France And Austria: A Borderless History

France and Austria have a long history of conflict, with the two nations repeatedly going to war with each other between 1494 and 1790. During this period, France and Austria were two traditional geopolitical rivals in Europe. While France never shared a direct border with Austria, it did manage to expand its borders to the Alps and the Rhine, which are also natural borders of Austria. The two countries also formed a diplomatic and military alliance in 1756, which lasted for much of the remainder of the century until it was abandoned during the French Revolution.

The Franco-Austrian Alliance was a military alliance formed in 1756

France and Austria have never shared a land border. However, the natural borders of France, as per the nationalist model of French state-building developed during the French Revolution, correspond to the Rhine, the Alps, the Mediterranean Sea, the Pyrenees, and the Atlantic Ocean.

In the 18th century, France and Austria were enemies and repeatedly fought wars against each other. However, in 1756, the two countries formed a diplomatic and military alliance known as the Franco-Austrian Alliance. This alliance was a significant diplomatic realignment, as the two countries had a long history of conflict. The alliance was formed in response to Britain signing a limited defensive alliance with Prussia, which outraged both Austria and France, who felt betrayed by their respective allies.

The Franco-Austrian Alliance was formalised through the First Treaty of Versailles, a defensive pact that stipulated that if either country was attacked by a third party, the other would come to its assistance. This treaty was seen as a way to prevent any other power from intervening on the side of Prussia, which Austria was planning to attack to retake Silesia. The alliance between France and Austria led to the declaration of the Seven Years' War, with Austria and France joining forces against their mutual enemy, Prussia. The war was costly and left Central Europe in ruins, with little advantage gained by any of the participants.

The Franco-Austrian Alliance lasted for much of the remainder of the 18th century, although it weakened over time. By the 1780s, the alliance had become more of a formality, and Austria even considered entering the American War of Independence against France. The French Revolution ultimately led to the collapse of the alliance, as Austria actively tried to restore the French monarchy and went to war with the new French Republic. However, the alliance was briefly revived after the Austrian Empire's defeat in the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809, when Francis II's daughter, Marie Louise, married Napoleon I and became the Empress consort of France.

The alliance was abandoned during the French Revolution

The Franco-Austrian Alliance was a diplomatic and military alliance between France and Austria that was established in 1756 after the First Treaty of Versailles. The alliance lasted for much of the remainder of the century until it was abandoned during the French Revolution.

The heyday of the alliance was during the Seven Years' War, when France and Austria joined forces to fight their mutual enemy, Prussia. After their defeat, the intimacy of the alliance weakened, and by the 1780s, the alliance had become more of a formality. During the French Revolution, when France declared itself a constitutional monarchy and then overthrew and executed its king, the alliance collapsed entirely. Austria actively tried to restore the French monarchy by going to war with the new French Republic.

The French Revolution destroyed the ties between the two states, despite appeals by the French National Assembly for Austria to honour the 1756 treaty. In 1792, the Austrians sent troops to invade France and threatened to destroy Paris unless Louis XVI, now a constitutional monarch, was restored to his previous status. The Austrians suffered a defeat at the Battle of Valmy; Louis XVI was overthrown and, together with Marie Antoinette, was executed the following year. Austria joined a coalition of states attempting to crush the French revolutionaries by force, and Vienna became a centre of anti-revolutionary activity, sheltering many French royalist refugees.

The natural borders of France were a nationalist model of French state-building developed during the French Revolution that called for the expansion of France's borders to prominent natural boundaries. These boundaries correspond to the Rhine, the Alps, the Mediterranean Sea, the Pyrenees, and the Atlantic Ocean. The theory of France's natural borders was commonplace in French textbooks until the mid-20th century.

Austria and France were enemies for much of the 17th and 18th centuries

The French-Habsburg rivalry played out over the 17th century in the Italian Wars, the Thirty Years' War, and the Nine Years' War. The rise of the absolute monarchy in France was motivated, in part, by a desire to seek allies against the Habsburgs. This desire for new alliances even led the French to form an alliance with the Ottomans, going against the interests of the state and the Church.

During the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735), France and its allies managed to weaken Austria, forcing it to cede small amounts of territory. In the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), France allied with Prussia to attack Austria, which resulted in Austria ceding its richest and most prized province, Silesia, to Prussia.

In 1756, Britain signed a defensive alliance with Prussia, which outraged both Austria and France, as they perceived it as a betrayal by their respective allies. In response, Austria and France formed their own defensive alliance, the First Treaty of Versailles, which lasted for much of the remainder of the century. This treaty stipulated that if either nation was attacked by a third party, the other would come to its assistance.

The Franco-Austrian alliance reached its peak in 1757 when a French invasion overran Hanover, Austrian troops recaptured Saxony, and Austria liberated its own province of Bohemia, which had been occupied by Prussia. However, two decisive Prussian victories at Rossbach and Leuthen ended the offensive.

France and Austria then struggled to defeat their enemies, as Prussia fought them to a standstill in a costly conflict. While French troops were sent to Germany, Britain attacked French colonies around the globe, causing France to lose most of its colonies in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia.

The Treaty of Paris in 1763 forced Austria to acknowledge Prussia's continued ownership of Silesia, and France had to cede several colonies to Britain. The war left large swathes of Central Europe in ruins and brought little advantage to either participant.

Austria and France were disappointed in each other's military performance during the war, which led to a cooling of relations. By the 1780s, the alliance had weakened significantly, and Austria began to consider establishing fresh alliances, including with Great Britain, which was fighting a global war against France at the time.

The French Revolution destroyed the remaining ties between the two nations, and in 1792, the Austrians sent troops to invade France. They threatened to destroy Paris unless Louis XVI was restored to his previous status as an absolute monarch. The Austrians suffered a defeat at the Battle of Valmy, and Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were overthrown and executed the following year. Austria joined a coalition of states attempting to crush the French revolutionaries by force, and Vienna became a centre of anti-revolutionary activity, sheltering many French royalist refugees.

The Treaty of Paris in 1814 saw France lose all recent conquests

France and Austria do not share a land border, although they did in the past. The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, saw France lose all its territories conquered after 1792, including those bordering Austria. The treaty ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, and set the borders for France under the House of Bourbon.

The Treaty of Paris established peace between France and Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, with the allies agreeing to reduce France to its 1792 borders and restore the independence of its neighbours. The treaty also provided a rough draft of a final settlement, which was to be concluded within two months at a congress involving all belligerents of the Napoleonic Wars, resulting in the Congress of Vienna.

The Treaty of Paris of 1815, also known as the Second Treaty of Paris, was signed on 20 November 1815, after the defeat and second abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte. This treaty had more punitive terms than the previous year's treaty, with France ordered to pay 700 million francs in indemnities and its borders reduced to those that existed on 1 January 1790. France also had to pay additional money to cover the cost of providing additional defensive fortifications to be built by neighbouring Coalition countries.

The Treaty of Paris of 1814 had a significant impact on France's borders, including those with Austria, and the subsequent treaty of 1815 further reduced France's borders. These treaties played a crucial role in reshaping the map of Europe and establishing peace after the Napoleonic Wars.

The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) resulted in France yielding Alsace-Lorraine

The Franco-Prussian War, also known as the Franco-German War, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. The war lasted from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871 and resulted in France yielding Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.

The war was primarily caused by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared threatened by Prussia's victory over Austria in 1866. French public opinion demanded more firmness and territorial compensations, leading Napoleon III to make ambitious territorial demands from Prussia, which were flatly refused by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck was a key figure in the lead-up to the war, deliberately provoking the French into declaring war and forming new German alliances.

The French army mobilised on 15 July 1870, leading to a Prussian mobilisation later that day. On 16 July, the French parliament voted to declare war on Prussia, and France invaded German territory on 2 August. However, the German coalition mobilised its troops more effectively and invaded northeastern France on 4 August. The German forces were superior in numbers, training, leadership, and modern technology, particularly railways and artillery.

A series of Prussian and German victories in eastern France, including the Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan, culminated in the capture of the French Emperor Napoleon III and the decisive defeat of the Second Empire. A Government of National Defense was formed in Paris, but it could not prevent the fall of the city on 28 January 1871, effectively ending the war.

The German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under King Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck. The Treaty of Frankfurt, signed on 10 May 1871, formalised the German victory and resulted in France yielding most of Alsace and parts of Lorraine to Germany, which became the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine. This marked the first annexation of French territory and was voted on by the French National Assembly, despite protests from Alsatian and Mosellan deputies.

The Franco-Prussian War had far-reaching consequences. It altered the balance of power in Europe by hastening German unification and supplanting France as the dominant land power on the continent. It ended imperial rule in France and began the country's first lasting republican government. The war also fuelled Revanchism in France, a deep sense of bitterness and demand for the return of Alsace-Lorraine, which would later contribute to the outbreak of World War I.

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