4 - ‘A Moderate Occupation’

Summary

In 1815, France remained an autonomous state, occupied by Allied troops. The aim of the occupation was to defuse Bonapartist sympathies, and it was marked by indirect rule by the Allies. After the Battle of Waterloo, the Allies addressed the financial dimensions of peace and collective security: deliberations on restorations and compensation made the tensions between the Allies’ interests visible, as Prussia’s demands to bleed France out were weighed against Metternich’s concern about the ‘Jacobin spirit’, and the more moderate positions towards France of both Britain and Russia. Demilitarization and the restoration of the Bourbon regime were achieved by means of a systematically applied military occupation. However, the objectives of fighting Bonapartism, stabilization and the matter of reparation payments had not been settled. ‘Armed Jacobinism’ continued to be a threat to the moderate occupation of France by the Allies.