Napoleon abdicated today, the 11th April, 1814. He had been ruler of 70 million people, 30 million of them French, the rest Spanish, Belgian, Dutch, some Italian and German. He had also ruled parts of Poland and Yugoslavia. Then he attacked Russia. After the disaster that was Russia he was outnumbered two to one by a coalition of Austrian, Prussian, Russians and Swedes at the battle of Leipzig, losing this battle. This too had come after the loss of Spain to Wellington(June 1813).
On the 31st March 1814 the Allies entered Paris. His Generals persuaded him to abdicate in favour of his 3 year old son. His 10 year Empire had come to a close.
He tried to poison himself on the 12th, but ended up vomiting and not dying. On the 29th he was on his way to exile on Elba.
He would return.
26th April 1937: Guernica and the Condor Legion make the news
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The 26th April 1937 saw Hitler’s Condor Legion bomb the Northern Spanish Basque town of Guernica. It was seen as a proving ground for the Nazi party’s new Luftwaffe and much experience was to be garnered from the Spanish Civil War. The Condor Legion was led by Oberstleutnant Wolfram Freiherr Von Richthofen(The Red Baron’s cousin) and under Nationalist control. Guernica was behind the front lines and was a town of about 7000 population. The bombing was in waves and exact casualty reports are unknown, but probably numbered around 1000. The Legion was a mix of Fighters and Medium Bombers, all names we know: 109s(B not Es), HE 51s (biplanes), DO 17s, JU52s and HE111s. There were also some Italian Fiat Fighters and the versatile SM79.
The outcome of the bombing was to demoralise the townsfolk and lead to its falling to Franco’s Nationalists on the 29th April.
This bombing raid was to be a preview of what was to happen between 39-45 to larger cities like Warsaw, London,Berlin, Dresden and finally Tokyo.