5:00 PM: Prussian attack from the East

11:30 a.m.: The French storm the main gate of Hougoumont Farm to outflank the Allied positions; the fate of the battle, as Wellington said, depended on the closing of the gate.

Battle of Waterloo: English and allied troops of the Duke of Wellington defeat Napoleon’s troops

War of 1812. The great losers of the Anglo-American conflict were the American Indian tribes. With the peace treaty, British support for the Native Americans ended, and future disputes between the Indians and the Washington government became an internal issue. Thus, the possibility of forming an Indian nation for the American Indians faded. During the War of 1812, only the Choctaw, Cherokee, and Creek sided with the United States, while the Shawnee, Red Stick Creek, Ojibway, Chickamauga, Fox, Iroquois, Miami, Mingo, Ottawa, Kickapoo, Delaware, Mascouten, Potawatomi, Sauk, and Wyandot sided with Great Britain.

War of 1812. The War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain officially ends on all fronts, with the involvement of the Indian nations, Canada, and the Caribbean. There are no border changes, and the situation returns to pre-war, but the Americans and British will treat each other with greater respect, thus avoiding further conflict and provocation.

Approximately 52 million Europeans emigrated from the continent in search of opportunities and better living conditions. Of these, approximately 10 million were Italians, with peaks of up to 603,000 per year at the beginning of the 20th century. They were second only to the 18 million British and Irish. With the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s, this flow of migrants was redirected toward their colonial dominions.

The Battle of New Orleans, in which the Americans took control of the city’s port, laid the foundation for the future security of the American economy. The port of New Orleans would prove crucial to trade.

France. Bourbon dynasty (second regency) with two sovereigns: Louis XVIII, Charles X

Modena: Napoleonic occupation ends: Francis IV d’Este enters the city

Germany. Arthur Schopenhauer devotes himself to writing his major work: “The World as Will and Representation.” According to Schopenhauer, the world exists only as representation, that is, only in relation to consciousness: “the world is my representation.” This concept, not dissimilar from Kant’s and, curiously, from what would become quantum mechanics for a century, is expressed in the first and third volumes of the work. The second book describes the world as will. All will arises from desire, therefore from a lack, and therefore derives from suffering. In the third and fourth volumes, he also proposes various ways to free oneself from the servitude of will: through art and through renunciation. He proposes models of self-denial such as Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist saints.

The treaty the victors signed with defeated France after Napoleon’s abdication forced it to accept territorial sacrifices, but demanded no monetary compensation. Not everyone agreed: Prussia disagreed. But a strong France would have benefited the European balance of power.

War of 1812. The Royal Navy extends its naval blockade from Mississippi to all of New England. The American economy is collapsing, but the Americans are also achieving several military successes on the battlefield. Within weeks, the first proposals for a treaty will be reached.

Napoleon abdicates: first exile, on the island of Elba, the Austrians enter Lombardy and Veneto

In 1814, Napoleon commissioned a large house in New Orleans on Chartres Street, the site now known as Napoleon House. The lower level, which opened directly onto the street through swinging doors, was used for business. The living quarters were located on the second and third floors. At the top, Girod built an octagonal cupola from which he could observe the bustle of New Orleans harbor. By this time, Napoleon’s fortunes had changed. Following the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon was defeated in 1813 by a coalition of Great Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Sweden. He abdicated a year later and was exiled to the Italian island of Elba, only to escape nine months later and reclaim his title. Napoleon’s return galvanized old enemies. They clashed again in Belgium, where Napoleon was finally defeated in the brutal Battle of Waterloo. According to Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne’s Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1815 Napoleon confided to his friend Antoine Marie Chamans, the Count de Lavallette: “If they don’t want me to stay in France, where should I go? To England? My abode would be ridiculous or disturbing… America would be more suitable; I could live there with dignity.”

The Allies decide to grant Napoleon Bonaparte sovereignty over the island of Elba. Napoleon had even asked to live in England, but the English were not happy with this possibility.

France. Marshal Marmont’s army corps defects from Napoleon’s army.

France. Battle of Fere-Champenoise. 50,000 Frenchmen, mostly new recruits, face 200,000 Prussians and Russians, mostly veterans. With the French defeated, the road to Paris is open. Napoleon will realize this only when it is too late.

Napoleon leaves Paris for Chalons where he has his headquarters.

Dresden. 35,000 Napoleonic troops are forced to surrender to the Allies. If Napoleon had brought them with him to Leipzig a month earlier, they could have turned the tide of the crucial battle.

After leaving Leipzig, Napoleon’s army moved very quickly towards France and crossed the Rhine on November 2 with 85,000 men.

Battle of Leipzig. 11:30 PM. The 29th and 45th Russian Chasseurs are very close to the only bridge over the Elster, as Napoleon’s army crosses it. The French have mined the bridge, and the French corporal has been instructed to detonate it as soon as the Russians approach. Upon the arrival of the 29th and 45th Chasseurs, he detonates it, but it is too early: thousands of capable soldiers and hundreds of guns will remain in Leipzig because of this mistake. In total, the Allies lose 52,000 men against 60,000 French losses, which, with disbandments, reach 100,000, and 300 guns.

Battle of Leipzig. 2:00 PM. Napoleon launches his Guard, Drout’s cavalry and artillery, and all his infantry against Kleist and Württemberg’s dwindling battalions.

Battle of Leipzig (or Battle of the Nations). This was the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars. It led to the French defeat in the German Campaign and the collapse of Napoleonic rule. For the first time, the various anti-Napoleonic powers were simultaneously on the battlefield: Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden. The Allies could count on 430,000 men against Napoleon’s 191,000. The Allies (victors) nevertheless suffered 58,000 casualties in deaths and wounds, while the French suffered 38,000 casualties, 30,000 captured, and the loss of 250 cannons.

Leipzig. Even without Bernadotte and Bennigsen, the Allies had 205,000 men at their disposal against Napoleon’s 190,000.

The three army corps of the Swede Bernadotte cross the Elbe to join up with Blucher’s army corps.

Russian commander Chernyshev attacks Kassel, the capital of Westphalia, and overthrows the shaky puppet kingdom of Jérôme Bonaparte. But the focus of the moment is on the concentration of troops around Leipzig.