1815
Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba
Since crowning himself Emperor of the French in 1804, Napoleon had involved Europe in a series of endless wars: the Wars of the Third Coalition, the Fourth Coalition, Fifth Coalition, and Sixth Coalition; the Peninsular War; the invasion of Russia. Millions had died or been maimed because of his grandiose ambitions. Finally, he overplayed his hand and was driven back into France, at the mercy of the armies of his enemies. In 1814 he was obliged to step down with this statement:
The Allied Powers having declared that Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the restoration of peace in Europe, Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces, for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy, and that there is no personal sacrifice, even that of his life, which he is not ready to do in the interests of France.
Done in the palace of Fontainebleau, 11 April 1814.
Napoleon was exiled to the small island of Elba off the west coast of Italy. He retained his imperial title and busied himself with reforming and developing his tiny domain but ambition got the better of him again. On this date in 1815, he escaped the island and sailed to France to regain the throne on which the Bourbon dynasty once again sat. The forces sent to arrest him proclaimed their loyalty to him and he entered Paris in triumph on March 20, to resume, for one hundred days, his abandoned throne and to plunge Europe into war once more.