I plan on reading the article, but do not have the time to do so right now. Waterloo overall however was a Godsend not only for France but for all of the major European powers. The world economy at that point in 1815 was at the worst position it was up to that point in time, and excepting the Great Depression/WWII era, after that point as well. Public trade had been skewed for nearly 25 years straight, every modern nation in the world uses specie as a basis for their economy, and there were rapidly rising populations. Russia and Austria had inflation (paper currencies issued by the crown that were basically an I.O.U) of over 500%. In Britain there was a shortage of currency and soaring unemployment (by 1819 there would be the infamous "Peterloo Massacre"). To make matters worse there were more currency crashes (sudden devaluations) at this time than at any other time in human history. Nearly half of the world's powers were in default on debt as well. Had Napoleon won at Waterloo and the war continued it is highly unlikely that Russia and Austria (and even Prussia) would have had the financial capability of staying in the conflict. People would stop accepting their paper currency, panic would erupt, and they would not be able to fund the war. Even Britain's ability to continue the war would be suspect. She faced economic ruin in 1811 and the invasion of Russia saved her then. To make matters worse, 1816 was a disastrous year for crops (The Year Without A Summer) and had the war continued many would be faced with immanent starvation all over Europe. Even if Waterloo was not as important of a battle militarily, it was in the sense that it ended the war and prevented economic collapse for almost all of the nations engaged.