157-407: [REDACTED] France The War of the Third Coalition ( French : Guerre de la Troisième Coalition ) was a European conflict lasting from 1805 to 1806 and was the first conflict of the Napoleonic Wars . During the war, France and its client states under Napoleon I and its ally Spain opposed an alliance, the Third Coalition, which was made up of the United Kingdom , the Austrian Empire ,
314-760: A kingdom under the Bourbons and a republic after the French Revolution . Historians refer to Napoleon's regime as the First Empire to distinguish it from the restorationist Second Empire (1852–1870) ruled by his nephew Napoleon III . On 18 May 1804 (28 Floréal year XII on the French Republican calendar ), Napoleon was granted the title Emperor of the French ( Empereur des Français , pronounced [ɑ̃pʁœʁ de fʁɑ̃sɛ] ) by
471-476: A battle across rivers and ordered his marshals to capture the important bridges around Ulm. He also began shifting his forces to the north of Ulm because he expected a battle in that region rather than an encirclement of the city itself. These dispositions and actions would lead to a confrontation at Elchingen on the 14th as Ney's forces advanced on Albeck. At this point in the campaign, the Austrian command staff
628-475: A cavalry division, and about 36 to 40 cannon . On top of these forces, Napoleon created a cavalry reserve of 22,000 organized into two cuirassier divisions , four mounted dragoon divisions, and two divisions of dismounted dragoons and light cavalry, all supported by 24 artillery pieces. By 1805, the Grande Armée had grown to a force of 350,000, was well equipped, adequately trained, and possessed
785-557: A conclusion. On 15 October, Ney's troops successfully charged the Michelsberg encampments and on the 16th the French began to bombard Ulm itself. Austrian morale was at a low point and Mack began to realize that there was little hope of rescue. On 17 October, Napoleon's emissary, Ségur , signed a convention with Mack in which the Austrians agreed to surrender on 25 October if no aid came by that date. Gradually, however, Mack heard of
942-616: A considerable number of independent enclaves and jurisdictions within those broad areas, however, including the principalities of Palatinate-Neuburg and Palatinate-Sulzbach in the Upper Palatinate, which were held by cadet branches of the Palatinate line of the Wittelsbachs; the ecclesiastical states of Freising , Regensburg , and Passau , and the imperial free city of Regensburg . For administration purposes Bavaria
1099-720: A decisive French victory at the Battle of Campo Tenese . On 26 December 1805, Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg, which took Austria out of both the war and the Coalition, while it reinforced the earlier treaties of Campo Formio and of Lunéville between the two powers. The treaty confirmed the Austrian cession of lands in Italy to France and in Germany to Napoleon's German allies, imposed an indemnity of 40 million francs on
1256-589: A figurehead, Napoleon produced the Articles Organiques (1802) with the goal of becoming the legal protector of the papacy, like Charlemagne . To conceal his plans before their actual execution, he aroused French colonial aspirations against Britain and the memory of the 1763 Treaty of Paris , exacerbating British envy of France, whose borders now extended to the Rhine and beyond, to Hanover , Hamburg, and Cuxhaven . Napoleon would have ruling elites from
1413-621: A fusion of the new bourgeoisie and the old aristocracy. On 12 May 1802, the French Tribunat voted unanimously, with the exception of Lazare Carnot , in favour of the Life Consulship for the leader of France. This action was confirmed by the Corps Législatif . A general plebiscite followed thereafter resulting in 3,653,600 votes aye and 8,272 votes nay. On 2 August 1802 (14 Thermidor, An X), Napoleon Bonaparte
1570-516: A heavy contribution (7 September 1796). Between the French and the Austrians, Bavaria was now in a bad situation. Before the death of Charles Theodore (16 February 1799) the Austrians had again occupied the country, in preparation for renewing the war with France. Maximilian IV Joseph (of Palatine Zweibrücken ), the new elector, succeeded to a difficult inheritance. Though his own sympathies, and those of his all-powerful minister, Maximilian von Montgelas , were, if anything, French rather than Austrian,
1727-412: A knockout blow against Ney's corps by enveloping Dupont's force. Dupont sensed what was happening and preempted the Austrians by launching a surprise attack on Jungingen that captured at least 1,000 prisoners. Renewed Austrian attacks drove these forces back to Haslach, which the French managed to hold. Dupont was eventually forced to fall back on Albeck, where he joined d'Hilliers 's troops. The effects of
SECTION 10
#17327646780761884-584: A large financial indemnity. Napoleon's creation of the Kingdom of Italy , the occupation of Ancona , and his annexation of Venetia and its former Adriatic territories marked a new stage in the French Empire's progress. To create satellite states , Napoleon installed his relatives as rulers of many European states. The Bonapartes began to marry into old European monarchies, gaining sovereignty over many states. Older brother Joseph Bonaparte replaced
2041-555: A large wheeling manoeuvre by the Grande Armée lasting from late August to mid-October 1805 that captured an entire Austrian army, and the decisive French victory over a combined Austro-Russian force under Alexander I of Russia at the Battle of Austerlitz in early December. Austerlitz effectively brought the Third Coalition to an end, although later there was a small side campaign against Naples, which also resulted in
2198-626: A link between his brother, Charles, and his cousin, Archduke Ferdinand ; the latter's force of 72,000, which was to invade Bavaria and hold the defensive line at Ulm, was effectively controlled by Mack. The Austrians also detached individual corps to serve with the Swedish in Pomerania and the British in Naples , though these were designed to obfuscate the French and divert their resources. In both
2355-682: A new electoral title for Frederick V's son, with the exception of a brief period during the War of the Spanish Succession , Maximilian's descendants would continue to hold the original electoral dignity until the extinction of his line in 1777. At that point the two lines were joined in personal union until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1805, after the Peace of Pressburg , the then-elector, Maximilian Joseph , raised himself to
2512-447: A political power which had endured for over a thousand years. Prussia had been offered the territory of Hanover to stay out of the Third Coalition. With the diplomatic situation changing, Napoleon offered Great Britain the province as part of a peace proposal. To this, combined with growing tensions in Germany over French hegemony, Prussia responded by forming an alliance with Russia and sending troops into Bavaria on 1 October 1806. During
2669-625: A possible British invasion. Marshal Joachim Murat and General Bertrand conducted reconnaissance between the area bordering the Tyrol and the Main as General Savary , chief of the planning staff, drew up detailed road surveys of the areas between the Rhine and the Danube. The left-wing of the Grande Armée would move from Hanover and Utrecht to fall on Württemberg; the right and centre, troops from
2826-511: A reasonable opportunity at saving the bulk of his forces. Napoleon had little accurate information about Mack's intentions or manoeuvres. He knew that Kienmayer 's Corps was sent to Ingolstadt east of the French positions, but his agents greatly exaggerated its size. On 5 October, Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to join Marshals Lannes , Soult , and Murat in concentrating and crossing the Danube at Donauwörth . The French encirclement
2983-511: A separation of four and a half centuries, the Electoral Palatinate , to which the duchies of Jülich and Berg had been added, was thus reunited with Bavaria. So great an accession of strength to a neighbouring state, whose ambition she had so recently had just reason to fear, proved intolerable to Austria, which laid claim to a number of lordships —forming one-third of the whole Bavarian inheritance – as lapsed fiefs of
3140-559: A skilled officer class. The Imperial Russian Army in 1805 had many characteristics of ancien régime military organization: there was no permanent formation above the regimental level, senior officers were largely recruited from aristocratic circles (including foreigners), and the Russian soldier, in line with 18th-century practice, was regularly beaten and punished to instill discipline. Furthermore, many lower-level officers were poorly trained and had difficulty getting their men to perform
