On this date (April 11) in the year 1814, the Treaty of Fontainebleau was signed, ending the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. Some background: After Napoleon stomped on Europe for a bit, he decided to try to invade Russia in 1812. In response, a coalition of countries banded together to put a stop to the crazy little man. The War of the Sixth Coalition (1812-1814) was the name given to the fighting between Napoleon and... well... basically all of Europe. In 1813, troops from Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, the UK, and several of the German states drove Napoleon out of Germany. Then, in 1814, the UK, Spain, and Portugal invaded France from the west while Russia, Prussia, and Austria invaded from the east. When the 2 fronts met in the middle for the Battle of Paris, the winners sat down with members of the French Senate to negotiate terms of surrender, which included the forced abdication of Napoleon. Representatives from the alliance that kicked some French booty invited the French Senate to dump The Little Emperor and set up a provisional government until such time as they could establish such a constitution as may be fitting for the French people. To add some incentive, the Russian Czar Alexander I offered the release of more than 150,000 French prisoners of war that had been held in Russia since Napoleons invasion attempt 2 years earlier. The next day, the French Senate accepted the terms. When Napoleon found out that hed been unthroned, he made a last-ditch effort to keep all his stuff by abdicating and appointing his son to be his replacement. Faced with the continued presence of a fairly-united Europe against them, the Senate wasnt really in the mood to haggle - they said Mais non, vous stupide petit homme. (I might be taking some liberties with what they actually said... ) Seeing that hed run out of options, Napoleon bid his emperorship adieu, signed the treaty, and was exiled to Elba - a fairly scenic island in the Mediteranean. That got me thinking... if my high school career guidance counselor wouldve shown me the option of ruling over Europe for a few years on a groovy white horse, posing for portraits with my hand in my jacket, and then getting a cool posh island retirement home afterward, I would definitely have taken that choice... and instead of escaping, returning briefly to power, getting beat up, and then dying of stomach cancer that many suspect to really have been arsenic poison, I wouldve just stayed put on my lovely retirement island. But maybe thats just me.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 16:47:45 +0000
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