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  • After the third and fourth Coalition wars,

  • Napoleon had decisively defeated all three

  • of his main rivals on the continent.

  • And he was now undoubtedly the master of Europe,

  • After the battle of Friedland, his enemy sued for peace

  • and they all met on a raft on a river for negotiations.

  • They had been fighting for the past four years

  • but now Napoleon and Alexander surprisingly got

  • along like a house on fire.

  • They laughed together.

  • They chatted long into the night.

  • They kissed, the two had a lot

  • of mutual respect and Napoleon even told his wife

  • that if Alexander were a woman,

  • I would make him my mistress,

  • kind of a weird thing to say to your wife, Napoleon.

  • In the end, they came to an amicable agreement.

  • Russia would lose barely any land.

  • And in return they'd joined France

  • against the UK and invade Sweden, win-win.

  • On the other hand, Frederick William III was sidelined

  • and Prussia lost an enormous amount

  • of territory to French client states.

  • Only the UK remained as the last major threat

  • to Napoleon and they continued to be a big thorn

  • in his side, constantly funding his enemies

  • and using their powerful Navy to wreak havoc

  • on French trade and overseas colonies.

  • But what could Napoleon do?

  • The British were safe across the channel.

  • Well, he said, "If I can't fight you with guns

  • I'll fight you with money."

  • Earlier 1806, Napoleon had announced the continental system.

  • A total shut off of the UK from continental trade.

  • No one in Europe was to trade with Britain

  • and Napoleon hope that by hitting their economy

  • he could force them to negotiate.

  • The British economy did take a hit

  • and they responded in their typical fashion

  • by going to Copenhagen and blowing a bunch of stuff up.

  • But in general, the British managed to stay afloat

  • by simply increasing their trade

  • with other parts of the world.

  • Many neutral countries found themselves stuck

  • between a rock and a hard place.

  • As the two European superpowers demanded

  • they ceased trade with the enemy.

  • Hey America, you better not trade with the French.

  • We also can burn down the white house.

  • What? This is going to wreck my economy.

  • I need to start saving money.

  • How the heck am I going to start saving money?

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  • Now, where were we?

  • Oh yeah, making peace with the Russians,

  • a continental blockade and blowing up Copenhagen.

  • Sick of being blown up

  • for doing almost nothing and under significant pressure

  • from Napoleon the Danish officially sided with France.

  • But Napoleon's blockade had the biggest effect

  • on continental Europe who were now cut off

  • from a major trading partner.

  • One that controlled the seas and held a rich growing empire.

  • And a lot of countries didn't fully comply.

  • Portugal, a traditional British ally, refuse to take part.

  • No problem.

  • Napoleon sent an army and invaded,

  • but it wasn't just Portugal.

  • Many of Napoleon's allies were also suspect.

  • Your majesty it seems that Spain

  • isn't properly enforcing your blockade.

  • Spain, why not?

  • Well, it appears, they've been trying to find a way out

  • of being your ally since they lost their fleet of Trafalgar.

  • What is with these people?

  • It's almost like everyone's only pretending to be my ally

  • because they know otherwise I'd beat them up.

  • Do I even have any real friends?

  • Are you my friend Pierre, say yes or I'll slap you.

  • Napoleon had come to mistrust his ally to the south.

  • And in particular Napoleon thought the Spanish

  • Royal family were an incompetent mess.

  • All right, Carlos, you've got to get it together.

  • How can I trust you, when all you do is go hunting?

  • Meanwhile, you let this ambitious nobody

  • who dislikes me run the country.

  • And you seem to be the only person

  • in the universe who doesn't realize he's blinking your wife.

  • And what's worse, who the heck are you?

  • I'm the king son.

  • I just over through my dad.

  • So actually now I'm the king.

  • You people are the biggest cluster of shameless

  • narcissistic idiots and all around

  • just the worst people I've ever met.

  • Here have a kid's choice award.

  • French forces, many having conveniently already

  • entered Spain to invade Portugal, occupied Spanish forts

  • and Napoleon invited the Spanish Royals

  • to France to help mediate their differences.

