Who fought at Waterloo
Napoleon’s French army faced a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blücher. The National Army Museum dates the battle to 18 June 1815. It was fought near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, after Napoleon had returned to power for a short period often called the Hundred Days.
The name Waterloo is sometimes used as shorthand for Napoleon’s downfall. For a timeline, the battle is a clearer anchor than that broad phrase: it names a place, a day and opposing forces. The larger political settlement continued beyond the fighting, so a single year should not be made to carry every consequence.
Placing it after the Revolution
The French Revolution began in 1789; Waterloo followed 26 years later. That order can surprise people who remember Napoleon and the Revolution as one story. The gap matters because the Revolution, the rise of Napoleon, imperial wars, exile and return were separate phases.
Waterloo also came well before the powered flight of the Wright brothers in 1903. Those two dates mark very different worlds, but comparing them is useful in a card game built on relative order. The museum’s battle account is the source for the year and combatants; the wider comparisons simply help place that documented event.
Where does it fit?
Waterloo is only twenty-six years after the start of the French Revolution, yet eighty-eight years before the first Wright flight. On a timeline, the two gaps do not look equally sized. Thinking in generations can help: people who lived through the Revolution could also live to see Napoleon’s defeat.
Before: The French Revolution begins (1789). Then The Battle of Waterloo (1815). After: The Wright brothers’ first flight (1903). These are three separate markers: try putting them in order without looking at the years.
Source for the date
The date and scope of the event were checked against the sources linked below. The explanations and comparisons are Time Tussle editorial text.
National Army Museum ↗
