The Napoleonic Wars - OverSimplified (Part 2)

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0:07 (dramatic thud) After the third and fourth Coalition wars,

0:12 Napoleon had decisively defeated all three of his main rivals on the continent,

0:17 and he was now undoubtedly the master of Europe.

0:21 After the Battle of Friedland,

0:22 his enemy sued for peace and they all met on a raft on a river for negotiations.

0:27 They had been fighting for the past four years, but now,

0:30 Napoleon and Alexander surprisingly got along like a house on fire.

0:33 They laughed together.

0:34 They chatted long into the night.

0:36 They kissed.

0:37 The two had a lot of mutual respect,

0:39 and Napoleon even told his wife that "if Alexander were a woman,

0:42 I would make him my mistress." (air whooshes) Kind

0:45 of a weird thing to say to your wife, Napoleon.

0:47 In the end, they came to an amicable agreement.

0:49 Russia would lose barely any land.

0:51 And in return, they'd joined France against the UK and invade Sweden.

0:55 Win-win.

0:56 On the other hand, Frederick William III was sidelined and Prussia

0:59 lost an enormous amount of territory to French client states.

1:03 Only the UK remained as the last major threat to Napoleon.

1:06 And they continued to be a big thorn in his side,

1:09 constantly funding his enemies and using their powerful navy

1:11 to wreak havoc on French trade and overseas colonies.

1:15 But what could Napoleon do?

1:16 The British were safe across the channel.

1:19 Well, he said, "If I can't fight you with guns,

1:21 I'll fight you with money." Earlier in 1806,

1:24 Napoleon had announced the Continental System,

1:27 a total shut off of the UK from continental trade.

1:30 No one in Europe was to trade with Britain, and Napoleon hoped that by hitting

1:34 their economy he could force them to negotiate.

1:36 The British economy did take a hit,

1:38 and they responded in their typical fashion by going

1:41 to Copenhagen and blowing a bunch of stuff up.

1:43 But in general, the British managed to stay afloat

1:45 by simply increasing their trade with other parts of the world.

1:48 Many neutral countries found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard

1:51 place as the two European superpowers demanded they ceased trade with the enemy.

1:56 Hey America, you better not trade with the French

1:58 or else I'll come burn down the White House.

1:59 What?

2:00 This is gonna wreck my economy!

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2:59 Now, where were we?

3:01 Oh yeah, making peace with the Russians,

3:03 a Continental Blockade, and blowing up Copenhagen.

3:06 Sick of being blown up for doing

3:08 almost nothing and under significant pressure from Napoleon,

3:11 the Danish officially sided with France.

3:14 But Napoleon's blockade had the biggest effect on continental Europe,

3:17 who were now cut off from a major trading partner.

3:19 One that controlled the seas and held a rich, growing empire.

3:23 And a lot of countries didn't fully comply.

3:25 Portugal, a traditional British ally, refused to take part.

3:28 No problem.

3:29 Napoleon sent an army and invaded.

3:31 But it wasn't just Portugal.

3:32 Many of Napoleon's allies were also suspect.

3:35 Your Majesty, it seems that Spain isn't properly enforcing your blockade.

3:39 Spain?

3:40 Why not?

3:41 Well, it appears, they've been trying to find a way out

3:43 of being your ally since they lost their fleet at Trafalgar.

3:45 What is with these people?

3:47 It's almost like everyone's only pretending to be

3:49 my ally because they know otherwise I'd beat them up.

3:52 Do I even have any real friends?

3:54 Are you my friend, Pierre?

3:55 Say yes or I'll slap you.

3:56 Napoleon had come to mistrust his ally to the south.

3:59 And in particular, Napoleon thought the Spanish

4:01 royal family were an incompetent mess.

4:03 All right, Carlos, you've got to get it together.

4:06 How can I trust you when all you do is go hunting?

4:08 Meanwhile, you let this ambitious nobody who dislikes me run the country.

4:12 And you seem to be the only person

4:13 in the universe who doesn't realize he's boinking your wife.

4:16 And what's worse...

4:18 Who the heck are you?

4:19 I'm the king's son.

4:20 I just overthrew my dad, so, actually, now I'm the king.

4:25 You people are the biggest cluster of shameless,

4:28 narcissistic idiots and all around just the worst people I've ever met.

4:32 Here, have a Kids' Choice Award.

