First Restoration

The First Restoration was a period in French history that saw the return of the House of Bourbon to the throne, between the abdication of Napoleon in the spring of 1814 and the Hundred Days in March 1815. The regime was born following the victory of the Sixth Coalition (United Kingdom, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria) as part of the campaign of France, while the country was in conflict during the First French Empire. The Allied powers were divided over the person to be placed on the throne of France. The Bourbons in exile, the French institutions, and the foreign powers disputed on the matter. After the abdication of Napoleon on 6 April, the throne went to Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, who returned to Paris at the end of the month and moved to the Tuileries Palace. As opposed to the pre-Napoleonic Ancien Régime, the new regime was a constitutional monarchy. This was a compromise position the sovereign granted the French through the Charter of 1814. This allowed for the return of the monarchy while preserving some of the major achievements, such as those regarding suffrage and property rights, gained through the French Revolution. During its short existence, the regime focused on attempting to reconcile the country. This method disappointed the most extreme monarchists, who hoped for vengeance for the slights suffered during the revolutionary period, while the return to power of the Catholic Church and the reduction of the size of armies quickly created enemies to the regime. It was in this context that Napoleon landed in France on 1 March 1815. With an army initially reduced, it recruited the discontented and walked across the country. Louis XVIII fled Paris on 19 March, and the regime fell the next day, at the arrival of Napoleon at the...