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Napoleon I's first abdication was the moment in French history when the Emperor of the French was forced to step down in April 1814 after his defeat by the Allies during the invasion of France.
Military and political context[edit]
"The invasion of Russia was the beginning of the end. After being defeated in Germany in 1813 and in France in 1814, the Emperor abdicated, to the great relief of the population, weary of such a burdensome glory."[1]
Disagreeing with Czar Alexander I about Poland's future, Napoleon decided to march against the Russian Empire in 1812. La Grande Armée (The Great Army) crossed the Neman in June and marched towards Moscow. The Sixth Coalition was formed in response to the French aggression, between the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the Prussian Kingdom and the Austrian Empire. Defeated by his opponents and by "General", Napoleon was constrained to withdraw, leading to the disastrous retreat from Russia, which left the French army decimated. Capitalising on their advantage, the Allies imposed the German campaign upon Napoleon in 1813. Victorious after winning the key "Battle of the Nations" (Battle of Leipzig, October 1813) and at a numerical advantage, the Coalition’s armies started marching towards France on 15 December.
In the South, on the Iberian front, the situation was not better. The Battle of the Pyrenees, launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Soult, ended on 2 August when the French army withdrew from the region and the British troops, under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, entered France. The invasion of France had started.
In spite of a series of victories (Battles of Champaubert, Montmirail, etc.) that Napoleon won with an army of young, inexperienced recruits (the "Marie-Louise"), Paris — which the Empress Marie-Louise had left the day before — fell on 31 March after a day-long battle, while the Emperor was awaiting the Allies in Fontainebleau. Napoleon then charged his Grand Squire Caulaincourt to negotiate with Czar Alexander I, at Talleyrand’s house in Rue Saint-Florentin. Caulaincourt negotiated Napoleon's abdication in favour of the king of Rome, the Emperor’s 3-year-old son, Napoleon II. The Czar was not opposed to this, but when he learned about the defection of Marshal Marmont, who was commanding the vanguard in Essonne, he imposed an unconditional abdication on the militarily vulnerable Napoleon.
Treaties and legislative acts leading to Napoleon’s dismissal (3-12 April 1814)[edit]
After Napoleon's military defeat, the marshals forced the Emperor to abdicate. In order to prevent a civil war, Napoleon gave in after trying without success to rally them and was dismissed by the Senate on 3 April. Napoleon wanted to cede the imperial crown to his son, but the allied forces demanded an unconditional abdication, which he signed on 6 April 1814.
The Senate then called upon Louis-Stanislas-Xavier de Bourbon to become "King of the French, according to the will of the nation", under the name Louis XVIII. Napoleon was sent into exile.
As the Czar promised an exile outside of France in a place worthy of the Emperor, he suggested to Caulaincourt that Napoleon be exiled to CorsicaCorsica, but he refused on the grounds that Corsica was part of the nation of France, and asked for SardiniaSardinia instead. Alexander I refused in turn, the island belonging to the House of Savoy(Kingdom of Sardinia). The czar chose Elba, which belonged to Tuscany. The treaty of Fontainebleau of 11 April 1814 stated that Napoleon would retain his title of Emperor and receive the island of Elba and full sovereignty over it, along with 2 million francs from the French government.
Suicide attempt[edit]
During the night between 12 and 13 April, thinking that the Allies would separate him from Empress Marie-Louise and his son, the king of Rome, Napoleon took a dose of "Condorcet's poison", which should have been sufficient to kill him. The poison was long thought to be a mix of opium and water, since doctor Hillemand thought the poisoning was an accidental absorption of a too large quantity of opium in order to soothe abdominal pain, but it would seem this was not the case. Napoleon's symptoms and the nature of his seizure did not correspond to opium poisoning. He chose that method to commit suicide because he thought that in death his corpse would be exposed to the French people, and thus wanted his guards to recognize the calm face they had always known in battle. The fact is that Napoleon asked Armand de Caulaincourt to take down his final words.