4:33 French forces, many having conveniently

4:35 already entered Spain to invade Portugal,

4:37 occupied Spanish forts and Napoleon invited the Spanish

4:40 royals to France to help mediate their differences.

4:43 (audience cheering) All right, we're here with the royal family of Spain.

4:49 So, Fernando, you've been accused of plotting against

4:52 your father and vying for the Spanish throne.

4:54 (audience gasps) What do you have to say for yourself?

4:56 Well, Napoleon...

4:57 That's great.

4:58 Well, I've got the test results right here.

5:01 [Audience Member] All right!

5:02 [Narrator] Fernando, in the case of the Spanish throne, you are not the king.

5:06 Ha ha!

5:07 (audience laughing)- [Narrator] And Carlos, you are also not the king.

5:11 (audience laughing) (air whooshes) I'm the king.

5:15 (audience cheering) Actually, Napoleon made his brother the king,

5:21 but for all intents and purposes, Spain was now his puppet.

5:25 He expected the Spanish people to be over

5:27 the moon at the removal of their unpopular royal family.

5:30 Imagine his surprise when it turned out that people

5:33 don't really like to be subjugated by a foreign power,

5:35 least of all one who had previously attacked the Catholic church.

5:38 And so the people of Spain revolted.

5:41 Brutal fighting broke out as bands of armed Spaniards ambushed French

5:45 troops across the kingdom and vicious atrocities were committed on both sides.

5:50 In addition to fighting the regular Spanish and Portuguese forces,

5:53 the French had to contend with tens

5:55 of thousands of guerrilla fighters throughout the Spanish countryside.

5:58 The British even took the opportunity to land

6:01 an army led by the future Duke of Wellington.

6:03 And now British forces were defeating French ones on land.

6:07 Napoleon briefly went to Spain in person,

6:09 and he did drive back the allied armies,

6:11 but before long, his attention was needed elsewhere.

6:14 The whole thing became a nightmare for the emperor.

6:17 He excelled at traditional warfare,

6:18 but this was something more akin to Napoleon's Vietnam.

6:22 The whole conflict would keep hundreds of thousands

6:24 of French soldiers and resources bogged down for years.

6:27 Napoleon was never able to break the will of the Spanish people.

6:30 And this problem weakened his position in Europe.

6:33 (narrator humming) Hey, Francis, wanna go to war with Napoleon again?

6:38 Oh, I don't know Britain.

6:39 He's already whomped me three times.

6:41 I'll give you a bazillion pounds.

6:43 Well, okay.

6:44 Seeing that Napoleon was now caught up in Spain, and with some British funding,

6:48 Austria decided maybe, just maybe this time they'd have a chance.

6:52 So did they?

6:53 No.

6:54 Napoleon defeated them in just four months.

6:57 It was quick, but it wasn't exactly easy.

6:59 The Austrians had been watching Napoleon and learning,

7:01 and they had made some reforms, while Napoleon, after years of war,

7:05 was increasingly having to rely on inexperienced conscripts.

7:08 So this time the Austrians gave him a run for his money.

7:11 The Fifth Coalition saw some of the bloodiest battles to date,

7:14 including Napoleon's first major defeat.

7:16 And when he did finally defeat the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram,

7:19 it was a very costly victory.

7:21 Still, Napoleon had yet again kicked Francis' butt,

7:24 and as part of the peace terms, Austria lost a bunch more land.

7:28 Not long after, however, Napoleon and Francis came to another agreement.

7:31 It was decided that Napoleon would marry Francis' young daughter.

7:35 But wait, doesn't Napoleon already have a wife?

7:38 Well, yes, he did.

7:40 Josephine and Napoleon had become quite fond of one another.

7:42 But now that Napoleon was playing the monarch game,

7:45 he needed a male heir and his aging wife wasn't giving him one.

7:48 So it was out with the old and in with the new.

7:51 At least he didn't behead anyone.

7:52 For Austria, they felt that if Napoleon was going to keep on winning,

7:55 they may as well be on his side.

7:57 So through the marriage,

7:58 Napoleon got an alliance with Austria and a beautiful baby potato.

8:02 Between them failing blockade against Britain, the ongoing war in Spain,

8:06 and now his recent struggles in Austria,

8:08 cracks in Napoleon's invincibility were beginning to show.

8:11 But still, look at this map.

8:13 So blue, so beautiful.

8:15 Even Sweden, after being pulverized by Russia, overthrew their king,

8:19 and after an interesting chain of events,

8:21 ended up putting one of Napoleon's own marshals in charge.

