Why did napoleon abdicate

Napoleon is one of those historical characters who has become much larger than life since his death. In the nearly years since he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and subsequently exiled to St.

Helena, his accomplishments have apparently outweighed his destruction of thousands of lives in popular thought. He had taken power in France in , in the aftermath of the Revolution and Reign of Terror. His reign brought many needed reforms, such as ending feudal practices and enforcing religious toleration. He is particularly honored for his adoption of the new system of national law, the Code Napoleon. After his death in St Helena, he was buried on the island.

He made for Rochefort on the west coast of France, where he hoped a frigate would transport him across the Atlantic. On the morning of Saturday 15 July, Napoleon boarded the Bellerophon and surrendered to its captain, Frederick Maitland. As the ship set off for England, the British government had already decided what to do with their exalted prisoner. Napoleon clearly hoped that he would be given an estate in Britain on which he could live out his days.

But there was little chance that the British government would allow such a dangerous figure to live in their midst. They needed somewhere secure — and a very long way away. And in the remote Atlantic island of St Helena, they had the very place. How wrong he was about the last bit. On 24 July, the Bellerophon anchored off Torbay.

The news that Napoleon was on board leaked out, and soon the old warship was surrounded by hundreds of small craft, all packed with passengers desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of the fallen emperor.

A similar scene was played out two days later when she anchored off Plymouth, and it was there that a furious Napoleon learned of his final destination. More had wanted to go with him, but the British were wary of creating a Napoleonic colony on the island and so restricted the number.

A talented general and loyal servant of Napoleon. His wife became hysterical and tried to jump overboard when she heard that she and her husband were accompanying the fallen emperor to St Helena.

He stayed with Napoleon until his death and was a member of the expedition sent to recover his remains in A general and diplomat. Napoleon chose to attack, which entailed a preemptive strike at his enemies before they were fully assembled and able to cooperate. By destroying some of the major Coalition armies, Napoleon believed he would then be able to bring the governments of the Seventh Coalition to the peace table to discuss peace for France with Napoleon remaining in power.

If peace were rejected by the allies despite preemptive military success he might have achieved using the offensive military option available to him, then the war would continue and he could turn his attention to defeating the rest of the Coalition armies. First, he had learned that the British and Prussian armies were widely dispersed and might be defeated in detail. Also, the British troops in Belgium were largely second-line troops as most of the veterans of the Peninsular War had been sent to America to fight the War of Also, a French victory might trigger a friendly revolution in French-speaking Belgium.

On June 17, Napoleon left Grouchy with the right wing of the French army to pursue the Prussians while he took the reserves and command of the left wing of the army to pursue Wellington towards Brussels. On the night of June 17, the Anglo-allied army prepared for battle on a gentle escarpment about a mile 1. The next day this proved the decisive battle of the campaign.

With the right wing of the army, Grouchy engaged a Prussian rearguard at the simultaneous Battle of Wavre. Although he won a tactical victory, his failure to prevent the Prussian march to Waterloo meant that his actions contributed to the French defeat at Waterloo.

The next day June 19 he left Wavre and started a long retreat back to Paris. The battle also ended the First French Empire and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and a time of relative peace. After the defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon chose not to remain with the army and attempt to rally it, but returned to Paris to try to secure political support for further action. He failed to do it and was forced to abdicate. Initially, the remnants of the French left wing and the reserves that were routed at Waterloo were commanded by Marshal Soult while Grouchy kept command of the left wing.

However, on June 25, Soult was relieved of his command by the Provisional Government and replaced by Grouchy, who in turn was placed under the command of Marshal Davout.

On June 29, the near approach of the Prussians, who had orders to seize Napoleon dead or alive, caused him to retire westwards toward Rochefort in an attempt to eventually reach the United States.

The presence of blockading Royal Navy warships under Vice Admiral Henry Hotham with orders to prevent his escape forestalled this plan. When the French Provisional Government realized that the French army under Marshal Davout was unable to defend Paris, they authorized delegates to accept capitulation terms that led to the Convention of St. The two Coalition armies entered Paris on July 7.

Napoleon was exiled to the island of Saint Helena where he died in May The pirates, led by Takos Arvanitakis, were experienced in kidnapping and had used it as a lucrative source of income for many years. However, their capture of Lord In perhaps the most famous civilian-military confrontation in the history of the United States, President Harry S.

The firing of MacArthur set off a brief uproar among the American public, but On April 11, , the American Third Army liberates the Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany, a camp that will be judged second only to Auschwitz in the horrors it imposed on its prisoners.

As American forces closed in on the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Space Exploration. Sign Up.