As Napoleon's nausea became more and more violent, he started to vomit. When Dr Alexandre-Urbain Yvan arrived, the Emperor asked for another dose of poison, but the doctor refused, saying he was not an assassin and would never do anything against his conscience. The doctor then himself had a nervous breakdown, fled on horseback, and was never seen again. Napoleon's agony continued, Caulaincourt left the room to ask the valet and the rest of the servants to remain silent. Napoleon called Caulaincourt back into the room and told him he would rather die than sign the treaty. The effects of the poison then wore off and the Emperor was able to resume his activities.
Departure from France[edit]
The farewell at Fontainebleau[edit]
"Soldiers of the Old Guard, I'm parting ways with you. For the past twenty years I have constantly seen you marching down the paths of honor and glory. In these last moments as in the times of our prosperity you have been nothing but examples of bravery and loyalty. With men like you our cause was not lost, but the war was endless: had there been a civil war, France would have become more sorrowful. I have, therefore, placed our homeland's interests above our own: I am leaving. You my friends keep serving France. I wanted nothing but our country's happiness; it will always be my dearest wish! Do not pity me: if I agreed to outlive myself it is for our country's glory. I want to write the great things that we achieved together! Goodbye my children! I would like to hold you all in my arms; let me salute your flag. Goodbye once again my dear companions. May this last kiss stay in your hearts!” - Baron Fain, Manuscrit de 1814
On 20 April the "Farewell at Fontainebleau" took place.
The road towards exile[edit]
Before embarking for the island of Elba, Bonaparte's convoy from Fontainebleau to the Mediterranean Sea went through Provençal villages where he was booed. He had to disguise himself after almost being lynched in Orgon.[2] On 18 April 1814, Count Pierre Dupont de l'Etang, Minister of War to King Louis XVIII, sent a letter to General Jean-Baptiste Dalesme, governor of the island of Elba on behalf of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Elisa Bonaparte, saying that he must relinquish the territory to Napoleon. On 29 April 1814, Bonaparte left Saint-Raphaël on board of the English frigate Undaunted, reaching Portoferraio on 3 May 1814 and disembarking the next day. On that same day, King Louis XVIII arrived in Paris.
The Empress Marie-Louise initially wanted to join her husband, but after meeting her father, Emperor Francis I of Austria, she decided to go to Vienna with her son.
Military and Political consequences[edit]
Political consequences[edit]
Military consequences[edit]
After his reinstatement, Louis VIII decided to reorganise the army. He confirmed General Dupont as Minister of War. The royal ordinance of 6 May 1814 established a War Council tasked with reorganising the army. It was composed of Marshals Ney, Augereau and Macdonald, Minister Dupont, and Generals Compans and Curials for the infantry, Latour-Maubourd and Préval for the cavalry, Sorbier and Evain for the artillery, the engineer Léry, Kellerman for the guard, authorizing officer Marchand and muster inspector Félix.
The ordinance of 12 May reorganised the infantry, reducing the number of infantry line regiments to 90 and the number of light infantry regiments to 15.
Exile on the island of Elba and return to France (Hundred days)[edit]
An "operetta kingdom"[edit]
"For three hundred days, from May 1814 to February 1815, Napoleon reigned over 'an operetta kingdom' where the Allies had exiled him after the campaign in France. There, on the island of Elba, the man who had dominated and ruled Europe behaved like a sovereign, carefully regulating the government of a few square kilometers and a few thousand subjects. And he was very bored, so much so that, quickly, he planned to escape and return to France. Napoleon accelerated his plans when it appeared that his former enemies and the government of Louis XVIII did not respect their commitments (in particular financial) towards him, and that they began to speak of his transfer to a small island in the South Atlantic, Saint Helena. The emperor therefore decided to set out again to conquer his kingdom, with which he resumed contact for a hundred new days." - Guy Godlewski, Napoléon à l'île d'Elbe - 300 jours d'exil
On 1 March 1815, the former emperor landed at Vallauris at the head of the small troop that had followed him into exile. This started what History would remember as the "Hundred Days" which led to the formation of the seventh Coalition that finally defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. That defeat led him to his final abdication and his exile to the island of Saint Helena, where he died in May 1821.