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[00:07] (dramatic thud)
[00:10] After the third and fourth Coalition wars,
[00:12] Napoleon had decisively defeated all three
[00:15] of his main rivals on the continent,
[00:17] and he was now undoubtedly
the master of Europe.
[00:21] After the Battle of Friedland,
his enemy sued for peace
[00:23] and they all met on a raft
on a river for negotiations.
[00:27] They had been fighting
for the past four years,
[00:29] but now, Napoleon and
Alexander surprisingly got
[00:32] along like a house on fire.
[00:33] They laughed together.
[00:34] They chatted long into the night.
[00:36] They kissed.
[00:37] The two had a lot of mutual respect,
[00:39] and Napoleon even told his wife
[00:41] that "if Alexander were a woman,
[00:42] I would make him my mistress."
[00:44] (air whooshes)
[00:45] Kind of a weird thing to
say to your wife, Napoleon.
[00:47] In the end, they came to
an amicable agreement.
[00:49] Russia would lose barely any land.
[00:51] And in return, they'd joined France
[00:53] against the UK and invade Sweden.
[00:55] Win-win.
[00:56] On the other hand, Frederick
William III was sidelined
[00:59] and Prussia lost an enormous amount
[01:01] of territory to French client states.
[01:03] Only the UK remained as the
last major threat to Napoleon.
[01:06] And they continued to be
a big thorn in his side,
[01:09] constantly funding his enemies
[01:10] and using their powerful
navy to wreak havoc
[01:12] on French trade and overseas colonies.
[01:15] But what could Napoleon do?
[01:16] The British were safe across the channel.
[01:19] Well, he said, "If I
can't fight you with guns,
[01:21] I'll fight you with money."
[01:23] Earlier in 1806,
[01:24] Napoleon had announced
the Continental System,
[01:27] a total shut off of the
UK from continental trade.
[01:30] No one in Europe was
to trade with Britain,
[01:33] and Napoleon hoped that
by hitting their economy
[01:35] he could force them to negotiate.
[01:36] The British economy did take a hit,
[01:38] and they responded in
their typical fashion
[01:40] by going to Copenhagen and
blowing a bunch of stuff up.
[01:43] But in general, the British
managed to stay afloat
[01:45] by simply increasing their trade
[01:47] with other parts of the world.
[01:48] Many neutral countries
found themselves stuck
[01:50] between a rock and a hard place
[01:52] as the two European superpowers demanded
[01:54] they ceased trade with the enemy.
[01:56] Hey America, you better
not trade with the French
[01:58] or else I'll come burn
down the White House.
[01:59] What? This is gonna wreck my economy!
[02:02] I need to start saving money!
[02:03] How the heck am I gonna
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[02:59] Now, where were we?
[03:01] Oh yeah, making peace with the Russians,
[03:03] a Continental Blockade,
and blowing up Copenhagen.
[03:06] Sick of being blown up
[03:07] for doing almost nothing and
under significant pressure
[03:10] from Napoleon, the Danish
officially sided with France.
[03:14] But Napoleon's blockade
had the biggest effect
[03:16] on continental Europe,
[03:17] who were now cut off from
a major trading partner.
[03:19] One that controlled the seas
[03:21] and held a rich, growing empire.
[03:23] And a lot of countries
didn't fully comply.
[03:25] Portugal, a traditional British
ally, refused to take part.
[03:28] No problem.
[03:29] Napoleon sent an army and invaded.
[03:31] But it wasn't just Portugal.
[03:32] Many of Napoleon's
allies were also suspect.
[03:35] Your Majesty, it seems that Spain
[03:37] isn't properly enforcing your blockade.
[03:39] Spain? Why not?
[03:41] Well, it appears, they've
been trying to find a way out
[03:43] of being your ally since they
lost their fleet at Trafalgar.
[03:45] What is with these people?
[03:47] It's almost like everyone's
only pretending to be my ally
[03:49] because they know
otherwise I'd beat them up.
[03:52] Do I even have any real friends?
[03:54] Are you my friend, Pierre?
[03:55] Say yes or I'll slap you.
[03:56] Napoleon had come to mistrust
his ally to the south.
[03:59] And in particular,
[04:00] Napoleon thought the Spanish royal family
[04:02] were an incompetent mess.
[04:03] All right, Carlos, you've
got to get it together.
[04:06] How can I trust you when
all you do is go hunting?
