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Why did Napoleon I abdicate for a second time in June 1815?

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Jacques-Louis David: The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries — Napoleon I *The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries*, oil on canvas by Jacques-Louis David, 1812; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Napoleon I abdicated for the second time on June 22, 1815, primarily because he was forced to do so by the French parliament following his decisive defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815.12

After escaping his initial exile on Elba and returning to power during the period known as the Hundred Days, Napoleon attempted to defend France against a coalition of European powers. However, his military campaign concluded with the loss at Waterloo, where combined allied armies under the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Blücher overwhelmed his forces. With his military options exhausted and political support waning, the French parliament compelled him to step down. He abdicated in favor of his son, though this did not prevent his eventual exile to the remote island of St. Helena.3421