Which dynasty was restored to the French throne after Napoleon's first abdication in 1814?

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Which dynasty was restored to the French throne after Napoleon's first abdication in 1814? The Bourbon dynasty was restored.

After the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon and forced his first abdication in April 1814, the Allies and French political leaders brought back the House of Bourbon. Louis XVIII, the brother of the executed Louis XVI, became king and accepted the Charter of 1814, a constitutional framework that preserved the monarchy while retaining many Revolutionary and Napoleonic reforms.

This first Bourbon Restoration lasted until Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France in March 1815. His brief return began the Hundred Days. After Waterloo and Napoleon’s second abdication, Louis XVIII returned again in July 1815, beginning the Second Restoration.

The Bourbon monarchy survived until the July Revolution of 1830, when Charles X—Louis XVIII’s younger brother—was overthrown. The Bonaparte dynasty was therefore not restored in 1814; Napoleon’s family had held the imperial throne, while the returning royal house claimed descent from the older French monarchy.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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