Battlefield Travel - Exklusive militär-historische Reisen

Waterloo is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium with a population of 29,315. One quarter of the current registered population are non-Belgian, most of which work for EEC institutions in nearby Brussels, the capital of the European Union.Waterloo is also home to St. John's International School, one of the largest and oldest international schools in Belgium.

Waterloo's claim to fame is the famous Battle of Waterloo. There is a memorial in the form of a statue of a lion (looking towards France) on a hill, with 226 stairs, called La Butte du Lion. Other attractions related to the battle are the Wellington Museum and la Chapelle where Wellington is said to have made a prayer before going into battle.

Historical Background

The Battle of Waterloo was fought thirteen kilometres south of Brussels between the French, under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Allied armies commanded by the Duke of Wellington from Britain and General Blücher from Prussia. The French defeat at Waterloo drew to a close 23 years of war beginning with the French Revolutionary wars in 1792 and continuing with the Napoleonic Wars from 1803. There was a brief eleven-month respite when Napoleon was forced to abdicate, exiled to the island of Elba. However, the unpopularity of Louis XVIII and the economic and social instability of France motivated him to return to Paris in March 1815. The Allies soon declared war once again. Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo marked the end of the Emperor's final bid for power, the so-called '100 Days', and the final chapter in his remarkable career.