Why did Napoleon’s escape from Elba lead Wellington back to military command?

Following Napoleon’s abdication in 1814, Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, was appointed as the British ambassador to the restored Bourbon court of Louis XVIII. In early 1815, he was serving as a representative at the Congress of Vienna when news arrived that Napoleon had escaped from Elba and landed in France on March 1.12

Napoleon’s return, which initiated the period known as the Hundred Days, prompted the major European powers—Great Britain, Prussia, Austria, and Russia—to form a new alliance on March 25, 1815, vowing to maintain large armies in the field until Napoleon was overthrown. Because of his extensive experience and success as a commander during the Peninsular War, Wellington was tasked with leading the British forces in the campaign against Napoleon in the southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). This command ultimately led to his decisive victory alongside the Prussian field marshal Gebhard Leberecht Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815.1234