In January 1814 France was being attacked on all its frontiers. The allies cleverly announced that they were fighting not against the French people but against Napoleon alone, since in November 1813 he had rejected the terms offered by the Austrian foreign minister Klemens, Fürst (prince) von Metternich, which would have preserved the natural frontiers of France. The extraordinary strategic feats achieved by the emperor during the first three months of 1814 with the army of young conscripts were not enough; he could neither defeat the allies, with their overwhelming numerical superiority, nor arouse the majority of the French people ...(100 of 9498 words)