Napoléon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821) was Emperor of France from 1804 to 1815. However, as the title of this 'Today's Tune' post might suggest, his reign wasn't one long and smooth run.
The French military and political leader ruled over his people through a lot of successful battles and war. Bonaparte is considered a military genius and great strategist by many, as he was during his time as a military leader. He would sometimes tend to go a bit to far in his relentlessness though, which eventually got him into trouble, and people began to turn against him.
One such time came during the War of the Sixth Coalition. Napoléon and his forces had won some battles, but they were losing ground overall. After Coalition forces had captured the capital city of Paris and the French were in a bad position, Bonaparte demanded his men march on the city to take it back. This command led to a mutiny, and eventually as punishment, Napoléon Bonaparte was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba, Italy as part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
His people ended up under the control of King Louis XVIII, and the rules of the treaty were blatantly disregarded. On February 26, 1815, Napoléon Bonaparte escaped from Elba, and made his way back to France within a couple days. Louis XVIII found out most of his soldiers, including the ones sent to intercept Bonaparte, were happy to welcome back Napoléon. King Louis XVIII fled the country, and by March 20, Napoléon Bonaparte was back in power. This stint would not last long though, and is known as the Hundred Days.
Bonaparte and his army were defeated by the armies of field marshals Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo. Louis XVIII would then be restored to the throne of France.
Today is February 26th, the same date as the day Napoléon Bonaparte escaped from Elba and headed back to France for another run on the throne, leading me to choose the aptly named two-parter from the (mostly) Welsh rockers Budgie. This 'Today's Tune' is a double feature of "Napoleon Bona-Part One" and "Napoleon Bona-Part Two".
Budgie - "Napoleon Bona-Part One" and "Napoleon Bona-Part Two" (1975)
Budgie - "Napoleon Bona-Part One" and "Napoleon Bona-Part Two" Live (2009)
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