8:23 Marshall Bernadotte took the name Karl Johan and became crown prince of Sweden.

8:28 After agreeing to join Napoleon's Continental System,

8:30 for now, Sweden was team France.

8:33 Napoleon was on top of the world.

8:35 He had won an endless string of victories.

8:38 All he had to do now was sit back and not

8:41 make any major miscalculations that could completely turn the tide of war.

8:44 So let's see what comes next.

8:47 (dramatic music) (air whooshes) France's alliance

8:50 with Russia was a terrifying prospect.

8:53 Together, the two could've been unstoppable,

8:55 but unfortunately, the alliance didn't last.

8:58 The Russians felt they weren't getting a fair deal.

9:00 Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw right on their doorstep was a bit of an insult.

9:03 And then their economy began to tank because of Napoleon's British blockade.

9:07 And eventually, they began to open up trade.

9:09 Your Majesty, it seems Alexander is no longer abiding

9:12 by the Continental System and has begun trading with the British.

9:15 Alexander?

9:15 But he kissed me.

9:18 He kissed you?

9:19 You wouldn't get it, Pierre.

9:21 No one would ever kiss you.

9:23 (narrator bawling) The security of Napoleon's empire depended on removing

9:26 the British threat and he wasn't happy with Russia's backdoor shenanigans.

9:30 And so in 1812, Napoleon decided to go to war.

9:33 He gathered together the most massive army Europe had ever seen,

9:36 made up of troops from every corner of his empire, and he prepared to invade.

9:41 Okay, it looks like Napoleon's coming for us.

9:43 Generals, I need ideas.

9:45 We could stand and fight.

9:46 No that's stupid.

9:47 You're stupid.

9:48 We could run away.

9:49 You, you're a star.

9:52 You remember Napoleon's tactics relied on astonishing speed

9:55 to outmaneuver his enemy and force a quick, decisive battle.

9:58 Well, I've got two words for you.

10:00 Scorched earth.

10:01 If his opponent retreated while scorching the earth,

10:03 his men couldn't live off the land.

10:05 And if his men couldn't live off the land, he needed his supply trains.

10:08 And if he needed his supply trains, he couldn't move quickly.

10:10 And if he couldn't move quickly, he couldn't outmaneuver his enemy.

10:12 And if he couldn't outmaneuver his enemy, I think you get the point.

10:15 Napoleon launched his invasion and hoped for a quick battle,

10:17 but all he could do was try to catch

10:20 the retreating Russians while moving deeper and deeper into hostile territory.

10:23 As he went, the horribly hot summer devastated his army.

10:26 His men died of heat, exhaustion, and disease.

10:29 Supplies began to run out and his men began to starve.

10:33 Many deserted, and still the Russians continued to retreat.

10:36 Numerous times, Napoleon considered turning back.

10:39 But that little voice in his head kept on telling him,

10:41 "Keep going, just a little further, and don't worry.

10:45 You're definitely average height for the time."

10:48 He nearly caught the Russians at Smolensk,

10:50 but it was his birthday so he had a party instead.

10:52 When he finally reached Moscow,

10:54 he predicted the Russians wouldn't be willing to give

10:56 up such a historic and holy city without a fight.

10:58 And he was right.

11:00 The Russians finally turned to face him

11:02 for the single deadliest day of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Borodino.

11:08 The Russians fought valiantly.

11:09 And as he got older,

11:11 Napoleon's battle tactics seemed to become a little less refined

11:13 and a little more run straight at the enemy, try not to die.

11:16 He launched a full frontal assault at the Russian defenses.

11:19 And as a result, the death toll was colossal.

11:22 The Russians eventually decided to retreat,

11:24 leaving Moscow to fall into Napoleon's hands.

11:27 Quick, the French are taking the city.

11:28 Release all these prisoners immediately and tell them to burn it to the ground.

11:32 Well, well, Jimmy the arsonist, you are not gonna believe your luck.

11:36 Moscow went up in flames, and as Napoleon entered,

11:39 it became very clear his army wouldn't be able to stay there very long.

11:42 But he had just defeated the Russian army and taken their most beloved city.

11:47 In his mind, he had won, so he sent Tsar Alexander in St.

11:51 Petersburg a letter.

11:52 Your Imperial Majesty, Napoleon requests your surrender.

11:55 How shall I respond?

