HUNDRED DAYS

French Cent Jours, in French history, period between March 20, 1815, the date on which Napoleon arrived in Paris after escaping from exile on Elba, and July 8, 1815, the date of the return of Louis XVIII to Paris. The phrase was first used by the prefect of the Seine, Count Gilbert de Chabral de Volvic, in his speech welcoming the king. Napoleon landed at Cannes on March 1, leading 1,500 men, and marched at once upon Paris. Louis XVIII fled to Ghent on March 13, and Napoleon entered Paris one week later. On March 25 Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia concluded an alliance against Napoleon and forced a series of military engagements leading up to the fatal Battle of Waterloo (June 18). On June 22 Napoleon abdicated a second time; on July 15 he boarded a British warship at Rochefort, essentially a prisoner; and exactly three months later he was landed at St. Helena. Meanwhile, on July 8, Louis XVIII had returned to Paris. in U.S. history, the early period of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency (March 9June 16, 1933), during which a major portion of New Deal legislation was enacted. See New Deal.