WEBVTT 1 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:24.879 Hello, and welcome to Western SIV, episode five hundred and eleven, 2 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.839 one hundred days. So this time our story begins in 3 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:33.240 February in eighteen fifteen. We can imagine a restless wind 4 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:37.520 whipping across the Italian coast and the rattling the shutters 5 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.439 of a villa that had now served as Napoleon bonaparts 6 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:43.960 quite gilded prison on the island of Elba. He would 7 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.479 have risen from his bed, already in his uniform, ready 8 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:51.119 to go. His empire was gone, his dynasty destroyed. But 9 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:55.359 in his mind the game wasn't over, because that day 10 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:59.439 he got up with purpose. For months he had walked 11 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.719 around Elba, listening to the rumors carried by smugglers and 12 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:06.799 ship captains that Louis the eighteenth that restored Bourbon king 13 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:10.200 in Paris was quickly losing the confidence of veterans. The 14 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:15.040 French economy was in tatters. Taxes returned old aristocrats, the 15 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:19.239 exiles of the revolution stepped back into offices with cold condescension. 16 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:25.599 In the army, that is, Napoleon's old army felt neglected, underappreciated, 17 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:30.640 and in some cases, openly threatened. Napoleon read these signs 18 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:33.560 very much like a gambler watching the turn of a card, 19 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:37.439 and there it was. On that day, February twenty sixth, 20 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:42.319 eighteen fifteen, with scarcely one thousand men and a handful 21 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.840 of cannons, he boarded a ship and slipped past the 22 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:50.799 British patrols. The coastline of Elba shrank before him, and 23 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:54.840 he turned to his officers, declaring, France will welcome us. 24 00:01:55.439 --> 00:02:00.560 The eagle will rise again. On March the first, Napoleon 25 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:04.599 came ashore and a small beach near antibase, the southern 26 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:08.479 sun glittering off of his uniform. There was no crowd, 27 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:13.960 of course, but Napoleon didn't need crowds. He only needed 28 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:18.400 time and the power of his reputation, and so he 29 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:22.560 set off north through the Alps, following a route reminiscent 30 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:27.599 of his Italian campaign. Every village he passed seemed to 31 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:31.800 stir from its winter slumber. All around him, veterans came 32 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:36.080 out of taverns to stare at him, peasants whispered his name, 33 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:39.840 and by the time he reached Grenoble, royal troops finally 34 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.639 intercepted him. And this is where what is really a 35 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:47.719 historical account starts to turn more and more into a legend. 36 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:52.879 Napoleon stepped forward alone, taking off his coat to reveal 37 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:58.840 his familiar gray uniform beneath. Raising his voice, he walked 38 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:04.439 out calmly to the soldiers assembled to arrest him, and announced, soldiers, 39 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:08.280 if there is one among you who wishes to kill 40 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:14.199 his emperor, here I am. Then instead of a shot, 41 00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:17.159 there came a shout, and then another, and then another, 42 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:21.120 and then another. Within moments, the line of bayonets melted away, 43 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:26.400 the tricolar cockades came out of hiding, and soldiers rushed forward, 44 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:32.199 chanting Vive l Empire. The march to Paris became little 45 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:36.400 more than a triumphal procession. Louis the eighteenth fled the capitol, 46 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:40.759 and on the twentieth of March, Napoleon entered the Tulery's palace, 47 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:45.400 once again, greeted by jubilant crowds. For the first and 48 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:50.560 last time, he reclaimed his throne without firing a single shot. 49 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:55.960 But of course, this jubilation couldn't hide a painful truth. 50 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:03.080 Europe was never going to accept a resurrected Napoleon. Inside Paris, 51 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:09.080 Napoleon found a nation transformed. The revolution had matured constitutional 52 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:13.719 ideas were stronger. His own authoritarian rule was no longer 53 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:18.560 universally desired. Many wanted liberty just as much as they 54 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:24.000 wanted glory. The chambers the new legislative bodies watched him warily, 55 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:28.319 and so the man who once dissolved assemblies with a 56 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:33.040 scowl now tried a slightly different approach. He issued the 57 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:38.720 Acte Adicional, a kind of modified constitution designed to protect 58 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:43.519 civil liberties, a free press, and a more representative government. 59 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.199 It was an attempt at reconciliation, a new face on 60 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:53.279 an old regime. But of course politics was never Napoleon's 61 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:59.040 strongest battlefield, and diplomacy was even worse. At the Congress 62 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:01.879 of Vienna, which had already begun in an effort to 63 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:05.920 try to put Europe back together after the Napoleonic Wars, 64 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:09.120 the crown heads of Europe reacted to the news of 65 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:13.879 Napoleon's escaped with little more than stunned horror. One Austrian 66 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:19.000 diplomat scribbled, the devil is loosened from his chain. On 67 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:23.959 March the thirteenth, the Continental powers declared Napoleon outlaw, quote 68 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.120 beyond the pale of civil and social relations, and mobilized 69 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:34.680 to massive armies, Wellington's Anglo Dutch and Prussian forces in 70 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:39.199 the north. Meanwhile, the Austrians and Russians began to mass 71 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:44.120 to strike from the east. Now Napoleon understood the numbers. 72 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:48.279 He knew he needed speed, surprise, and a decisive blow 73 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:52.680 before all of these coalitions could unite. He needed one 74 00:05:52.759 --> 00:06:00.759 more campaign, one last campaign, to secure his throne. So, 75 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.800 despite the fact that defense would seem like the order 76 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.160 of the day, on June the twelfth, Napoleon left Paris 77 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:11.800 for the northern frontier. There the roads teemed with veterans 78 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:16.120 eager to fight for him again. Some kissed the tricolor flags, 79 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:21.879 others marched barefoot just to rejoin the Eagles. Regardless, the 80 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:26.199 plan was brilliant in its simplicity. He would strike Belgium 81 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:29.720 before the allies fully assembled. He would crush the Duke 82 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.920 of Wellington, in charge of the Anglo Dutch army, and 83 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:36.759 then he would crush Bluecher, in charge of the Prussian forces. 84 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:39.759 If he could hit them separately, then he could force 85 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:44.600 a negotiating peace. Now, the opening moves went extremely well 86 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:50.600 for Napoleon. At Legner on June sixteenth, he smashed Blucher's Prussians, 87 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:54.480 throwing the old marshal from his horse. Yet the Prussians 88 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:58.600 this time didn't shatter. They retreated in good order and 89 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:02.720 went all the way back. Now, meanwhile at Coutre Brass, 90 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:06.399 Marshal Ney failed to crush Wellington when he had the chance, 91 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:10.319 and so the threads of Napoleon's strategy started to loosen. 92 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:15.079 Wellington withdrew to a ridge south of a quiet village 93 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:20.120 called Waterloo, a place whose name would echo across the centuries. 94 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:26.360 The morning of June eighteenth, eighteen fifteen would open like 95 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:29.759 a curtain of gray wool. There were thick clouds everywhere, 96 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:32.240 which will play a factor in the battle to come 97 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:36.680 over Belgian's rolling farmland. And the previous night there had 98 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:41.480 been a thunderous storm. Mud clung to everything, It swallowed 99 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:45.480 up sound, and it slowed movement. It was, in every 100 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:49.000 sense of the idea, a terrible place to fight the 101 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.800 battle that would decide the fate of Europe. The Battle 102 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:56.920 of Waterloo would be absolutely decisive and would change the 103 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:01.279 course of European history. And it was a I'll tell 104 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:04.160 you now. The Duke of Wellington was in charge of 105 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:08.040 one branch of the Coalition army, the Anglo Dutch. He 106 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:12.160 had chosen his ground with a veteran's eye. His troops, 107 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:17.920 British regulars, Hanovians, Dutch, Belgians and contingents from Buenziic and 108 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:21.639 Nassau were positioned along a ridge behind the village of 109 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:26.279 moss Ejean, their line gently sloping downward toward the French. 