3297-571: A successful rearguard action in Amstetten . On 7 November, the Russians arrived in St. Pölten , and then moved across the Danube river the next day. Late on 9 November, they destroyed the bridges across the Danube, holding the last one, at Stein, near Krems , until the late afternoon. The following day, Marshal Mortier ordered General Gazan to attack what they believed to be a Russian rear guard, at
SECTION 20
#17327646780763454-553: A supporter of the radical Jacobins during the early days of the Revolution out of pragmatism, Napoleon became increasingly autocratic as his political career progressed, and once in power embraced certain aspects of both liberalism and authoritarianism—for example, public education , a generally liberal restructuring of the French legal system , and the emancipation of the Jews—while rejecting electoral democracy and freedom of
3611-412: A third time, after Julius Caesar and Charlemagne, used to modify the historical evolution of France. Though the vague plan for an invasion of Great Britain was never executed, the Battle of Ulm and the Battle of Austerlitz overshadowed the defeat at Trafalgar , and the camp at Boulogne put at Napoleon's disposal the best military resources he had commanded, in the form of La Grande Armée . In
3768-646: A viceroy, his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais ). Keen on revenge and having been defeated twice in recent memory by France, Austria joined the Third Coalition a few months later. Prior to the formation of the Third Coalition, Napoleon had assembled the Army of England , an invasion force meant to strike at England, from around six camps at Boulogne in Northern France. Although they never set foot on British soil, Napoleon's troops received careful and invaluable training for any possible military operation. Boredom among
3925-711: A war zone from the Pyrenees to the Straits of Gibraltar and saw the Grande Armée facing the remnants of the Spanish Army, as well as British and Portuguese forces. General Pierre Dupont capitulated at Bailén to General Francisco Castaños , and Junot at Cintra , Portugal to General Arthur Wellesley . Spain used up the soldiers needed for Napoleon's other fields of battle, and they had to be replaced by conscripts. Spanish resistance affected Austria, and indicated
4082-524: Is not supported in a contemporary account from a major-general of the Austrian army, who tells of a joint advance of the Russian and Austrian forces (in which he himself took part) five days before the Battle of Austerlitz, and it is explicitly rejected in Goetz's recent book-length study of the battle. In August 1805, Napoleon, Emperor of the French since May of the previous year, turned his army's sights from
4239-502: Is often cited as a cause for disastrous consequences. The Russians were still using the old style Julian calendar , while the Austrians had adopted the new style Gregorian calendar , and by 1805 a difference of 12 days existed between the two systems. Confusion is purported to have ensued from the differing timetables regarding when the Allied forces should combine, leading to an inevitable breakdown in mutual coordination. However, this tale
4396-656: The Austrians at Iglau in Bohemia, which contributed to the simultaneous French victory at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. In the war of 1805 , in accordance with a treaty of alliance signed at Würzburg on 23 September, Bavarian troops, for the first time since the days of Charles VII , fought side by side with the French, and by the Treaty of Pressburg , signed on 26 December, the Prince-Bishopric of Eichstätt ,
4553-623: The Baltic and Mediterranean ports, and to the bombardment of Copenhagen by the Royal Navy he responded with a second decree of blockade, dated from Milan on 17 December 1807. The application of the Concordat and the taking of Naples led to Napoleon's first struggles with the Pope, centred around Pius VII renewing the theocratic affirmations of Pope Gregory VII . The emperor's Roman ambition
4710-548: The Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. French dominance was reaffirmed during the War of the Fourth Coalition , at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt in 1806 and the Battle of Friedland in 1807, before Napoleon's final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. A series of wars, known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars , extended French influence to much of Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812,
4867-616: The Battle of Haslach-Jungingen on Napoleon's plans are not fully clear, but the Emperor may have finally ascertained that the majority of the Austrian army was concentrated at Ulm. Accordingly, Napoleon sent the corps of Soult and Marmont towards the Iller , meaning he now had four infantry and one cavalry corps to deal with Mack; Davout, Bernadotte, and the Bavarians were still guarding the region around Munich. Napoleon did not intend to fight
War of the Third Coalition - Misplaced Pages Continue
5024-574: The Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. The Third Coalition itself came to full fruition in 1804–05 as Napoleon's actions in Italy and Germany (notably the arrest and execution of the Duc d'Enghien ) spurred Austria and Russia into joining Britain against France. The war would be determined on the continent, and the major land operations that sealed the swift French victory involved the Ulm Campaign ,
5181-604: The Black Forest . Meanwhile, Marshal Murat would conduct cavalry screens across the Black Forest to fool the Austrians into thinking that the French were advancing on a direct west–east axis. The main attack in Germany would be supported by French assaults in other theatres: Marshal Masséna would confront Archduke Charles in Italy with 50,000 men, Marshal St. Cyr would march to Naples with 20,000 men, and Marshal Brune would patrol Boulogne with 30,000 troops against
5338-533: The Concordat of 1801 which confirmed the Catholic Church as the majority church of France and restored some of its civil status. Napoleon by this time, however, thought himself more of an enlightened despot. He preserved numerous social gains of the Revolution while suppressing political liberty. He admired efficiency and strength and hated feudalism, religious intolerance, and civil inequality. Although
5495-684: The Congress of Vienna . Napoleon gained support by appealing to some common concerns of the French people. These included dislike of the emigrant nobility who had escaped persecution, fear by some of a restoration of the Ancien Régime , a dislike and suspicion of foreign countries that had tried to reverse the Revolution—and a wish by Jacobins to extend France's revolutionary ideals. Napoleon attracted power and imperial status and gathered support for his changes of French institutions, such as
5652-653: The English Channel to the Rhine in order to deal with the new Austrian and Russian threats. The War of the Third Coalition began with the Ulm Campaign, a series of French and Bavarian military manoeuvres and battles designed to outflank an Austrian army under General Mack. General Mack thought that Austrian security relied on sealing off the gaps through the mountainous Black Forest area in Southern Germany that had witnessed much fighting during
5809-598: The French Republican Calendar ) and the following day, troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte seized control. They dispersed the legislative councils, leaving a rump legislature to name Bonaparte, Sieyès, and Ducos as provisional Consuls to administer the government. Although Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, the Consulate , he was outmaneuvered by Bonaparte, who drafted the Constitution of
5966-609: The Golden Bull of 1356 , but Bavaria was excluded from the electoral dignity. In 1621, Frederick V, Elector Palatine was put under the imperial ban for his role in the Bohemian Revolt against Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor , and the electoral dignity and territory of the Upper Palatinate was conferred upon his loyal cousin, Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria . Although the Peace of Westphalia would create
6123-496: The Grande Armée safe passage. The allied fleet, under the command of the French admiral, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve , sailed from the port of Cádiz in the south of Spain on 18 October 1805. They encountered the British fleet under Lord Nelson , recently assembled to meet this threat, in the Atlantic Ocean along the southwest coast of Spain, off Cape Trafalgar . Nelson was outnumbered, with 27 British ships of
