. A history of mediaeval and modern Europe for secondary schools. ion,3 and begged the allied monarchs ofEurope to believe that he desired nothing now but the oldboundaries of France and peace. It was impossible to believehim. While his uneasy genius should control the destinies ofFrance, no former enemy could rest safe. England, Prussia,Austria, and Russia declared war and put their armies in mo-tion. The forces at Napoleons disposal were very inferior innumbers, though the quality of this remainder of his old armies 1 In the second treaty of peace which followed Waterloo, France lost practi-
. A history of mediaeval and modern Europe for secondary schools. ion,3 and begged the allied monarchs ofEurope to believe that he desired nothing now but the oldboundaries of France and peace. It was impossible to believehim. While his uneasy genius should control the destinies ofFrance, no former enemy could rest safe. England, Prussia,Austria, and Russia declared war and put their armies in mo-tion. The forces at Napoleons disposal were very inferior innumbers, though the quality of this remainder of his old armies 1 In the second treaty of peace which followed Waterloo, France lost practi-cally all these small annexations also, and was thrown back upon the old boun-daries of 1790. She was likewise compelled to pay a heavy war indemnity. 2 One of the great grievances of the soldiers was the restoring of the oldWhite flag of the Bourbons in place of the beloved Tricolor. 3 Napoleon especially tried to convince the French that he would rule as aconstitutional and limited monarch, and that he had abandoned all schemes forforeign empire and THE DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON 451 was excellent. His only chance was to take the offensivepromptly and to crush his opponents piecemeal ere they couldunite their myriads. In June he flung himself into Belgium,and at Ligny defeated Bliicher, the brave Prussian com-mander; and four days later (June 18, 1815), believing Bliicherhad been rendered harmless, he fell upon the English Duke ofWellington, at Four hours long the armies grappledwith headlong courage, and the plunging charges of the Frenchcavalry several times almost broke down the stubborn Englishdefense. The battle, however, seemed ending without decision,when Bliichers Prussians began coming on the scene after aremarkable forced march. Napoleons troops had spent them-selves. A last spectacular charge of the Old Guard ended infailure, and panic seized the exhausted army. They carriedtheir leader with them in the headlong rout. On June 22, 1815, Napoleon a se
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