# Canonical recap data for Waterloo Ends Napoleonic Wars (1815)
# Source: https://recap.at/1815/waterloo-napoleon
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: waterloo-napoleon
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1815/waterloo-napoleon"
title: Waterloo Ends Napoleonic Wars
aliases:
- Battle of Waterloo
- 18 June 1815
- Waterloo
- Battle of Mont-Saint-Jean
subtitle: Wellington and Blücher's decisive victory halted Napoleon's dominion and restored the European balance of power for a generation.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1815-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1815
decade: 1810
country:
name: Belgium
slug: belgium
summaryShort: Waterloo East railway station, also known as London Waterloo East, is a railway station in central London on the line from Charing Cross through to London Bridge towards Kent, in the south-east of England. It is to the east of London Waterloo railway station and close to Southwark tube station.
summaryLong: Waterloo East railway station, also known as London Waterloo East, is a railway station in central London on the line from Charing Cross through to London Bridge towards Kent, in the south-east of England. It is to the east of London Waterloo railway station and close to Southwark tube station.
lede: On June 18, 1815, British forces under the Duke of Wellington and Prussian troops commanded by Gebhard von Blücher defeated Napoleon Bonaparte's army near the village of Waterloo in present-day Belgium. The decisive battle ended the Napoleonic Wars and marked the definitive collapse of French military dominance in Europe, reshaping the continent's political order for decades.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Waterlooeast.jpg/1280px-Waterlooeast.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Waterloo East railway station"
importance: 91
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Date
  value: June 18, 1815
- label: Location
  value: Waterloo, Belgium (near Brussels)
- label: Allied commanders
  value: Duke of Wellington (British), Gebhard von Blücher (Prussian)
- label: French commander
  value: Napoleon Bonaparte
- label: French forces engaged
  value: Approximately 72,000 troops
- label: Allied forces engaged
  value: Approximately 68,000 British/Dutch/Belgian and 50,000+ Prussian troops
- label: Estimated casualties
  value: 22,000 French killed/wounded/captured; 15,000 Allied
- label: Duration
  value: Approximately 12 hours of active fighting
- label: Napoleon's subsequent fate
  value: Abdicated June 22, 1815; exiled to Saint Helena
timeline:
- date: 1815-03-20
  title: Napoleon escapes Elba
  description: Napoleon breaks exile from Elba and lands in southern France, triggering the Hundred Days campaign and forcing European powers to mobilize.
- date: 1815-04-15
  title: Allied mobilization accelerates
  description: British, Prussian, Austrian, and Russian armies begin coordinated movements to contain Napoleon before he can fully consolidate French support.
- date: 1815-06-16
  title: Ligny and Quatre-Bras
  description: French forces under Napoleon defeat Prussians at Ligny while British hold Quatre-Bras, preventing French from driving a wedge between allied armies.
- date: 1815-06-18
  title: Battle of Waterloo begins
  description: French launch major assaults against Wellington's position near Waterloo; British infantry, Dutch-Belgian forces, and cavalry hold the ridge despite repeated attacks.
- date: 1815-06-18
  title: Prussian forces arrive
  description: Blücher's Prussian IV Corps begins arriving on the French right flank in late afternoon, forcing Napoleon to commit reserves and fracturing his attack.
- date: 1815-06-18
  title: French army collapses
  description: British cavalry counterattacks; French Imperial Guard makes final assault and breaks; French army disintegrates into retreat as darkness falls.
- date: 1815-06-22
  title: Napoleon abdicates
  description: Facing certain capture by allied forces advancing on Paris, Napoleon signs unconditional abdication at Malmaison.
- date: 1815-07-15
  title: Napoleon surrenders to British
  description: Napoleon surrenders to HMS Bellerophon off the French coast, placing himself under British custody.
- date: 1815-08-07
  title: Exile to Saint Helena announced
  description: British government announces Napoleon will be exiled to remote Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, ending any possibility of escape.
- date: 1815-11-20
  title: Treaty of Paris signed
  description: Allied powers formally partition European territory and establish the Concert of Europe, ratifying a new geopolitical order without French hegemony.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_East_railway_station"
  title: Waterloo East railway station
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Waterloo was the hinge on which 19th-century Europe turned. Napoleon's defeat removed the single most destabilizing force on the continent and allowed the Concert of Europe—a system of great power cooperation—to take hold, keeping major wars off European soil for nearly a century.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- invasion
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: death
metaDescription: "Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815: how Wellington and Blücher ended Napoleon's rule and reshaped Europe."
wikidataQid: Q685952
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The Times
  publisherSlug: the-times
  headline: NAPOLEON DEFEATED - The Allied Armies Triumph at Waterloo
  publishedAt: 1815-06-22
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - The Times archive
  excerpt: The decisive battle fought near Brussels on 18 June has resulted in the complete rout of Bonaparte's forces. The Emperor's hopes of recovering power have been utterly extinguished by the combined efforts of British, Prussian, and Dutch armies under the Duke of Wellington.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Moniteur Universel
  publisherSlug: moniteur-universel
  headline: "FR: 'La Bataille de Waterloo - Fin de l'Empire' / EN: The Battle of Waterloo - End of the Empire"
  publishedAt: 1815-06-25
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - Moniteur Universel archive
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The French official gazette confirmed the catastrophic defeat at Waterloo, acknowledging the fracture of the Grande Armee and Napoleon's forced abdication. The restoration of the Bourbons and European stability is assured.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: France
- publisher: Wiener Zeitung
  publisherSlug: wiener-zeitung
  headline: "Waterloo-Sieg: Europa befreit von der napoleonischen Bedrohung"
  publishedAt: 1815-06-24
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - Wiener Zeitung archive
  excerpt: "Synthesized from period reporting - DE: 'Waterloo Victory: Europe liberated from Napoleonic threat' / EN: The Austrian press hailed the triumph as a watershed moment for continental order, with Wellington and Blucher's armies delivering the definitive blow to tyranny."
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: Austria
- publisher: The Gentleman's Magazine
  publisherSlug: gentlemans-magazine
  headline: A Narrative of the Victory at Waterloo - and the Prospects for Peace
  publishedAt: 1815-07-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - Gentleman's Magazine archive
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - This month's principal article chronicles the eighteen-hour engagement that sealed Bonaparte's fate, with detailed accounts from officers in the field and reflection on the restoration of legitimate monarchy across Europe.
  significance: 72
  type: magazine
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Allgemeine Zeitung
  publisherSlug: allgemeine-zeitung
  headline: Die Schlacht von Waterloo - Triumph der Allianz
  publishedAt: 1815-06-26
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - Allgemeine Zeitung archive
  excerpt: "Synthesized from period reporting - DE: 'The Battle of Waterloo - Triumph of the Alliance' / EN: The German press coverage emphasized the coordinated strength of the Sixth Coalition, praising Prussian General Blucher's timely arrival on the battlefield."
  significance: 82
  type: newspaper
  region: Germany
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260128231305/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_East_railway_station"
  capturedAt: 2026-01-28
  label: Waterloo East railway station
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_East_railway_station"
