forces chased them from the field.
This defeat ended Napoleon’s last bid for power, called the
Hundred Days. Taking no chances this time, the British shipped Napoleon to St. Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic. There, he lived in
lonely exile for six years, writing his memoirs. He died in 1821 of a stomach ailment, perhaps cancer.
Without doubt, Napoleon was a military genius and a brilliant administrator. Yet all his victories and other achievements must be measured
against the millions of lives that were lost in his wars. The French writer
Alexis de Tocqueville summed up Napoleon’s character by saying, “He was
as great as a man can be without virtue.” Napoleon’s defeat opened the
door for the freed European countries to establish a new order.
The Hundred Days
Who assumed the throne?
Why did he become unpopular among his subjects?
On march 1,1815,what did Napoleon do?
At Waterloo,what 2 armies did Napoleon go to war against?
Where was Napoleon shipped to where he lived lonely in exile for 6 years?
What was said to be the cause of death for Napoleon?
Napoleon's defeat opened the door for what in freed European countries?
Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI, assumed the throne.
He became unpopular among his subjects, especially the peasants, because they suspected him of wanting to undo the Revolution's land reforms.
Napoleon escaped from Elba and landed in France on March 1, 1815.
Napoleon went to war against the British army led by the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army at the Battle of Waterloo.
Napoleon was shipped to St. Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, where he lived in lonely exile for 6 years.
Napoleon died in 1821 of a stomach ailment, possibly cancer.
Napoleon's defeat opened the door for the freed European countries to establish a new order.