June 22, 1815

Napoleon II

Napoleon abdicates a second time in favor of his son

The proposed new emperor was four years old, lived in Vienna, and had not seen his father since 1814.

22 June 1815: a declaration at the Élysée

At the Élysée Palace on 22 June 1815, Napoleon issued an abdication declaring his political career ended and naming his son Napoleon II, Emperor of the French. Waterloo had been fought four days earlier.

The Chambers had already resisted his effort to continue the war and were moving toward declaring the throne vacant. Facing Coalition armies advancing on Paris and a legislature set against him, he abdicated.

The chambers avoided proclaiming Napoleon II

Delegations carried word to both legislative chambers that afternoon. Neither moved to recognize Napoleon II; instead they turned to debating a provisional government.

The Representatives and Peers elected a five-member Government Commission — Fouché, Carnot, Grenier, Caulaincourt and Quinette. The voting did not conclude until about 3 a.m. on 23 June.

A four-year-old emperor in Austria

Napoleon II, born 20 March 1811, was four years old and living in Austria. He exercised no authority in France, and no regency capable of governing in his name was set up; effective executive power sat with Fouché's commission.

Whether the boy ever reigned is disputed. Napoleon's declaration and imperial succession rules supported it, but the chambers deliberately avoided proclaiming him on 22 June, and the provisional government soon stopped invoking his name.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources 2 audit passes, 1 issue open

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The abdication date is certain. What is disputed is whether Napoleon II truly ‘reigned.’ Napoleon’s declaration and imperial constitutional rules supported succession, but the chambers did not formally proclaim him on 22 June and the provisional government quickly ceased emphasizing his name.
The conventional span 22 June–7 July is about two weeks, but sources differ sharply: some describe only a technical or two-day reign, while a Fondation Napoléon biography calls it twenty days despite those dates. Avoid presenting a precise reign length as uncontested.