110 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:30.720 The crest of the ridge concealed thousands of his soldiers, 111 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:35.519 allowing him to shift men. Unseen. To his right laid 112 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:40.120 the fortified farmhouse of Huguemont, a brick walled estate surrounded 113 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:46.279 by orchards and totally impenetrable. To the center, the hamlet 114 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.799 of Laja Saint, its stone walls sturdy but vulnerable, and 115 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:53.840 on the far left a cluster of buildings around Papalette 116 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:59.879 anchored the line. Wellington inspected his troops, and, with characteristic reserve, 117 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:05.080 he was calm, almost detached, his words carrying weight. He 118 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:09.440 declared boldly, hard pounding gentlemen, Let's see who pounds hardest. 119 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:13.679 Across the valley. Napoleon surveyed the Allied line from his horse. 120 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:17.720 He had been now in countless battles, but this one 121 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:22.720 was meant to be his redemption, but the Prussians had 122 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.120 been battered days before, and Napoleon believed they were too 123 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:29.960 far off to intervene. He was wrong, but his whole 124 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:34.039 strategy was simple, crush Wellington and force Europe back to 125 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:38.480 the negotiating table. As the rain began finally to taper off, 126 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.440 the Emperor gave the signal at eleven thirty am. The 127 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:47.159 French guns roared in Unison, more than two hundred cannons 128 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:51.320 firing across the valley. The earth convulsed with each blast. 129 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.960 French skirmishers pushed forward through the wheat fields, their dark 130 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:59.519 uniforms flickering through the smoke. But the mud had changed 131 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:05.000 the battle. Cannonballs buried themselves instead of ricocheting. Artillery carriages sank, 132 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.559 and the attack that Napoleon had planned to begin at 133 00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:12.000 dawn was now starting late, which gave the Prussians precious 134 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:18.000 hours to get there. Feet splashing mud glistening with moisture, 135 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:22.840 the French assault surged towards Huguemont. What began as a 136 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:27.399 diversion quickly turned into an inferno of close quartered combat. 137 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:31.639 French columns shouting viva. The empros charged the orchard walls 138 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:37.039 British guardsmen fired down from windows and loopholes. Inside the courtyard, 139 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:40.080 Flames licked the timber as French shells ignited, roofs and 140 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:44.240 hay burst into flames. An infamous door in the north 141 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:48.519 gate became quite literally a funnel of death. French troops 142 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:50.639 burst it open for an instant, only to be pushed 143 00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:53.240 back by a handful of guardsmen who slammed it again. 144 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:56.679 Captain Alexander MacDonald later wrote that it was the closest 145 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:01.639 run thing he had ever seen. Napoleon wanted to Wellington instead. 146 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.360 Huge Mahm became a magnet that drew in thousands of 147 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:07.000 French soldiers and would grind them down over the next 148 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:10.240 nine hours. But it was the center where the true 149 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:14.320 action was and where the battle was decided. The core 150 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:18.919 of Napoleon's plan depended on cracking Wellington's line. This task 151 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:23.000 fell to the d'arlan de first Corpse. Tens of thousands 152 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:28.080 of infantry advancing in massive column formations. They marched uphill 153 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:31.639 through wheat slick with rain bayonets glimmering in the light. 154 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:36.919 The site would have been I'm sure terrifying. Four colossal formations, 155 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:40.480 each looking like a moving solid block of steel from 156 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:43.840 the distance. Now, Wellington gave the order to wait until 157 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:47.480 they were close, and then unleashed musket volleys from behind 158 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.799 the ridge. The Allied troops rose from the verse slope 159 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:54.000 as if the earth itself opened, and the two lines 160 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:59.279 met in a thunderish clash. British volleys, French drums, shouts, screams, 161 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:04.559 and all along the lines the terrible, terrible sounds of death. Then, 162 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:07.720 just from behind a hedge, the British heavy Cavalry, the 163 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:11.559 