  • (audience cheering)

  • Alright, we're here with the Royal family of Spain.

  • So Fernando, you've been accused of plotting

  • against your father and vying for the Spanish throne.

  • What do you have to say for yourself?

  • Well, Napoleon...

  • That's great.

  • Well, I've got the test results right here,

  • Fernando in the case of the Spanish throne,

  • you are not the king.

  • (audience laughing)

  • And Carlos, you are also not the king.

  • (audience laughing)

  • I'm the King.

  • (audience cheering)

  • Actually Napoleon made his brother the king,

  • but for all intents and purposes, Spain was now his puppet.

  • He expected the Spanish people to be over the moon

  • at the removal of their unpopular Royal family.

  • Imagine his surprise when it turned out

  • that people don't really like to be subjugated

  • by a foreign power least of all one who had previously

  • attacked the Catholic church.

  • And so the people of Spain revolted.

  • Brutal fighting broke out as bands of armed Spaniards,

  • ambushed French troops across the kingdom

  • and vicious atrocities were committed on both sides.

  • In addition to fighting the regular Spanish

  • and Portuguese forces,

  • the French had to contend with tens of thousands

  • of guerrilla fighters throughout the Spanish countryside.

  • The British even took the opportunity to land an army led

  • by the future Duke of Wellington.

  • and now British forces were defeating French ones on land.

  • Napoleon briefly went to Spain in person,

  • and he did drive back the allied armies.

  • But before long, his attention was needed elsewhere.

  • The whole thing became a nightmare for the emperor.

  • He excelled at traditional warfare,

  • but this was something more akin to Napoleon's Vietnam.

  • The whole conflict would keep hundreds of thousands

  • of French soldiers and resources bogged down for years.

  • Napoleon was never able to break the will

  • the Spanish people

  • and this problem weakened his position in Europe.

  • Hey, Francis, want to go to war with Napoleon again?

  • I don't know Britain, he's already whomped me three times.

  • I'll give you a bazillion pounds.

  • Well, okay.

  • Seeing that Napoleon was now caught up in Spain

  • and with some British funding, Austria decided maybe,

  • just maybe this time they'd have a chance.

  • So did they?

  • No.

  • Napoleon defeated them in just four months?

  • It was quick, but it wasn't exactly easy.

  • The Austrians had been watching Napoleon

  • and learning and they had made some reforms,

  • while Napoleon after years of war

  • was increasingly having to rely

  • on inexperienced conscripts.

  • So this time the Austrians gave him a run for his money.

  • The Fifth Coalition saw some of the bloodiest battles

  • to date, including Napoleon's first major defeat.

  • And when he did finally defeat the Austrians

  • at the Battle of Wagram, it was a very costly victory.

  • Still Napoleon had yet again, kicked Francis' butt

  • and as part of the peace terms,

  • Austria lost a bunch more land.

  • not long after however Napoleon

  • and Francis came to another agreement.

  • It was decided that Napoleon would marry Francis'

  • young daughter, but wait,

  • doesn't Napoleon already have a wife.

  • Well, yes he did.

  • Josephine and Napoleon had become quite fond of one another.

  • But now that Napoleon was playing the Monarch game,

  • he needed a male heir

  • and his aging wife wasn't giving him one.

  • So it was out with the old and in with the new.

  • at least he didn't behead anyone.

  • For Austria, they felt that if Napoleon

  • was going to keep on winning,

  • they may as well be on his side.

  • So through the marriage,

  • Napoleon got an alliance with Austria

  • and a beautiful baby potato.

  • Between them failing blockade against Britain,

  • the ongoing war in Spain

  • and now his recent struggles in Austria,

  • cracks in Napoleon's invincibility were beginning to show.

  • But still, look at this map.

  • So blue, so beautiful, even Sweden after being pulverized

  • by Russia, over through their king.

  • And after an interesting chain of events,

  • ended up putting one of Napoleon's own marshals in charge.

