Waterloo :: essays research papers

BATTLE OF WATERLOO The Battle of Waterloo was the terminal and decisive action of the napic Wars, thewars that effectively ended french control of the European continent and brought aboutdrastic changes in the political boundaries and the indicant balance of Europe. Fought on June18, 1815, near Waterloo, in modern Belgium, the battle ranks as a great turning point inEuropean history. by and by raising France to a position of preeminence in Europe , Napoleon met defeat in1814 by a coalition of major powers, notably Prussia, Russia, Britain, and Austria. Napoleonwas then deposed and exiled to the island of Elba1, and Louis XVIII was made ruler ofFrance. In family line 1814, the Congress of Vienna convened to discuss problems arisingfrom the defeat of France. On February 26, 1815 while the congress was in session,Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France. Many veterans of his formercampaigns flocked to his side, and on allowanceland 20, 1815, he again took the throne. T heCongress of Vienna, alarmed by Napoleons return to power, had reacted promptly to thecrisis. On March 17 Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia each agreed to brook150,000 troops to an impingement pinch to be assembled in Belgium near the French border.2 Amajority of other nations present at the congress as well pledged troops for the invasion ofFrance, which was to be launched on July 1, 1815.Napoleon, learning of the invasion plan, was determined to good time the allies on theirown ground in the beginning their army could form. He mobilized an army of 360,000 trainedsoldiers within two months. He deployed half of these troops within France as a securityforce and sent the remainder into attack units. On June 14, 1815, Napoleon, moving withspeed and secrecy, reached the Franco-Belgian border with 124,000 of his troops. Another56,000 men were left behind in supporting positions.On June 15, 1815, Napoleon moved across the border of Belgium, and his suddenarrival caught th e consort command unprepared. Napoleon ordered his left wing, underMarshal Michel Ney, to attack a brigade of Wellingtons cavalry at Quatre-Bras, north ofCharleroi. He side by side(p) ordered the right wing, to move eastward against a Prussian brigadestationed in the town of Gilly. By nightfall on that first daytime of fighting, Napoleons armiesheld the strategic advantage. The emperor had succeeded in placing his army between theadvance elements of the armies of some(prenominal) Wellington and Blcher, and his main force was in aposition to shake either left against the Anglo-Dutch army or right to fight the Prussian