Paris Perspective: The Battle of Waterloo - the legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte #3 | RFI |

Less than a month after his dramatic flight from exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba, Napoleon and his loyal supporters entered Paris on 20 March 1815. Hours before his arrival at the Tuileries Palace, the throne of France was vacated by the Bourbon King Louis XVIII.

Upon hearing of his return, the Congress of Vienna - an assembly of European diplomats who reorganised continental alliances in the wake of the Napoleonic wars - declared Bonaparte an outlaw.

Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo by Hippolyte Bellangé

On June 18, 1815, Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by a coalition of British, German, Dutch-Belgian and Prussian forces led by the Duke of Wellington and Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher. As a result of this defeat, Napoleon was removed from the throne of France and spent the rest of his life in exile on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena. There he had plenty of time to reflect on the last battle he ever fought. What did Napoleon say about the Battle of Waterloo?

I should have won

In September 1815, en route to St. Helena, Napoleon lamented,

Ah! If it [the Battle of Waterloo] were only to be done over again!

Napoleon was amazed that he had lost. On St. Helena in December 1815, he told the Count de Las Cases:

All was fatal in that engagement; it even assumed the appearance of absurdity; yet, nevertheless [Napoleon] ought to have gained the victory. Never had any of his battles presented less doubt to his mind; and he was still at a loss to account for what had happened.

Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Waterloo 1815

A renewed Napoleonic Campaign into Russia by an emboldened NATO alliance ...

Today in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Army positions disintegrate and even turn on its commanding officer to escape the frontline …

Denial of Reality ♦ Huliaipole Defense Crumbled ♦ Vasiukivka Has Fallen | Military Summary – 27 Nov 2025 |

They liquidated their colonel

Colonel Andrey Kovalev, sent to stop the escape of two companies that had abandoned their positions near Huliaipole and to return them to their positions, was destroyed. And by all accounts, he was liquidated by his own so he wouldn’t interfere with the escape.

Battle in defense of Huliaipole … opening a corridor to Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro.

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Urgent: The Forced Peace: Is the U.S. Pushing Zelensky Into a Deal He Cannot Survive? | Jeffrey Sachs |

This analysis by Jeffrey Sachs Washington has delivered its most aggressive ultimatum since the start of the war: a demand that President Zelensky accept a compressed, 22-point peace settlement — or face the collapse of U.S. military and financial support. At the same time, Kyiv’s inner circle is falling apart: Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s most powerful adviser, has been removed amid a corruption scandal, leaving the presidency politically exposed.

Behind closed doors in Miami — with figures like Rubio, Witkoff, and Kushner — the U.S. is shaping Ukraine’s endgame: a “forced peace” that may require territorial concessions, demilitarized zones, or long-term security restrictions. If Zelensky signs, he survives politically wounded. If he refuses, Ukraine risks internal revolt, military fracture, and rapid territorial loss.

This video breaks down the Miami pressure operation, the fall of Yermak, the battlefield realities, and the existential choice facing Kyiv.

DREAM ON ⁉️

Zelensky heads to France as Ukrainian mission hammers out peace plan with US | RFI |

Macron, Zelensky sign deal for Ukraine to acquire 100 Rafale fighter jets - 17 Nov. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will return to France for the second time in two weeks on Monday, as he navigates the most challenging political and military situation since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Zelensky's talks with French President Emmanuel Macron come as the United States pushes its plan to end the war and Kyiv confronts a corruption scandal that cost its lead negotiator his post.