Scot's Gray and Household Brigade charged. Their horses churned the 164 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:16.080 mud as they slammed into the French columns, scattering men 165 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.320 like leaves before them. A sergeant would later claim that 166 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.279 he seized a French eagle in the melee, a symbol 167 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:26.679 of enormous pride. But the cavalry, carried away by momentum, 168 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:31.879 pressed too far. French lancers counterattacked, cutting many down. The 169 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:35.840 field once again dissolved into chaos, a swirling struggle with 170 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:39.399 no clear winner. We get through it all, at least 171 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:45.480 for the moment, Wellington's line held. By mid afternoon, at 172 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:48.399 the crossroads in the center of his line, Wellington's defense 173 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:52.480 depended on the German riflemen stationed at Las Sen. For hours, 174 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.840 they held off repeated French assaults, but around three pm 175 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.519 they started to run out of ammunition. They sent an 176 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:03.799 urgent message for resupply, but it never came. French infantrymen 177 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:07.720 stormed the farm and captured it after brutal fighting. The 178 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.679 tri color rose above the walls, and suddenly Napoleon could 179 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:16.000 push up his artillery and rein it down directly upon 180 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:21.399 the British center. The French guns opened a murderous barrage. 181 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:26.919 Shells burst all along the field, and units broke and fled. 182 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:30.879 Officers died trying to rally their men. Wellington seemed like 183 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:35.000 he was everywhere at once, according to reports, stealing himself. 184 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:37.960 But one question continued to haunt him as he called 185 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:43.200 out to his men, where were the Prussians now. Marshall 186 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:46.039 Nay at this point, about four o'clock in the afternoon, 187 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:49.440 believed that the battle was one that the Allies were retreating, 188 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.960 but he mistook the movement of wounded men and supply 189 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:58.320 wagons as a withdrawal without infantry support. Without Napoleon's explicit orders, 190 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:02.840 he committed nearly the entire French cavalry to a massive assault. 191 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:08.039 This time more than nine thousand horsemens thundered across the valley. 192 00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:11.519 It was one of the most spectacular cavalry charges in 193 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:16.519 European history, the earth shaking under hoofs, but Wellington's men 194 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:20.759 didn't break. They formed tight infantry squares, bristling with bayonets 195 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:25.519 on all sides. Cavalry cannot break those squares, can only 196 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:31.639 terrify the men. Wave after wave of French horsemen encircled 197 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:35.879 the squares, firing pistols, slashing with swords, but there were 198 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:39.639 no gaps. The squares held firm, and by the time 199 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:43.080 that the charge ended, Ney had lost thousands of riders 200 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:48.200 and he had gained literally nothing. The battle was tipping 201 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:51.600 away from Napoleon, and he knew it. And then from 202 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:53.919 the woods to the east of the French line came 203 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:58.000 a sound like distant thunder. It was early evening and 204 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:03.639 the Prussians had arrived. Marshall Blucher, bruised and battered from Ligner, 205 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:08.639 had kept his promise, writing I will come, By God, 206 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:12.919 I shall come. His lead units slammed in a Napoleon's 207 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:17.559 right flank. The French Young Guard counterattack streets turned into 208 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:22.600 killing zones. Houses burned and men fought with bayonets and doorways. 209 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:26.879 Napoleon was now forced to divert more troops, including parts 210 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:29.720 of his old elite Guard, away from the main battlefield 211 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:33.960 to stave off the Prussians. Every man sent east week 212 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:37.679 at his central line against Wellington and Wellington he knew it. 213 00:15:38.679 --> 00:15:42.799 At seven point thirty pm he tried his last gasp. 214 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:46.240 With dusk approaching and the battle slipping from his grasp, 215 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:51.159 Napoleon made one final gamble. He ordered his most feared soldiers, 216 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:56.600 the Imperial Guard, to advance uphill and smash Wellington's exhausted center. 217 00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:01.360 They marched in perfect order, drums beating, eagles held high. 218 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.080 Even the Allied troops felt a chill at the sight. 219 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:09.200 These were veterans of all of Napoleon's greatest battles, Osterlis, 220 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:14.840 Jenner Wagram, men who had never experienced a defeat. The 221 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:19.519 French Guard quickly crested over the hill and British troops 222 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:22.840 rose to meet them. Volley after volley tore into the 223 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.919 French ranks, but they continued to come forward. At last, 224 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.720 the British guards, hidden until the last moment, stood up 225 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:33.159 and unleashed a devastating blast of musket fire. The Royal 226 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:39.559 guards staggered, officers fell, and then the impossible happened. Napoleon's 227 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:46.720 vaunted Imperial Guard simply melted away. A shout went up 228 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:51.600 from across the line, lead Richieu, the Guard is retreating. 229 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.960 Panic spread through the French army, and the retreat became 230 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:04.680 a route. As darkness crept over the battlefield, Bluecher's Prussians 231 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:09.240 pressed the fleeing French. Napoleon tried to rally his men, 232 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:13.079 but even he could not stop the collapse. His last 233 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:18.640 army had well and truly resolved. Wellington and Blucher met 234 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:22.519 late that night among the wounded and dead. They shook hands, 235 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:27.599 knowing that the war was over. Napoleon's empire, revived for 236 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:31.880 a mere one hundred days, was now shattered beyond repair. 237 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:36.319 The fields of Waterloo were now strewn with nearly fifty 238 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:40.599 thousand casualties, men who had marched from every corner of 239 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.920 Europe to decide the continent's fate in a single day. 240 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.400 The mud, the smoke, the shouts of triumph and agony 241 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:52.799 all faded into history, But of course, the consequences of 242 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:58.799 the battle that did not. Napoleon now fled to Paris, 243 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.400 hoping to rally political support, but the chambers refused him, 244 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:07.839 even old loyalists since the end. He abdicated, this time 245 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.279 for good on June the twenty second, in favor of 246 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:14.680 his young son, the King of Rome, though this title 247 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.880 meant nothing in a new Europe. He attempted to escape 248 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:21.599 to America, but he found British ports waiting at every turn, 249 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:26.880 and so he surrendered to the captain of the HMS Belrathon, declaring, 250 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:31.240 I come, like the Mystoicles, to throw myselves on the 251 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:36.599 hospitality of the British people. Hospitality isn't what he got. 252 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:41.559 The British exiled Napoleon, this time to the distant Saint Helena, 253 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:46.279 a lonely volcanic rock in the South Atlantic. This time 254 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:51.359 there would be no armies, no councils, just wind, ocean 255 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:58.240 and the memory of things that could never come back. Here, 256 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:02.519 the man who had once ruled continent dictated his memoirs 257 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:08.119 and rewrote his legend. The one hundred Days was not 258 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:12.039 merely a return to power. It was a test of 259 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:16.720 everything that Napoleon had become and what France had become 260 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:21.559 without him. It revealed a nation torn between glory and 261 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:27.319 constitutional promise, between the past and the future. For Europe, 262 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:30.960 this was the final reckoning. The Napoleonic era had been 263 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:35.200 a storm. Waterloo allowed the victors to build decades of 264 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:41.079 relative peace, But Napoleon, even defeated, refused to be forgotten. 265 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:44.359 His legend grew in exile, and the one hundred Days 266 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:50.119 would become a story of audacity, charisma, and frankly impossible ambition. 267 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:55.319 And for the victors, now was the opportunity to carve 268 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:59.160 up Europe in the way that they sought fit. Next 269 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:03.000 week turn to the beginning of that story, to the 270 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:08.079 Council of Vienna, and to a new nineteenth century Europe, 271 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:34.640 dawning and ready to truly enter modernity.