The 100 Days

23.4: The 100 Days

23.4.1: Napoleon’s Exile and Return to Power

Napoleon’s exile from Elba and his short-lived return to power were fueled by the popular support of the French, including the military, who were disappointed with the royal decisions to reverse the results of the French Revolution and disfranchise the majority.

Learning Objective

Explain how Napoleon was able to raise support after his escape

Key Points

  • According to the 1814 Treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon was stripped of his powers as ruler of the French Empire and all of Napoleon’s successors and family members were prohibited from attaining power in France. The treaty also established the island of Elba where Napoleon was exiled as a separate principality to be ruled by Napoleon.
  • Louis XVIII’s restoration to the throne in 1814 was linked to a new written constitution, the Charter of 1814, which guaranteed a bicameral legislature with a hereditary/appointive Chamber of Peers and an elected Chamber of Deputies. Their role was consultative (except on taxation), as only the King had the power to propose or sanction laws and appoint or recall ministers.
  • The franchise was now limited to men with considerable property holdings and just 1% of people could vote. Many of the legal, administrative, and economic reforms of the revolutionary period were left intact, but after a first sentimental flush of popularity, Louis’ gestures towards reversing the results of the French Revolution quickly lost him support among the disenfranchised majority.
  • Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815. Two days later, he landed on the French mainland at Golfe-Juan and started heading north. He was enthusiastically welcomed by the military despite their earlier allegiance to the king. The unpopular Louis XVIII fled to Belgium after realizing he had little political support. Napoleon arrived in Paris on March 20 and governed for a period now called the Hundred Days.
  • In an attempt to strengthen the trust of a public disappointed by the restored royal authority, Napoleon took up a constitutional reform that resulted in the Charter of 1815, signed on April 22, 1815, and prepared by Benjamin Constant. The document extensively amended (virtually replacing) the previous Napoleonic Constitutions. It was liberal in spirit and gave the French people rights which were previously unknown to them.
  • The Charter was adopted by a plebiscite on June 1, 1815, by an immense majority of the five million voters, although many eligible voters abstained. The rapid fall of Napoleon prevented it from being fully applied.

Key Terms

Charter of 1814
An 1814 constitution granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after his restoration. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he was restored. The document was presented as a gift from the King to the people, not as a constituent act of the people.
Charter of 1815
A constitution signed on April 22, 1815 and prepared by Benjamin Constant at the request of Napoleon I when he returned from exile on Elba. More correctly known as the “Additional Act to the Constitutions of the Empire,” the document extensively amended (virtually replacing) the previous Napoleonic Constitutions (Constitution of the Year VIII, Constitution of the Year X, and Constitution of the Year XII).
Hundred Days
The period between Napoleon’s return from exile on the island of Elba to Paris on March 20, 1815, and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on July 8, 1815 (a period of 111 days). This period saw the War of the Seventh Coalition and includes the Waterloo Campaign, the Neapolitan War, and several minor campaigns.
Treaty of Fontainebleau of 1814
An agreement established in Fontainebleau, France, on April 11, 1814, between Napoleon I and representatives from the Austrian Empire, Russia, and Prussia.  With this treaty, the allies ended Napoleon’s rule as emperor of France and sent him into exile on Elba.

 

Napoleon’s Exile to Elba

The Treaty of Fontainebleau was an agreement established in 1814 between Napoleon I and representatives from the Austrian Empire, Russia, and Prussia, containing 21 articles. Based on the most significant terms of the accord, Napoleon was stripped of his powers as ruler of the French Empire, but both Napoleon and Marie-Louise of Austria were permitted to preserve their respective titles as emperor and empress. All Napoleon’s successors and family members were prohibited from attaining power in France. The treaty also established the island of Elba, where Napoleon was exiled, as a separate principality to be ruled by Napoleon. Elba’s sovereignty and flag were guaranteed recognition by foreign powers in the accord, but only France was allowed to assimilate the island.

The British position was that the French nation was in a state of rebellion and Napoleon Bonaparte was a usurper. Lord Castlereagh explained that he would not sign on behalf of the king of the United Kingdom because to do so would recognize the legitimacy of Napoleon as emperor of the French and that to exile him to an island over which he had sovereignty only a short distance from France and Italy, both of which had strong Jacobin factions, could easily lead to further conflict.

