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| French government of 1815 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Government of 1815 |
| Country | Kingdom of France |
| Caption | Return of Napoleon in 1815 |
| Period | 1815 |
French government of 1815
The episode in 1815 marks the return of Napoleon from Elba and the short-lived political authority that confronted the Bourbon Restoration, the Congress of Vienna, the Seventh Coalition, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the states of Prussia, Austria, and Russia. It culminated in military engagements such as the Battle of Waterloo and diplomatic settlements like the Treaty of Paris (1815), intersecting with figures including Louis XVIII, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duke of Wellington, and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The government’s brief life involved domestic measures, military mobilization, and negotiations with envoys from Holland, Spain, and Sardinia.
In 1814 the abdication of Napoleon and the entry of allied armies into Paris led to the restoration of Louis XVIII under the terms negotiated at the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814), while plenipotentiaries at the Congress of Vienna including Klemens von Metternich, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, and Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh shaped a European order opposed by Bonapartist revival. After exile to Elba, Napoleon maintained contacts with Bonapartist supporters such as Joseph Fouché, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, and veterans of the Grande Armée, enabling his return that challenged ministers like Charles X’s allies and reformers around Élie, duc Decazes. Royalist consolidation backed by Ultras and émigrés met resistance from nationalists linked to former generals like Marshal Ney and politicians from the Council of Five Hundred era.
The episode known as the Hundred Days began with Napoleon’s landing at Golfe-Juan and advance through Provence, triggering defections among officials like Marshal Ney and reorganizations of the state apparatus inherited from the First French Empire. The restored regime proclaimed a Constitution of the Year XIII-style modification in the Acte additionnel aux Constitutions de l'Empire, while negotiating with deputies from the Chambre des députés and generals such as Michel Ney, Joachim Murat, and Grouchy. The period saw emergency proclamations, decrees from the Ministry of Police influenced by Joseph Fouché, and interactions with émigré networks, revitalized Bonapartist clubs, and civic groups in Paris and the Provinces.
Executive leadership centered on Napoleon alongside ministers drawn from imperial and revolutionary cohorts including Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt, Hugues-Bernard Maret, Géraud Duroc, and Félix Bannier; military command involved marshals like Nicolas-Charles Oudinot, Joachim Murat, Louis-Nicolas Davout, and Michel Ney. Administrative and diplomatic roles engaged statesmen such as Talleyrand, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, and foreign envoys from Great Britain represented by the Duke of Wellington and Lord Castlereagh; judicial and legislative actors included deputies formerly associated with the Directory, the Consulate, and the Legislative Corps. Influential civil servants encompassed prefects appointed across departments, financiers linked to Baron Louis, and police operatives associated with Fouché.
The regime promulgated the Acte additionnel aiming to liberalize the Constitution of the Year VIII, proposing electoral reforms, affirmation of property rights, and civil liberties framed against royalist measures promoted by Louis XVIII and advisers like Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu. It attempted to reconcile Napoleonic law such as the Napoleonic Code with concessions toward parliamentary institutions resembling elements of the Charter of 1814, while issuing decrees on conscription that affected veterans of the Grande Armée and peasants in the Rural Departments. Financial and fiscal ordinances sought to stabilize the franc and address war indemnities that would later appear in the Treaty of Paris (1815) and negotiations with creditors in London and Amsterdam.
Militarily the government mobilized forces of the Armée du Nord under commanders including Napoleon, Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, and Emmanuel de Grouchy to confront the allied armies assembled by the Seventh Coalition, comprising contingents from Prussia under Blücher and Anglo-allied forces under the Duke of Wellington. Key engagements included the Battle of Ligny, the Battle of Quatre Bras, and the decisive Battle of Waterloo, where strategic decisions and coordination among marshals influenced outcomes. Diplomatically, envoys at the Congress of Vienna and plenipotentiaries from Austria, Russia, and Prussia refused recognition, leading to blockade measures, the occupation of France, and eventual treaties shaping the Second Bourbon Restoration.
Defeat at Waterloo precipitated the collapse of the regime, the abdication of Napoleon for the second time, and the transfer of power to interim authorities that facilitated the return of Louis XVIII during the Second Restoration; allied occupation forces under commanders like Wellington and Blücher enforced terms specified in the Treaty of Paris (1815). Figures such as Fouché and Talleyrand maneuvered amid capitulation, while Napoleon surrendered to RMS Bellerophon before exile to Saint Helena. The restoration prosecuted Bonapartist leaders in trials and purges influenced by royalists and ultraroyalists, reshaping ministerial appointments and sending émigrés and veterans into diaspora.
Historians debate the episode’s impact on continental settlements codified at the Congress of Vienna, the balance of power involving Metternich’s diplomacy, and the durability of the Bourbon Restoration under Louis XVIII and later Charles X. Interpretations weigh the political reforms in the Acte additionnel against the military disruptions of the Hundred Days, assessing contributions to later movements including the July Revolution and nationalist currents that influenced statesmen like Adolphe Thiers and intellectuals such as François-René de Chateaubriand. The period’s legal and administrative precedents affected institutions linked to the Napoleonic Code, the Prefecture system, and European treaty law through the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna.