By then, the economy was paying a big cost for two decades of hostilities. Desertions increased; when British troops marched on Toulouse in 1814 they were welcomed and the defenders had to retreat. The novelist Henri Beyle, better known as Stendhal and an admirer of
the emperor, saw a nation ‘profoundly
ill at ease with itself’. Still, Napoleon
continued to pursue victory until his marshals turned against him as Allied forces entered France.
His one-time foreign minister,
Talleyrand, now Chairman of the
Senate, negotiated with the enemy
on his own account. Cornered,
Bonaparte abdicated on 6 April
1814. In return, he kept his imperial
title, was granted an annual
income of 2 million francs
and given sovereignty over
the Mediterranean island of Elba
for which he sailed at the end of
the month.
The Last Act at Waterloo
He staged his attempted come-back at the end of February 1815, when he escaped from Elba to reach Paris and hold a referendum that approved a constitution drawn up by the political theorist, Benjamin Constant, though the abstention rate was very high. Seeing a quick and decisive battlefield victory as the way to gain recognition from the Allies, Bonaparte launched his army across the north-eastern border to confront the British and Prussians.
The resulting battle at Waterloo on 18 June 1815, was, as Wellington remarked, ‘the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life', but defeat dethroned France as a great European power. The universe changed direction, Victor Hugo would judge. More to the point, France had had enough of its emperor. Even if he had not lost at Waterloo, Bonaparte’s days would have been numbered. His enemies were simply too strong, France too weakened and his political support too frayed.
Escaping from the rout of his army, Napoleon regained Paris and put on as brave a face as he could. ‘All is not lost,’ he declared while taking a bath in the Élysée Palace. But the Chamber of Deputies obliged him to abdicate, and he threw himself on the mercy of the British, ending up in his second exile on the bleak South Atlantic outpost of St Helena. The great Napoleonic adventure was over – but the debate about the man continued, and will continue as long as interest in France’s history remains.