Chapter 24: The collapse of the Empire
The first Peace of Paris
When the allied armies entered Paris in April 1814, the Senate invited Louis XVIII to take the throne on the
condition that he accepted a charter of 74 articles which had been drawn up by a committee comprising of
Louis' own advisers, Charles Talleyrand and other leading Napoleonic ministers.
The charter guaranteed:
A constitution with a two-chamber assembly: an elected Chamber of Deputies with a property-
owner franchise and a Chamber of Peers appointed by the King
Fair taxation (controlled by Chamber of Deputies)
Equality before the law
Freedom of the individual and careers open to talent
The abolition of conscription
A pardon to former revolutionaries
A relatively free press
Freedom of worship (although Catholicism was to be the state religion)
That the owners of the biens nationaux would keep their lands
Thus, shortly after N set off for Elba, Louis left his exile in Britain and arrived in Paris on 3rd May. The charters
made the King's return more palatable, but there were still have reservations about the return of a bourbon
king in the capital. Louis processed through the streets in 'traditional' royalist pomp and installed himself in the
Tuileries Palace. He insisted that a preamble be added to the published charter making it clear that the
freedoms it promised were his personal gift to his people – not their basic right. Indeed, he made clear his belief
in his own Divine Right and legitimacy of his position and refused to accept any responsibility to a new
assembly.
The allies (Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, and Portugal) presented Louis XVIII with the First Treaty
of Paris to sign on 30 May 1814. They agreed to withdraw from French soil and allow Frances to keep looted art
works. While facing no war in indemnity, the French had to accept the borders of 1792. This meant that France
would extend east of the Rhine; so even though Belgium, Holland, Italy and Germany would be lost, 500,000
more people would be included in France than in 1790.
To confirm the treaty and work out the details, delegations of both the allies and the French met at a Congress
in Vienna, in November 1814. The key delegates were the British Foreign Secretary, (and the Duke of
Wellington after Castlereagh’s returned to England in February 1815); the Austrian Foreign Minister; Tsar
Alexander and his Foreign Minister; Frederick William III of Prussia and his Chancellor; and the French Foreign
Minister, Talleyrand.
The Vienna Congress: the Congress was hosted by the Austrian Emperor Francis I. He entertained four kings,
two crown princes, three grand duchesses and 32 royals and all their servants in his own palace. Other
attendees, including 215 princes and their families, government ministers and other state representatives,
lodged in the city.
The Congress lasted eight months, and business was conducted through informal discussion by means of 10
special committees which dealt with particular issues. There was no full session and the participants only met
together in June 1815 to sigh what was thought to be the final agreement. (In practice, the conference was to
reconvene after Waterloo in the same month.) In Vienna the participants enjoyed lavish entertainment: balls,
banquets, theatre, concerts, ballet, hunting parties and sleigh rides. The whole affair cost Francis the equivalent
of £7 million.
Hundred Days: the period from 20th March 1815, when Napoleon resumed rule after his escape from Elba,
until 22nd June 1815 when he signed his second abdication; it was, strictly speaking, a period of 94 days
inclusive, during which N tried to establish a new form of government through the Acte Additionel, but was also
preoccupied in defeating his old enemies.
, The Hundred Days
On March 11th, 1815, as the Congress was in session, news came that N had escaped from Elba and landed in
France. Two days later on March 13th, the major powers signed a declaration declaring Napoleon an outlaw and
offered Louis XVIII their assistance to resist any attempt by Napoleon to regain power. N had landed on the
south coast of France near Cannes on 1st March with under 1000 men and had already attracted a huge
following of workers and persons alike as he made his way northwards through France. The troops may well
have been duped into believing N’s falsehood that he had been summoned to Paris by the allies.
Marshall Ney and Napoleon: N’s old friend Marshall Ney, who had sworn an oath of allegiance to Louis XVIII,
had been despatched to arrest the former Emperor and had promised to ‘bring him back in an iron cage’/
However, the story is told that he was so overcome by seeing his former commander that he declared his
personal loyalty to him, saying to his soldiers, ‘Let him among you who wants to kill his Emperor, fire!’ At this, it
is said that his men cheered and brought out their hidden tricolore cockades. Whether this is the absolute truth
or not, Ney certainly joined N
N made a series of triumphal entries into towns and cities, acquiring ever-increasing forces. A rising against the
Bourbons broke out in Lyons before he even reached the city on 9 th March, and by the time the news reached
Vienna he had around 12,000 supporters. On 19th March, the royal army stationed outside Paris defected to
Bonaparte. Louis XVIII (whose vulnerability, despite his protestations of Divine Right was made all too clear)
left the capital and took refuge in Ghent.