[04:08] Meanwhile, you let this ambitious nobody
[04:10] who dislikes me run the country.
[04:12] And you seem to be the only person
[04:13] in the universe who doesn't
realize he's boinking your wife.
[04:16] And what's worse...
[04:18] Who the heck are you?
[04:19] I'm the king's son.
[04:20] I just overthrew my dad,
[04:21] so, actually, now I'm the king.
[04:25] You people are the biggest cluster
[04:27] of shameless, narcissistic idiots
[04:29] and all around just the
worst people I've ever met.
[04:32] Here, have a Kids' Choice Award.
[04:33] French forces, many having
conveniently already
[04:36] entered Spain to invade Portugal,
[04:37] occupied Spanish forts
[04:39] and Napoleon invited the Spanish royals
[04:41] to France to help mediate
their differences.
[04:43] (audience cheering)
[04:46] All right, we're here with
the royal family of Spain.
[04:49] So, Fernando, you've
been accused of plotting
[04:52] against your father and
vying for the Spanish throne.
[04:54] (audience gasps)
[04:55] What do you have to say for yourself?
[04:56] Well, Napoleon...
[04:57] That's great.
[04:58] Well, I've got the test
results right here.
[05:00] - [Audience Member] All right!
[05:01] - [Narrator] Fernando, in the
case of the Spanish throne,
[05:04] you are not the king.
[05:06] - Ha ha!
(audience laughing)
[05:08] - [Narrator] And Carlos,
you are also not the king.
[05:11] (audience laughing)
(air whooshes)
[05:14] I'm the king.
[05:15] (audience cheering)
[05:19] Actually, Napoleon made
his brother the king,
[05:21] but for all intents and purposes,
Spain was now his puppet.
[05:25] He expected the Spanish
people to be over the moon
[05:27] at the removal of their
unpopular royal family.
[05:30] Imagine his surprise when it turned out
[05:32] that people don't really
like to be subjugated
[05:34] by a foreign power, least of all one
[05:36] who had previously attacked
the Catholic church.
[05:38] And so the people of Spain revolted.
[05:41] Brutal fighting broke out as bands
[05:44] of armed Spaniards ambushed French troops
[05:46] across the kingdom and vicious
atrocities were committed
[05:49] on both sides.
[05:50] In addition to fighting
the regular Spanish
[05:52] and Portuguese forces,
[05:53] the French had to contend
with tens of thousands
[05:55] of guerrilla fighters throughout
the Spanish countryside.
[05:58] The British even took the opportunity
[06:00] to land an army led by the
future Duke of Wellington.
[06:03] And now British forces were
defeating French ones on land.
[06:07] Napoleon briefly went to Spain in person,
[06:09] and he did drive back the allied armies,
[06:11] but before long, his attention
was needed elsewhere.
[06:14] The whole thing became a
nightmare for the emperor.
[06:17] He excelled at traditional warfare,
[06:18] but this was something more
akin to Napoleon's Vietnam.
[06:22] The whole conflict would
keep hundreds of thousands
[06:24] of French soldiers and
resources bogged down for years.
[06:27] Napoleon was never able to break the will
[06:29] of the Spanish people.
[06:30] And this problem weakened
his position in Europe.
[06:33] (narrator humming)
[06:35] Hey, Francis, wanna go to
war with Napoleon again?
[06:38] Oh, I don't know Britain.
[06:39] He's already whomped me three times.
[06:41] I'll give you a bazillion pounds.
[06:43] Well, okay.
[06:44] Seeing that Napoleon was
now caught up in Spain,
[06:46] and with some British funding,
Austria decided maybe,
[06:49] just maybe this time they'd have a chance.
[06:52] So did they?
[06:53] No.
[06:54] Napoleon defeated them
in just four months.
[06:57] It was quick, but it wasn't exactly easy.
[06:59] The Austrians had been watching Napoleon
[07:01] and learning, and they
had made some reforms,
[07:03] while Napoleon, after years of war,
[07:05] was increasingly having to rely
[07:06] on inexperienced conscripts.
[07:08] So this time the Austrians
gave him a run for his money.
[07:11] The Fifth Coalition saw some
of the bloodiest battles
[07:14] to date, including Napoleon's
first major defeat.
[07:16] And when he did finally
defeat the Austrians
[07:18] at the Battle of Wagram, it
was a very costly victory.