6280-771: The Iberian Peninsula as he had done in Italy, in the Netherlands, and in Hesse. However, the exile of the Spanish Royal Family to Bayonne , together with the enthroning of Joseph Bonaparte, turned the Spanish against Napoleon. After the Dos de Mayo riots and subsequent reprisals, the Spanish government began an effective guerrilla campaign, under the oversight of local Juntas . The Iberian Peninsula became
6437-416: The Iller line anchored on Ulm. In the last three days of September, the French began the furious marches that would find them at the Austrian rear. Mack believed that the French would not violate Prussian territory, but when he heard that Bernadotte 's I Corps had marched through Prussian Ansbach , he made the critical decision to stay and defend Ulm rather than retreat to the south, which would have offered
War of the Third Coalition - Misplaced Pages Continue
6594-859: The Imperial Circles he was, along with the Archbishop of Salzburg , co-director of the Bavarian Circle , a circle territorially dominated by the elector's lands. He also held lands in the Swabian Circle . After 1777 these lands were joined by most of the Palatine lands, including the Electoral Palatinate , the Duchies of Jülich and Berg , Palatinate-Neuburg , Palatinate-Sulzbach , Palatinate-Veldenz , and other territories. The final Palatine territory of Palatine Zweibrücken
6751-417: The Napoleonic Code throughout the continent increased legal equality, established jury systems and legalised divorce, and seigneurial dues and seigneurial justice were abolished, as were aristocratic privileges in all places except Poland. France's defeat in 1814 (and then again in 1815), marked the end of the First French Empire and the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration . In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte
6908-425: The Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the later years of this war Bavaria, especially the northern part, suffered severely. In 1632 the Swedes invaded, and when Maximilian violated the Treaty of Ulm in 1647, the French and the Swedes ravaged the land. After repairing this damage to some extent, the elector died at Ingolstadt in September 1651, leaving his state much stronger than he had found it. The addition of
7065-418: The Russian Empire , Naples , Sicily , and Sweden . Prussia remained neutral during the war. Britain had already been at war with France following the breakdown of the Peace of Amiens and remained the only country still at war with France after the Treaty of Pressburg . From 1803 to 1805, Britain stood under constant threat of a French invasion . The Royal Navy , however, assured its naval dominance at
7222-525: The Treaty of Amiens . For the first time in ten years, all of Europe was at peace. However, many problems persisted between the two sides making the implementation of the treaty increasingly difficult. Napoleon was angry that British troops had not evacuated the island of Malta . The tension only worsened when Napoleon sent an expeditionary force to attempt to re-establish control over Haiti . Prolonged intransigence on these issues led Britain to declare war on France on 18 May 1803. Napoleon's expeditionary army
7379-445: The War of Bavarian Succession . By the peace of Teschen (13 May 1779) the Innviertel was ceded to Austria, and the succession secured to Charles of Zweibrücken. For Bavaria itself Charles Theodore did less than nothing. He felt himself a foreigner among foreigners, and his favourite scheme, the subject of endless intrigues with the Austrian cabinet and the immediate cause of Frederick II 's League of Princes ( Fürstenbund ) of 1785,
7536-438: The War of the Fourth Coalition , Napoleon destroyed the Prussian armies at Jena and Auerstedt . Successive victories at Eylau and Friedland against the Russians finally ruined Frederick the Great 's formerly mighty kingdom, obliging Russia and Prussia to make peace with France at Tilsit . The Treaties of Tilsit ended the war between Russia and France and began an alliance between the two empires that held as much power as
7693-407: The War of the Third Coalition , Napoleon swept away the remnants of the old Holy Roman Empire and created in southern Germany the vassal states of Bavaria , Baden , Württemberg , Hesse-Darmstadt , and Saxony , which were reorganised into the Confederation of the Rhine . The Treaty of Pressburg , signed on 26 December 1805, extracted extensive territorial concessions from Austria, on top of
7850-404: The elector palatine by the Treaty of Ilbersheim , and only restored to him, harried and exhausted, at the Treaty of Baden in 1714 ; the first Bavarian peasant insurrection , known as Sendling's night of murder , having been crushed by the Austrian occupiers in 1706. Untaught by Maximilian II Emmanuel's experience, his son, Charles Albert (1726–1745), devoted all his energies to increasing
8007-409: The Allies, and longstanding allied states, such as Saxony and Bavaria, forsook him as well. Following his retreat from Russia, Napoleon continued to retreat, this time from Germany. After the loss of Spain, reconquered by an Allied army led by the Duke of Wellington , the uprising in the Netherlands preliminary to the invasion, and the manifesto of Frankfurt (1 December 1813) which proclaimed it, he
SECTION 50
#17327646780768164-444: The Anglo-Russian alliance was to reduce France to its 1792 borders. Austria, Sweden, and Naples would eventually join this alliance, whilst Prussia again remained neutral. Meantime, the lull in participating in active military campaigning from 1801 to 1804 permitted Napoleon to consolidate his political power base in France. 1802 saw him proclaimed Consul for Life, his reward for having made peace with Britain, albeit briefly, as well as
8321-417: The Austrian armed forces. Charles was Austria's best field commander, but he was unpopular with the imperial court and lost much influence when, against his advice, Austria decided to go to war with France. Karl Mack became the new main commander in Austria's army, instituting reforms on the infantry on the eve of war that called for a regiment to be composed of four battalions of four companies rather than
8478-441: The Austrian capital of Vienna for a second time. At Aspern , Napoleon suffered his first serious tactical defeat, along with the death of Marshal Jean Lannes , an able commander and dear friend of the emperor. The victory at Wagram , however, forced Austria to sue for peace. The Treaty of Schönbrunn , signed on 14 December 1809, resulted in the annexation of the Illyrian Provinces and recognised past French conquests. The Pope
8635-425: The Austrian pickets and a regiment boldly attacked and captured the abbey at the top of the hill at bayonet point. The Austrian cavalry was also defeated and Riesch's infantry fled; Ney was given the title "Duke of Elchingen" for his impressive victory. Other actions took place on the 14th. Murat's forces joined Dupont at Albeck just in time to drive off an Austrian attack from Werneck; together Murat and Dupont beat
8792-398: The Austrian positions, but all failed. Mack then sent in Ignác Gyulay with seven infantry battalions and fourteen cavalry squadrons to repair the destroyed bridges, but this force was charged and swept away by the delayed French 59th Infantry Regiment. Fierce fighting ensued and the French finally managed to establish a foothold on the right bank of the Danube. While the Battle of Günzburg
8949-411: The Austrians from the north and west. Auffenburg attempted a retreat to the southwest, but he was not quick enough: the Austrians were decimated, losing nearly their entire force, 1,000 to 2,000 of which were prisoners. The Battle of Wertingen had been an easy French victory. The actions at Wertingen convinced Mack to operate on the left bank of the Danube instead of making a direct eastwards retreat on
9106-406: The Austrians to the north in the direction of Heidenheim . By night on the 14th, two French corps were stationed in the vicinity of the Austrian encampments at Michelsberg, right outside of Ulm. Mack was now in a dangerous situation: there was no longer any hope of escaping along the north bank, Marmont and the Imperial Guard were hovering at the outskirts of Ulm to the south of the river, and Soult
9263-417: The Bohemian, Austrian, and imperial crowns. These were at once occupied by Austrian troops, with the secret consent of Charles Theodore himself, who was without legitimate heirs, and wished to obtain from the emperor the elevation of his natural children to the status of princes of the Empire. The protests of the next heir, Charles II, Duke of Zweibrücken (Deux-Ponts), supported by the king of Prussia , led to
