War · 1803–1815
Napoleonic Wars and Waterloo
Waterloo, near Brussels (Belgium)
From 1803 Napoleon's France fought a series of coalitions of European powers and dominated most of the continent, until the failed invasion of Russia in 1812 and defeat in 1814 sent him into exile on Elba. Returning to power in March 1815, he was beaten for the last time on 18 June 1815 near Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington's British-led army and Gebhard von Blücher's Prussians, and abdicated four days later.
Estimates of military deaths across the wars run from at least 2.8 million to as many as 5 million, alongside many civilian victims.
Why it mattered
The Congress of Vienna redrew Europe's borders, and Britain emerged as the world's foremost naval and economic power for the rest of the 19th century.
Related
- The world in 1815: Waterloo and the Vienna Settlement chapter
- Napoleonic Wars 18 May 1803 – 20 November 1815
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