History Today: When France's greatest emperor Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated his throne

April 11 might seem like just another date on the calendar, but history tells a different story.

On this day in 1814, Europe watched as Napoleon Bonaparte, once the most feared man on the continent, was forced to surrender his crown and sent into exile.

Fast-forward to 2019, and Julian Assange, the face of WikiLeaks and whistleblowing controversies, was dragged out of Ecuador’s London embassy after seven years of asylum.

And back in 1919, the foundations of fair work were laid with the creation of the International Labour Organization, changing how the world approached workers’ rights forever.

Here’s a closer look at the moments that made history on April 11 in  Firstpost Explainers’ ongoing series, History Today.

Napoleon abdicates his throne & is banished to Elba

On April 11, 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, France’s famed military commander and emperor, formally gave up his throne. Under the Treaty of Fontainebleau, he was exiled to Elba, a small island in the Mediterranean, located just off the coast of Tuscany, Italy.

Born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, Corsica, Napoleon rose swiftly through the military ranks after training at a military academy. He made his name during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns across Europe in the late 1700s.

By 1799, he had positioned himself as the head of a military dictatorship, and in 1804, he crowned himself Emperor of France. Through relentless military ambition, he expanded French control so extensively that by 1810, much of Europe was under his command.

In 1812, fearing an alliance between Russia and Britain, Napoleon launched an ill-fated invasion of Russia. The campaign ended in disaster, with French forces retreating from Moscow and his empire beginning to collapse as European powers united against him.

By 1814, facing defeat, Napoleon offered to step down in favour of his son. When the Allies rejected this, he agreed to abdicate and was sent into exile on Elba, where he stayed for less than a year.

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He escaped Elba and returned to France in what became known as the Hundred Days—a brief, dramatic comeback that culminated in his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

He abdicated for a second time and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he lived out the rest of his days.

While often described as power-hungry and deeply insecure, Napoleon also left behind a significant legacy of political and social reform. He helped reshape judicial systems, promoted constitutions, extended voting rights to all men, and played a crucial role in ending feudal practices.

He was also a strong supporter of education, science, and the arts. One of his most historic contributions was the Napoleonic Code, which preserved key freedoms from the French Revolution, such as religious tolerance, and still forms the backbone of France’s civil law today.

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange removed from Ecuadorian embassy

April 11, 2019, saw the arrest of Julian Assange in London after Ecuador withdrew the asylum it had granted him for nearly seven years.

The WikiLeaks co-founder had been living inside the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations and to the United States for leaking classified documents.

For years, Assaneg took refuge in a small office that was converted into a bedroom in Ecuador’s embassy,  where he lived with his cat, James.

However, relations between him and Ecuador’s government worsened after President Lenín Moreno took office in 2017. This became evident last year when Assange was given a set of house rules, including paying for internet use, food and laundry, taking better care of his cat and keeping the bathroom clean. That fuelled speculation that Ecuador had finally had enough.

President Moreno said Ecuador’s patience had “reached its limit” with Assange’s “discourteous and aggressive behaviour”. Accusing him of “repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols”, he announced the abrupt end of Assange’s diplomatic asylum.

British authorities were invited into the embassy and forcibly removed Assange, who looked visibly aged and frail.

Julian #Assange violently removed from Ecuadorian embassy today. Shame on Ecuador, shame on UK, shame on @metpoliceuk pic.twitter.com/kaN3zldZto

— danish-smile (@abbey_davids) April 11, 2019

Assange’s stay at the embassy cost Ecuador some $6.5 million (Rs 56 crore) from 2012 to 2018, then Foreign Minister José Valencia told BBC. Assange’s Ecuadorean citizenship was also suspended.

The International Labour Organization founded

Also on this day, back in 1919, the International Labour Organization (ILO) was founded as part of the Treaty of Versailles after the end of World War I. Its creation was driven by a simple idea that eal and lasting peace can only be built on the foundation of social justice and fair labour conditions.

Following the collapse of the League of Nations, the ILO became the very first specialised agency to be affiliated with the United Nations in 1946. What started with just 45 member countries has grown to a global organisation with 187 members today, including India.

The ILO’s work has been internationally recognised. In 1969, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to promote workers’ rights and dignity around the world.

Over the years, the ILO has played a vital role in shaping labour laws and policies. It helps governments craft legislation to improve working conditions, wages and the overall quality of life for workers.