[07:21] Still, Napoleon had yet
again kicked Francis' butt,
[07:24] and as part of the peace terms,
[07:26] Austria lost a bunch more land.
[07:28] Not long after, however,
[07:29] Napoleon and Francis came
to another agreement.
[07:31] It was decided that Napoleon
[07:33] would marry Francis' young daughter.
[07:35] But wait, doesn't Napoleon
already have a wife?
[07:38] Well, yes, he did.
[07:40] Josephine and Napoleon had
become quite fond of one another.
[07:42] But now that Napoleon was
playing the monarch game,
[07:45] he needed a male heir
[07:46] and his aging wife wasn't giving him one.
[07:48] So it was out with the
old and in with the new.
[07:51] At least he didn't behead anyone.
[07:52] For Austria, they felt
that if Napoleon was going
[07:55] to keep on winning,
[07:55] they may as well be on his side.
[07:57] So through the marriage,
[07:58] Napoleon got an alliance with Austria
[08:00] and a beautiful baby potato.
[08:02] Between them failing
blockade against Britain,
[08:04] the ongoing war in Spain,
[08:06] and now his recent struggles in Austria,
[08:08] cracks in Napoleon's invincibility
were beginning to show.
[08:11] But still, look at this map.
[08:13] So blue, so beautiful.
[08:15] Even Sweden, after being
pulverized by Russia,
[08:18] overthrew their king,
[08:19] and after an interesting chain of events,
[08:21] ended up putting one of
Napoleon's own marshals in charge.
[08:23] Marshall Bernadotte
took the name Karl Johan
[08:26] and became crown prince of Sweden.
[08:28] After agreeing to join
Napoleon's Continental System,
[08:30] for now, Sweden was team France.
[08:33] Napoleon was on top of the world.
[08:35] He had won an endless string of victories.
[08:38] All he had to do now was sit back
[08:40] and not make any major miscalculations
[08:42] that could completely
turn the tide of war.
[08:44] So let's see what comes next.
[08:47] (dramatic music)
(air whooshes)
[08:50] France's alliance with Russia
was a terrifying prospect.
[08:53] Together, the two
could've been unstoppable,
[08:55] but unfortunately, the
alliance didn't last.
[08:58] The Russians felt they
weren't getting a fair deal.
[09:00] Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw right
[09:01] on their doorstep was a bit of an insult.
[09:03] And then their economy began to tank
[09:05] because of Napoleon's British blockade.
[09:07] And eventually, they
began to open up trade.
[09:09] Your Majesty, it seems
Alexander is no longer abiding
[09:12] by the Continental System
[09:13] and has begun trading with the British.
[09:15] Alexander? But he kissed me.
[09:18] He kissed you?
[09:19] You wouldn't get it, Pierre.
[09:21] No one would ever kiss you.
[09:23] (narrator bawling)
[09:24] The security of Napoleon's empire depended
[09:26] on removing the British threat
[09:27] and he wasn't happy with
Russia's backdoor shenanigans.
[09:30] And so in 1812, Napoleon
decided to go to war.
[09:33] He gathered together the most massive army
[09:35] Europe had ever seen, made up
of troops from every corner
[09:38] of his empire, and he prepared to invade.
[09:41] Okay, it looks like
Napoleon's coming for us.
[09:43] Generals, I need ideas.
[09:45] We could stand and fight.
[09:46] No that's stupid.
[09:47] You're stupid.
[09:48] We could run away.
[09:49] You, you're a star.
[09:52] You remember Napoleon's tactics relied
[09:54] on astonishing speed to
outmaneuver his enemy
[09:56] and force a quick, decisive battle.
[09:58] 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,
[10:06] he needed his supply trains.
[10:08] And if he needed his supply trains,
[10:09] he couldn't move quickly.
[10:10] And if he couldn't move quickly,
[10:11] he couldn't outmaneuver his enemy.
[10:12] And if he couldn't outmaneuver his enemy,
[10:13] 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 the retreating Russians
[10:20] 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,
[10:44] 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
[10:55] to give 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,
[11:06] the Battle of Borodino.
[11:08] The Russians fought valiantly.
[11:09] And as he got older, Napoleon's
battle tactics seemed
[11:12] 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
[11:30] and tell them to burn it to the ground.
[11:32] Well, well, Jimmy the arsonist,
[11:34] you are not gonna believe your luck.