9420-420: The Channel coast, would concentrate along the Middle Rhine around cities like Mannheim and Strasbourg . While Murat was making demonstrations across the Black Forest, other French forces would then invade the German heartland and swing towards the southeast by capturing Augsburg , a move that was supposed to isolate Mack and interrupt the Austrian lines of communication. On 22 September, Mack decided to hold
9577-401: The Continental Blockade by the discontented bourgeoisie, ruined by the crisis of 1811 . Even as he lost his military principles, Napoleon maintained his gift for brilliance. His Six Days' Campaign , which took place at the very end of the War of the Sixth Coalition , is often regarded as his greatest display of leadership and military prowess. But by then it was the end (or "the finish"), and it
SECTION 60
#17327646780769734-456: The Continental System. More specifically, Alexander agreed to evacuate Wallachia and Moldavia , which had been occupied by Russian forces as part of the Russo-Turkish War . The Ionian Islands and Cattaro , which had been captured by Russian admirals Fyodor Ushakov and Dmitry Senyavin , were to be handed over to the French. In recompense, Napoleon guaranteed the sovereignty of the Duchy of Oldenburg and several other small states ruled by
9891-491: The Elector of Bavaria was a member of the Council of Electors in the Imperial Diet as well as Archsteward of the Holy Roman Empire; he also held the dignity of Imperial Vicar during imperial vacancies along with the Elector of Saxony , a duty he undertook in 1657–1658, 1740–1742, 1745, 1790, and 1792. In the Council of Princes of the Diet prior to the personal union of 1777 he held individual voices as Duke of Bavaria and (after 1770) Princely Landgrave of Leuchtenberg . In
10048-421: The Empire , Bavaria received the bishoprics of Würzburg , Bamberg , Augsburg and Freisingen , part of that of Passau , the territories of twelve abbeys, and seventeen cities and villages, the whole forming a compact territory which more than compensated for the loss of her outlying provinces on the Rhine. Montgelas now aspired to raise Bavaria to the rank of a first-rate power, and he pursued this object during
10205-456: The European prestige and power of his house. The death of the Emperor Charles VI proved his opportunity: he disputed the validity of the Pragmatic Sanction which secured the Habsburg succession to Maria Theresa , allied himself with France, conquered Upper Austria , was crowned king of Bohemia at Prague and, in 1742, emperor at Frankfurt . The price he had to pay, however, was the occupation of Bavaria itself by Austrian troops; and, though
10362-421: The Franco-Spanish fleet in three, isolating the rear half from Villeneuve's flag aboard Bucentaure . The allied vanguard sailed off while it attempted to turn around, giving the British temporary superiority over the remainder of their fleet. In the ensuing fierce battle 20 allied ships were lost, while the British lost none. The offensive exposed the leading British ships to intense crossfire as they approached
10519-413: The Franco-Spanish lines. Nelson's own HMS Victory led the front column and was almost knocked out of action. Nelson was shot by a French musketeer during the battle, and died shortly before it ended. Villeneuve was captured along with his flagship Bucentaure . He attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain. The senior Spanish fleet officer, Admiral Federico Gravina , escaped with
10676-489: The French Sénat conservateur and was crowned on 2 December 1804 (11 Frimaire year XIII), signifying the end of the French Consulate and of the French First Republic . Despite his coronation, the state continued to be formally called the "French Republic" until October 1808. The empire achieved military supremacy in mainland Europe through notable victories in the War of the Third Coalition against Austria , Prussia , Russia , Britain , and allied states, notably at
10833-411: The French Empire had 130 departments , a population over 44 million people, ruled over 90 million subjects throughout Europe and in the overseas colonies, maintained an extensive military presence in Germany , Italy , Spain , and Poland , and counted Austria and Prussia as nominal allies. Early French victories exported many ideological features of the Revolution throughout Europe: the introduction of
10990-572: The French advance guard, had captured a bridge over the Danube at Vienna by falsely claiming that an armistice had been signed, and then rushing the bridge while the guards were distracted. Kutuzov needed to gain time in order to make contact near Brünn with reinforcements led by Buxhowden . He ordered his rearguard under Major-General Prince Pyotr Bagration to delay the French. First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire ( French : Empire français ; Latin : Imperium Francicum ) and also known as Napoleonic France ,
11147-405: The French originally thought. During this time, the Russian threat to the east began to preoccupy Napoleon so much that Murat was given command of the right wing of the army, consisting of Ney's and Lannes's corps. The French were separated in two massive rings at this point: the forces of Ney, Lannes and Murat to the west were containing Mack, while those of Soult, Davout, Bernadotte and Marmont to
11304-544: The Imperial throne, becoming Francis I, Emperor of Austria. Those achievements, however, did not establish a lasting peace on the continent. Austerlitz had driven neither Russia nor Britain, whose fleet protected Sicily from a French invasion, to cease fighting. Meanwhile, Prussian worries about the growing French influence in Central Europe sparked the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. Historians differ on when
11461-538: The Margravate of Burgau , the Lordship of Vorarlberg , the countships of Hohenems and Königsegg-Rothenfels , the lordships of Argen and Tettnang , and the city of Lindau with its territory were to be added to Bavaria. On the other hand, Würzburg, obtained in 1803, was to be ceded by Bavaria to the elector of Salzburg in exchange for Tyrol . By the 1st article of the treaty the emperor already acknowledged
11618-880: The Mediterranean front by only focusing on land battles in Central Europe and the Trafalgar campaign. Europe had been embroiled in the French Revolutionary Wars since 1792. After five years of war, the French Republic subdued the armies of the First Coalition in 1797. A Second Coalition was formed in 1798, but this too was defeated by 1801, leaving Britain the only opponent of the new French Consulate . In March 1802, France and Britain agreed to cease hostilities under
11775-568: The Mediterranean, and exclude his chief rival, Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. Despite his victorious advance, the taking of Smolensk , the victory on the Moskva , and the entry into Moscow, he was defeated by the country and the climate, and by Alexander's refusal to make terms. After this came the terrible retreat in the harsh Russian winter, while all of Europe was turning against him. Pushed back, as he had been in Spain, from bastion to bastion, after
11932-655: The Napoleonic epoch with consummate skill, allowing fully for the preponderance of France – so long as it lasted – but never permitting Bavaria to sink, like so many of the states of the Confederation of the Rhine , into a mere French dependency. In September 1805, Bavaria signed the Bogenhausen Treaty with France. The primary consequence of the treaty was Bavaria's military support for Napoleon. Bavarian troops under General Karl Philipp von Wrede fought
12089-430: The Palatinate; in 1795 the French, under Jean Victor Moreau , invaded Bavaria itself, advanced to Munich – where they were received with joy by the long-suppressed Liberals – and laid siege to Ingolstadt . Charles Theodore , who had done nothing to prevent wars or to resist the invasion, fled to Saxony , leaving a regency, the members of which signed a convention with Moreau, by which he granted an armistice in return for
12246-741: The Peninsular War. Men like Baron von Stein , August von Hardenberg , and Gerhard von Scharnhorst had begun secretly preparing Prussia's retaliation . The alliance arranged at Tilsit was seriously shaken by the Austrian marriage, the threat of Polish restoration to Russia, and the Continental System. The very persons whom he had placed in power were counteracting his plans. With many of his siblings and relations performing unsuccessfully or even betraying him, Napoleon found himself obliged to revoke their power. Caroline Bonaparte conspired against her brother and against her husband Murat;
