The 48 Laws Of Power

OBSERVANCl:‘
OFTHELAW

At
the

Congress

ofViennain

1814,

the

majorpowers

of

Europegathered

to

carve
up

theremainsof

Napoleon’s

fallen

Empire.

The

city

wasfullof

gai-

ety

and

theballswerethemost

splendid

in

memory.Hovering

overthe

proceedings,

however,

wastheshadowof

Napoleon

himself.Insteadof

being

executedorexiledfar

away,

hehadbeensenttotheislandof

Elba,

notfarfromthecoastof

Italy.

Even

imprisoned

on an

island,

aman as bold and creative as

NapoleonBonaparte

made

everyone

nervous.The

Austrians

plotted

tokill

him
on
Elba,

butdecideditwas

too

risky.

Alexander

I,

Rnssia’s

tempera»

mental

czar,

heightened

the

anxietybythrowing

a{it

during

the

congress

whena

part

ofPolandwasdeniedhim:

“Beware,

Ishallloosethemon-

ster!"hethreatened.

Everyone

knewhemeant

Napoleon.

Ofallthestates

men

gathered

in

Vienna,

onlyTalleyrand, Napoleon’s

former

foreign

minister,

seemedcalmandunconcerned.

It

wasas

ifheknew

something

theothersdidnot.

Meanwhile,

ontheislandof

Elba,

Napoleon's

lifewasa

mockery

ofhis

previousglory.

AsElba’s

“king,”

hehadbeenallowedtoformacourt-—

there

wasa

cook,

awardrobe

mistress,

anofficial

pianist,

anda.handfulof

courtiers.

All

thiswas

designed

tohumiliate

Napoleon,

and

it

seemedto

work.

That

winter,

however,

thereoccurreda.seriesofeventsso

strange

and

dramatic

theymight

havebeen

scripted

ina

play.

Elbawassurrounded

by

British

ships,

their

cannons

covering

all

possible

exit

points.

Yet

somehow,

inbroad

daylight

on 26

February

1815,

a

ship

with

ninehundredmenon

board

pickedupNapoleon

and

put

toseaThe

Englishgave

chasebutthe

ship got

away.

This almost

impossible escape

astonished the

public

throughoutEurope,

andterrifiedthestatesmenatthe

Congress

ofVienna.

Although

itwouldhavebeensafertoleave

Europe,Napoleon

not

only

chosetoreturnto

France,

heraisedtheodds

bymarching

onPariswitha

tiny

army,

in

hopes

of

recapturing

thethrone.His

strategyworked——people

ofallclassesthrewthemselvesathisfeet.An

army

underMarshal

Neysped

from

Paristoarrest

him,

butwhenthesoldierssawtheirbelovedformer

leader,

theychanged

sides.

Napoleon

was

declared

emperoragain.

Volun-

teers

swelledtheranksofhisnew

army.

Delirium

swept

the

country.

In

Paris,

crowdswentwild.The

king

whohad

replacedNapoleon

fledthe

country.

Forthenexthundred

days,

Napoleon

ruledFrance.

Soon,

however,

the

giddiness

subsided.Francewas

bankrupt,

itsresources

nearly

exhausted,

andthere

was

little

Napoleon

coulddoabout

this.AttheBattleof

Waterloo,

injune

ofthat

year,

he

was

finally

defeatedfor

good.

Thistimehisenemies

hadlearnedtheirlesson:

They

exiledhim

tothebarrenislandofSaintI-Ie~

lena,

offthewestcoastofAfrica.Therehehadnomore

hope

of

escape.

Interpretation

Onlyyears

laterdidthefactsof

Napoleon's

dramatic

escape

from

Elba

cometo

light.

Beforehedecidedto

attempt

thisbold

move,

visitorstohis

courthadtoldhimthathewasmore

popular

inFrancethan

ever,

andthat

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