Waterloo :: essays research papers

BATTLE OF WATERLOO The Battle of Waterloo was the final and decisive action of the Napoleonic Wars, thewars that effectively ended French domination of the europiuman continent and brought aboutdrastic changes in the political boundaries and the power balance of Europe. Fought on June18, 1815, near Waterloo, in recent Belgium, the battle ranks as a great turning point inEuropean history.After 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 kinfolk 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 March 20, 1815, he again took the throne. TheCongress of Vie nna, alarmed by Napoleons return to power, had reacted quickly to thecrisis. On March 17 Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia each agreed to contribute150,000 troops to an impingement force to be assembled in Belgium near the French border.2 Amajority of other nations present at the congress also pledged troops for the usurpation ofFrance, which was to be launched on July 1, 1815.Napoleon, learning of the invasion plan, was determined to attack the allies on theirown ground before their army could form. He mobilized an army of 360,000 ingenioussoldiers 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, piteous withspeed and secrecy, reached the Franco-Belgian border with 124,000 of his troops. Another56,000 men were left-hand(a) behind in supporting positions.On June 15, 1815, Napoleon moved across the border of Belgium, and his sudden arrival caught the allied command unprepared. Napoleon ordered his left wing, underMarshal Michel Ney, to attack a brigade of Wellingtons cavalry at Quatre-Bras, north ofCharleroi. He bordering ordered the right wing, to move eastward against a Prussian brigadestationed in the town of Gilly. By nightfall on that first day of fighting, Napoleons armiesheld the strategical advantage. The emperor had succeeded in placing his army between theadvance elements of the armies of both Wellington and Blcher, and his main force was in aposition to swing either left against the Anglo-Dutch army or right to fight the Prussian