11:56 You shan't, Dimitri.

11:58 Ever?

11:59 Ever.

11:59 But your majesty, it will be winter soon.

12:02 The French forces are stuck 500

12:03 miles into Russian territory with dwindling supplies.

12:06 If we don't say anything, well, then they'll all die.

12:10 Oh!

12:11 After waiting for a response for about a month,

12:13 the first snow of winter began to fall,

12:15 and Napoleon sensed the catastrophe that was about to unfold.

12:19 He decided their only choice now was to get out.

12:22 And that's when it happened.

12:24 It got cold, stupid cold.

12:27 His glorious invasion had just become a race for survival.

12:30 As the Russians realized the French were fleeing for their lives,

12:33 they began to close in on their supply line.

12:35 Men froze to death, their horses as well.

12:38 There was starvation and disease.

12:40 The injured and dying could only be left by the side of the road,

12:43 as it was too slow to try to carry them.

12:45 And all along the way,

12:46 the dreaded Russian Cossacks stalked the bleeding French army,

12:50 and every now and then swept in for a quick attack.

12:52 Napoleon, fearing capture, kept a vial of poison around his neck.

12:56 At one point, the Russian armies nearly trapped him against the Berezina River,

13:00 but a little Napoleon cleverness gave him the old Jeffrey juke,

13:02 tricking them into thinking he was going south,

13:04 and then escaping across rapidly-built pontoon bridges to the north.

13:08 When the Russians realized where he was and began to close

13:10 in, the French burned the bridges before everyone could cross.

13:14 Hundreds drowned and thousands were captured.

13:17 At this point, Napoleon got wind of plots against him forming in Paris,

13:20 so he abandoned his men and went back to France.

13:23 The remaining French stragglers made it across the border.

13:26 It's been estimated over 600,000 men went into Russia.

13:30 Less than 100,000 returned.

13:32 Napoleon was now in a very precarious situation.

13:35 His army had just been obliterated,

13:37 and the other European leaders smelled blood.

13:40 Here was an opportunity to take advantage of a weakened Napoleon,

13:43 regain territory and influence, and liberate Europe from his dirty French paws.

13:47 And so they began to turn.

13:49 Prussia soon broke their Alliance and switched sides,

13:52 while Austria declared neutrality.

13:54 Even Sweden, led by one of Napoleon's old marshals,

13:56 joined the allies, partly due

13:58 to Napoleon's earlier invasion of Swedish Pomerania.

14:01 The War of the Sixth Coalition had begun.

14:04 The Coalition forces had been reforming

14:06 their armies and they were now much better.

14:08 And the UK had also significantly amped

14:11 up its financial aid to its continental allies.

14:13 Their armies quickly advanced through Poland and into Germany.

14:17 In Paris, Napoleon was understandably freaking out.

14:20 He needed to put together a new army fast,

14:22 and he called up over 100,000 new conscripts, mostly teenagers.

14:26 He also put his factories into overdrive,

14:28 and he was like, "You, make more rifles!

14:30 You, build new cannons!

14:32 You, make more horses!" I don't make horses.

14:34 Then who makes horses?

14:35 Horses make horses.

14:36 Explain how.

14:37 Well, when a daddy horse and a mommy horse love each other very much...

14:41 Yes.

14:41 Go on.

14:42 Well, then the daddy horse...

14:45 I'm sorry, Napoleon, you're 43, I thought you'd know this stuff.

14:48 Don't touch me.

14:49 I'm gonna be sick.

14:49 As it turned out, Napoleon's lack of horses would take

14:52 the biggest toll on his army since his tactics relied on speed,

14:55 maneuverability, and destruction.

14:57 When he took the fight to the allies in 1813,

14:59 he did defeat them and sent them running,

15:01 but lacking cavalry, he was unable to effectively pursue and destroy.

15:05 He needed horses.

15:07 For the allies, being defeated in battle by a man

15:09 whose army was now full of an experienced conscripts was concerning,

15:13 so both we're like, "Hold up, time out." The allies were somewhat cornered,

15:17 and had Napoleon kept going, it's possible he could've won.

15:20 But instead he agreed to a brief truce

15:22 with the Austrians mediating between the two sides.

15:25 When Austria demanded Napoleon make major concessions,

15:27 Napoleon told them to shove it.

15:30 Having had their terms rejected, Austria felt now they were justified in saying,

15:33 "Well, we tried." and they joined the Coalition.

