Why was Napoleon exiled instead of being executed? (Short Animated Documentary)

james bisonette convinced the allies to let him live

Big thing to note about his exile to St. Helena - he was guarded by 3,000 men and 4 ships.

Man, we sure did saw a lot of great depictions of Napoleon's death. Decapitation and head on a stake, crushed by a huge stone, sent to heaven, fed to sharks, dead and buried...

“Somehow, Napoleon returned” - Poe Damarin

Interesting note. When Napoleon came back from Elba and started another war, this time, the coalition declared war not on France, but on Napoleon himself. It was the first time war was declared on a person instead of a state.

The biggest thing I took away from this was learning the word “perfidious” but I did also wonder why they didn’t simply execute Napoleon

Napoleon with a snorkel is an image that will now live forever in my mind

I think you're glossing over Napoleon's exile to Elba quite a lot. That exile was not a unanimous decision by the allies, but rather a dictat from Russia. Russia and Tsar Alexander were the first to enter Paris, and it was Alexander who accepted Napoleon's surrender. Alexander alone offered Napoleon rule over Elba, and this made Britain exactly as happy as you'd imagine.

This three minute video honestly conveyed more information about the interests and objectives of the coalition powers than Ridley Scott managed in nearly three hours

Napoleons return is such a story in itself. Man just showed up, got some followers, was threatened by French state who sent army, napoleon converted army to his cause, job done. OG Targaryen

Napoleon being eaten alive by a fresh water shark as Alexander and Francis look on is still more historically accurate than the entire Ridley Scott film

i love how often British diplomacy comes down to, “what frees us from dealing with issues on the continent?”

I always figured it was more to do with the fact that Napoleon's rise could be traced back to the execution of a monarch/head of state (French Revolution) and the last thing the Reactionaries/Monarchs of Europe wanted was to make that seem like it was no big deal. Also, there was probably the concern that killing him would make him a martyr, but exile would make him fade from memory slowly. Little did they know, his legacy would grow to the stuff of legends anyways.

Fun fact: There is a tortoise living on Sint Helena still alive who just missed meeting Napoleon by 10 years. The tortoise's name is Jonathan and he's currently the oldest known living land animal (190 years).

Considering that pretty much all the monarchs of Europe had used the abhorrence over the execution of the French king as a reason for declearing war upon the First French Republic, it would have been a bit awkard to then promptly execute the next French monarch.

I think the coalition also believed that killing Napoleon would make him a martyr for the French people and probably for generations the French would hate them for killing him and politicians would be hostile towards the coalition for killing Napoleon

I seem to recall being told as a kid that in his last days Napoleon claimed that there was some sort of supernatural presence in his quarters in St Helena and it turned out that the chemicals in the wallpaper or paint in his rooms were toxic and were slowly poisoning him and turning him mad.

My man started years of war, only to go "You know what Englishmen, I'll surrender and gladly go be a free man in London". Absolute nutty behaviour like that is how he got millions to follow him!

I had always wondered why they didn't kill Napoleon given how much war and suffering they had endured during his regime, especially Austra and Russia. Cool to see that the people who hated him the most were also the ones who gave the order to let him go into exile

In 2015 I went on a tour of a place called Smedmore House. In Dorset, Britain. In one room there is a chair that belonged to Napoleon when he was on St. Helena. A member of the family who have always owned the house was one of the guards there. When Napoleon died they were allowed to take what they wanted as souvenirs. He took the chair. Which is purple. The same colour as Napoleon's imperial livery. One of the few things he was allowed to keep. The tour guide said he knows someone who has been to St. Helena, and this person said it's the most miserable and depressing place you can imagine. The moment you get off the boat there, you feel like you're in a prison. If memory serves, the British occupied one nearby island to St. Helena, just so no french forces could ever use it a staging place to mount a rescue.