“Sadly, loyalty to the Emperor was so much diminished in the Senate and the legislative body, that there were leading members of these assemblies, such as Tallyrand, … and others, who through secret emissaries informed the allied sovereigns of the dissatisfaction among the upper-class Parisians with Napoleon, and invited them to come and attack the capital.” - de Marbot
“The Allied armies of Silesia and Bohemia united at Meaux on 28 March and planned their culminating advance on Paris. With only the weak forces of Mortier and Marmont facing them – perhaps 23,000 men in all – and the defenses of the French capital in a very incomplete state, the 107,000 Allies made predictable progress toward their objective from the eastern and northern sides.” (Chandler – “Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars” p 286)
After retreating from Germany, Napoleon fought a series of battles, including the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube, in France, but was steadily forced back against overwhelming odds. During this time Napoleon fought his Six Days Campaign, in which he won multiple battles against the enemy forces advancing towards Paris. However he never managed to field more than 70,000 troops during this entire campaign against more than half a million Allied troops. At the Treaty of Chaumont (9 March) the Allies agreed to preserve the Coalition until Napoleon’s total defeat. The Allies entered Paris on 30 March 1814.The allied armies reached Paris, with some Russians shouting “Paris! Paris!” breaking their ranks and pressing forward to see the glorious city. The Allies brought approx. 100.000 troops (63.000 of them were Russians).
No hostile army had reached Paris for 400 years. The English newspapers advocated the burning of the city. Emperor Alexander however was dominated by one idea; Napoleon had entered Moscow two years ago and now Alexander wished to enter Paris riding at the head of his Imperial Guard. He was not filled with the dreams of blood and fire which haunted the Prussians.
Prussian General Blucher was disposed to make a severe retaliation upon Paris for the calamities that Prussia had suffered from the armies of France. Blowing up the Parisian Bridge of Jena was said to be one of his contemplated acts. The discipline of the troops was relaxed and looting began with Allies and French soldiers with torches carrying off furniture to their bivouacs.
Russian General de Tolly Although the overall command of the Allies armies had Schwarzenberg, the direct command at Paris had Russian General Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly. (In 1809 he won a reputation by a daring march over the frozen Gulf of Bothnia, which allowed him to surprise the Swedish forces and seize Umeå. During Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia in 1812 Barclay assumed the command of the the largest of the Russian armies facing Napoleon. He proposed the now famous tactic of drawing the French deep into one’s own territory. Barclay commanded the right flank at Borodino with great valor and presence of mind. After Kutuzov’s death, he once again became commander-in-chief of the Russian forces. Barclay took part in the invasion of France in 1814 and commanded the taking of Paris, receiving the baton of a field marshal in reward.