12403-730: The Russian emperor's German relatives. The treaty removed about half of Prussia's territory: Cottbus was given to Saxony, the left bank of the Elbe was awarded to the newly created Kingdom of Westphalia, Białystok was given to Russia, and the rest of the Polish lands in Prussian possession were set up as the Duchy of Warsaw . Prussia was ordered to reduce its army to 40,000 men and to pay an indemnity of 100,000,000 francs. Observers in Prussia viewed
12560-460: The Upper Palatinate made Bavaria compact; the acquisition of the electoral vote made it influential; and the electorate was able to play a part in European politics which internal strife had rendered impossible for the past four hundred years. Whatever lustre the international position won by Maximilian I might add to the electoral house, on Bavaria itself its effect during the next two centuries
12717-604: The War of the Third Coalition began and when it ended. From the British perspective, the war started when Britain declared war on France on 18 May 1803, but it was still on its own. It was not until December 1804 when Sweden entered into an alliance with the United Kingdom, not until 11 April 1805 when Russia joined the alliance, not until 16 July when Britain and Russia ratified their treaty of alliance, and only thereafter Austria (9 August) and Naples–Sicily (11 September) completed
12874-578: The Year VIII and secured his own election as First Consul. He thus became the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the Constitution of the Year X , which made him First Consul for life. The Battle of Marengo (14 June 1800) inaugurated the political idea that was to continue its development until Napoleon's Russian campaign . The Peace of Amiens , which cost him control of Egypt ,
13031-624: The area provided valuable commodities like timber, tar, and hemp, crucial supplies to its Royal Navy . Additionally, Britain had supported the Ottoman Empire in resisting Russian incursions towards the Mediterranean . Mutual suspicion between the British and the Russians eased in the face of several French political mistakes, and on 11 April 1805 the two signed a treaty of alliance in Saint Petersburg . The stated goal of
13188-407: The arrest and execution of Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien , a royalist émigré who had been implicated (on dubious evidence) in an assassination plot against First Consul Bonaparte. The execution of Enghien shocked the aristocrats of Europe, who still remembered the bloodletting of the Revolution and thus lost whatever conditional respect they may have entertained for Napoleon. Fanning the flames of
13345-560: The assumption by the elector of the title of king, as Maximilian I. The price which Maximilian had reluctantly to pay for this accession of dignity was the marriage of his daughter Augusta with Eugène de Beauharnais . The electorate existed until 1806, when Bavaria was proclaimed a kingdom. It had its origins in the Franco-Bavarian Treaty of Brno of 10–12 December 1805 and in the Peace of Pressburg on 26 December 1805 between
13502-541: The bridges at Günzburg would yield a large strategic advantage. To accomplish this objective, Napoleon sent Ney's Corps to Günzburg, completely unaware that the bulk of the Austrian army was heading to the same destination. On 8 October, however, the campaign witnessed its first serious battle at Wertingen between Auffenburg's troops and those of Murat and Lannes. For reasons not entirely clear, Mack ordered Auffenburg on 7 October to take his division of 5,000 infantry and 400 cavalry from Günzburg to Wertingen in preparation for
13659-493: The campaigns of 1796 and 1800, Napoleon had envisaged the Danube theatre as the central focus of French efforts, but in both instances, the Italian theatre became the most important. The Aulic Council thought Napoleon would strike in Italy again. Napoleon had other intentions: 210,000 French troops would be launched eastwards from the camps of Boulogne and would envelop General Mack's exposed Austrian army if it kept marching towards
13816-549: The campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars. Mack believed that there would be no action in Central Germany. Mack decided to make the city of Ulm the centrepiece of his defensive strategy, which called for containment of the French until the Russians under Mikhail Kutuzov could arrive and alter the odds against Napoleon. Ulm was protected by the heavily fortified Michelsberg heights, giving Mack
13973-399: The capitulations at Heidenheim and Neresheim and agreed to surrender five days before schedule on 20 October. 10,000 troops from the Austrian garrison managed to escape, but the vast majority of the Austrian force marched out on the 21st and laid down their arms without incident, all with the Grande Armée drawn up in a vast semicircle observing the capitulation. The Battle of Trafalgar
14130-484: The compensation promised under the 7th article of the Treaty of Lunéville for the territory ceded on the left bank of the Rhine , should be carried out at the expense of the Empire in the manner most agreeable to Bavaria (see de Martens , Recueil , vol. vii. p. 365). In 1803, accordingly, in the territorial rearrangements consequent on Napoleon's suppression of the ecclesiastical states, and of many free cities of
14287-642: The crossing of the Berezina , Napoleon had to fall back upon the frontiers of 1809, and then—having refused the peace offered to him by Austria at the Congress of Prague (4 June – 10 August 1813), from fear of losing Italy, where each of his victories had marked a stage in the accomplishment of his dream—on those of 1805, despite the victories at Lützen and Bautzen , and on those of 1802 after his disastrous defeat at Leipzig , when Bernadotte—now Crown Prince of Sweden—turned upon him, General Jean Moreau also joined
14444-432: The danger of his position, Mack decided to go on the offensive. On 8 October, he commanded the army to concentrate around Günzburg and hoped to strike at Napoleon's lines of communication. Mack instructed Kienmayer to draw Napoleon further east towards Munich and Augsburg. Napoleon did not seriously consider the possibility that Mack would cross the Danube and move away from his central base, but he did realize that seizing
14601-535: The defeated Habsburgs, and allowed the defeated Russian troops free passage, with their arms and equipment, through hostile territories and back to their home soil. Victory at Austerlitz also prompted Napoleon to create the Confederation of the Rhine , a collection of German client states that pledged themselves to raise an army of 63,000 men. As a direct consequence of those events, the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when, in 1806, Francis II abdicated
14758-609: The dignity of King of Bavaria , and the Holy Roman Empire was abolished the year after. The Electorate of Bavaria consisted of most of the modern regions of Upper Bavaria , Lower Bavaria , and the Upper Palatinate . Before 1779, it also included the Innviertel , now part of modern Austria . This was ceded to the Habsburgs by the Treaty of Teschen , which ended the War of the Bavarian Succession . There were
14915-732: The dispossessed Bourbons in Naples; younger brother Louis Bonaparte was installed on the throne of the Kingdom of Holland , formed from the Batavian Republic ; brother-in-law Marshal Joachim Murat became Grand-Duke of Berg ; youngest brother Jérôme Bonaparte was made son-in-law to the King of Württemberg and King of Westphalia ; adopted son Eugène de Beauharnais was appointed Viceroy of Italy; and adopted daughter and second cousin Stéphanie de Beauharnais married Karl (Charles) ,
15072-535: The duke's authority. The result was a unity and order in the duchy which enabled Maximilian to play an important part in the Thirty Years' War ; during the earlier years of which he was so successful as to acquire the Upper Palatinate and the electoral dignity which had been enjoyed since 1356 by the elder branch of the Wittelsbach family. In spite of subsequent reverses, Maximilian retained these gains at
15229-411: The early hours of 10 October. Mack was deliberating about a course of action to pursue and the Austrian army remained inactive at Ulm until the 11th. Meanwhile, Napoleon was operating under flawed assumptions: he believed the Austrians were moving to the east or southeast and that Ulm was lightly guarded. Ney sensed this misapprehension and wrote to Berthier that Ulm was, in fact, more heavily defended than
15386-402: The east were charged with guarding against any possible Russian and Austrian incursions. On 11 October, Ney made a renewed push on Ulm; the 2nd and 3rd divisions were to march to the city along the right bank of the Danube while Dupont's division, supported by one dragoons division, was to march directly for Ulm and seize the entire city. The orders were hopeless because Ney still did not know that
