Picture, if you will, 1814, an island off the coast of Italy. Elba is one of those picturesque places that feels far from the troubles of the world: a warm, mediteranion coastline overlooked by mountainous forests filled with wild boar. Perhaps that’s why the allies of the Sixth Coalition–Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German states–had exiled Napoleon there a year earlier.
Surely in a place so far from the important events of Europe, the great General and Emperor would solely fade away.
It was to have been a pleasant enough retirement. Napoleon, as part of the peace treaty, was permitted to retain a personal guard of 600 men and made sovereign over the island’s inhabitants. He could have enjoyed the climate, sea, the mountain, and a life of relative luxury.
They really should have known better.
. . .
For more, listen to the Podcast episode and check out my book, History Stories for Everyone, where I dive deeper into this and some of history’s other most fascinating and relatable human stories:
