to mobilize the Allied armies. In this way war was declared in less than an
hour.
Six days later Congress went to the limits of international law and
beyond by declaring Bonaparte an outlaw. Wellington put his signature to
the communique and was at once attacked by the Whig opposition in
London for seeming to have called for Napoleon's assassination. On 25
March the fo ur principal Allies each agreed to provide 1 50,ooo men in
the first instance to destroy the 'monster'; the British would make up any
shortfall in manpower by appropriate subsidies. The ultimate strategy
was to provide a cordon sanitaire around France from the Alps to the
Channel.
Within France events moved at an even faster pace. Paris learned of
Napoleon's landing on 5 March. Soult, now Minister of War, began by
proclaiming Bonaparte outlaw and organizing an army of defence under
the comte d'Artois. Louis XVIII received the support of the Legislature
and the National Guard and took comfort from the rebuff Antibes had
given Napoleon. The marshals seemed to be holding firm too, for
Massena in Marseilles and Oudinot in Metz proclaimed their royalist
sympathies. Initially the only sign of nervousness was the fall in
government stock from 81 to 75 francs. The turning point was Ney's
defection at Auxerre on 16 March. This opened up the floodgates, so that
almost instantly the entire Army seemed to go over to the Emperor.
Ironically, stung by Allied taunts that he dared not raise an army in his
own country, Louis XVIII had mobilized 6o,ooo men and put them on
the march at the very time Napoleon landed; as a result of this
coincidence, Soult was wrongly accused of collusion and treason. On the
night of 19-20 March a panicky Louis XVIII fled from the Tuileries and
took the road to Ghent.
marcin
(Marcin)
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