The Battle of Paris was fought on 30–31 March 1814 between the Sixth Coalition, consisting of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

, against the French Empire. After a day of fighting in the suburbs of Paris, the French surrendered on March 31, ending the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...

and forcing

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

to abdicate and go into exile.

Background

Napoleon was retreating from his failed invasion of Russia in 1812. With the Russian armies following up victory, the Sixth Coalition was formed with Russia, Austria, Prussia, Portugal, Great Britain, Sweden, Spain and other nations hostile to the French Empire. Even though the French were victorious in the initial battles during their campaign in Germany, the Coalition armies eventually joined together and defeated them at the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...

in the autumn of 1813. After the battle, the Pro-French German

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria a ...

collapsed, thereby loosening Napoleon's hold on Germany east of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. The Coalition forces in Germany then crossed the Rhine and invaded France.

Prelude

Campaign in northeastern France

The Coalition forces, numbering more than 400,000 and divided into three groups, finally entered northeastern France in January 1814. Facing them in the theatre were 70,000 Frenchmen, but they had the advantage of fighting in friendly territory, shorter supply lines, and more secure lines of communication. Utilizing his advantages, Napoleon defeated the divided Coalition forces in detail, starting with the battles at

Brienne The County of Brienne was a medieval county in France centered on Brienne-le-Château. Counts of Brienne * Engelbert I * Engelbert II * Engelbert III * Engelbert IV * Walter I (? – c. 1090) * Erard I (c. 1090 – c. 1120?) * Walter ...

and La Rothière, but could not stop the latter's advance. He then launched his

Six Days' Campaign The Six Days Campaign (10–15 February 1814) was a final series of victories by the forces of Napoleon I of France as the Sixth Coalition closed in on Paris. The Six Days Campaign was fought from 10 February to 15 February during which time N ...

against the Coalition army under Blücher, which was threatening Paris from the northeast at the river

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Aube, at the

Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube The Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (20–21 March 1814) saw an Imperial French army under Napoleon face a much larger Allied army led by Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg during the War of the Sixth Coalition. On the second day of fighting, E ...

on 20 March. He was successful in defeating this army, but it was not enough to halt it in time, as it later linked up with Blücher's army at

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

on 28 March. After this, the Coalition forces advanced yet again towards Paris. Until this battle it had been nearly 400 years since a foreign army had entered Paris, during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

French war-weariness

Since the disaster in Russia and the start of the war, the French populace had become increasingly war-weary. France had been exhausting itself at war for 25 years, and many of its men had died during the wars Napoleon had fought until then, making

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...

there increasingly unpopular. Once the Coalition forces entered the country of France, the leaders were astonished and relieved upon seeing that against their expectations and fears the populace never staged a popular uprising against them, in the scale of the popular guerrilla war in Spain or Russia's patriotic resistance against the ''Grande Armée'' in 1812. Even Napoleon's own ex-foreign minister,

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, sent a letter to the Coalition monarchs stating that the Parisians were already becoming angry against their Emperor and would even welcome the Coalition armies if they were to enter the city.

Tsar Alexander I's subterfuge

The leaders of the Coalition decided that Paris and not Napoleon himself was now the main objective. For the plan, some generals proposed their respective plans, but one, that of the Russian general Toll, fit precisely what Tsar Alexander I had in mind: attack Paris head-on with the main Coalition army while Napoleon was redirected as far away from the city as possible. The Tsar intended to ride out to meet the Prussian king and Schwarzenberg. They met on a road leading directly to Paris and the Tsar proposed his intentions. He brought a map and spread it to the ground for all of them to see as they talked about the plan. The plan was for the entire main Coalition army to stop pursuing Napoleon and his army and instead march directly to Paris. The exception was Wintzingerode's 10,000-strong cavalry detachment and eight horse batteries which were to follow and mislead Napoleon that the Coalition army was still pursuing him southwards. As usual, the king and Schwarzenberg agreed. The main Coalition army began its march towards Paris on 28 March, and on the same day, Wintzingerode's unit was now performing his task. The deception campaign worked. While the main Coalition army attacked Paris, Wintzingerode's unit hotly pursued Napoleon and his ragtag army to the southeast but was later beaten back by the latter. However, by the time the emperor saw through the subterfuge, he was already too far away to the southeast of Paris, which was now faced with Coalition forces. He would never reach the city in time, and he could not participate in the upcoming battle for the city.