[11:36] Moscow went up in flames,
[11:37] and as Napoleon entered,
[11:39] it became very clear his
army wouldn't be able
[11:40] to stay there very long.
[11:42] But he had just defeated the Russian army
[11:44] and taken their most beloved city.
[11:47] In his mind, he had won,
[11:49] so he sent Tsar Alexander
in St. 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 miles
[12:04] 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
[12:17] 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
[12:32] for their lives, they began to close in
[12:34] 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
[12:42] 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
[12:48] the bleeding French army,
[12:50] and every now and then
swept in for a quick attack.
[12:52] Napoleon, fearing capture,
[12:54] kept a vial of poison around his neck.
[12:56] At one point, the Russian
armies nearly trapped him
[12:58] against the Berezina River,
[13:00] but a little Napoleon cleverness gave him
[13:01] the old Jeffrey juke, tricking them
[13:03] into thinking he was going south,
[13:04] and then escaping across
rapidly-built pontoon bridges
[13:07] to the north.
[13:08] When the Russians realized where he was
[13:10] and began to close in,
[13:11] 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
[13:19] 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
[13:42] of a weakened Napoleon, regain
territory and influence,
[13:45] 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
to Napoleon's earlier invasion
[14:00] of Swedish Pomerania.
[14:01] The War of the Sixth Coalition had begun.
[14:04] The Coalition forces had
been reforming their armies
[14:07] 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
[14:16] 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,
[14:24] 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!"
[14:33] 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
[14:39] and a mommy horse love
each other very much...
[14:41] Yes. Go on.
[14:42] Well, then the daddy horse...
[14:45] I'm sorry, Napoleon, you're 43,
[14:47] 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
[14:51] would take the biggest toll on his army
[14:53] 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,
[15:03] he was unable to effectively
pursue and destroy.
[15:05] He needed horses.
[15:07] For the allies, being defeated in battle
[15:09] by a man whose army was now full
[15:10] of an experienced
conscripts was concerning,
[15:13] so both we're like, "Hold up, time out."
[15:16] The allies were somewhat cornered,
[15:17] and had Napoleon kept going,
[15:19] 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,
[15:31] 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,
[15:39] but Napoleon is still dangerous,
[15:41] so we need a plan.
[15:43] Any ideas?
[15:44] Hmm.
[15:46] Oh, I know! Ah, no forget it.
[15:48] That's stupid.
[15:50] Ah! Ah no, no, no, no.
[15:54] I've got it!
[15:55] When he approaches, we run away!
[16:00] Genius. He's a genius.
[16:01] The plan was as follows:
[16:03] 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
[16:19] that saw 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
[16:30] and bloodiest battle
of the Napoleonic Wars,
[16:33] the Battle of Leipzig.
[16:35] Almost half a million troops
[16:36] from over a dozen nations
stretched across the battlefield.
[16:39] The French found themselves fighting
[16:41] on all sides for four days
[16:42] against the Austrians,
Prussians, Swedes, and Russians.
[16:46] It's no wonder this battle
is also sometimes referred
[16:48] to as the Battle of the Nations.
[16:50] The French fought ferociously,
[16:52] but ultimately, were no match
for the coordinated efforts
[16:55] 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."
[17:04] 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
[17:11] 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? Not before everyone's crossed.
[17:21] After. You got that?
[17:22] Yes, Colonel. 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)
[17:34] 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
[17:42] to come crashing down on Napoleon.
[17:44] In the south, an army
[17:45] under the British Duke of
Wellington had been pushing
[17:47] the French out of Spain
for the past few years
[17:49] 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,
[17:58] decided to switch sides.
[18:00] German states, many resentful after years
[18:02] under Napoleon's thumb, turned against him
[18:04] and the Confederation
of the Rhine collapsed.
[18:06] Bernadotte invaded Denmark
[18:08] 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,
[18:14] but he was Napoleon.
[18:16] And so instead, he
prepared to keep fighting.
[18:19] As attitudes in Paris
were already beginning
[18:21] to turn against him,
[18:21] he called up more conscripts
to defend the exhausted nation.
[18:25] As for the allies,
[18:26] they weren't sure exactly what
they were aiming for here.
[18:28] A few peace offers were floated
[18:30] 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
[18:35] that the ultimate aim was the deposition
[18:37] of Napoleon entirely.
[18:39] And so Napoleon embarked on one
of his most famous campaigns
[18:43] 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
[18:55] against Prussian General Blucher,
[18:57] he attacked from all directions
[18:59] 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,
[19:07] Napoleon was still Napoleon.
[19:09] Then he turned south to take
[19:10] on Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia
[19:12] and enjoyed even more victories.
[19:14] However, Napoleon's problem was
[19:16] that he couldn't be everywhere at once.
[19:17] And wherever he wasn't,
[19:18] the allies continued
to push towards Paris.
[19:21] He made one last ditch
attempt at moving in
[19:23] behind the enemy lines and
cutting off their communications,
[19:26] but Paris was in disarray
[19:28] 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."
[19:37] And so they did.
[19:39] The city's defenders surrendered,
[19:40] 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
[20:15] to restore the old Bourbon monarchy.
[20:17] Old King Louis XVI's brother
[20:19] would become the King of France.
[20:21] It was almost like the French Revolution
[20:23] 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
[20:28] around reigniting revolutionary ideals
[20:30] 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
[20:37] was the small island of Elba,
[20:39] just off the coast of Italy.
[20:40] Napoleon was to rule over the island
[20:43] and even got to keep the
title Emperor of Elba.
[20:46] The allies must have been in stitches
[20:47] 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,
[20:57] he got a painful stummy wummy instead.
[20:59] Before he left France,
[21:00] he addressed his oldest and
closest guard one last time,
[21:04] making an emotional speech
[21:05] 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,
[21:14] 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
[21:25] and social reforms aimed at
improving life on the island.
[21:28] Hey, Napoleon, just coming in
[21:29] 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
[21:39] and current wife, and in Austria,
[21:41] Emperor Francis had ordered
a local count to seduce her
[21:44] so she would forget about Napoleon.
[21:46] Then, the new King Louis XVIII refused
[21:48] to give Napoleon his agreed pension.
[21:50] He was under constant
threat of assassination
[21:52] and there were even rumors
that the allies were thinking
[21:54] of relocating him
somewhere even more remote.
[21:57] But the biggest problem was
[21:59] that Napoleon was once
the master of Europe.
[22:01] He had lived at three
really life of adventure,
[22:04] fame, and glory.
[22:06] Now, he found himself on a tiny island
[22:08] in the Mediterranean and he was bored.
[22:12] Wouldn't it be nice if
he could somehow return
[22:14] to France and reclaim his throne?
[22:16] Hey, Napoleon, wanna go back
[22:18] 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,
[22:36] 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 1,000 men
[22:45] 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
[22:52] because the last few years of war
[22:54] under Napoleon had brought immense death
[22:56] 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
[23:08] and we will definitely work as hard
[23:10] as we can to fix everything.
[23:12] (air whooshes)
(crowd cheering)
[23:13] (energetic music)
- [Crowd] Huh?
[23:18] (glass shatters)
[23:19] (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
[23:24] and more like a return to the past,
[23:25] and the returning
nobility seemed hell-bent
[23:27] on regaining their lost privileges,
[23:29] the people weren't too happy.
[23:31] And so Napoleon hoped
[23:32] 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 back
[23:43] and marching this way with 1,000 men.
[23:45] That guy? No problem.
[23:47] I have hundreds of thousands of men.
[23:48] Send them to arrest him.
[23:51] Ugh, Your Majesty,
[23:52] it seems the thousands of men we sent
[23:54] 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,
[24:13] they simply couldn't do it.
[24:15] In one famous incident, the
troops began to cry out,
[24:18] "Long live the emperor!"
[24:20] When Napoleon reached Paris,
[24:21] with King Louis having
fled, he entered unopposed
[24:24] 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
[24:31] like this can never happen again.
[24:33] (air whooshes)
[24:35] What's that doing there?
[24:36] Hey, fellow monarchs.
[24:37] (all screaming)
[24:40] I pooed my pants again! Ah!
[24:44] This time Napoleon promised he would be
[24:46] a mucho, 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
[24:52] and the illegitimate ruler of France.
[24:54] Then, they declared war, not on France,
[24:57] but on Napoleon himself.
[24:59] And when you have multiple
empires declaring war
[25:01] 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
[25:06] to combine their forces and
once again invade France.
[25:10] The most immediate threat
[25:11] to Napoleon were the British
and Prussians hanging
[25:13] 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
[25:25] 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 on the allies
[25:38] in a number of initial engagements,
[25:40] defeating the Prussians
[25:41] before turning to take on the British.
[25:43] But to Napoleon's dismay,
miscommunication and hesitation
[25:47] among his marshals
allowed both enemy armies
[25:49] to retreat and crucially,
rather than fleeing east,
[25:52] the Prussians moved north
where they could remain
[25:54] in contact with the British.
[25:56] Napoleon sent a force to
hold off the Prussians
[25:58] as he moved in on the British,
[25:59] now holding a defensive
position at Waterloo.
[26:02] Prussian General Blucher sent word
[26:04] that he would come to Wellington's aid
[26:05] if he could just hold off
the French for long enough.
[26:08] Napoleon had to defeat Wellington
[26:09] before the Prussian Army
could arrive in force.
[26:12] And it was close.
[26:14] The British held the high ground
[26:15] and a number of key defensive buildings
[26:16] across the battlefield.
[26:18] After waiting some hours he didn't have
[26:19] 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
[26:37] to go on a bender.
[26:38] The French did manage to
capture a farmhouse directly
[26:40] in front of the British line.
[26:42] And from there, they
unleashed artillery hellfire
[26:44] on the British square formations.
[26:46] And as Napoleon sent his Imperial Guard in
[26:48] 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
[26:59] and sent the French
Imperial Guard running,
[27:01] the French lines panicked,
[27:02] fearing they had been encircled,
and they began to flee.
[27:05] The Battle of Waterloo
was an allied victory.
[27:09] And with that, Napoleon's hopes
[27:10] 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?"
[27:18] And the British replied, "No."
[27:20] Instead, to make sure
Napoleon was put away once
[27:23] and for all, they sent him
to one of the most isolated
[27:25] and remote places they could think of.
[27:27] A tiny island in the
Atlantic Ocean, Saint Helena.
[27:31] Here, a deeply isolated
[27:33] and depressed Emperor Napoleon
[27:34] would live the remaining
years of his life.
[27:36] His house was a wooden bungalow,
[27:38] not exactly on par with
the Tuileries Palace.
[27:40] Much to his frustration,
[27:42] 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
[27:50] an isolated island, but just to be sure,
[27:52] he was guarded by 2,000 British soldiers
[27:54] and two 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
[28:03] a strong leader, hand firmly in jacket.
[28:06] Depictions of Napoleon
on Saint Helena show
[28:08] a disheveled, 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
[28:42] to work restoring Europe
to its traditional balance
[28:44] and reasserting their dominance.
[28:46] But after Napoleon had
spread the influence
[28:48] 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,
[28:58] and then another one.
[28:59] Reaction to Napoleon's rule in places
[29:01] like Germany and Italy
propelled forward the ideas
[29:04] and feelings of modern
unity and nationalism,
[29:07] and his "Napoleonic Code"
still remains the basis
[29:09] of law in various modern countries.
[29:12] The modern world owes a
lot to Napoleon's legacy.
[29:15] He remains, statistically,
[29:16] possibly the greatest
military general in history
[29:19] and his revolutionary military tactics
[29:21] 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
[29:29] 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
[29:36] to make of him in some regards.
[29:38] Was he the champion of
the French Revolution,
[29:40] spreading equality wherever he went
[29:42] or did betray it by making
himself an absolute Monarch
[29:45] and restricting certain liberties?
[29:47] Was he an ambitious and
aggressive conqueror hell-bent
[29:50] on bringing Europe to its knees
[29:52] or was he simply defending himself
[29:53] against an aggressive Europe hell-bent
[29:55] on reducing his power?
[29:57] Some things will continue to be debated.
[29:59] Napoleon died at the age of 51,
[30:02] officially of stomach cancer,
[30:03] but some believe he
may have been poisoned.
[30:05] The British buried him in a tin coffin
[30:07] inside a mahogany coffin
inside a lead coffin
[30:10] inside another mahogany coffin.
[30:12] I guess this time they wanted
[30:13] to make sure he stayed where they put him.
[30:15] In 1840, his remains were moved to Paris
[30:18] where 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 to make his mark
[30:31] 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."
[30:39] And in that sense, Napoleon
knew he would live on forever.
[30:44] Oh, and to reiterate,
[30:46] he was definitely average
height for the time.
[30:49] (upbeat music)