Napoleon signed his abdication on April 6, 1814, at the Palace of Fontainebleau, on the understanding that suitable provisions would be made for him and his family. Negotiations were entered into between Armand de Caulaincourt, supported by Marshals Ney and MacDonald, on behalf of Napoleon, and the Russian representative, Karl Nesselrode, on behalf of the coalition.

The coalition and the French provisional government wanted to keep Napoleon at a distance, while Napoleon wanted to be close to France and Italy. Caulaincourt suggested Corsica, Corfu, Sardinia or Elba. The French were unwilling to give Napoleon Corsica. The House of Savoy didn’t want to part with Sardinia. Corfu was considered to be too close to Greece.

Tsar Alexander of Russia wanted to avoid prolonging the fight, and wanted to see Napoleon consent to the abdication, so he did not reject Elba, which should have, in his opinion, pleased Napoleon because of its climate and language.

British Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh wrote that the French Provisional Government had supported Alexander’s offer because they were scared of civil war and desperate to get the emperor away from his army at Fontainebleau. Castlereagh explained that to exile Napoleon to an island over which he had sovereignty, only a short distance from France and Italy, both of which had strong Jacobin factions, could easily lead to further conflict.

Source: John Abbott, The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, 2005.