15:36 Okay everyone, look at us.

15:38 The boys are back together, but Napoleon is still dangerous, so we need a plan.

15:43 Any ideas?

15:44 Hmm.

15:46 Oh, I know!

15:47 Ah, no forget it.

15:48 That's stupid.

15:50 Ah!

15:50 Ah no, no, no, no.

15:54 I've got it!

15:55 When he approaches, we run away!

16:00 Genius.

16:00 He's a genius.

16:01 The plan was as follows: wherever Napoleon advanced,

16:04 whoever he advanced on would avoid battle,

16:07 allowing the others to sweep in from the sides

16:09 and attack the French marshals guarding his flanks.

16:12 Essentially, the plan was don't try to fight Napoleon.

16:15 And this plan worked tremendously.

16:17 The allies scored a number of victories that saw

16:19 Napoleon move back to the city of Leipzig,

16:22 where he would make one last major stand

16:24 as the allied armies converged in on him from all sides.

16:27 The stage was set for the biggest and bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars,

16:33 the Battle of Leipzig.

16:35 Almost half a million troops from over

16:37 a dozen nations stretched across the battlefield.

16:39 The French found themselves fighting on all

16:41 sides for four days against the Austrians, Prussians, Swedes, and Russians.

16:46 It's no wonder this battle is also sometimes

16:48 referred to as the Battle of the Nations.

16:50 The French fought ferociously, but ultimately,

16:53 were no match for the coordinated efforts of the Coalition.

16:56 At one point in the midst of battle,

16:57 Saxon troops allied with the French had a team huddle,

17:00 and we're like, "Hey guys.

17:01 I'm pretty sure the French are losing.

17:03 Let's switch sides." And so they did.

17:05 When it became clear that Napoleon couldn't win,

17:07 he ordered a retreat across the only bridge over the river.

17:09 The allies swarmed into the city and desperate fighting raged in the streets.

17:14 Okay corporal, after everyone has crossed the river,

17:16 I need you to blow up the bridge.

17:18 Okay?

17:18 Not before everyone's crossed.

17:21 After.

17:21 You got that?

17:22 Yes, Colonel.

17:23 I'm not five, I can comprehend time.

17:25 Good.

17:27 Wait, did he say before or after?

17:31 Well, fortune favors the bold.

17:33 (bridge explodes) The bridge was blown early

17:35 and 30,000 French troops were stranded and captured.

17:38 A disaster.

17:40 And with that, the dominoes were beginning to come crashing down on Napoleon.

17:44 In the south, an army under the British Duke of Wellington had been pushing

17:47 the French out of Spain for the past

17:49 few years and were now crossing into France.

17:51 Austrian armies had pushed into Italy,

17:53 while Napoleon's old, flamboyant cavalry commander,

17:56 Murat, who Napoleon had made King of Naples, decided to switch sides.

18:00 German states, many resentful after years under Napoleon's thumb,

18:03 turned against him and the Confederation of the Rhine collapsed.

18:06 Bernadotte invaded Denmark and they were forced to join the Coalition,

18:09 while the Netherlands were liberated.

18:11 You'd think Napoleon might've seen the writing on the wall, but he was Napoleon.

18:16 And so instead, he prepared to keep fighting.

18:19 As attitudes in Paris were already beginning to turn against him,

18:21 he called up more conscripts to defend the exhausted nation.

18:25 As for the allies, they weren't sure exactly what they were aiming for here.

18:28 A few peace offers were floated that may have let Napoleon keep his position,

18:32 but the British kept throwing around even more money.

18:34 And eventually, they all agreed that the ultimate

18:36 aim was the deposition of Napoleon entirely.

18:39 And so Napoleon embarked on one

18:41 of his most famous campaigns to defend the homeland.

18:44 He was completely outnumbered,

18:46 but the allied armies had split up and spread out.

18:49 His army was so small that he could move at lightning speed.

18:52 And he used this to his advantage.

18:54 In the famous Six Days' Campaign against Prussian General Blucher,

18:57 he attacked from all directions and defeated Blucher's forces four times,

19:01 only suffering a tenth of the casualties he inflicted.

19:04 Even with his back completely to the wall, Napoleon was still Napoleon.

19:09 Then he turned south to take on Schwarzenberg's

19:11 Army of Bohemia and enjoyed even more victories.

19:14 However, Napoleon's problem was that he couldn't be everywhere at once.

