The time between Napoleon’s return from exile on the Island of Elba on March 20, 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on July 8, 1815 remains one of the most dramatic periods in modern European history. The continent had just ended nearly 25 years of continuous war and upheaval and the Congress of Vienna was convened to restore order in the aftermath. The members of the Seventh Coalition – the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, and Prussia – vowed to end Napoleon’s rule. This aim reached a climax one Sunday morning in June 1815 near Waterloo, Belgium when they dealt Napoleon a resounding defeat and the era of the Napoleonic Wars came to an abrupt close. Join us in Paris and Brussels as we explore both the man and the epoch bearing his name which most surely changed the course of the modern world.
