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Caldiero (11th November). Four days later the Austrians were again attacked by the French near the village of Arcola, and after three days' desperate fighting on both sides the Austrians at length retreated. Alvinzi received reinforcements, and again set out to attack the French, but suffered a severe defeat at Rivoli on 14th January 1797. A fortnight later Mantua capitulated, and the French became undisputed masters of the country. Speaking of the perseverance and patriotic spirit of the Austrians in this struggle in Italy, Sir A. Alison says, "It is impossible to contemplate without admiration the vast armies which they successively sent into the field, and the unconquerable courage with which these returned to a contest where so many thousands of their countrymen had perished before them. Had they been guided by greater or opposed by less ability they unquestionably would have been successful, and even against the soldiers of the army of Italy and the genius of Napoleon, the scales of fortune repeatedly hung equal"--(History of Europe.) The Archduke Charles was now recalled from the Rhine to oppose Bonaparte. The latter set out on his journey northward on the 10th of March, with the view of crossing the Alps and so reaching Vienna. The Austrians attempted to oppose his progress at the river Tagliamento, but without success; and a desperate struggle took place for the possession of the Col de Tarvis, which ended in favour of Napoleon, so that in twenty days after the campaign opened the army of the archduke was driven over the Julian Alps, and the victorious French army of 45,000 strong was on the northern declivity 'of the Alps, within 60 leagues of Vienna. Napoleon, still pressing on, took possession of Klagenfurt, and advanced as far as Judenburg on the River Mur; but finding his position very insecure, and dangers thickening upon him, he despaired of carrying out his intention of dictating peace under the walls of Vienna. He therefore offered terms of accommodation to the Austrians, which they deemed it prudent to accept. Preliminaries were agreed to at Leoben (18th April), and a formal treaty of peace was signed at Campo Formio, 17th October 1797. By this treaty Austria ceded to France Flanders and her Italian possessions, and received in return Venice and its dependent provinces. It, however, contained certain secret articles, by one of which Austria consented to surrender the whole of the left bank of the Rhine to France; and a convention was appointed to meet at Rastadt to provide equivalents on the right bank for the princes dispossessed on the left, and otherwise to settle the affairs of the empire: The terms were not particularly hard as regards Austria. The ceded territories contained about 3,500,000 souls, and those acquired about 3,400,000. But the taking away of the independence of Venice, which had been maintained for 1400 years, was an act of rapacity which excited the indignation of Europe, and Austria's share in it must ever remain a stain on her annals.

This peace was not of long duration. As the business of a convention which met at Rastadt advanced, and the bearing of the secret articles became known, a great sensation was created in Germany. The high-handed manner in which the French conducted their negotiations, and the insolence and contempt with which they treated the empire, led to the recall of the Austrian ambassador from the convention in the beginning of 1799, and on the 13th of March France again declared war against Austria. In the meantime the latter power had entered into an alliance with England and Russia against the former. In Germany the Archduke Charles defeated Jourdan at Stockach (26th March), and in several other encounters, and drove him out of the country; and he afterwards reconquered the whole of the western portion of Switzerland to beyond Zurich from Massena. In Italy Scherer was defeated by the