British etching from 1814 in celebration of Napoleon’s exile to Elba at the close of the War of the Sixth Coalition. The print shows Napoleon seated backwards on a donkey on the road “to Elba” from Fontainebleau. He holds a broken sword in one hand and the donkey’s tail in the other while two drummers follow him playing a farewell march.

The First Bourbon Restoration

Louis XVIII’s restoration to the throne in 1814 was effected largely through the support of Napoleon’s former foreign minister, Talleyrand, who convinced the victorious Allied Powers of the desirability of a Bourbon restoration. Louis granted a written constitution, the Charter of 1814, which guaranteed a bicameral legislature with a hereditary/appointive Chamber of Peers and an elected Chamber of Deputies. Its role was consultative (except on taxation), as only the King had the power to propose or sanction laws and appoint or recall ministers. The franchise was limited to men with considerable property holdings, so just 1% of the population could vote. Many of the legal, administrative, and economic reforms of the revolutionary period were left intact, including the Napoleonic Code.

After a first sentimental flush of popularity, Louis’ gestures towards reversing the results of the French Revolution quickly lost him support among the disenfranchised majority. Symbolic acts such as the replacement of the tricolore with the white flag, the titling of Louis as the “XVIII” (as successor to Louis XVII, who never ruled) and as “King of France” rather than “King of the French,” as well as the monarchy’s recognition of the anniversaries of the deaths of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, were significant in the eyes of the increasingly disappointed public. A more tangible source of antagonism was the pressure applied to possessors of biens nationaux (properties confiscated during the French Revolution from the Catholic Church, the monarchy, émigrés, and suspected counter-revolutionaries)by the Catholic Church and returning émigrés attempting to repossess their former lands. Other groups bearing ill sentiment towards Louis included the army, non-Catholics, and workers hit by a post-war slump and British imports. The growing anti-royal sentiments would soon help Napoleon to gather popular support for his own restoration.

 

Escape from Elba

Separated from his wife and son who had returned to Austria, cut off from the allowance guaranteed to him by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, and aware of rumors he was about to be banished to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815. Two days later, he landed on the French mainland at Golfe-Juan and started heading north. The 5th Regiment was sent to intercept him and made contact just south of Grenoble. Napoleon approached the regiment alone, dismounted his horse and, when he was within gunshot range, shouted to the soldiers, “Here I am. Kill your Emperor, if you wish.” The soldiers quickly responded with, “Vive L’Empereur!” Marshal Michel Ney, who had pledged loyalty to the restored Bourbon king, Louis XVIII, affectionately kissed his former emperor and forgot his oath of allegiance to the Bourbon monarch. The two then marched together towards Paris with a growing army. The unpopular Louis XVIII fled to Belgium after realizing he had little political support. On March 13, the powers at the Congress of Vienna declared Napoleon an outlaw.Napoleon arrived in Paris on 20 March and governed for a period now called the Hundred Days.

 

Constitutional Reform: The Charter of 1815

In an attempt to strengthen the trust of the public disappointed by the restored royal authority, Napoleon took up a constitutional reform, which resulted in the Charter of 1815, signed on April 22, 1815 and prepared by Benjamin Constant. More correctly known as the “Additional Act to the Constitutions of the Empire” the document extensively amended (virtually replacing) the previous Napoleonic Constitutions (Constitution of the Year VIII, Constitution of the Year X, and Constitution of the Year XII). The Additional Act reframed the Napoleonic constitution into something more along the lines of the Bourbon Restoration Charter of 1814 of Louis XVIII, while otherwise ignoring the Bourbon charter’s existence. It was very liberal in spirit and gave the French people rights which were previously unknown to them, such as the right to elect the mayor in communes with population of less than 5,000. Napoleon treated it as a mere continuation of the previous constitutions and it therefore took the form of an ordinary legislative act “additional to the constitutions of the Empire.”

The legislative power was to be exercised by the Emperor together with the Parliament, composed of two chambers: the Chamber of Peers, hereditary members appointed by the Emperor, and the Chamber of Representatives, 629 citizens elected for five-year terms by electoral colleges in the individual départments. The ministers were to be responsible to the Parliament for their actions. The liberalization dealt both with the guarantees of rights and the end of censorship. In the end, the two chambers held sessions for only one month, from June 3 to July 7, 1815. The Charter was adopted by a plebiscite on June 1, 1815, by an immense majority of the five million voters, although a great many eligible voters abstained. The rapid fall of Napoleon prevented it from being fully applied.

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