  • Marshall Bernadotte took the name Karl Johan

  • and became crown prince of Sweden.

  • After agreeing to join Napoleon's continental system,

  • for now, Sweden was team France.

  • Napoleon was on top of the world.

  • He had won an endless string of victories.

  • All he had to do now was sit back and not make

  • any major miscalculations that could completely

  • turn the tide of war.

  • So let's see what comes next.

  • France's alliance with Russia was a terrifying prospect.

  • Together, the two could have been unstoppable,

  • but unfortunately, the alliance didn't last.

  • The Russians felt they weren't getting a fair deal.

  • Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw right on their doorstep,

  • was a bit of an insult.

  • And then their economy began to tank

  • because of Napoleon's British blockade.

  • And eventually they began to open up trade.

  • Your majesty, it seems Alexander is no longer abiding

  • by the continental system and has begun trading

  • with the British.

  • Alexander, but he kissed me.

  • He kissed you?

  • You wouldn't get it, Pierre.

  • No one would ever kiss you.

  • The security of Napoleon's empire depended on removing

  • the British threat and he wasn't happy

  • with Russia's backdoor shenanigans.

  • And so in 1812, Napoleon decided to go to war.

  • He gathered together the most massive army

  • Europe had ever seen,

  • made up of troops from every corner of his empire.

  • And he prepared to invade.

  • Okay, it looks like Napoleon's coming for us.

  • Generals, I need ideas.

  • We could stand and fight.

  • No that's stupid.

  • You're stupid.

  • We could run away.

  • You, you're a star.

  • You remember Napoleon's tactics relied

  • on astonishing speed to outmaneuver his enemy

  • and force a quick decisive battle.

  • Well I've got two words for you.

  • Scorched earth.

  • If his opponent retreated while scorching the earth,

  • his men couldn't live off the land.

  • And if his men couldn't live off the land,

  • he needed his supply trains.

  • And if he needed his supply trains,

  • he couldn't move quickly.

  • And if he couldn't move quickly,

  • he couldn't have maneuvers enemy.

  • And if he couldn't have maneuvers enemy,

  • I think you get the point.

  • Napoleon launched his invasion and hope for a quick battle.

  • But all he could do was try to catch the retreating Russians

  • while moving deeper and deeper into hostile territory.

  • As he went the horribly hot summer devastated his army.

  • His men died of heat, exhaustion and disease.

  • Supplies began to run out and his men began to starve.

  • Many deserted and still the Russians continued to retreat.

  • Numerous times, Napoleon considered turning back.

  • But that little voice in his head kept on telling him,

  • keep going just a little further.

  • And don't worry.

  • You're definitely average height for the time.

  • He nearly cut the Russians at Smolensk,

  • but it was his birthday.

  • So he had a party instead.

  • When he finally reached Moscow,

  • he predicted the Russians wouldn't be willing

  • to give up such a historic and holy city without a fight.

  • And he was right.

  • The Russians finally turned to face him,

  • for the single deadliest day of the Napoleonic wars.

  • The battle of Borodino, the Russians fought valiantly.

  • And as he got older, Napoleon's battle tactics

  • seemed to become a little less refined

  • and a little more, run straight at the enemy try not to die.

  • He launched a full frontal assault at the Russian defenses.

  • And as a result, the death toll was colossal.

  • The Russians eventually decided to

  • retreat leaving Moscow to fall into Napoleon's hands.

  • Quick, the French were taking the city.

  • Release all these prisoners immediately

  • and tell them to burn it to the ground.

  • Well, well, Jimmy, the arsonist,

  • you are not going to believe your luck.

  • Moscow went up in flames

  • and as Napoleon entered, it became very clear

  • his army wouldn't be able to stay there very long.

  • But he had just defeated the Russian army

  • and taken their most beloved city.

  • In his mind, he had won.

  • So he sent Tsar Alexander in St. Petersburg, a letter.

  • Your Imperial majesty, Napoleon requests, your surrender,

  • how shall I respond?

  • You shan't Dimitri.

  • Ever?

  • Ever.

  • But your majesty, it will be winter soon.

  • The French forces are stuck 500 miles

  • into Russian territory with dwindling supplies.

  • If we don't say anything, well then they'll all die.

  • After waiting response for about a month,

  • the first snow of winter began to fall

  • and Napoleon sensed the catastrophe

  • that was about to unfold.

  • He decided their only choice now was to get out.

  • And that's when it happened.

  • It got cold, stupid cold.

  • His glorious invasion had just become a race for survival.

  • As the Russians realized the French were fleeing

  • for their lives, they began to close in

  • on their supply line.

  • Men froze to death, their horses as well.

  • There was starvation and disease.

  • The injured and dying could only be left

  • by the side of the road,

  • as it was too slow to try to carry them.

  • And all along the way, the dreaded Russian Cossacks

  • stalked the bleeding French army

  • and every now and then swept in for a quick attack.

  • Napoleon fearing capture kept a vial

  • of poison around his neck.

  • At one point, the Russian armies nearly trapped him

  • against the Berezina river,

  • but a little Napoleon cleverness gave him

  • the old Jeffrey juke, tricking them into thinking

  • he was going south and then escaping across rapidly

  • built pontoon bridges to the north.

  • When the Russians realized where he was

  • and began to close in,

  • the French burned the bridges before everyone could cross.

  • Hundreds drowned and thousands were captured.

  • At this point,

  • Napoleon got wind of plots against him forming in Paris.

  • So he abandoned his men and went back to France.

  • The remaining French strugglers made it across the border.

  • It's been estimated over 600,000 men went into Russia,

  • less than a hundred thousand returned.

  • Napoleon was now in a very precarious situation.

  • His army had just been obliterated

  • and the other European leaders smelled blood.

  • Here was an opportunity to take advantage

  • of a weakened Napoleon, regain territory and influence

  • and liberate Europe from his dirty French paws.

  • And so they began to turn.

  • Prussia soon broke their Alliance and switched sides.

  • While Austria declared neutrality.

  • Even Sweden led by one of Napoleon's old marshals

  • joined the allies, partly due

  • to Napoleon's earlier invasion of Swedish Pomerania.

  • The war of the sixth Coalition had begun.

  • The Coalition forces had been reforming their armies

  • and they were now much better.

  • And the UK had also significantly amped up

  • its financial aid to its continental allies.

  • Their armies quickly advanced through Poland

  • and into Germany.

  • In Paris, Napoleon was understandably freaking out.

  • He needed to put together a new army fast

  • and he called up over a hundred thousand new conscripts,

  • mostly teenagers.

  • He also put his factories into overdrive and he was like,

  • you make more rifles, you build new cannons.

  • You make more horses.

  • I don't make horses.

  • Then who makes horses?

  • Horses make horses, explain how.

  • Well when a daddy horse and a mommy horse

  • love each other very much,

  • Yes. Go on.

  • Well then the daddy horse...

  • I'm sorry, Napoleon, you're 43,

  • I thought you'd know this stuff.

  • Don't touch me.

  • I'm going to be sick.

  • As it turned out Napoleon's lack of horses

  • would take the biggest toll on his army.

  • Since his tactics relied on speed,

  • maneuverability and destruction.

  • When he took the fight to the allies in 1813,

  • he did defeat them and sent them running,

  • but lacking cavalry,

  • he was unable to effectively pursue and destroy.

  • He needed horses.

  • For the allies, being defeated in battle

  • by a man whose army was now

  • full of an experienced conscripts was concerning.

  • So both we're like hold up time out.

  • The allies were somewhat cornered

  • and had Napoleon kept going,

  • it's possible he could have won.

  • But instead he agreed to a brief truce

  • with the Austrians mediating between the two sides.

  • When Austria demanded Napoleon make major concessions,

  • Napoleon told them to shove it.

  • Having had their terms rejected,

  • Austria felt now they were justified in saying,

  • well we tried and they joined the Coalition.

  • Okay everyone, look at us.

  • The boys are back together, but Napoleon is still dangerous.