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Austrian general Kray at Veronà and at Magnano, and then resigned the command into the hands of Moreau. The Russian army, under Suwaroff, now formed a junction with the Austrian, and the French were again beaten near Cassano (27th April). This was followed by other suc cesses, so that in less than three months the French standards were driven back to the summit of the Alps, and the whole plain of Lombardy, with the exception of a few of its strongest fortresses, was recovered. After this the Russian general marched against Macdonald, who was advancing with a French army from Naples. A desperate conflict took place on the banks of the Trebbia, which was maintained with consummate bravery and skill for three days (17-19 June), until victory declared for the Russians. Out of 36,000 men in the field the French lost above 12,000 in killed and wounded, and the allies nearly as many. One place after another now fell into the hands of the allies; but mutual jealousies and divisions breaking out among them, the Russian and Austrian forces were eventually separated. This led to the most disastrous results. The Russians were to prosecute the war in Switzerland, while the Austrians remained to carry it on in Italy. In the meantime another French army had been collected under General Joubert; and, on the 15th of August he was attacked by the allies at Novi. The battle was long and obstinate, but at length the allies were victorious. The French lost their general, who fell mortally wounded, besides about 1500 killed, 5500 wounded, and 3000 prisoners. The loss of the allies was 1800 killed, 5200 wounded, and 1200 prisoners. The Russian general now directed his march towards the Alps, forced the St Gotthard, and descended into the valley of the Urseren, driving the French before him with great slaughter. With great difficulty and loss he effected a passage through the horrible defile of the Shächenthal, between Altdorf and Mutten; but, at the latter place, instead of meeting the allied troops, as he had expected, he found himself in the midst of the enemy. Before this time Massena had so beset the Russian general Korsakoff at Zürich, that he was compelled to fight, and with difficulty made his escape with the remains of his army, while the Austrian forces under Hotze had also been beaten by Soult. Nothing remained for Suwaroff but retreat, a course which he adopted with extreme reluctance, making his way with incredible resolution and perseverance over the rugged Alps into Glarus and the Grisons, and at length reaching the valley of the Rhine (10th October). Disagreements having taken place between the Austrian and Russian generals regarding their future proceedings, the latter withdrew to winter quarters in Bavaria; and soon after this the capricious czar of Russia, Paul, withdrew from the alliance and recalled his troops.

Bonaparte, who had now returned from his Egyptian campaign, made proposals for peace, which were rejected, and both sides prepared to renew the contest in 1800. A numerous and well-appointed French army was collected at Dijon, at the head of which the first consul suddenly put himself, and set out for Italy across the Great St Bernard. The passage was effected with great skill and determination in spite of every obstacle, and he arrived in Lombardy before Melas, the Austrian general there, had been informed of the expedition. On the 14th of June a great battle took place near the village of Marengo, the most obstinate and sanguinary that had up to this time been fought. The Austrian army numbered 21,000 foot and 7000 horse, while opposed to them was an army of 22,000 men. The battle was maintained with great spirit and obstinacy on both sides; but at length, after repeated charges, the French were compelled to give way, and the retreat became general. At this moment, however, a fresh body of

French troops under Desaix arriving on ne field the contest was renewed, and after a final struggle the Austrians were compelled to yield. They lost about 7000 men in killed and wounded, and 3000 prisoners; while the French lost about the same number in killed and wounded, and 1000 prisoners, taken in the early part of the day. Their retreat being cut off, the Austrians capitulated to the conqueror, who thus again acquired possession of the whole of Italy In the meantime Moreau had invaded Germany and defeated Kray in several engagements, particularly at Stockach and Möskirch, and again at Biberach and Hochstädt; he also took Munich, and laid Bavaria and Swabia under contribution. An armistice was now agreed to (Parsdorf, 15th July), and overtures were made for peace, but without success. Hostilities were resumed in the end of November, and at first the Austrians gained some advantages, but on the 3d of December they sustained a crushing defeat at Hohenlinden. The fight was long and obstinate; the French lost on that and the preceding days 9000 men, while the loss of the Austrians was nearly twice as great. The moral effects of the defeat were most disastrous Moreau now advanced by hasty marches, crossed the Inn, took Salzburg, and pressed on towards Vienna, but an armistice was agreed to on 25th December. In Italy the Austrian forces sustained a severe defeat at the passage of the Mincio (26th December). Suffering under these disasters Austria was glad to agree to terms, which were concluded at Luneville, 9th February 1801.

