Paris under Napoleon Each of the twelve arrondissements had its own mayor, but their power was limited to enforcing the decrees of Napoleon's ministers. After he crowned himself Emperor on December 2, 1804, Napoleon began a series of projects to make Paris into an imperial capital to rival ancient Rome. He built monuments to French military glory, including the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the column in Place Vendôme, and the future church of the Madeleine, intended as a temple to military heroes; and began the Arc de Triomphe. To improve the circulation of traffic in central Paris, he built a wide new
Paris under Napoleon duty, with the result that the Parisian textile industry very quickly was largely shut down. Early in March 1815 Parisians were astonished by the news that Napoleon had left his exile on Elba and was back in France, on the way to Paris. Louis XVIII fled the city on 19 March, and 20 March Napoleon was back in the Tuileries Palace. Enthusiasm for the Emperor was high among the workers and former soldiers, but not among the general population, who feared another long war. During the Hundred Days between his return from Elba and his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon spent