Napoleon 1814–1815: A Small Issue of Status in International Law in the Long Nineteenth Century (1776-1914)
James Crawford
Studies in the History of International Law, Volume: 28/11

Abstract

The chapter delves into three important and related legal questions with relation to the status of France and its former ruler, the Emperor Napoleon, at the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) after Waterloo. These are the bases on which France participated in the Congress after the second restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, the status of Napoleon and the question of French responsibility of war damages resulting from the Hundred Days. Napoleon’s escape from Elba and the need to prevent any repetition of the events from the Hundred Days severely complicated international politics. While the recognition of the restored Bourbon dynasty allowed to consider it as a legitimate partner in the peace, the status of Napoleon and the legal justification for securing him in the southern Atlantic posed more of a legal conundrum. Rejecting his status as head of state raised the question of what then was the legal basis of holding France accountable for the Hundred Days.

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