Louis XVIII, known as 'the Desired,' was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for the Hundred Days in 1815. As the younger brother of the executed Louis XVI, he spent over two decades in exile during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. His reign marked the first period of the Bourbon Restoration, an attempt to create a compromise between the old regime and the new realities of France. Although he instituted a constitutional monarchy with the Charter of 1814, his rule became increasingly conservative, setting the stage for future political conflict.