Napoleonic Wars · 1813-1815

From Leipzig to Waterloo: Napoleon falls

Beaten at Leipzig, exiled to Elba, back for a Hundred Days and finally defeated at Waterloo: students follow Napoleon's last campaigns across the map and ask why all of Europe turned against him.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1813 to AD 1815
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Beaten at Leipzig, exiled to Elba, back for a Hundred Days and finally defeated at Waterloo: students follow Napoleon's last campaigns across the map and ask why all of Europe turned against him.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Put the events of 1813-1815 in order: Leipzig, abdication, Elba, the Hundred Days, Waterloo, Saint Helena.
  • Locate Leipzig, Elba, Waterloo and Saint Helena on the map.
  • Explain why a coalition of almost all of Europe formed against Napoleon.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1813

The Battle of the Nations

Open the map in 1813 and zoom in on Saxony. Find Leipzig. Armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden met Napoleon here. From which directions did they come?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1815

Waterloo

Open the map in 1815 and turn on Historical Events. Find the battle of Waterloo and click it. How far is it from Brussels?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1815

The edge of the world

Zoom out over the South Atlantic and find the island of Saint Helena, far from any continent. Why did the British choose it for Napoleon's second exile?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. After Russia in 1812, why did so many states dare to turn against Napoleon in 1813?
  2. In 1814 the allies let Napoleon keep the title of emperor and gave him Elba. Was that a mistake?
  3. Soldiers sent to stop Napoleon in 1815 joined him instead. Why was he still so popular with them?
  4. Waterloo was won by British, Dutch, Belgian, German and Prussian soldiers together. Why do many people remember it as a British victory?
  5. Napoleon wrote his memoirs on Saint Helena. Why should historians be careful with a famous person's own story?
4

Game round

9 min

Play the 1815 round of Rule History as Napoleon Bonaparte: he has escaped from Elba and the allied armies are gathering. Discuss: was there any choice left that could have saved his empire?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.