  • So we need a plan.

  • Any ideas?

  • I know, no, forget it.

  • That's stupid.

  • Oh no, no, no, no.

  • I've got it.

  • When he approaches, we run away, genius.

  • He's a genius.

  • The plan was as follows, wherever Napoleon advanced,

  • whoever he advanced on, would avoid battle,

  • allowing the others to sweep in from the sides

  • and attack the French marshals guarding his flanks.

  • Essentially the plan was don't try to fight Napoleon.

  • And this plan worked tremendously.

  • The allies scored a number of victories

  • that saw Napoleon move back to the city of Leipzig,

  • where he would make one last major stand,

  • as the allied armies converged in on him from all sides.

  • The stage was set for the biggest

  • and bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic wars.

  • The Battle of Leipzig.

  • Almost half a million troops,

  • from over a dozen nations stretched across the battlefield.

  • The French found themselves fighting

  • on all sides for four days.

  • Against the Austrians, Prussians, Swedes and Russians.

  • It's no wonder this battle is also sometimes referred

  • to as the Battle of the Nations.

  • The French fought ferociously,

  • but ultimately were no match for the coordinated efforts

  • of the Coalition.

  • At one point in the midst of battle,

  • Saxon troops allied with the French had a team huddle.

  • And we're like, "Hey guys,

  • I'm pretty sure the French are losing, let's switch sides."

  • And so they did.

  • When it became clear that Napoleon couldn't win,

  • he ordered a retreat across the only bridge over the river.

  • The ally swarmed into the city

  • and desperate fighting raged in the streets.

  • Okay corporal, after everyone has crossed the river,

  • I need you to blow up the bridge.

  • Okay? Not before everyone's crossed, after, you got that?

  • Yes, Colonel I'm not five, I can comprehend time.

  • Good.

  • Wait, did he say before or after?

  • Well, fortune favors the bold, the bridge was blown early

  • and 30,000 French troops were stranded and captured.

  • A disaster.

  • And with that, the dominoes were beginning

  • to come crashing down on Napoleon.

  • In the south an army under the British Duke

  • of Wellington had been pushing the French

  • out of Spain for the past few years.

  • And we're now crossing into France.

  • Austrian armies had pushed into Italy,

  • while Napoleon's old flamboyant cavalry commander

  • Murat, who Napoleon had made King of Naples,

  • decided to switch sides.

  • German states many resentful after years

  • under Napoleon's thumb, turned against him.

  • And the Confederation of the Rhyne collapsed.

  • Bernadotte invaded Denmark

  • and they were forced to join the Coalition,

  • while the Netherlands were liberated.

  • You'd think Napoleon might've seen the writing on the wall

  • but he was Napoleon.

  • And so instead he prepared to keep fighting.

  • As attitudes in Paris were already beginning

  • to turn against him,

  • he called up more conscripts to defend the exhausted nation.

  • As for the allies,

  • they weren't sure exactly what they were aiming for here.

  • A few peace offers were floated that may have

  • let Napoleon keep his position.

  • But the British kept throwing around even more money.

  • And eventually they all agreed

  • that the ultimate aim was the deposition

  • of Napoleon entirely.

  • And so Napoleon embarked on one of his most famous campaigns

  • to defend the Homeland.

  • He was completely outnumbered,

  • but the allied armies had split up and spread out.

  • His army was so small that he could move at lightning speed.

  • And he used this to his advantage.

  • In the famous Six Days Campaign

  • against Prussian General Blücher,

  • he attacked from all directions

  • and defeated Blücher's forces four times,

  • only suffering a 10th of the casualties he inflicted.

  • Even with his back completely to the wall,

  • Napoleon was still Napoleon.

  • Then he turned south to take on Schwarzenberg Army

  • of Bohemia and enjoyed even more victories.

  • However, Napoleon's problem was

  • that he couldn't be everywhere at once

  • and wherever he wasn't,

  • the allies continued to push towards Paris.

  • He made one last ditch attempt at moving in

  • behind the enemy lines and cutting off their communications.