Forces

The Austrian, Prussian and Russian armies were joined together and put under the command of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Count Barclay de Tolly who would also be responsible for the taking of the city, but the driving force behind the army was the Tsar of Russia together with the King of Prussia, moving with the army. The Coalition army totaled about 150,000 troops, most of whom were seasoned veterans of the past campaigns. Napoleon had left his brother

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic ...

in defense of Paris with about 23,000 regular troops under Marshal

Auguste Marmont Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (20 July 1774 – 22 March 1852) was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire and was awarded the title (french: duc de Raguse). In the Peninsular War Marmont succeede ...

, although many of them were young conscripts, along with an additional 6,000

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

s and a small force of the

Imperial Guard An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, i ...

under Marshals

Bon Adrien Jeannot de Moncey Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey (or Jannot de Moncey), 1st Duke of Conegliano (31 July 1754 – 20 April 1842) was a French military officer and a prominent commander in the French Revolutionary Wars and later a Marshal of the Empire during the Nap ...

and Édouard Mortier. Assisting the French were the incomplete trenches and other defenses in and around the city.

Battle

The Coalition army arrived outside Paris in late March. Nearing the city, Russian troops broke rank and ran forward to get their first glimpse of the city. Camping outside the city on March 29, the Coalition forces were to assault the city from its northern and eastern sides the next morning on March 30. The battle started that same morning with intense artillery bombardment from the Coalition army. Early in the morning the Coalition attack began when the Russians attacked and drove back the French skirmishers near Belleville before themselves driven back by French cavalry from the city's eastern suburbs. By 7:00 a.m. the Russians attacked the Young Guard near Romainville in the center of the French lines and after some time and hard fighting pushed them back. A few hours later the Prussians, under Blücher, attacked north of the city and carried the French position around Aubervilliers, but did not press their attack. The

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

troops seized the positions at Saint-Maur to the southwest, with Austrian troops in support. The Russians attempted to press their attack but became caught up by trenches and artillery before falling back before a counterattack of the

. The Imperial Guard continued to hold back the Russians in the center until the Prussian forces appeared to their rear. The Russian forces then assailed the Montmartre Heights in the city's northeast, where Joseph's headquarters had been at the beginning of the battle, which was defended by Brigadier-general Baron Christiani. Control of the heights was severely contested, and Joseph fled the city. Marmont contacted the Coalition and reached a secret agreement with them. Shortly afterwards, he marched his soldiers to a position where they were quickly surrounded by Coalition troops; Marmont then surrendered, as had been agreed.

Aftermath

Alexander sent an envoy to meet with the French to hasten the surrender. He offered generous terms to the French and, although willing to avenge the destruction of Moscow more than a year earlier, declared himself to be bringing peace to France rather than its destruction. On March 31 Talleyrand gave the key of the city to the Tsar. Later that day the Coalition armies triumphantly entered the city with the Tsar at the head of the army followed by the King of Prussia and Prince Schwarzenberg. On April 2, the Senate passed the '' Acte de déchéance de l'Empereur'' ("Emperor's Demise Act"), which declared Napoleon deposed. Napoleon had advanced as far as

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissemen ...

when he heard that Paris had surrendered. Outraged, he wanted to march on the capital, but his marshals would not fight for him and repeatedly urged him to surrender. He abdicated in favour of his son on April 4. The Allies rejected this out of hand, forcing Napoleon to abdicate unconditionally on April 6. The terms of his abdication, which included his exile to the

Isle of Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Natio ...

, were settled in the Treaty of Fontainebleau on 11 April 1814. A reluctant Napoleon ratified it two days later. The

was over but the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoratio ...

started on 20 March 1815 in Paris.

Notes

References

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External links

Battle of Paris 1814, maps, illustrations
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris, Battle of Battles of the War of the Sixth Coalition Battles of the Napoleonic Wars Battles involving Austria Battles involving Bavaria Battles involving France Battles involving Prussia Battles involving Russia Battles involving Württemberg Conflicts in 1814 1814 in France Battle 1814 Urban warfare