Battle of Waterloo
Wellington's defining victory
The Battle of Waterloo was the 1815 engagement in Belgium where British and Prussian forces defeated Napoleon, ending his rule and reshaping European politics.
The phrase has come to mean a decisive, final defeat: The scandal proved to be his Waterloo.
Someone meets their Waterloo when they encounter the challenge that destroys them.
Bonaparte's military campaigns
- Hundred DaysNapoleon's 1815 restoration period
- French EmpireBonaparte's imperial state
- exileBanishment from homeland
- ElbaTuscan archipelago's largest island
St. Helena · abdication · restoration · Bourbon · Congress of Vienna · Grande Armée · emperor · imperial
French emperor, military genius
- Duke of WellingtonBritish military hero, statesman
- cavalryMounted military force
- infantryGround combat troops
- artilleryLarge-caliber battlefield weapons
musket · cannonade · Imperial Guard · cavalry charge · flank maneuver · skirmish · tactics · strategist
Former German kingdom
- Duke of WellingtonBritish military hero, statesman
- British EmpireVast colonial domain
- allianceFormal union of parties
- united frontCoalition presenting as one
diplomacy · treaty · Concert of Europe · partnership · confederation
Western European constitutional monarchy
Quick to conclude
- watershedDrainage area boundary
- pivotalVitally important, deciding
- climaxPoint of greatest intensity
- momentousOf great significance
milestone · landmark · defining moment · downfall · defeat · endgame · final stand · collapse
Resounding, celebrated victory
- victoryDefeating an opponent
- Wellington bootsWaterproof knee-high rubber footwear
- ABBASwedish disco-era pop group
- monumentStructure honoring someone remembered
Napoleonic Wars
Bonaparte's military campaigns
- Hundred DaysNapoleon's 1815 restoration period
- French EmpireBonaparte's imperial state
- exileBanishment from homeland
Elba · St. Helena · abdication · restoration · Bourbon · Congress of Vienna · Grande Armée · emperor · imperial
Napoleon
French emperor, military genius
- Duke of WellingtonBritish military hero, statesman
- cavalryMounted military force
- infantryGround combat troops
artillery · musket · cannonade · Imperial Guard · cavalry charge · flank maneuver · skirmish · tactics · strategist · French Army
Prussia
Former German kingdom
- Duke of WellingtonBritish military hero, statesman
- British EmpireVast colonial domain
- allianceFormal union of parties
united front · diplomacy · treaty · Concert of Europe · partnership · confederation
Belgium
Western European constitutional monarchy
decisive
Quick to conclude
momentous · milestone · landmark · defining moment · downfall · defeat · endgame · final stand · collapse · rout
triumph
Resounding, celebrated victory
- victoryDefeating an opponent
- Wellington bootsWaterproof knee-high rubber footwear
- ABBASwedish disco-era pop group
monument · memorial · commemoration · reenactment · idiom
- Anglo-French WarsHundred Years War, Napoleonic Wars, Seven Years War, Joan of Arc, Henry V
- British historyWilliam the Conqueror, Victorian era, Elizabethan era, English Civil War, Tudor era
- BattlesAntietam, Leipzig, Gettysburg, Bunker Hill, Austerlitz
- Anglo-FrenchEntente Cordiale, Hundred Years War, Norman Conquest, English Channel, Channel Tunnel
- WaterlooWellington, Napoleon, victory, defeat, Imperial Guard
- Colonial WarsFrench and Indian War, Boer Wars, King Philip's War, Boer War, Mahdist War
Battle of Waterloocrowning achievement
Greatest success attained
finest hour · crowning glory · magnum opus · apotheosis · launching pad
battle, battles, battlefield, battling, embattled, battle-ready, battleground, battler, Waterloo