An Important Day in World History

It was 197 years ago today February 26th in 1815 that Napoleon escaped from his isalnd exile on Elba to began his second great conquest. I would argue that Napoleons success and failure changed the face of Europe and indeed the world for ever. What do you think?

hmmm... I am not sure. the 1815 campaign I would say had significantly less impact than the 1800-1814 period

Originally Posted by underworld965

hmmm... I am not sure. the 1815 campaign I would say had significantly less impact than the 1800-1814 period

Well, they knew what he was capable of after that, so of course the Seventh Coalition tried everything in their power to put him down while they still could. Had he had more time I'm sure we'd all be speaking French right now..

I doubt it....with none of the allies dropping out of the coalition he was as good as finished. The austrians and russians both had the largest armies, and they hadn't even arrived yet. I think the best napoleon could hope for at that point was just ruling france in peace.

I'd say that it isn't as important as when Napoleon was named Consul. Napoleon was doomed to fail once he set foot on France after his exhile.

Yes it seems strnge that he was willing to risk losing his relative freedom on Elba for the vague possibility that he could convince the Allies to leave him in charge of France whether by military or diplomatic means. The 1814 campaign must have convinced him that the odds were stacked against success but he tried and lost . He should have gone down fighting with his men instead of surrendering to his oldest enemy and living out an ignominious few years captive on St Helena.But then hindsight is a great advantage for us armchair wannabe historians.