The ease with which N was able to win support was also reflection on the failure of Louis XBI to win loyalty and
respect.
Army officers were disgruntled because they had been put on half pay; Louis XVIII had not purged
Bonapartists from his army and there were consequently mass desertions when the soldiers saw their
old commander again.
Taxes were high; promises to reduce taxes on tobacco and salt had not been honoured because of
French debts.
There was whole hostility to continuing conscription.
There were unfounded rumours that the biens nationaux would be seized and given back to the original
owners; peasants in particular were fearful of losing their land gains.
In Paris, Napoleon made many promises in a bid to regain his people’s trust. He promised ‘peace and spoke to
persuasively that the French press, which shortly before had been chastising ‘the scoundrel, Bonaparte’ began
referring to him as ‘our great and beloved Emperor’. He also put forward a new constitution by the
proclamation of an Acte Additionel. This was an attempt to appeal to the liberals. It promised free elections, a
free press and a constitutional monarchy with a two-chamber government. However, a plebiscite for the
constitution produced a very low turnout of 22%. Of these, 1.5 million were in favour and nearly 6000 were
against. Interestingly around 10,000 voters also took the opportunity to get their opinions on the Napoleonic
regime – justifying or qualifying their verdicts.
The Acte Additionel: Napoleon asked the liberal, previously exiled, Benjamin Constant to prepare the new
Acte Additionel. By it, legislative power lay with the Emperor and a two-chamber parliament made up of:
Peers: hereditary members appointed by the Emperor.
Representatives: 629 citizens elected for five-year terms by electoral colleges in the departments.
Ministers were to be responsible to parliament and there were guarantees of rights.
This arrangement lasted only a month until Napoleon was overthrown and abdicated for the second time.
Napoleon raised an army of 300,000 men with which to oppose the British, Dutch and Prussian forces of the
Fourth Coalition gathering on the northern frontier. Although this force could not match the joint members of
his allies, he hoped that they would be unable to cooperate, which was are quite likely given their
disagreements over the framing of the peace at Vienna, and that he would be able to pick off each in turn,
concluding separate peace deals.
Disagreements at Vienna: stemmed from the conflicting interest of the great powers – Russia, Prussia,
Austria, Britain and France. For example, Russia’s desire to take Poland and Prussia’s hope of acquiring Saxony
and the German-speaking Alsace and Lorraine aroused much suspicion among the other powers.
The first Peace of Paris
When the allied armies entered Paris in April 1814, the Senate invited Louis XVIII to take the throne on the
condition that he accepted a charter of 74 articles which had been drawn up by a committee comprising of
Louis' own advisers, Charles Talleyrand and other leading Napoleonic ministers.
The charter guaranteed:
A constitution with a two-chamber assembly: an elected Chamber of Deputies with a property-
owner franchise and a Chamber of Peers appointed by the King
Fair taxation (controlled by Chamber of Deputies)
Equality before the law
Freedom of the individual and careers open to talent
The abolition of conscription
A pardon to former revolutionaries
A relatively free press
Freedom of worship (although Catholicism was to be the state religion)
That the owners of the biens nationaux would keep their lands
Thus, shortly after N set off for Elba, Louis left his exile in Britain and arrived in Paris on 3rd May. The charters
made the King's return more palatable, but there were still have reservations about the return of a bourbon
king in the capital. Louis processed through the streets in 'traditional' royalist pomp and installed himself in the
Tuileries Palace. He insisted that a preamble be added to the published charter making it clear that the
freedoms it promised were his personal gift to his people – not their basic right. Indeed, he made clear his belief
in his own Divine Right and legitimacy of his position and refused to accept any responsibility to a new
assembly.
The allies (Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, and Portugal) presented Louis XVIII with the First Treaty
of Paris to sign on 30 May 1814. They agreed to withdraw from French soil and allow Frances to keep looted art
works. While facing no war in indemnity, the French had to accept the borders of 1792. This meant that France
would extend east of the Rhine; so even though Belgium, Holland, Italy and Germany would be lost, 500,000
more people would be included in France than in 1790.
To confirm the treaty and work out the details, delegations of both the allies and the French met at a Congress
in Vienna, in November 1814. The key delegates were the British Foreign Secretary, (and the Duke of
Wellington after Castlereagh’s returned to England in February 1815); the Austrian Foreign Minister; Tsar
Alexander and his Foreign Minister; Frederick William III of Prussia and his Chancellor; and the French Foreign
Minister, Talleyrand.
The Vienna Congress: the Congress was hosted by the Austrian Emperor Francis I. He entertained four kings,
two crown princes, three grand duchesses and 32 royals and all their servants in his own palace. Other
attendees, including 215 princes and their families, government ministers and other state representatives,
lodged in the city.
