|
Napoleon abdicated on 22 June in favour of his son Napoleon II. On 24 June the Provisional Government proclaimed the fact to the French nation and the world. After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, instead of remaining in the field with his shattered army Napoleon returned to Paris in the hope of retaining political support for his position as Emperor of the French. With his political base secured he hoped to then be able to continue the war. It was not to be, instead the members of the two chambers created a Provisional Government and demanded that Napoleon abdicate. Napoleon toyed with the idea of a ''coup d'état'' similar to Eighteenth of Brumaire but decided against it. On 25 June Napoleon left Paris for the final time and after staying at the Palace of Malmaison left for the coast hoping to reach the United States of America. In the mean time the Provisional Government deposed his son and tried to negotiate a conditional surrender with the Coalition powers. They failed to obtain any significant concessions from the Coalition who insisted on a military surrender and the restoration of Louis XVIII. Napoleon realising he could not hope to evade the Royal Navy surrendered to Captain Maitland, upon placing himself under his protection on board HMS ''Bellerophon''. The British Government refused to allow Napoleon to set foot in England and arranged for his exile to the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena where he died in 1821. ==Napoleon returned to Paris in the afternoon of 21 June== With the defeat at Waterloo the enthralment of the French people that had gripped them since Napoleons return from exile rapidly dissipated, and they were forced to face the reality of several Coalition armies advancing into France up to the gates of Paris. Had Napoleon flown towards the nearest French Corps of Rapp (''Armée du Rhin'') and Lecourbe (''Armée du Jura''), to lead them, along with all the reserves that he could possibly collect together, including the regimental depots, the ''Gensd' armerie'' and even ''Douancric'', against the flank of the victorious armies of the Duke of Wellington and Prince Blücher, during their hazardous advance upon the capital; and, in combination with forces of Marshals Soult and Grouchy, to effect their separation, perhaps their destruction? His commanders in the field pressed him to remain and continue to command in the field, but Napoleon calculated that if he did so then the home front might capitulate to the Coalition and undermine any successes he had in the field. Napoleon had said after his defeat in Russia that his presence in Paris confounded the sceptics. For the sword by which the Empire had been raised and held in subjection, by which Europe itself had been mesmerised and all but conquered, had fallen powerless from his grasp. In him were no longer centred the might and the will of imperial France. These had been delegated through the constitution, to the organs of the nation, the elected representatives of the people. He no longer possessed, in his own person, the administrative and the executive; but was under the control of that power which, as before observed, when he left Paris to join the army, he dreaded more than the enemy he was going to confront — the power of French public opinion legitimately expressed. If he had so keenly felt its force before his downfall on the battle field; how great, nay, how hopeless, must have appeared to him the task of endeavouring to soothe its excitement, and to obtain its sanction to renewed sacrifices, when suddenly appearing in Paris on the afternoon of 21 June — but one short week from the time of his assuming the command of his Army — himself to announce the disastrous result of his enterprise. The imperialists in the capital, who had indulged in the most extravagant hopes engendered by the news of the victory at Ligny, had scarcely manifested their exultation when sinister rumours began to spread of some sudden reverses which had befallen the cause of Napoleon; and presently all doubts and suspense were removed by the unexpected appearance of the Emperor Napoleon himself, which gave rise to the most gloomy anticipations. Napoleon arrived in Paris only two hours after the news of the defeat at Waterloo had arrive. His arrival temporally cause those who were conspiring against him to cease their machinations. Napoleon's calculated return to Paris may have been a political mistake, because it was seen by some as a desertion of his men an even an act of cowardice. If he had remained in the field the nation might have rallied and perhaps fortune might have favoured him. Had the Chambers received the news of his defeat at Waterloo and moved to depose him, then their decrees might not have been followed by a nation still in arms. Mary an English woman living in France, who arrived in Paris shortly after the defeat make the point that the French were now becoming used to regime changes (they had had two instances in 15 months) and that these seemed to affect most of the populace no more than a change of government in contemporary early 19th century Britain—not only had most of the civil servants kept their jobs, even some ministers had survived the regime changes—so many were disinclined to risk their lives or property for any regime. This was very different from the perceptions of the general populace that had accompanied the first revolution and, after the terror, Napoleon's subsequent usurpation. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Abdication of Napoleon, 1815」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|