19:17 And wherever he wasn't, the allies continued to push towards Paris.

19:21 He made one last ditch attempt at moving

19:23 in behind the enemy lines and cutting off their communications,

19:26 but Paris was in disarray and the people were sick of war.

19:30 One ambitious and slightly treacherous politician sent

19:33 the allied armies a letter basically saying,

19:35 "Hey guys, come on in." And so they did.

19:39 The city's defenders surrendered, and as the allied leaders entered Paris,

19:42 the people cheered them as bringers of peace.

19:46 Paris had fallen.

19:48 Quick, marshals, gather your men.

19:50 We're gonna launch an assault on Paris.

19:53 Where are my marshals?

19:54 They all left and told me to give you this note.

19:58 Napoleon's marshals had realized what he hadn't.

20:01 It was over.

20:02 And they insisted all that was left now,

20:04 for the good of France, was for him to abdicate.

20:08 And without the support of his army, Napoleon had no choice.

20:12 He hoped his son could take his place,

20:14 but it was decided instead to restore the old Bourbon monarchy.

20:17 Old King Louis XVI's brother would become the King of France.

20:21 It was almost like the French Revolution had never even happened.

20:24 But what will we do with Napoleon?

20:26 We can't have a hyperactive, 44-year-old menace running around reigniting

20:29 revolutionary ideals and plotting his return.

20:31 Well, why don't we send him, mm, I don't know, there.

20:35 The location chosen for Napoleon's exile was the small island of Elba,

20:39 just off the coast of Italy.

20:40 Napoleon was to rule over the island and even

20:43 got to keep the title Emperor of Elba.

20:46 The allies must have been in stitches when they came up with that.

20:49 When he learned what his fate was to be,

20:50 he drank the poison he'd been keeping around his neck,

20:53 but it had gone out of date.

20:55 So instead of a quick and painless death, he got a painful stummy wummy instead.

20:59 Before he left France, he addressed his oldest and closest guard one last time,

21:04 making an emotional speech that ended with him kissing their flag,

21:07 and off he went to exile.

21:09 The deal that was given to him was actually quite generous.

21:12 His family were given titles, he was to receive a state pension from France,

21:16 and he was able to receive many distinguished visitors,

21:19 all eager to come and meet the famed emperor.

21:21 And he ruled over Elba well,

21:22 improving infrastructure and introducing many legal and social

21:26 reforms aimed at improving life on the island.

21:28 Hey, Napoleon, just coming in to check on how it's all going.

21:30 Holy smokes.

21:32 But it wasn't all good.

21:33 For one thing, he learned of the death

21:35 of his first wife Josephine and was deeply saddened.

21:38 He was forbidden from seeing his son and current wife, and in Austria,

21:41 Emperor Francis had ordered a local count

21:43 to seduce her so she would forget about Napoleon.

21:46 Then, the new King Louis XVIII refused to give Napoleon his agreed pension.

21:50 He was under constant threat of assassination and there were even rumors

21:53 that the allies were thinking of relocating him somewhere even more remote.

21:57 But the biggest problem was that Napoleon was once the master of Europe.

22:01 He had lived at three really life of adventure, fame, and glory.

22:06 Now, he found himself on a tiny island in the Mediterranean and he was bored.

22:12 Wouldn't it be nice if he could somehow return to France and reclaim his throne?

22:16 Hey, Napoleon, wanna go back to France and reclaim your throne?

22:19 I would, Pierre, but how?

22:21 Well, I was thinking we could just take this boat.

22:24 Will that work?

22:26 Surprisingly, yes.

22:27 Pierre, remember when I told you no one would ever kiss you?

22:30 Yes, sire.

22:31 Well, pucker up, boyo!

22:34 Yay!

22:35 When Napoleon left Elba, it wasn't really the daring escape you might think.

22:38 He basically had kind of a leaving ceremony,

22:41 hopped on a ship, and sailed back to France.

22:43 He brought with him an army of about

22:45 1,000 men and he began his journey to Paris.

22:47 However, in Paris, there was now a new king.

22:50 And at first, the people largely accepted him because the last few

22:53 years of war under Napoleon had brought immense death and economic suffering.

22:57 That's right!

22:58 The king is back, baby!

23:00 Divine right to rule!

23:02 Don't worry, everyone.

23:03 I know the economy is caput,

23:04 but I and my courtiers will withdraw into this palace and we

23:09 will definitely work as hard as we can to fix everything.

