2. Historical Context
• For more than a decade one man had dominated Europe: Napoleon
Bonaparte, Emperor of the French.
• By his military genius he had managed to conquer an empire which
spanned the continent.
• After the failed invasion of Russia, his enemies attacked him and the
Quadruple alliance of Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, Sweden, and
Russia defeated Napoleon at the Battle of the Nations.
• He was exiled to Alba, an island near the coast of Italy while the
Bourbons were reinstalled in France.
3. • At Elba rumors reached
Napoleon that the French
people would welcome his
return.
• They were not happy being
ruled by the same monarchy
whose behavior had caused
the French revolution.
• The news of a dispute among
his enemies at The Congress
of Vienna also got to
Napoleon.
4. • After spending just 10 months in exile Napoleon returned to
France on 20th of March 1815.
• The troops who were sent to arrest him rallied to his side instead
and chants of Vive L'Empereur broke out.
• On 20th March 1815 Napoleon entered Paris with the army and
the French people in his support.
5. • Seeing all this, the coalition put their differences to the side and started
the mobilization of their armies.
• Napoleon knew he would have to act fast and boldly before the
coordinated invasion from the coalition took place.
• He wanted to be in a power of strength while negotiating so he could not
be pinned down.
6. • In easy reach of Napoleon were the Prussian army led by
Field Marshal Gebhard von Blucher numbered at
122,000 men
• And the Anglo-Allied army led by the Duke of.
Wellington numbered at 93,000 men.
7. Napoleon's army alone was a match was either one of them
But if the armies got together, they would outnumber
Napoleon heavily.
8. He planned on keeping them apart, and for this he crossed the River
Sambre on 15th June attempting to create a wedge between the two
opposing armies.
.
9. • On the next day Napoleon won against the Prussians at Ligny
inflicting 20,000 causalities while suffering half of these
himself.
• 72-year-old Blucher led a cavalry charge himself but had his
horse killed under him, he somehow managed to escape.
The Prussians had to retreat.
10. • On the same day, the French army fought Wellington’s
army at Quatre Bras.
• The Anglo-Allied force emerged victorious but due to the
defeat of the Prussians they had to retreat because of the
fear of being flanked.
• Wellington fell back to the village of Waterloo some 8
miles from Brussels and fortified his defenses because the
question of going into the offensive with his mixed army
did not rise.
11. • Waterloo had a very
good strategic
position.
• Wellington placed
his army next to the
ridge to protect his
army from artillery
fire.
• There were three outposts front of the ridge.
• The Chateau of Hougoumont
• The farmhouse of La Haye Sainte
• The farm of Papelotte
12. • Napoleon’s plan
to counter this
was simple.
• He would
launch a
diversionary
attack on the
Hougoumont
farm.
• After this he would launch his main attack from the centre.
13. • The attack began at 11:30 am, after a huge artillery barrage by
the French from which Wellington suffered some losses but due
to his position and wetness of the ground, they proved
negligible.
• Napoleon launched his diversionary attack against the
Hougoumont and after fierce fighting the chateau remained in
British hands at the end of the day.
• The French army was able to enter it, but they were quickly
repelled by the guarding forces.
14. • The French army also attacked the center of
Wellington’s army.
• As they approached the ridge British cavalry stormed
their infantry.
• But they took the charge too far and were massacred
and torn apart by the French cavalry.
15. • The arrival of the
Prussians forced
Napoleon to form a
defensive line.
• The Prussians took
control of the village of
Plancenoit.
• Napoleon had to send
his reserves to take
back the village.
16. • The French cavalry charged the center where Wellington formed
square and held their ground.
• When it seemed that the Anglo-Allied forces were about to
lose ground due to the French capturing La Haye Sainte and
crushing Wellington’s army with heavy close-range artillery fire.
• The Prussians captured the village of Plancenoit and Napoleon
decided to recapture it first which gave Wellington the time to
reorganize.
17. • In the last bid to win the battle Napoleon used his wild card, The
Imperial Guards who were the most elite and feared forces in the
entirety of Europe at that time.
• Three thousand of these battle-hardened veterans attacked
where Wellington was the strongest but eventually, they were
defeated.
• The defeat of the Imperial Guards sent a wave of panic among the
French troops who retreated, and Napoleon just barely escaped.
18. Blucher and the Duke of Wellington met outside
Napoleons headquarters and celebrated their win.
19. • Napoleon, now with no army to raise surrendered.
• He was sent to the far away South Atlantic Island of St
Helena where he spent the rest of his life.
• The Napoleonic Era finally came to an end
