Student Question
Why was Napoleon exiled?
Quick answer:
Napoleon was exiled because he represented a threat to the political stability of Europe. In a relatively short space of time, the Corsican general had turned the continent upside-down, changing its political nature from top to bottom. His numerous enemies in Europe knew that so long as Napoleon was at large, he would continue to pose a serious threat to any attempt on their part to revert to how things used to be.
It wasn't enough for Napoleon's numerous enemies in Europe that he be defeated; he needed to be physically removed from the continent he'd wanted so much to change once and for all. To his enemies, Napoleon had wrought havoc right across Europe, upending long-standing political arrangements—most notably the Holy Roman Empire—and placing puppet rulers, including members of his own family, on ancient thrones.
Most of Europe's ruling elite were deeply hostile to Napoleon and wanted nothing more than a return to how things used to be in the days before the Corsican general took the reins of power in France and embarked upon his ambitious campaign to remold Europe in his image.
So when Napoleon was forced to abdicate under the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1814, he was sent into exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba. Although the surrounding waters were regularly patrolled by French and British ships, security...
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was remarkably lax, and Napoleon, after less than ten months of exile on Elba, was able to escape and begin his last hurrah, the so-called Hundred Days.
As the name suggests, Napoleon's big comeback didn't last for very long. After he was defeated at Waterloo, he was sent into exile again. Only this time he was banished to a much more remote location, the island of Saint Helena in the Southern Atlantic ocean. Napoleon would remain there until his death six years later.
When was Napoleon exiled?
For a while, Napoleon had been the undisputed master of Europe. The French Emperor and general had seemed unstoppable as he blazed a trail of chaos across Europe, upending old political systems, building new ones, and racking up a series of ever more impressive military victories. To his enemies, of whom there were many, it seemed that there was something vaguely demonic about Napoleon that accounted for his remarkable success.
As well as his undoubted military genius, Napoleon also benefitted from divisions among his enemies. However, once his enemies managed to put aside their differences, life was always going to get much tougher for the Corsican general.
And so it proved. After a series of bitter battles, the forces of the Sixth Coalition entered Paris. Napoleon abdicated as Emperor of France, and under the terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, he was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba on April 11, 1814. It seemed that Europe had finally solved its Napoleon problem once and for all.
But that was not to be the case. Napoleon escaped from his island captivity and began the military campaign known as The Hundred Days. Once again, however, he was thwarted by his European enemies, who formed themselves into the Seventh Coalition and defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This time, the Allies weren't taking any chances, and Napoleon was exiled to the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he would spend the remaining six years of his life.