15543-681: The empire in the " Hundred Days ." However, he was defeated by the Seventh Coalition at the Battle of Waterloo . He surrendered himself to the British and was exiled to Saint Helena , a remote island in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. After the Hundred Days, the Bourbon monarchy was restored , with Louis XVIII regaining the French throne, while the rest of Napoleon's conquests were disposed of in
15700-618: The enemies of the faith. The government was inspired by the narrowest clericalism, which culminated in the attempt to withdraw the Bavarian bishops from the jurisdiction of the great German metropolitans and place them directly under that of the pope. On the eve of the French Revolution the intellectual and social condition of Bavaria remained that of the Middle Ages. In 1792 the French Revolutionary Army overran
15857-460: The entire Austrian army was stationed at Ulm. The 32nd Infantry Regiment in Dupont's division marched from Haslach towards Ulm and ran into four Austrian regiments holding Bolfingen. The 32nd carried out several ferocious attacks, but the Austrians held firm and repulsed every single one of them. The Austrians flooded the battle with more cavalry and infantry regiments to Jungingen hoping to score
16014-575: The establishment of a meritorious order, the Legion of Honour . Then, in May 1804, Napoleon was proclaimed Napoleon, Emperor of the French , and crowned at Notre Dame on 2 December 1804. He created eighteen Marshals of the Empire from among his top generals, securing the allegiance of the army. Napoleon added the crown of (Northern) Italy to his mantle in May 1805, thereby placing a traditional Austrian sphere of influence under his rule (eventually through
16171-494: The fragile Third Coalition" and "ended the War of the Third Coalition". This narrative leaves out the subsequent French invasion of Naples (February–July 1806), which the occupying Anglo-Russian troops hastily evacuated and the remaining Neapolitan forces relatively quickly surrendered. Other scholars argue the southern Italian campaign should be included into the War of the Second Coalition , and criticise ignoring
16328-536: The front and the rear. Not until Dupont's division arrived, after dark, was Gazan able to start to evacuate his soldiers to the other side of the Danube. Gazan lost close to 40 percent of his division. In addition, 47 officers and 895 men were captured, and he lost five guns, as well as the eagles of the 4th Infantry Regiment, and the eagle and guidon of the 4th Dragoons. The Russians also lost around 4,000, about 16 percent of their force, and two regimental colors. The Austrian Lt. Field Marshal Johann Heinrich von Schmitt
16485-407: The fully-fledged coalition. Meanwhile, Bavaria sided with France on 25 August, and Württemberg joined Napoleon on 5 September. No major hostilities between France and any member of the coalition other than Britain ( Trafalgar campaign March–November 1805) occurred until the Ulm Campaign (25 September – 20 October 1805). This was in part because Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom
16642-511: The grace of God, King of Bavaria, Archpalatine Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Archtruchsess and Elector." The formal exit of Bavaria from the Holy Roman Empire, renouncing the electoral dignity, did not take place until July 1806 with the Rheinbund Act. The new king still served as an elector until Bavaria left the Holy Roman Empire (1 August 1806). On 15 March 1806 Max Joseph had ceded the Duchy of Berg to Napoleon. Shortly thereafter,
16799-549: The guarantee of the continuance of his dynasty, marking the high point of the Empire. Undermining forces, however, had already begun to impinge on the faults inherent in Napoleon's achievements. Britain, protected by the English Channel and its navy, was persistently active, and rebellion of both the governing and of the governed broke out everywhere. Napoleon, though he underrated it, soon felt his failure in coping with
16956-796: The hypochondriac Louis, now Dutch in his sympathies, found the supervision of the blockade taken from him, and also the defence of the Scheldt , which he had refused to ensure. Jérôme Bonaparte lost control of the blockade on the North Sea shores . The very nature of things was against the new dynasties, as it had been against the old. After national insurrections and family recriminations came treachery from Napoleon's ministers. Talleyrand betrayed his designs to Klemens von Metternich and suffered dismissal . Joseph Fouché , corresponding with Austria in 1809 and 1810, entered into an understanding with Louis and also with Britain, while Louis Antoine de Bourrienne
17113-546: The impression that the city was virtually impregnable from outside attack. Fatally, the Aulic Council decided to make Northern Italy the main theatre of operations for the Austrian army. Archduke Charles was assigned 95,000 troops and directed to cross the Adige river with Mantua , Peschiera , and Milan as the initial objectives. Archduke John was given 23,000 troops and commanded to secure Tyrol while serving as
17270-486: The invasion of Bohemia in 1744 by Frederick II of Prussia enabled him to return to Munich, at his death on 20 January 1745 it was left to his successor to make what terms he could for the recovery of his dominions. Maximilian III Joseph (1745–1777), by the Treaty of Füssen signed on 22 April 1745, obtained the restitution of his dominions in return for a formal acknowledgment of the Pragmatic Sanction. He
17427-433: The island of Elba, Napoleon escaped to France with a thousand men and four cannons. King Louis XVIII sent Marshal Michel Ney to arrest him. Upon meeting Ney's army, Napoleon dismounted and walked into firing range, saying "If one of you wishes to kill his emperor, here I am!" But instead of firing, the soldiers went to join Napoleon's side shouting " Vive l'Empereur! " Napoleon retook the throne temporarily in 1815, reviving
17584-508: The line to 33 Franco-Spanish ships, including the largest warship in either fleet, the Spanish Santísima Trinidad . To address this imbalance, Nelson sailed his fleet directly at the allied battle line's flank, hoping to break the line into pieces. Villeneuve had worried that Nelson might attempt this tactic, but for various reasons, failed to prepare for it. The plan worked almost perfectly; Nelson's columns split
17741-407: The main Austrian advance out of Ulm. Uncertain of what to do and having little hope for reinforcements, Auffenburg was in a dangerous position. The first French forces to arrive were Murat's cavalry divisions – Klein's 1st Dragoons, Beaumont 3rd Dragoons, and Nansouty's cuirassiers . They began to assault the Austrian positions and were soon joined by Oudinot 's grenadiers, who were hoping to outflank
17898-506: The older three battalions of six companies. The sudden change came with no corresponding officer training, and as a result, these new units were not led as well as they could have been. Austrian cavalry forces were regarded as the best in Europe, but the detachment of many cavalry units to various infantry formations precluded the hitting power of their massed French counterparts. Finally, a significant divergence between these two nominal allies
18055-400: The other under Franz von Werneck went north with most of the heavy artillery. Ney hurried his corps forward to reestablish contact with Dupont. Ney led his troops to the south of Elchingen on the right bank of the Danube and began the attack. The field to the side was a partially wooded flood plain, rising steeply to the hill town of Elchingen, which had a wide field of view. The French cleared
18212-406: The outcry resulting from d'Enghien's death and the growing fear over increasing French power, British Prime Minister William Pitt spent 1804 and 1805 in a flurry of diplomatic activity geared towards forming a new coalition against France. Pitt scored a significant coup by securing a burgeoning rival as an ally. The Baltic was dominated by Russia, something Britain had been uncomfortable with since
18369-636: The plenipotentiaries of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and the Holy Roman and Austrian Emperor Francis II & I concluded a peace treaty, because Austria now had to cede the counties of Tyrol and Vorarlberg to Bavaria. Duke and Elector Maximilian IV Joseph was proclaimed King Maximilian I Joseph on 1 January 1806 in Munich as the first king of Bavaria. From 1 January 1806, the Bavarian royal title initially read: "By
18526-462: The potential of national resistance. The provocations of Talleyrand and Britain strengthened the idea that the Austrians could emulate the Spanish. On 10 April 1809, Austria invaded France's ally, Bavaria. The campaign of 1809, however, would not be nearly as long and troublesome for France as the one in Spain and Portugal. Following a short and decisive action in Bavaria, Napoleon opened up the road to
18683-556: The press . France justified the spread of her empire as one of spreading her superior culture, bringing Enlightenment thinking and modern civilisation to what they viewed as backwards peoples. However this consequently led to attitudes of contempt against many of the nations France conquered and repression against recalcitrant populations. 48°51′44″N 02°19′57″E / 48.86222°N 2.33250°E / 48.86222; 2.33250 Electorate of Bavaria The Electorate of Bavaria ( German : Kurfürstentum Bayern )
18840-647: The rest of Europe. The two empires secretly agreed to aid each other in disputes. France pledged to aid Russia against the Ottoman Empire , while Russia agreed to join the Continental System against Britain. Russia also agreed to recognize the Confederation of the Rhine , as agreed on by the treaty. Napoleon also forced Alexander to enter the Anglo-Russian War and to instigate the Finnish War against Sweden in order to force Sweden to join
18997-743: The right bank. This would require the Austrian army to cross at Günzburg. On 8 October, Ney was operating under Marshal Berthier 's directions that called for a direct attack on Ulm the following day. Ney sent in Malher's 3rd Division to capture the Günzburg bridges over the Danube. A column of this division ran into some Tyrolean jägers and captured 200 of them, including their commander General d'Aspré , along with two cannons. The Austrians noticed these developments and reinforced their positions around Günzburg with three infantry battalions and 20 cannons. Malher's division conducted several heroic attacks against
19154-460: The scarcely disguised ambitions and intrigues of the Austrian court, Montgelas now believed that the interests of Bavaria lay in a frank alliance with the French Republic ; he succeeded in overcoming the reluctance of Maximilian Joseph; and, on 24 August, a separate treaty of peace and alliance with France was signed at Paris. By the third article of this the First Consul undertook to see that
19311-610: The sometimes complex manoeuvres required in a battle. Nevertheless, the Russians did have a fine artillery arm manned by soldiers who regularly fought hard to prevent their pieces from falling into enemy hands. Archduke Charles , brother of the Austrian Emperor, had started to reform the Austrian army in 1801 by taking away power from the Hofkriegsrat , the military-political council responsible for decision-making in
19468-583: The son of the Grand Duke of Baden. In addition to the vassal titles, Napoleon's closest relatives were also granted the title of French Prince and formed the Imperial House of France . Met with opposition, Napoleon would not tolerate any neutral power. On 6 August 1806 the Habsburgs abdicated their title of Holy Roman Emperor in order to prevent Napoleon from becoming the next Emperor, ending
19625-477: The state of the Bavarian finances, and the fact that the Bavarian troops were scattered and disorganized, placed him helpless in the hands of Austria; on 2 December 1800 the Bavarian Army was involved in the Austrian defeat at Hohenlinden , and Moreau once more occupied Munich. By the Treaty of Lunéville (9 February 1801) Bavaria lost the Palatinate and the duchies of Zweibrücken and Jülich . In view of
19782-571: The surviving third of the Franco-Spanish fleet; he died six months later of wounds sustained during the battle. The main body of the Grande Armée followed the remains of the Austrian army towards Vienna . Following the failure of the Austrian army at Ulm, a Russian army under General Mikhail Kutuzov was also withdrawing east, and reached the Ill river on 22 October, where it joined with Kienmayer's retreating corps. On 5 November, they held
19939-401: The treason of 1812. The country itself, though flattered by conquests, was tired of self-sacrifice. The unpopularity of conscription gradually turned many of Napoleon's subjects against him . Amidst profound silence from the press and the assemblies, a protest was raised against imperial power by the literary world, against the excommunicated sovereign by Catholicism, and against the author of
20096-399: The treaty as unfair and as a national humiliation. Talleyrand had advised Napoleon to pursue milder terms; the treaties marked an important stage in his estrangement from the emperor. After Tilsit, instead of trying to reconcile Europe, as Talleyrand had advised, Napoleon wanted to defeat Britain and complete his Italian dominion. To the coalition of the northern powers, he added the league of
20253-490: The troops occasionally set in, but Napoleon paid many visits and conducted lavish parades in order to boost the morale of the soldiers. The men at Boulogne formed the core for what Napoleon would later call La Grande Armée ("The Great Army"). At the start, this French army had about 200,000 men organized into seven corps , each capable of independent action or in concert with other corps. Corps were large combined arms field units typically containing 2–4 infantry divisions,
20410-533: The village of Stein. This was a trap on the part of Kutuzov, laid for the sole purpose of convincing Mortier that he had retreated further toward Vienna, when he had actually crossed the Danube in force, and lay concealed behind the ridges above the village. In the ensuing Battle of Dürenstein , three Russian columns circled around the First Division of the Corps Mortier , and attacked Gazan from both
20567-509: The whole amount on his planned invasion of England . The nascent Third Coalition came into being in December 1804 when, in exchange for payment, an Anglo-Swedish agreement was signed allowing the British to use Swedish Pomerania as a military base against France (explicitly, the nearby French-occupied Electorate of Hanover , the homeland of the British monarch). The Swedish government had broken diplomatic ties with France in early 1804 after
20724-596: Was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). As part of Napoleon 's plans to invade the United Kingdom , the French and Spanish fleets combined to take control of the English Channel and provide
20881-518: Was a man of enlightenment , did much to encourage agriculture, industries and the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the country, founded the Academy of Sciences at Munich, and abolished the Jesuit censorship of the press. At his death, without issue, on 30 December 1777, the Bavarian line of the Wittelsbachs became extinct, and the succession passed to Charles Theodore , the elector palatine. After
21038-399: Was a quasi-independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria . The Wittelsbach dynasty which ruled the Duchy of Bavaria was the younger branch of the family which also ruled the Electoral Palatinate . The head of the elder branch was one of the seven prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire according to
21195-640: Was a temporary truce. He gradually extended his authority in Italy by annexing the Piedmont and by acquiring Genoa , Parma , Tuscany, and Naples , and added this Italian territory to the Cisalpine Republic . Then he laid siege to the Roman state and initiated the Concordat of 1801 to control the material claims of the Pope . When he recognised his error of raising the authority of the Pope from that of
21352-486: Was already from 1507 divided into four stewardships ( Rentamt [ de ] ): Munich , Burghausen , Landshut and Straubing . With the acquisition of the Upper Palatinate during the Thirty Years' War the stewardship Amberg was added. In 1802 they were abolished by the minister Maximilian von Montgelas . In 1805 shortly before the elevation Tyrol and Vorarlberg were united with Bavaria, same as several of these enclaves. By virtue of his electoral title,
21509-463: Was being fought, Ney sent General Loison's 2nd Division to capture the Danube bridges at Elchingen , which were lightly defended by the Austrians. Having lost most of the Danube bridges, Mack marched his army back to Ulm. By 10 October, Ney's corps had made significant progress: Malher's division had crossed to the right bank, Loison's division held Elchingen, and Dupont 's division was heading towards Ulm. The demoralized Austrian army arrived at Ulm in
21666-438: Was confronted by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès —one of five Directors constituting the executive branch of the French government—who sought his support for a coup d'état to overthrow the Constitution of the Year III . The plot included Bonaparte's brother Lucien , then serving as speaker of the Council of Five Hundred , Roger Ducos , another Director, and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand . On 9 November 1799 ( 18 Brumaire VIII under
