Waterloo Timeline

Learn why Waterloo happened and changed the world with our timeline of nine key years from 1789 - 1848.

Model guillotine carved from sheep bones by a French prisoners of war. Copyright Plymouth City Council. Photography Relic Imaging Ltd.

1789: Revolution

French citizens changed the world for ever in 1789 when they revolted against their King Louis XVI. The monarchies of Europe invaded France, trying to crush the young French Republic before its “dangerous” ideas of egalitarianism and liberty could spread.

Napoleon Bonaparte. A full-length portrait of Napoleon in his robes of state, Jean Baptiste Borley. Copyright British Library.

1799: Napoleon: Republican to Emperor

By the beginning of the 19th century, the French Revolution had transformed France. The most radical of the French governments had destroyed itself with the paranoid massacres of the Terror. More conservative leaders came to power, promising to use the powerful revolutionary armies to make France strong and stable once more.

The Plumb-pudding in danger

1812: The First World War

The Napoleonic Wars raged across the world for over twenty years. France, led by the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, struggled for domination against an alliance of its many enemies, from Britain to Russia. Fighting occurred all over Europe, and in India, North and South America, Egypt, even South Africa. It was truly the first global war.

The Devil to Pay or Boney's Return from Hell-Bay

Europe United, Napoleon Defeated

By 1814, the Napoleonic Wars had been raging for over 20 years. Almost the whole of Europe was united against a France that now seemed bent on conquering the whole continent. Britain, Russia, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and most of what is now Germany joined forces and invaded France from all directions.

Waterloo

At the beginning of the year 1815, Europe was finally at peace after over 20 years of war. However, all this was to change when the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile and launched a military campaign which would end at the Battle of Waterloo.

Peterloo Cartoon, "Manchester Heroes". Copyright National Army Museum.

An Unhappy Peace

Victory at Waterloo brought an end to over twenty years of war, but this meant that tens of thousands of soldiers were now jobless and hungry. The British government feared rebellion, censoring newspapers and banning large political meetings.

Episodes from September Days 1830 [Belgian Revolution], Gustav Wappers. Copyright Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

Nations Born

Europe was forever changed by the long Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

Daguerrotype of Wellington

Seeing a New Age

The extraordinary new technology of photography became commercially available in 1839 – just one of dozens of inventions that were reshaping people’s lives.

The Blessings of Peace of the Curse of the Corn Law, Cruikshank

Revolution Resurgent

The victors of Waterloo imposed harsh laws across Europe in 1815, hoping to crush the liberal ideas of the French Revolution. The major powers of Austria, Russia, and Prussia formed a “Holy Alliance” to stamp out revolt.