France-Austria Peace: What Was The Crucial Factor?

The Treaty of Pressburg, signed on 26 December 1805, brought peace between France and Austria. This treaty was signed after Napoleon's victories at Ulm and Austerlitz. The treaty imposed harsh terms on Austria, which had to cede territories to Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, to Bavaria, and to Württemberg and Baden. Austria also had to pay an indemnity of 40 million francs. In return, Napoleon allowed Austria to annex Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, and the estates of the Teutonic Order. The treaty was part of Napoleon's policy of creating a ring of French client states beyond the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees.

The Treaty of Pressburg was not the first attempt at peace between the two nations. In the 18th century, France and Austria had been enemies and repeatedly fought wars against each other. However, in 1756, the two nations formed an alliance against their mutual enemy, Prussia. This alliance was short-lived, and by the 1780s, it had weakened considerably.

In the 19th century, the two nations were once again at war, with Austria joining a coalition against Napoleon's French Empire in 1809. After Austria's defeat, the alliance was briefly revived, with Napoleon marrying the Austrian princess Marie Louise. However, the alliance broke down again after Napoleon's retreat from Russia, and Austria joined the Sixth Coalition against France in 1813.

The War of the Austrian Succession

The War for the Austrian Succession

The pretext of the war was Maria Theresa's right to succeed her father, Emperor Charles VI, as ruler of the Habsburg monarchy. France, Prussia, and Bavaria saw it as an opportunity to challenge Habsburg power, while Maria Theresa was backed by Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Hanover, collectively known as the Pragmatic Allies. The conflict widened to include other participants, such as Spain, Sardinia, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia.

Prussia, led by King Frederick II, invaded and occupied the Austrian province of Silesia in 1740. In 1741, Frederick's army defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Mollwitz, securing Prussian control over Silesia. The same year, a combined Franco-Bavarian force advanced towards Vienna, capturing Linz. They were joined by a Saxon army and advanced on Prague from three different points, ultimately taking the city.

In 1742, Austria and Prussia made peace, allowing Austria to focus its efforts against France. In 1743, the British, Hanoverians, and Hessians, allied with Austria, defeated the French at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria. In 1745, Marshal Maurice de Saxe of France conquered the Austrian Netherlands, following his victory at the Battle of Fontenoy.

The Silesian Wars

The Silesian Wars were a series of conflicts between Prussia and Austria, consisting of the First Silesian War (1740-1742) and the Second Silesian War (1744-1745). During the First Silesian War, Prussia invaded and occupied Silesia, a rich Habsburg province. In the Second Silesian War, Prussia re-entered the conflict, fearing the growing power of Austria. The Second Silesian War was concluded by the Treaty of Dresden in December 1745, confirming Prussian possession of Silesia.

The Global Conflict

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed in October 1748, ended the War of the Austrian Succession. France agreed to leave the Austrian Netherlands and return Madras in exchange for Louisbourg. Maria Theresa was confirmed as the ruler of Austria, and Prussia retained control of Silesia. However, the underlying tensions between the signatories remained unresolved, and the peace proved to be only a temporary truce.

The War of the Third Coalition

The war was born from unresolved issues left over from the French Revolutionary Wars and from a desire to check the imperial ambitions of Napoleon himself. After the breakdown of the Treaty of Amiens resulted in war between Britain and France, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger embarked on a diplomatic campaign to build a third anti-French coalition. Threatened by increasing French influence in Germany and Italy, and enraged by Napoleon's controversial execution of the Duke of Enghien, several European powers joined Pitt's coalition and began mobilizing their armies in August 1805.

Napoleon responded swiftly, marching his new Grande Armée into Germany, and eliminating an entire Austrian army in the Ulm Campaign. A little over a month later, he won his greatest victory yet when he defeated a Russo-Austrian army at the Battle of Austerlitz, forcing the Russians to retreat and the Austrians to sue for peace. Though Austerlitz ensured French military dominance on land, this was offset by the spectacular British naval victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, which secured Britain's mastery of the seas for the next century.

The Treaty of Pressburg, signed on 26 December 1805, brought Austria out of the Third Coalition, at the price of large amounts of land ceded to France's German client states and a 40-million-franc indemnity. Austerlitz would cement French military dominance on the European continent for the next decade and would be remembered as one of Napoleon's greatest battles.

The War of the Fifth Coalition

The war began when Austrian forces under Archduke Charles crossed the border into Bavaria, a French client state, on April 10, 1809. Napoleon arrived to take command on April 17, and led an advance to Landshut, hoping to cut off the Austrian line of retreat. The Austrians, however, crossed the Danube at Regensburg, allowing them to retreat eastwards. A French assault across the Danube was repulsed at the Battle of Aspern-Essling on May 21-22, marking Napoleon's first defeat in ten years. Napoleon won a major victory at the Battle of Wagram on July 5-6, forcing the Austrians to sign the Armistice of Znaim on July 12.

The war ended with the Treaty of Schönbrunn, which imposed harsh terms on Austria. Austria lost its Mediterranean ports and 20% of its population, and was forced to pay an indemnity of 85 million francs. However, the French defeat at Aspern-Essling showed that Napoleon could be defeated, and the war led to several rebellions, including the Tyrolean Rebellion and the Gottscheer rebellion. The marriage of Napoleon to the Austrian princess Marie Louise after the war helped to cement a Franco-Austrian alliance.

The Treaty of Campo Formio

The treaty transferred a number of Austrian territories into French hands, including the Austrian Netherlands (most of modern Belgium). Territories of the Republic of Venice were divided between the two states: certain islands in the Mediterranean, including Corfu and other Venetian possessions in the Ionian Sea were turned over to the French. The city of Venice with Terraferma (Venetian mainland), Venetian Istria, Venetian Dalmatia and the Bay of Kotor region were turned over to the Habsburg emperor. Austria also recognised the Cisalpine Republic and the newly created Ligurian Republic as independent powers.

The treaty contained secret clauses, dividing up certain other territories and agreeing to the extension of the borders of France up to the Rhine, the Nette, and the Roer. Free French navigation was guaranteed on the Rhine, the Meuse and the Moselle. The French Republic had been expanded into areas that had never before been under French control.

The Treaty of Pressburg

The treaty also foreshadowed the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Within months of the signing of the treaty and after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, Francis II renounced his title as Holy Roman Emperor. An indemnity of 40 million francs to France was also provided for in the treaty.

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