Fall of Napoleon: abdication, surrender, exile and the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1815)

Background. Following the Hundred Days campaign, Napoleon abdicated for the second time in favour of his four-year-old son. The period marked the transition from the defeat at Waterloo to the formal end of hostilities. The Treaty of Paris, signed on 20 November 1815, confirmed previous agreements and established the conditions for peace, including the reinstatement of the Quadruple Alliance.

Abdication and Restoration. Napoleon II was the disputed Emperor for two weeks in 1815. Louis XVIII, known as the Desired, was restored as King of France on 8 July 1815, ending the Hundred Days. The Convention of Saint-Cloud on 3 July 1815 saw the French army surrender Paris to the armies of Prince Blücher and the Duke of Wellington.

Surrender and Exile. Unable to escape, Napoleon surrendered to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS Bellerophon on 15 July 1815. He was transported to England and later transferred to HMS Northumberland for exile. The British government selected Saint Helena as his place of exile, where he remained until his death in 1821.

Treaty of Paris. The Treaty of Paris was signed on 20 November 1815, formally ending the Napoleonic Wars. It was only moderately harsher than the 1814 treaty, thanks to Castlereagh's influence. The treaty confirmed the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna and acknowledged the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland.