Bavaria, Austria, And The Napoleonic Wars: Enemies Or Allies?

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of military campaigns that took place from 1803 to 1815, during which the French Empire, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, clashed with various European powers, including the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Bavaria. While Austria and Bavaria were initially allies, tensions arose as Bavaria grew closer to Napoleonic France, eventually leading to conflict between the two states.

In the early 19th century, the Kingdom of Bavaria was a member of the Holy Roman Empire, which required its member states to provide armed forces to fight for the Imperial cause. In 1792, Bavarian forces were mobilised to fight against France but soon declared neutrality. During the Congress of Rastatt in 1796, the map of the Empire was redrawn in favour of France, with the French gaining control of territories such as Belgium, Alsace, and much of the left bank of the Rhine. This marked a shift in power that would have significant implications for the region.

In 1804, Emperor Franz I of Austria formed the Third Coalition with Russia, Britain, and other nations to combat Napoleon. However, the following year, Napoleon's army defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Ulm, and the French forces seized Vienna. This marked a turning point in the relationship between Bavaria and Austria, as Bavaria began to align itself more closely with Napoleonic France.

The Kingdom of Bavaria gained territory and kingdom status after allying with Napoleon, receiving the Austrian province of Tyrol as a reward for their support. However, this decision led to a rebellion in Tyrol, which required French assistance to suppress. Despite the tensions caused by this uprising, Bavaria continued to support Napoleon, and their troops played a crucial role in the Battle of Wagram against Austria.

In the Russian campaign of 1812, the Bavarian army suffered significant losses, with only a fraction of their forces returning home. This campaign marked a turning point, as Bavaria began to distance itself from Napoleonic France and eventually joined the Allied camp before the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The Bavarian attempt to stop the French army at the Battle of Hanau ended in defeat, but they secured valuable victories over their former allies at Arcis-sur-Aube and Bar-sur-Aube in 1814.

In conclusion, while Bavaria and Austria did not directly fight each other at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, their complex alliances and shifting loyalties led to conflicts and tensions between the two states. The Kingdom of Bavaria's alignment with Napoleonic France and its gains in territory, including the Austrian province of Tyrol, created a dynamic where they became adversaries to the Austrian Empire during the latter part of the Napoleonic Wars.

Bavaria's role in the Napoleonic Wars

Bavaria, officially known as the Kingdom of Bavaria, played a significant role in the Napoleonic Wars. Initially, the Bavarians were reluctant to fight against France in the War of the Second Coalition. However, when Austria attacked Bavaria in the War of the Third Coalition, they found a powerful army. The Bavarians initially retreated, but only to link up with Napoleon's advancing army and launch a counter-attack. They played a crucial role in the Siege of Ulm and the liberation of Bavaria. At the Battle of Austerlitz, the Bavarians secured the flanks and supply lines of Napoleon's army. Following the Peace of Pressburg, Bavaria was awarded the Austrian province of Tyrol. However, this led to a rebellion under Andreas Hofer in 1809, which required French assistance to suppress.

In the Russian Campaign, the Bavarian army suffered significant losses. Of the approximately 33,000 men who marched in 1812, only 4,000 returned. Pressured by the Crown Prince and General Wrede, King Maximilian I Josef eventually turned against France and joined the Allied camp shortly before the Battle of Leipzig. In 1813, Wrede attempted to stop the victory of the Grande Armée at the Battle of Hanau but was defeated. However, he made up for this defeat with victories over his former allies at the battles of Arcis-sur-Aube and Bar-sur-Aube in 1814.

In the same year, the Bavarian Army consisted of a Grenadier Guard regiment, 16 regiments of Line Infantry, two battalions of Jäger, seven regiments of light cavalry, two regiments of hussars, one regiment of Uhlans, and two regiments of foot and horse artillery. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Bavarian Army was modernised and became one of the most formidable forces in Germany. It was the first German army to abolish flogging and played a crucial role in transforming Bavaria into the second-largest state of the German Empire after Prussia.

Austria's role in the Napoleonic Wars

Austria played a significant role in the Napoleonic Wars, which were a series of conflicts fought between the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and a fluctuating array of European coalitions.

The Austrian army was still inadequately equipped, insufficiently trained, and under-strength when they took the field against the French in 1805. The war had come about due to miscalculations by the Austrian foreign ministers, who believed that an alliance with Russia would deter Napoleon from attacking the eastern empires. However, in one of his most brilliant strategic moves, Napoleon marched his army into Germany and surrounded an Austrian army at the city of Ulm, forcing its surrender. He then advanced to Vienna, which he took in November 1805, and moved into Moravia, where he met and defeated the Austrian and Russian forces at the famous Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805. This brought an end to the War of the Third Coalition, and Austria was forced to make peace, ceding territories to Napoleon's Italian kingdom, Bavaria, and his clients.

During the next period of peace, from 1806 to 1809, Austria continued its preparations for war under the leadership of Johann Philipp, Graf (count) von Stadion. Stadion believed that Austria could not accommodate Napoleon and that the only way to defeat him was by raising large armies. He proposed supplementing the regular troops with trained reserves and militia, and initiated martial appeals to nationalism, patriotism, and xenophobia to inspire his troops. In April 1809, Austria declared war, inspired by the popular resistance of the Spanish to Napoleon. However, despite initial successes, Napoleon regrouped and defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram in July 1809.

After this defeat, Austrian foreign policy passed into the hands of Klemens, Graf von Metternich, who believed that the only hope for the monarchy's continued existence was to seek accommodation with Napoleon. Metternich arranged the marriage of Marie-Louise of Austria to Napoleon and convinced Francis to send troops to take part in Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. Even after Napoleon's defeat in Russia, Metternich was reluctant to join the coalition against him, fearing the ambitions of a victorious Russia. It was only in August 1813 that Austria formally declared war on France, assuming a leading role in the War of Liberation. Metternich, however, never sought to utterly vanquish Napoleon, and Austria eventually took part in his defeat and exile to Elba in 1814.

At the Congress of Vienna in September 1814, Metternich relinquished claims to the Austrian Netherlands and various Habsburg possessions in Germany in exchange for a consolidated monarchy at the centre of Europe. Austria regained its Adriatic territories and lands in modern-day Austria, as well as considerable territory in Italy. Metternich's greatest achievement, however, was the creation of the German Confederation, a body of 35 states and 4 free cities, with Austria assuming the presidency, which gave Austria far more influence in Germany than it had under the Holy Roman Empire.

The Battle of Austerlitz

In the lead-up to the battle, Napoleon had gathered an invasion force called the Armée d'Angleterre (Army of England) of around 150,000 men in Northern France, intending to strike at England. However, he soon turned his sights to the Rhine to deal with new Austrian and Russian threats. On September 25, 1805, 200,000 French troops began crossing the Rhine, with Napoleon swinging his forces southward in a wheeling movement that put them at the Austrian rear. This manoeuvre, known as the Ulm Maneuver, resulted in the surrender of 23,000 Austrian troops at Ulm, bringing the number of Austrian prisoners to 60,000. The French then seized Vienna in November 1805.

The Allied plan was to attack Napoleon's right flank and cut him off from Vienna. Napoleon, however, had anticipated this and deliberately weakened his right flank to encourage the Allies to launch an assault. He feigned weakness and caution, abandoning the dominant Pratzen Heights near Austerlitz and deploying his forces below the Heights. As expected, the Allies launched their attack, weakening their centre on the Pratzen Heights. Napoleon then launched a decisive assault on the Allied centre, capturing the Pratzen Heights and sweeping through both flanks, routing the Allies.

The Allied disaster significantly shook the will of Emperor Francis to resist Napoleon, and an armistice was agreed upon immediately. The Treaty of Pressburg was signed on December 26, taking Austria out of the war and the Coalition. The treaty confirmed the Austrian loss of lands in Italy and Bavaria to France and imposed an indemnity of 40 million francs on the Habsburgs. Victory at Austerlitz also permitted the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of German states intended as a buffer zone between France and the eastern powers.

The Confederation of the Rhine

The formation of the Confederation was preceded by French encroachment in Germany, beginning in 1792. All territory west of the Rhine River was annexed by France, and the first steps towards consolidation were taken by compensating the larger German states—Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hanover, and Oldenburg—for losses there by awarding them territories of secondary German states. In 1803, the number of German states was drastically reduced, and in July 1806, Napoleon united the expanded kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg, along with the enlarged states of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, and Berg, as well as some smaller states, as the Confederation of the Rhine. Saxony joined the following year as a kingdom, and in the Treaties of Tilsit (1807), Prussia ceded territory west of the Elbe River to the Confederation.

The founding members of the Confederation were German princes of the Holy Roman Empire, later joined by 19 others, ruling over a total of more than 15 million people. This granted France a significant strategic advantage on its eastern frontier by providing a buffer between France and the two largest German states, Prussia and Austria. The formation of the Confederation effectively dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, as its members seceded and Francis II, who had already taken the title of Emperor of Austria in 1804, formally dissolved the Empire.

The Confederation was, above all, a military alliance. Member states had to maintain substantial armies for mutual defence and supply France with large numbers of military personnel. They were also largely subordinated to Napoleon, who was named "Protector of the Confederation", a hereditary office. In return, some rulers were given higher statuses: Baden, Hesse, Cleves, and Berg became grand duchies, while Württemberg and Bavaria became kingdoms. Several member states were also enlarged through the absorption of territories of Imperial counts and knights.

The Confederation's relationship with France began to sour over time. Bavarian troops fought bravely in 1807 but gained nothing from the Treaty of Tilsit. Franco-Bavarian relations further deteriorated after the events of 1809, in which Bavaria lost many men and a significant amount of revenue, only to receive nothing in return. Relations were stretched to the breaking point when Napoleon divorced the Crown Prince's mother-in-law and married the daughter of Francis II, the Austrian arch-enemy. Bavaria eventually defected on the eve of the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, agreeing to join the allies against Napoleon.

The Treaty of Pressburg

The treaty also imposed an indemnity of 40 million francs on the Habsburgs and allowed the fleeing Russian troops free passage through hostile territories back to their homeland. Additionally, the Principality of Lucca and Piombino was recognized as independent from the Holy Roman Empire. The treaty also reiterated the French gains from the previous treaties of Campo Formio and Lunéville.

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