Odysseys Essay Research Paper The Hundred Days

Odysseys Essay, Research Paper

The Hundred Days counts the approximate number of days that Napoleon came back into power after having been exiled. The Treaty of Fontainebleau had given to him sovereignty over the island of Elba and his title of emperor, along with an annual pension of two million francs. He had retired there on the 20 of April 1814, after his well-awaited abdication.

Louis XVIII was put into power right away, although the monarchy had been abolished. The fact that Napoleon had proclaimed himself emperor had re-established a semblance of monarchy that allowed the short reign of Louis XVIII. He was the brother of Louis XVI and the Count of Provence. He had been living outside of France after the Revolution.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on April 23,1814, proclaiming peace in France, but relinquishing most of the conquests of the Revolution and Empire. The peace treaty provoked great uneasiness among the people of France, because it brought a standstill of the industries. There was no need for the war industry; the end of the blockade rushed all the British goods in France, flooding the market. Soldiers became jobless, and homeless. The migr s that returned with the new king, the old nobles, were given preferential treatment.

In a nutshell, the people thought the Old Regime had come back. This gave Napoleon a way to come back, hence the Hundred Days. His last card was played on March 1,1815. Napoleon escaped the British who were guarding him and, with the support of 700 of his old army, headed for Grenoble. As he headed north, all his supporters rallied to his cause and on the evening of the 20th, he was once again in power in Paris. Not a shot had been fired for him to restore the imperialism way.

Problems started right away. Napoleon tried to appease the people by drafting a new constitution. It did not pass. Then he decided to inflame the Prussians again and attacked Wellington on June 18th. British and Prussians were allied, along with the Russians and Austrians. In march 1815; deliberations of congress were interrupted by the news of Napoleon s escape from exile. Napoleon tried to rule Elba and even tried to design uniforms, held receptions, and inquired into the local economy. The island of Elba was not big enough for him. Napoleon landed in France and was joined by units from the French army. Louis XVIII waited for signs of resistance, which Napoleon did not show. Napoleon became the ruler of France without firing a shot. Napoleon then tried to negotiate with the allies but they declared him an outlaw and quickly assembled their troops.

The Battle of Waterloo, where the French Army was totally defeated, ended the second reign of Napoleon. His fate was sealed. He resigned in favor of his son on June 22nd. He was eventually taken to the Island of Saint Helena, guarded by the British, and died there in 1821. Louis XVIII then returned for the Second Restoration, exactly one hundred days after he had left it.

Most historians portray Napoleon’s return to France as an example of his disregard for hundreds of thousands of lives in order to satisfy his outsized ambition. We at Napoleon on the Net, however, view the `Hundred Days’ as an example of the Emperor’s superior charisma and the love for him that it inspired. The support of the common people of France was the basis of Napoleonic rule. The generals and the politicians did not rush to support Napoleon’s new adventure, but, as we will show, the front-line soldiers and the common people were determined to uphold the basic principle the Revolution: that it is the people’s right to decide the form of their government.

Few individuals have come along that have captivated the imaginations of there

Contemporaries and of historians. Perhaps the most prolific of these characters is Napoleon Bonaparte. The part of his life often found most intriguing was his humble beginnings. He was an exceptional man whose intelligence and rise from the bottom is eventually defeated by his flaws, which cause him to fall from power. He was born in Corsica just off the coast of Italy. France had annexed Corsica in 1768, officially making him a French citizen.

His parents, although from an aristocratic family and considered nobility, were anything but wealthy. His father’s small income was not enough to fulfill his dreams of sending Napoleon to France to attend military school. He wrote a letter to the king, Louis XVI, for a scholarship for Napoleon. The king had set up a fund to pay for Napoleon’s attendance of military school. Upon arrival in France, young Napoleon had to first overcome the obstacle of learning to speak French, since it was the only language spoken in the military schools. To do this he would first have to attend a school in Autun before going to military school. When he finally arrived in Brienne to attend his military school, he soon discovered that his defeat of his adversities was marred by the criticism he received because of his Corsican upbringing and accent.

Nothing could break Napoleon’s strong will and determination. Instead of giving up, he persevered and gave up socializing to put forth whatever effort he could into his studies. His lust for conquest and omens of his great future often surfaced at school. In the winter, he eagerly applied his military science knowledge into skillfully executed

snowball fig