Today in 1815

**Lew** · February 26th, 2008, 05:36 PM

GL-

Was he not being taken seriously at the time he was on the move? Why was there not more resistance to him as he worked his way towards Paris? And where were the Germans (or I guess more properly the "Prussians") when all of this is taking place?

**cincygreg** · February 26th, 2008, 06:23 PM

I once had a strawberry (or was it snozzberry Napoleon!
It looked a little something like this.

471330195 1d9a570c9a

Pretty sure it was later than 1815 though! [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

**Beachcomber** · February 26th, 2008, 06:49 PM

See below, posted it twice.

[ February 26, 2008 02:53 PM: Message edited by: Beachcomber ]

**Beachcomber** · February 26th, 2008, 06:52 PM

Well Lew the Prussians had already left after the 1814 invasion and their dutiful representatives were in Vienna discussing the future of Europe, but the talks were on the verge of total collapse. Austria, Russia, Britain, France, and Prussia (in addition to all the smaller German principalities) all were assembled in Vienna. Talleyrand quickly moved to have Napoleon branded an outlaw and all the powers put their differences aside to remove him from power once he regained Paris. All the French soldiers sent to intercept him (under the command of Louis XVIII technically) and capture him JOINED him instead so as he marched, his forces grew exponentially. Marshal Ney promised Louis XVIII he would "bring him to Paris in an iron cage" but when his men refused to fire on Napoleon he joined him too. After the defeat of Imperial forces at Waterloo and the 2nd restoration of the Bourbons under Louis XVIII in June 1815, Ney was shot. They wanted to make an example out of him as the most high ranking officer to have violated his oath to Louis XVIII in 1814. The miracle of Napoleon's return is that he landed with less than 1,000 soldiers and regained his throne without a shot being fired and without one drop of blood being shed. He could have held onto his throne after Waterloo, his soldiers were still loyal. His upper command (men whom he had loaded with riches and titles) refused to continue in the fight. He opted to abdicate rather than plunge Frane into civil war and prolonged occupation by Allied forces. He made the error of thinking he could hand himself over to the British and be treated with the dignity due his position. They treated him little better than a common criminal, refusing to acknowledge his titles or status. The biggest crime of the entire Napoleonic era is the British treatment of him from 1815-1821 IMHO. I have been engaged in a heated discussion on a Napoleonic discussion forum about whether or not he was murdered. There is enough evidence to indicate he was, yet not enough to prove it. The perfect crime as it were. And the #1 suspect in my mind is Louis XVIII's brother Artois who would reign briefly as Charles X. He both hated and admired NApoleon and feared him above all else. So long as Napoleon lived, no matter how far removed from France, the Bourbons were not secure on their throne. The only qualities universal amongst the Bourbons were arrogance and stupidity coupled with a pathological vindictiveness. As Talleyrand was supposed ot have remarked upon their return to power "They remembered nothing and they forgot nothing" In other words, they learned nothing from the revolution that sent them into exile but also didn't forget who wronged them...

[ February 26, 2008 02:59 PM: Message edited by: Beachcomber ]

**Beachcomber** · February 26th, 2008, 06:53 PM

Originally posted by cincygreg:
I once had a strawberry (or was it snozzberry Napoleon!
It looked a little something like this.

Pretty sure it was later than 1815 though! [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

That looks quite good!

**Beachcomber** · February 26th, 2008, 07:02 PM

Originally posted by cincygreg:
I once had a strawberry (or was it snozzberry Napoleon!
It looked a little something like this.

Pretty sure it was later than 1815 though! [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

That looks quite good!

**Lew** · February 26th, 2008, 08:49 PM

OK well, as usual, GL learnt me somethin'.....

I honestly didn't know his return to Paris was bloodless, I was under the impression that there was fighting involved. But it appears I'm confusing it with the fighting that occured after Paris, and not involving just the Prussians but the other Allies as well. I also did not know of the theory that he was murdered, but apparently it is a ripe subject for debate among the Nap experts.

**cincygreg** · February 26th, 2008, 11:08 PM

Originally posted by Beachcomber:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by cincygreg:
I once had a strawberry (or was it snozzberry Napoleon!
It looked a little something like this.

Pretty sure it was later than 1815 though! [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

That looks quite good!<hr /></blockquote>Indeed!

**Beachcomber** · February 27th, 2008, 04:13 AM

Napoleon left the confines of Elba and headed to France to reclaim his throne. I find the newspaper accounts very humorous regarding his progress. Look at the tone between his landing and his actual arrival in Paris:

March: ?9th-The Cannibal has escaped from his den. 10th-The Corsican ogre has just landed at Cape Juan. 12th-The monster has passed the night at Grenoble. 13th-The tyrant has crossed Lyons. 14th-The usurper is directing his course towards Dijon, but the brave and loyal Burgundians surround him on all sides. 18th-Bonaparte is sixty leagues from the capital; he has had skill enough to escape from the hands of his pursuers. 19th-Bonaparte advances rapidly, but he will never enter Paris. 21st-His imperial and royal majesty last evening made his entrance into this Palace of the Tuileries, amidst the joyous acclamations of an adoring and faithful people.?

**Beachcomber** · February 27th, 2008, 01:23 PM

Originally posted by Lew:
OK well, as usual, GL learnt me somethin'.....

I honestly didn't know his return to Paris was bloodless, I was under the impression that there was fighting involved. But it appears I'm confusing it with the fighting that occured after Paris, and not involving just the Prussians but the other Allies as well. I also did not know of the theory that he was murdered, but apparently it is a ripe subject for debate among the Nap experts.

The Bourbons were not the popular choice to replace Napoleon. The French people, by and large, did not want to see Napoleon go. They just wanted an end to the ceaseless wars. France had been at war for 20 years almost non stop by 1814. Coalition after coalition formed to attack France. The old dynasties saw in the Revolution and then Napoleon their own demise. The oligarchy ruling Britain financed the coalitions and didn't actually engage in much actual fighting until Spain and then in 1814-15. For Britain the whole issue was equilibrium for their maritime commerce. Any one nation in Europe (and at this time it happened to be France, esp under Napoleon) that was too strong. Amongst all the "Allies" only Austria really wanted Napoleon to retain his throne in 1814, albeit in a chastened and reduced state. Napoleon had married into the house of Hapsburg in his second marriage. (In fact Napoleon's son was 1/2 Austrian, and his grandfather x7 is mine x13)
Witin France the major parties struggling for power were:
1. Bourbons represented by Louis XVIII (Louis XVI's brother)
2. House of Orleans which would result in France's last King, Louis Philipe who was Louis XVIII and Charles X cousin.
3. Bonapartists
After 1815 and the return of Louis XVIII he served the rest of his life, then his brother Artois became Charles X. Then their cousin overthrew them and became Louis Philipe (his grandfather was Louis XIV's brother) and i due course Napoleon's nephew became Napoleon III.

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