The Battle of Waterloo, fought on June 18, 1815, marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars and was a decisive defeat for Napoleon Bonaparte. The battle took place near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, where the Seventh Coalition, consisting of British, Dutch, Belgian, and Prussian forces, confronted Napoleon's army. The coalition's victory led to Napoleon's abdication and subsequent exile to Saint Helena. Waterloo reshaped the political landscape of Europe, ending over two decades of conflict associated with the French Revolution and Napoleonic expansion, and ushering in a period of relative peace and stability under the Congress of Vienna.