23:12 (air whooshes) (crowd cheering) (energetic music)- [Crowd] Huh?

23:18 (glass shatters) (partiers laughing)- Oh yeah,

23:20 that's why we got rid of the king.

23:22 As the Bourbon monarchy began to look more and more like a return to the past,

23:25 and the returning nobility seemed hell-bent on regaining their lost privileges,

23:29 the people weren't too happy.

23:31 And so Napoleon hoped that his glorious return would be met with jubilation.

23:35 In the end, the reaction was a little mixed,

23:37 but many were happy to see their old emperor.

23:40 Your Majesty, it seems that Napoleon is

23:42 back and marching this way with 1,000 men.

23:45 That guy?

23:46 No problem.

23:47 I have hundreds of thousands of men.

23:48 Send them to arrest him.

23:51 Ugh, Your Majesty, it seems the thousands of men

23:54 we sent to arrest Napoleon have all joined his side.

23:57 Well, I'm off to Belgium.

23:59 If you ever need a king again, be sure to let me know.

24:02 As Napoleon continued his journey,

24:04 the king had sent battalions of men to stop him,

24:06 but they largely comprised of Napoleon's old soldiers,

24:08 many unhappy with King Louis' military reforms.

24:11 And so when ordered to arrest him, they simply couldn't do it.

24:15 In one famous incident, the troops began to cry out,

24:18 "Long live the emperor!" When Napoleon reached Paris,

24:21 with King Louis having fled, he entered unopposed to reclaim his throne.

24:25 Napoleon was back from the dead.

24:28 Okay, everyone.

24:28 Now that we've finally gotten rid of that guy,

24:30 let's try to make sure something like this can never happen again.

24:33 (air whooshes) What's that doing there?

24:36 Hey, fellow monarchs.

24:37 (all screaming) I pooed my pants again!

24:42 Ah!

24:44 This time Napoleon promised he would be a mucho,

24:46 mucho good boy and not start any wars,

24:48 but the allied leaders were having none of it.

24:51 They declared Napoleon an outlaw and the illegitimate ruler of France.

24:54 Then, they declared war, not on France, but on Napoleon himself.

24:59 And when you have multiple empires declaring war on you as an individual,

25:02 that's how you know you're a very naughty boy.

25:05 The allied powers began making plans to combine

25:07 their forces and once again invade France.

25:10 The most immediate threat to Napoleon were

25:11 the British and Prussians hanging out in nearby Belgium.

25:14 If Napoleon could knock them out quickly,

25:16 maybe he could force the allies to negotiate

25:18 and maybe he could hold on to his power.

25:21 Together, the two armies to the north outnumbered him,

25:23 so he made a plan to divide them and take them on separately.

25:27 Historians debate how much of a chance Napoleon had here,

25:30 but this same strategy of dividing

25:32 and conquering had worked for him multiple times.

25:35 He marched north with 125,000 men and took

25:37 on the allies in a number of initial engagements,

25:40 defeating the Prussians before turning to take on the British.

25:43 But to Napoleon's dismay,

25:45 miscommunication and hesitation among his marshals allowed

25:48 both enemy armies to retreat and crucially, rather than fleeing east,

25:52 the Prussians moved north where they could remain in contact with the British.

25:56 Napoleon sent a force to hold off the Prussians as he moved in on the British,

25:59 now holding a defensive position at Waterloo.

26:02 Prussian General Blucher sent word that he would come to Wellington's

26:05 aid if he could just hold off the French for long enough.

26:08 Napoleon had to defeat Wellington before

26:10 the Prussian Army could arrive in force.

26:12 And it was close.

26:14 The British held the high ground and a number

26:16 of key defensive buildings across the battlefield.

26:18 After waiting some hours he didn't have for the ground to dry,

26:21 Napoleon sent men to assault the Hougoumont farm.

26:23 But the British-German garrison there held up.

26:26 French Marshall Ney launched a number

26:27 of miscalculated cavalry charges at the British lines.

26:30 The British formed defensive square formations,

26:33 and they tore the French cavalry to shreds,

26:35 while one guy chose the absolute worst time to go on a bender.

26:38 The French did manage to capture a farmhouse

26:40 directly in front of the British line.

26:42 And from there, they unleashed artillery

26:44 hellfire on the British square formations.

26:46 And as Napoleon sent his Imperial Guard in to finish the British off,

26:49 a nervous Wellington knew his lines were at breaking point.

