Restoration
Louis
Stanislas Xavier was born in 1755, the youngest brother of Louis XVI,
the king of France who died by guillotine in
1793. When Louis XVI was executed, all the great powers of Europe recognised
his son and heir, Louis Charles, known as the dauphin. Louis
Stanislas Xavier declared himself regent. But, only two years later,
the dauphin was dead in
the prison of the Temple in Revolutionary Paris.
Louis Stanislas Xavier took the title of Louis XVIII, but his path was blocked by the extraordinary military victories of Napoléon I. When, in 1814, Napoléon finally over-reached himself and was exiled to Elba, he saw his chance. He brushed aside the claims of Bonaparte's son Napoléon II, who had been taken prisoner by the Austrians. Through political opportunism and despite his lack of popular appeal, he brought about the unlikely Restoration of the French monarchy.
In fear for his son and the Empress Josephine – and concerned at rumours that his exile was to be transferred to a distant island of the South Atlantic - Napoléon I acted swiftly. He returned to France via Cannes and led a small troop northwards. Within five days, sympathy for Napoléon was growing. He entered Grenoble to popular acclaim. On the road to Paris, the forces sent to stop and arrest him formed ranks and saluted their Emperor.
Napoléon's army arrived in the Tuileries on 20 March 1815. New elections were soon held and the Emperor proclaimed his peaceful intentions. But the British and the Prussians would not accept his assurances. They formed a powerful coalition that met the French imperial troops at Waterloo on 18 June 1815 and defeated them. His return had lasted just 100 days.
The Napoleonic wars cost France more than 1,500,000 men. The economy was left in tatters. The French people decided they were pleased to see the back of him.
The rumour of deportation turned out to be true. The British transported Napoléon by sea to a new prison in the South Atlantic on the island of Saint Helena. The captain of the transport ship addressed him as 'General Napoléon' as the United Kingdom had never recognised the Empire. Napoléon was furious.
At this time, nearby Ascension Island was uninhabited. Both Ascension and Saint Helena were garrisoned for fear of a French maritime attempt to free Napoléon, but none came. The island was a common stopover for ships heading for Cape Town and the Indian Ocean, some of whose travellers visited the exile.
Napoléon died, in April 1821, probably unaware to what extent his absence had gilded his tarnished reputation at home in France. It has been alleged that he was poisoned with arsenic; the doctors who attended claimed he succumbed to stomach cancer.
Meanwhile in France Louis XVIII was attempting to reconcile his family's dynastic heritage with that of the Revolution and the Empire. He achieved this through moderation and political skill, rebuilding the French economy and avoiding the ghastly spectre of civil war. (Only one of the treasonous soldiers who supported the returning Napoléon was executed.)
Louis XVIII died in September 1824 in Paris, without an heir, and was succeeded by his brother Charles X. Would Charles prove as adept at keeping the peace?