21823-414: Was convicted of speculation. By consequence of the spirit of conquest Napoleon had aroused, many of his marshals and officials, having tasted victory, dreamed of sovereign power: Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte , who had helped him to the Consulate, played Napoleon false to win the crown of Sweden . Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult , like Murat, coveted the Spanish throne after that of Portugal, thus anticipating
21980-420: Was destroyed by disease in Haiti and subsequently swayed the First Consul to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. Without sufficient revenues from sugar colonies in the Caribbean, the vast territory of Louisiana in North America had little value to him. Though Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France per the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso , a war between France and Britain
22137-406: Was during the years before when various European states conspired against France. While Napoleon and his holdings idled and worsened, the rest of Europe agreed to avenge the revolutionary events of 1792. Napoleon had hardly succeeded in putting down the revolt in Germany when the emperor of Russia himself headed a European insurrection against Napoleon. To put an end to this, ensure his own access to
22294-408: Was forced to fall back upon the frontiers of 1795; and was later driven further back upon those of 1792—despite the forceful campaign of 1814 against the invaders . Paris capitulated on 30 March 1814, and the Delenda Carthago , pronounced against Britain, was spoken of Napoleon. The empire briefly fell with Napoleon's abdication at Fontainebleau on 11 April 1814. After less than a year's exile on
22451-495: Was forcibly deported to Savona , and his domains were incorporated into the French Empire. The Senate's decision on 17 February 1810 created the title "King of Rome", and made Rome the capital of Italy. Between 1810 and 1812 Napoleon's divorce of Joséphine , and his marriage with Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria , followed by the birth of his son , shed light upon his future policy. He gradually withdrew power from his siblings and concentrated his affection and ambition on his son,
22608-431: Was given the title of " Emperor of the French " by the Senate ; finally, on 2 December 1804, he was solemnly crowned , after receiving the Iron Crown of the Lombard kings , and was consecrated by Pope Pius VII in Notre-Dame de Paris . In four campaigns, the Emperor transformed his " Carolingian " feudal republican and federal empire into one modelled on the Roman Empire . The memories of imperial Rome were for
22765-454: Was imminent. Out of anger against Spain and having the unique opportunity to sell something that was useless and not truly his yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory to the United States for a sum total of 68 million francs ($ 15 million). The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed on 30 April 1803. Despite issuing orders that the over 60 million francs were to be spent on the construction of five new canals in France, Bonaparte spent
22922-405: Was in full confusion. Ferdinand began to openly oppose Mack's command style and decisions, charging that the latter spent his days writing contradictory orders that left the Austrian army marching back and forth. On 13 October, Mack sent two columns out of Ulm in preparation for a breakout to the north: one under General Johann Sigismund Riesch headed towards Elchingen to secure the bridge there and
23079-430: Was killed as the battle concluded, probably by Russian musketry in the confused melee. At the Battle of Schöngrabern (also known as the Battle of Hollabrunn) occurred a week after the battle at Dürenstein. On 16 November 1805. near Hollabrunn in Lower Austria . The Russian army of Kutuzov was retiring north of the Danube before the French army of Napoleon. On 13 November 1805 Marshals Murat and Lannes , commanding
23236-408: Was largely undone by his son Maximilian II Emanuel (1679–1726), whose far-reaching ambition set him warring against the Ottoman Empire and, on the side of France , in the great struggle of the Spanish succession . He shared in the defeat at the Battle of Blenheim , near Höchstädt , on 13 August 1704. Placed under the imperial ban , his dominions were temporarily partitioned between Austria and
23393-419: Was made more visible by the occupation of the Kingdom of Naples and of the Marches , and by the entry of General Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis into Rome; while General Jean-Andoche Junot invaded Portugal , Marshal Murat took control of formerly Roman Spain as Regent. Soon after, Napoleon had his brother, Joseph, crowned King of Spain and sent him there to take control. Napoleon tried to succeed in
23550-401: Was more dubious. Maximilian's son, Ferdinand Maria (1651–1679), who was a minor when he succeeded, did much indeed to repair the wounds caused by the Thirty Years' War, encouraging agriculture and industries, and building or restoring numerous churches and monasteries. In 1669, moreover, he again called a meeting of the diet, which had been suspended since 1612. His constructive work, however,
23707-632: Was moving from Memmingen to prevent the Austrians escaping south to the Tyrol. Troubles continued with the Austrian command as Ferdinand overrode the objections of Mack and ordered the evacuation of all cavalry from Ulm, a total of 6,000 troopers. Murat's pursuit was so effective, however, that only eleven squadrons joined Werneck at Heidenheim. Murat continued his harassment of Werneck and forced him to surrender with 8,000 men at Trochtelfingten on 19 October; Murat also took an entire Austrian field park of 500 vehicles, then swept on towards Neustadt and captured 12,000 Austrians. Events at Ulm were now reaching
23864-411: Was not called off until 27 August 1805, when he decided to use his invasion force camped at Boulogne against Austria instead. Likewise, no major battles occurred after the Battle of Austerlitz and the signing of the Peace of Pressburg on 26 December 1805, which forced Austria to leave the Third Coalition and cease hostilities against France. Some historians conclude that Austria's departure "shattered
24021-546: Was not deep enough to prevent Kienmayer's escape: the French corps did not all arrive at the same place – they instead deployed on a long west–east axis – and the early arrival of Soult and Davout at Donauwörth incited Kienmayer to exercise caution and evasion. Napoleon gradually became more convinced that the Austrians were massed at Ulm and ordered sizeable portions of the French army to concentrate around Donauwörth; on 6 October, three French infantry and cavalry corps headed to Donauwörth to seal off Mack's escape route. Realizing
24178-400: Was proclaimed Consul for life. Pro-revolutionary sentiment swept through Germany aided by the "Recess of 1803", which brought Bavaria , Württemberg , and Baden to France's side. William Pitt the Younger , back in power over Britain, appealed once more for an Anglo-Austro-Russian coalition against Napoleon to stop the ideals of revolutionary France from spreading. On 18 May 1804, Napoleon
24335-419: Was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte , who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from 18 May 1804 to 4 April 1814 and again briefly from 20 March 1815 to 7 July 1815, when Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena . Although France had already established a colonial empire overseas since the early 17th century, the French state had remained
24492-410: Was to exchange Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands and the title of king of Burgundy . For the rest, the enlightened internal policy of his predecessor was abandoned. The funds of the suppressed order of Jesus, which Maximilian Joseph had destined for the reform of the educational system of the country, were used to endow a province of the knights of St John of Jerusalem , for the purpose of combating
24649-463: Was united with Bavaria in 1799 when its duke inherited the Bavarian and Palatine thrones. When he had succeeded to the throne of the Duchy of Bavaria in 1597, Maximilian I had found it encumbered with debt and filled with disorder, but ten years of his vigorous rule effected a remarkable change. The finances and the judicial system were reorganised, a class of civil servants and a national militia founded, and several small districts were brought under
#75924