Waterloo

Title: Waterloo – The Battle That Brought Down Napoleon

Author: Jeremy Black

Publisher: Icon Books 2011 (First published: 2010)

ISBN: 978-1-848-31233-3

Pages: 217

Jeremy Black, a professor of history at the University of Exeter is one of the world’s leading military historians. He is a member of Royal Historical Society and a senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. This book is a fitting tribute to his reputation as an expert in military history. Though unappealing to the general reader who is more interested in the socio-political factors leading to the battle and its repercussions, Black’s history of Europe’s most famous battle is a treasure trove of data for students seeking tidbits of military history. Waterloo is synonymous not only with the nadir of Napoleon’s meteoric rise, but this small village in Belgium is a powerful symbol of patriotic pride for most Britons as evidenced by the slew of place names and commemorative objects. The battle served to reestablish the Bourbon dynasty ousted during the French Revolution, but France had changed a lot during the intervening three decades that the royals were removed from power not much later.

Napoleon Bonaparte, born in 1769, joined the French army as a second lieutenant at the age of 16. The French Revolution in 1789 helped the careers of talented opportunists like him and he rose to General in 1796 through his characteristic self-confidence, swift decision-making, rapid mobility and concentration of strength at the decisive point. He usurped power in 1799 and crowned emperor in 1804. Always nursing grand schemes of domination over the neighbours, the state was always at war during Napoleon’s reign. The success of revolution at home ensured the presence of talented officers in the army as against aristocrats in the ancien regime. But this novelty and Napoleon’s battle tactics which afforded victory in early battles began to wear off towards the end of his career. On the other hand, British forces also were not well off. The miserable defeat in the American War of Independence where the colonials were supported by the French was a severe strain on morale. Arthur Wellesley’s dynamic leadership and victories at several battles in the 15 years leading to 1815 had galvanized an effective fighting spirit in them which was aided by a united coalition in which every partner was bent upon unseating Napoleon, who was relentlessly waging war and tearing down treaties which he himself had penned. Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington went on to become a prominent statesman, becoming the prime minister of Britain for a brief stint.

Napoleon’s star had started waning after 1805 when his navy was humbled by Admiral Nelson at Trafalgar. Combined with reverses in the Iberian peninsula came the awareness among European rulers that he is not to be trusted. Pride and overconfidence blinding his usually clear judgment, the French army undertook a devastating campaign against Russia, ultimately capturing Moscow. Obtained at great cost, Napoleon could hold on to Moscow for hardly one month after fierce opposition drove them back. Exposed to the severe Russian winter and with supply lines disrupted, French victory soon turned to defeat. Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses died in the ignominious retreat. It is estimated that 180,000 horses were lost, which continued to be a grave strain on French military might at later battles. He lost in 1814 and was exiled to the small island of Elba, but effected an escape and returned to power in France in March 1815. The major powers of Europe – Austria, Prussia, Russia and Britain – struck an alliance and met Napoleon’s forces at Waterloo in Belgium on 16 June 1815.

The fight lasted only three days. At the end of the third day, 18 June 1815 which was Sunday, Napoleon’s forces were routed conclusively. The tactical alliance between the British and Prussians stood its ground as they joined forces to oppose the French. The only difference of opinion among them was how to name the just concluded battle. Prussians liked the appellation ‘La Belle Alliance’ and ‘Mont St. Jean’ but Wellington preferred Waterloo, which was easier for the British to pronounce. Napoleon fled back to Paris and abdicated in favour of his sone on 22 June, but the choice was not acceptable to the prominent in the regime. Anglo-Prussian troops occupied Paris on 7 July. Louis XVIII returned on the following day amidst little popular joy. Napoleon was arrested and permanently exiled to St. Helena, a small island on the South Atlantic where he was killed by slow poisoning with arsenic.

Waterloo deserves a prominent place in world history. It was the last major European battle to be personally directed by one of the commanders from frontline positions. Napoleon’s opponents were so strong and united that even if he had won there, France would still have been crushed in a long drawn-out war on the scales of the two world wars. As such, Europe was saved from such a fratricidal conflict. Britain gained enormously from France’s defeat – it annexed Sri Lanka and many port towns around the world, catapulting its navy to the pinnacle. European powers proceeded on the path of colonization in the later years of that century.

A curious fact can also be discerned by Indian readers about the undue glorification of Pazhassi Raja, a local chieftain in Northern Kerala at the beginning of 19^th century. Dealing the Raja was Arthur Wellesley’s final assignment in India. He had fought Tipu earlier. Though the revolt of Pazhassi is celebrated as a great event, it doesn’t even find mention in British accounts of Wellesley’s antecedents in India, as this book don’t mention this struggle at all when detailing the Duke’s engagements in India (p. 41).

The book is very tedious and thoroughly fails to grab the attention of the general reader. In fact, such a person’s patience is tried the most in the chapter containing actual description of the confrontation. The reader loses track of his bearings in the myriad accounts of such and such troops doing such and such things against the opponents. Also, the work miserably fails to bring the contingencies which led to the war to the reader’s attention. It is solely concerned with the verbatim narration of the battle and is useless for people other than students of military history.

The book is not recommended.

Rating: 2 Star