  • But Paris was in disarray

  • and the people were sick of war.

  • One ambitious and slightly treacherous politician,

  • sent the allied armies a letter basically saying,

  • "Hey guys come on in."

  • And so, they did, the city's defenders surrendered.

  • And as the allied leaders entered Paris,

  • the people cheered them as bringers of peace.

  • Paris had fallen.

  • Quick marshals, gather your men

  • were going to launch an assault on Paris.

  • Where am I Marshalls?

  • They all left and told me to give you this note.

  • Napoleon's marshals had realized what he hadn't.

  • It was over and they insisted all that was left now

  • for the good of France was for him to abdicate.

  • And without the support of his army, Napoleon had no choice.

  • He hoped his son could take his place,

  • but it was decided instead

  • to restore the old Bourbon monarchy.

  • Old King Louis XVI's brother,

  • would become the King of France.

  • It was almost like the French revolution

  • had never even happened, but what will we do with Napoleon?

  • We can't have a hyperactive 44 year old menace

  • running around reigniting revolutionary ideals

  • and plotting his return.

  • Well, why don't we send him, I don't know.

  • There, the location chosen for Napoleon's exile

  • was the small island of Elba.

  • Just off the coast of Italy.

  • Napoleon was to rule over the island

  • and even got to keep the title Emperor of Elba.

  • The allies must have been in stitches

  • when they came up with that.

  • When he learned what his fate was to be,

  • he drank the poison he'd been keeping around his neck,

  • but it had gone out of date.

  • So instead of a quick and painless death,

  • he got a painful stummy wormy instead.

  • Before he left France,

  • he addressed his oldest and closest guard one last time.

  • Making an emotional speech

  • that ended with him kissing their flag

  • and off, he went to exile.

  • The deal that was given to him was actually quite generous.

  • His family were given titles.

  • He was to receive a state pension from France

  • and he was able to receive many distinguished visitors,

  • all year to come and meet the famed emperor.

  • And he ruled over Elba well,

  • improving infrastructure and introducing many legal

  • and social reforms aimed at improving life on the island.

  • Hey, Napoleon, just coming in to check on he

  • ow it's all going.

  • Holy smokes.

  • But it wasn't all good, for one thing,

  • he learned of the death of his first wife Josephine

  • and was deeply saddened.

  • He was forbidden from seeing his son

  • and current wife and in Austria Emperor Francis

  • had ordered a local count to seduce her.

  • So she would forget about Napoleon.

  • Then the new King Louis XVIII,

  • refused to give Napoleon his agreed pension.

  • He was under constant threat of assassination

  • and there were even rumors that the allies were thinking

  • of relocating him somewhere, even more remote.

  • But the biggest problem was

  • that Napoleon was once the master of Europe,

  • he had lived at three really life of adventure,

  • fame, and glory.

  • Now, he found himself on a tiny island,

  • in the Mediterranean and he was bored.

  • Wouldn't it be nice if he could somehow return to France

  • and reclaim his throne?

  • Hey, Napoleon, want to go back

  • to France and reclaim your throne?

  • I would Pierre, but how?

  • Well I was thinking we could just take this boat.

  • Will that work?

  • Surprisingly yes.

  • Pierre remember when I told you no one would ever kiss you?

  • Yes sire.

  • Well, pucker up boyo!

  • Yay.

  • When Napoleon left Elba,

  • it wasn't really the daring escape you might think,

  • he basically had kind of a leaving ceremony,

  • hopped on a ship and sailed back to France.

  • He brought with him an army of about a thousand men

  • and he began his journey to Paris.

  • However, in Paris, there was now a new king.

  • And at first the people largely accepted him

  • because the last few years of war under Napoleon,

  • had brought immense death and economic suffering.

  • That's right.

  • The king is back baby, divine right to rule.

  • Don't worry, everyone.

  • I know the economy is caput,

  • but I and my courtiers will withdraw into this palace.

  • And we will definitely work as hard

  • as we can to fix everything.

  • (crowd cheering)

  • Oh yeah.

  • That's why we got rid of the king.

  • As the Bourbon monarchy began to look more

  • and more like a return to the past,

  • and the returning nobility seemed hell

  • bent on regaining, their lost privileges,

  • the people weren't too happy.

  • And so Napoleon hoped that his glorious return

  • would be met with jubilation.

  • In the end, the reaction was a little mixed,

  • but many were happy to see their old emperor.

  • Your majesty, it seems that Napoleon is back

  • in marching this way with a thousand men.

  • That guy, no problem.

  • I have hundreds of thousands of men.

  • Send them to arrest him.

  • Your majesty, it seems the thousands of men

  • we sent to arrest Napoleon have all joined his side.

  • Well, I'm off to Belgium.

  • If you ever need a king, again, be sure to let me know.

  • As Napoleon continued his journey,

  • the king had sent battalions of men to stop him,

  • but they largely comprised of Napoleon's old soldiers,

  • many unhappy with King Louis' military reforms.

  • And so when ordered to arrest him,

  • they simply couldn't do it.

  • In one famous incident, the troops began to cry out,

  • long live the emperor.

  • When Napoleon reached Paris with king Louie having fled,

  • he entered unopposed, to reclaim his throne.

  • Napoleon was back from the dead.

  • Okay, everyone.

  • Now that we finally gotten rid of that guy,

  • let's try to make sure something

  • like this can never happen again.

  • What's that doing there?

  • Hey, fellow Monarchs.

  • (Monarchs screaming)

  • This time Napoleon promised

  • he would be a mucho mucho good boy

  • and not start any wars.

  • But the allied leaders were having none of it.

  • They declared Napoleon an outlaw

  • and the illegitimate ruler of France.

  • Then they declared war, not on France,

  • but on Napoleon himself.

  • And when you have multiple empires declaring war

  • on you as an individual,

  • that's how you know you're a very naughty boy.

  • The allied powers began making plans

  • to combine their forces and once again, invade France.

  • The most immediate threat to Napoleon

  • were the British and Prussians

  • hanging out in nearby Belgium.

  • If Napoleon could knock them out quickly,

  • maybe he could force the allies to negotiate

  • and maybe he could hold on to his power.

  • Together, the two armies to the north outnumbered him.

  • So he made a plan to divide them

  • and take them on separately.

  • Historians debate how much of a chance Napoleon had here

  • but this same strategy of dividing

  • and conquering had worked for him multiple times.

  • He marched north with 125,000 men and took on the allies

  • in a number of initial engagements, defeating the Prussians

  • before turning to take on the British.

  • But to Napoleon's dismay, miscommunication and hesitation

  • among his marshals allowed both enemy armies to retreat

  • and crucially rather than fleeing east,

  • the Prussians moved north where they could remain

  • in contact with the British.

  • Napoleon sent a force to hold off the Prussians

  • as he moved in on the British,

  • now holding a defensive position at Waterloo.

  • Prussian General Blücher sent word

  • that he would come to Wellington's aid,

  • if he could just hold off the French for long enough.

  • Napoleon had to defeat Wellington,

  • before the Prussian army could arrive in force

  • and it was close.

  • The British held the high ground and a number

  • of key defensive buildings across the battlefield.

  • After waiting some hours he didn't have,

  • for the ground to dry,

  • Napoleon sent men to assault the Hougoumont farm.

  • But the British German Garrison there held up.

  • French Marshall Nape launched a number

  • of miscalculated cavalry charges at the British lines.

  • The British formed defensive square formations,

  • and they tore the French cavalry to shreds.

  • Well, one guy chose the absolute worst time to

  • go on a bender.

  • The French did manage to capture a farm house directly

  • in front of the British line.

  • And from there they artillery hell fire

  • on the British square formations.

  • And as Napoleon sent his Imperial Guard in to

  • finish the British off,

  • a nervous Wellington knew his lines were at breaking point.

  • But the Prussians had earlier begun to arrive.

  • And now they were arriving in large numbers

  • and after the British held out

  • and sent the French Imperial Guard running,

  • the French lines panicked,

  • fearing they had been encircled and they began to flee.

  • The Battle of Waterloo was an allied victory.

  • And with that Napoleon's hopes

  • of returning to glory were vanquished.

  • He knew he was defeated.

  • He went to the British and said,

  • can I please have a house near London?

  • And the British replied?

  • No, instead to make sure Napoleon

  • was put away once and for all,

  • they sent him to one of the most isolated

  • and remote places they could think of.

  • A tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean, Saint Helena.

  • Here a deeply isolated and depressed Emperor Napoleon,

  • would live the remaining years of his life.

  • His house was a wooden bungalow,

  • not exactly on par with the Tuileries palace.

  • Much to his frustration, his captains

  • referred to him as General,

  • rather than calling him emperor.

  • His mail was censored.

  • His visitors were vetted.

  • There was almost no way he could escape such

  • an isolated island, but just to be sure he was guarded

  • by 2000 British soldiers

  • and two ships that circled the island 24 hours a day.

  • He had once been the most powerful man alive,

  • and images of the victorious Napoleon,

  • depict a strong leader, penned firmly in jacket.

  • Depictions of Napoleon on St. Helena,

  • show a deshoveled old man penned, firmly in pants.

  • He had lost everything.

  • And by the way, he was only 46.

  • So maybe it's about time you,

  • you know what you're doing all right kid.

  • Napoleon fought one lat battle while on the island.

  • The battle for his reputation.

  • He spent hours writing his memoirs,

  • espousing his achievements, recording his greatness

  • and turning himself and his story into a phenomenal legend.

  • And in this battle, he certainly succeeded.

  • His mark on history can not be denied.

  • After his defeat, the European monarchs had got

  • to work restoring Europe to its traditional balance

  • and reasserting their dominance.

  • But after Napoleon had spread the influence

  • of the French revolution,

  • these returning monarchs would have a difficult

  • time regaining their absolute control.

  • France returned to the rule of the Bourbons,

  • but it would go on to stage another revolution.

  • And then another one.

  • Reaction to Napoleon's rule in places like Germany

  • and Italy propelled forward the ideas

  • and feelings of modern unity and nationalism

  • and his Napoleonic code still remains the basis

  • of law in various modern countries.

  • The modern world owes a lot to Napoleon's legacy.

  • He remains statistically possibly the greatest

  • military general in history

  • and his revolutionary military tactics

  • changed the face of warfare.

  • He was the last truly great leader to both lead his armies

  • and battle while retaining total political control

  • over a vast empire.

  • There's still hope for Joe Biden,

  • but the men remained somewhat of an enigma.

  • And we still aren't sure exactly what to make of him.

  • In some regards, was he the champion

  • of the French revolution, spreading equality

  • wherever he went or did betray it,

  • by making himself an absolute Monarch

  • and restricting certain liberties?

  • Was he an ambitious and aggressive conqueror hell bent

  • on bringing Europe to its knees?

  • Or was he simply defending himself

  • against an aggressive Europe hell bent

  • on reducing his power?

  • Some things will continue to be debated.

  • Napoleon died at the age of 51,

  • officially of stomach cancer,

  • but some believe he may have been poisoned.

  • The British buried him in a tin coffin inside

  • a mahogany coffin inside a lead coffin

  • inside another mahogany coffin.

  • I guess this time they wanted to make sure

  • he stayed where they put him.

  • In 1840 his remains were moved to Paris where they now rest

  • under the Dome of Les Invalides.

  • The man from humble origins, with huge ambition,

  • ruthless determination, immaculate skill on the battlefield

  • and a hefty dose of luck who was determined to make his mark

  • on history did just that.

  • "There is no immortality," he said,

  • "but the memory that is left in the minds of men."

  • And in that sense, Napoleon knew he would live on forever.

  • Oh and to reiterate,

  • he was definitely average height for the time.

  • (upbeat music)

- [Narrator] This video was made possible by Honey.

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