26:53 But the Prussians had earlier begun to arrive,

26:55 and now they were arriving in large numbers.

26:58 And after the British held out and sent the French Imperial Guard running,

27:01 the French lines panicked, fearing they had been encircled,

27:04 and they began to flee.

27:05 The Battle of Waterloo was an allied victory.

27:09 And with that, Napoleon's hopes of returning to glory were vanquished.

27:13 He knew he was defeated.

27:14 He went to the British and said,

27:16 "Can I please have a house near London?" And the British replied, "No." Instead,

27:20 to make sure Napoleon was put away once and for all,

27:23 they sent him to one of the most isolated and remote places they could think of.

27:27 A tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean, Saint Helena.

27:31 Here, a deeply isolated and depressed Emperor Napoleon

27:34 would live the remaining years of his life.

27:36 His house was a wooden bungalow, not exactly on par with the Tuileries Palace.

27:40 Much to his frustration, his captains referred to him as general,

27:44 rather than calling him emperor.

27:45 His mail was censored.

27:47 His visitors were vetted.

27:48 There was almost no way he could escape such an isolated island,

27:51 but just to be sure, he was guarded by 2,000 British soldiers and two

27:55 ships that circled the island 24 hours a day.

27:58 He had once been the most powerful man alive,

28:00 and images of the victorious Napoleon depict a strong leader,

28:04 hand firmly in jacket.

28:06 Depictions of Napoleon on Saint Helena show a disheveled,

28:09 old man, hand firmly in pants.

28:11 He had lost everything.

28:13 And by the way, he was only 46.

28:15 So maybe it's about time you...

28:18 You know what?

28:19 You're doing all right kid.

28:21 Napoleon fought one last battle while on the island.

28:23 The battle for his reputation.

28:26 He spent hours writing his memoirs,

28:27 espousing his achievements, recording his greatness,

28:30 and turning himself and his story into a phenomenal legend.

28:34 And in this battle, he certainly succeeded.

28:37 His mark on history can not be denied.

28:40 After his defeat, the European monarchs had got to work

28:43 restoring Europe to its traditional balance and reasserting their dominance.

28:46 But after Napoleon had spread the influence of the French Revolution,

28:49 these returning monarchs would have

28:51 a difficult time regaining their absolute control.

28:54 France returned to the rule of the Bourbons,

28:56 but it would go on to stage another revolution, and then another one.

28:59 Reaction to Napoleon's rule in places like Germany and Italy

29:02 propelled forward the ideas and feelings of modern unity and nationalism,

29:07 and his "Napoleonic Code" still remains

29:09 the basis of law in various modern countries.

29:12 The modern world owes a lot to Napoleon's legacy.

29:15 He remains, statistically, possibly the greatest military general in history

29:19 and his revolutionary military tactics changed the face of warfare.

29:23 He was the last truly great leader to both lead his armies

29:26 in battle while retaining total political control over a vast empire.

29:31 There's still hope for Joe Biden.

29:32 But the man remained somewhat of an enigma,

29:34 and we still aren't sure exactly what to make of him in some regards.

29:38 Was he the champion of the French Revolution,

29:40 spreading equality wherever he went or did betray it

29:43 by making himself an absolute Monarch and restricting certain liberties?

29:47 Was he an ambitious and aggressive conqueror

29:50 hell-bent on bringing Europe to its knees

29:52 or was he simply defending himself against

29:54 an aggressive Europe hell-bent on reducing his power?

29:57 Some things will continue to be debated.

29:59 Napoleon died at the age of 51, officially of stomach cancer,

30:03 but some believe he may have been poisoned.

30:05 The British buried him in a tin coffin inside

30:08 a mahogany coffin inside a lead coffin inside another mahogany coffin.

30:12 I guess this time they wanted to make sure he stayed where they put him.

30:15 In 1840, his remains were moved to Paris where

30:18 they now rest under the Dome of Les Invalides.

30:21 The man from humble origins, with huge ambition,

30:24 ruthless determination, immaculate skill on the battlefield,

30:28 and a hefty dose of luck who was determined

30:30 to make his mark on history did just that.

30:34 "There is no immortality," he said,

30:36 "but the memory that is left in the minds of men." And in that sense,

30:40 Napoleon knew he would live on forever.

30:44 Oh, and to reiterate, he was definitely average height for the time.

30:49 (upbeat music)