The Congress lasted eight months, and business was conducted through informal discussion by means of 10
special committees which dealt with particular issues. There was no full session and the participants only met
together in June 1815 to sigh what was thought to be the final agreement. (In practice, the conference was to
reconvene after Waterloo in the same month.) In Vienna the participants enjoyed lavish entertainment: balls,
banquets, theatre, concerts, ballet, hunting parties and sleigh rides. The whole affair cost Francis the equivalent
of £7 million.
Hundred Days: the period from 20th March 1815, when Napoleon resumed rule after his escape from Elba,
until 22nd June 1815 when he signed his second abdication; it was, strictly speaking, a period of 94 days
inclusive, during which N tried to establish a new form of government through the Acte Additionel, but was also
preoccupied in defeating his old enemies.
, The Hundred Days
On March 11th, 1815, as the Congress was in session, news came that N had escaped from Elba and landed in
France. Two days later on March 13th, the major powers signed a declaration declaring Napoleon an outlaw and
offered Louis XVIII their assistance to resist any attempt by Napoleon to regain power. N had landed on the
south coast of France near Cannes on 1st March with under 1000 men and had already attracted a huge
following of workers and persons alike as he made his way northwards through France. The troops may well
have been duped into believing N’s falsehood that he had been summoned to Paris by the allies.
Marshall Ney and Napoleon: N’s old friend Marshall Ney, who had sworn an oath of allegiance to Louis XVIII,
had been despatched to arrest the former Emperor and had promised to ‘bring him back in an iron cage’/
However, the story is told that he was so overcome by seeing his former commander that he declared his
personal loyalty to him, saying to his soldiers, ‘Let him among you who wants to kill his Emperor, fire!’ At this, it
is said that his men cheered and brought out their hidden tricolore cockades. Whether this is the absolute truth
or not, Ney certainly joined N
N made a series of triumphal entries into towns and cities, acquiring ever-increasing forces. A rising against the
Bourbons broke out in Lyons before he even reached the city on 9 th March, and by the time the news reached
Vienna he had around 12,000 supporters. On 19th March, the royal army stationed outside Paris defected to
Bonaparte. Louis XVIII (whose vulnerability, despite his protestations of Divine Right was made all too clear)
left the capital and took refuge in Ghent.
The ease with which N was able to win support was also reflection on the failure of Louis XBI to win loyalty and
respect.
Army officers were disgruntled because they had been put on half pay; Louis XVIII had not purged
Bonapartists from his army and there were consequently mass desertions when the soldiers saw their
old commander again.
Taxes were high; promises to reduce taxes on tobacco and salt had not been honoured because of
French debts.
There was whole hostility to continuing conscription.
There were unfounded rumours that the biens nationaux would be seized and given back to the original
owners; peasants in particular were fearful of losing their land gains.
In Paris, Napoleon made many promises in a bid to regain his people’s trust. He promised ‘peace and spoke to
persuasively that the French press, which shortly before had been chastising ‘the scoundrel, Bonaparte’ began
referring to him as ‘our great and beloved Emperor’. He also put forward a new constitution by the
proclamation of an Acte Additionel. This was an attempt to appeal to the liberals. It promised free elections, a
free press and a constitutional monarchy with a two-chamber government. However, a plebiscite for the
constitution produced a very low turnout of 22%. Of these, 1.5 million were in favour and nearly 6000 were
against. Interestingly around 10,000 voters also took the opportunity to get their opinions on the Napoleonic
regime – justifying or qualifying their verdicts.
The Acte Additionel: Napoleon asked the liberal, previously exiled, Benjamin Constant to prepare the new
Acte Additionel. By it, legislative power lay with the Emperor and a two-chamber parliament made up of:
Peers: hereditary members appointed by the Emperor.
Representatives: 629 citizens elected for five-year terms by electoral colleges in the departments.
Ministers were to be responsible to parliament and there were guarantees of rights.
This arrangement lasted only a month until Napoleon was overthrown and abdicated for the second time.
Napoleon raised an army of 300,000 men with which to oppose the British, Dutch and Prussian forces of the
Fourth Coalition gathering on the northern frontier. Although this force could not match the joint members of
his allies, he hoped that they would be unable to cooperate, which was are quite likely given their
disagreements over the framing of the peace at Vienna, and that he would be able to pick off each in turn,
concluding separate peace deals.
Disagreements at Vienna: stemmed from the conflicting interest of the great powers – Russia, Prussia,
Austria, Britain and France. For example, Russia’s desire to take Poland and Prussia’s hope of acquiring Saxony
and the German-speaking Alsace and Lorraine aroused much suspicion among the other powers.