By this treaty the whole of the left bank of the Rhine was again ceded to France, and the Adige was declared to be the boundary of Austria in Italy; the grand duke of Tuscany, on the promise of an indemnity in Germany, renounced his dukedom in favour of the infant duke of Parma, created king of Etruria; the duke of Modena received the margraviate of Breisgau in exchange for his territory; and the independence of the Batavian, Helvetic, Cisalpine, and Ligurian republics was recognised and guaranteed. A convention was to be again summoned for the regulation and adjustment of the rights of all concerned. In order to provide indemnities for the despoiled princes, a large proportion of the ecclesiastical sovereignties of the empire was secularised, or, in other words, confiscated; and all the free imperial cities were deprived of their privileges with the exception of six. To the share of Prussia fell the bishoprics of Hildesheim and Paderborn, the city of Munster, and other cities and abbacies, to the amount of more than four times what she had lost on the left bank of the Rhine. Thus was she rewarded for her discreditable neutrality and impolitic desertion of the European alliance, though she subsequently suffered for this at Jena and by the treaty of Tilsit. The grand duke of Tuscany received the archbishopric of Salzburg, the bishopric of Eichstadt, and part of that of Passau, in exchange for his hereditary possessions. Austria received the Tyrolese archbishoprics of Trent and Brixen. She had also received, in 1795, Western Galicia as her share in the third division of Poland, so that now her territory comprised over 254,000 square miles, her public debt amounting to 1,220,000,000 florins, or £122,000,000.

Austria now enjoyed a short period of peace, and employed it in silently repairing the breaches in her army and finances which had been produced by the late wars. After Napoleon had assumed the title of emperor of the French, the Emperor Francis took for himself and his successors that of emperor of Austria (11th August 1804). On 11th April 1805, an alliance was formed between England and Russia for resisting the encroachments of France, and some months later Austria and Sweden likewise joined it. Prussia held aloof, in the hope of receiving Hanover as a

reward for her neutrality; while Baden, Würtemberg, and Bavaria sided with France. Deceived by the efforts that Napoleon was ostensibly making for the invasion of Eng. land, the Austrians (9th September) crossed the Inn, invaded Bavaria, and took up a position in the Black Forest. Meanwhile the French troops were in full march from the shores of the Channel to the banks of the Rhine; and the force in Hanover, under Bernadotte, was ordered to cross the Prussian territory without asking permission, and form a junction with the Bavarians in the rear of the Austrians, while other corps were at the same time directed by circuitous routes upon their flanks. The Austrian general, Mack, on the first intelligence of the approach of the French, had concentrated his forces at Ulm, Memmingen, and Stockach, contemplating an attack only in front. Great was his consternation, therefore, when he found that there was also an army on his rear. After several partial engagements, in which the Austrians were defeated, the Archduke Ferdinand, at the head of a body of cavalry, succeeded in making his way through the enemy, and in reaching Bohemia; while Mack, with the rest of the army, shut himself up in Ulm, which, with 30,000 men, he was forced to surrender (20th October). After this, Napoleon, with his usual rapidity, marched with the main body of his troops upon Vienna, and on the 5th of November established 'his headquarters at Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. The Russian and Austrian troops made various attempts to obstruct his farther progress (particularly at Dürrenstein, where a desperate engagement took place), but without success; and, on the 13th November, Vienna was in the hands of the conqueror, who made his headquarters at Schönbrunn. In the meantime the Archduke Charles was with the army in Italy, where, on 29th October, he was attacked with great fury on the heights of Caldiero, by the French under Massena. A terrible conflict ensued, and continued till night parted the combatants. It was renewed the following day, when at length victory declared for the Austrians. The archduke, however, was unable to avail himself of his success, for, hearing of the unfortunate state of matters in Germany, he set out with his army for the defence of the capital, and conducted it with great skill over the mountains, so that it suffered no serious loss. Marshal Ney, who had been sent with a body of troops into Tyrol, succeeded in taking the mountain barrier of Scharnitz by storm, and in making himself master of Innsbruck. Two bodies of Austrian troops had been so hard pressed that they were obliged to capitulate—one under General Jellachich at Feldkirch, and another under the Prince de Rohan at Castel-Franco in Italy.

The

After the loss of Vienna the allied forces collected themselves in Moravia, whither they were followed by Napoleon. At length the two armies came in sight of each other at Austerlitz, and both sides prepared for battle, which it was felt must be a most momentous one, and was to be witnessed by three emperors (those of France, Austria, and Russia). The allied forces numbered fully 80,000 men, of whom 15,000 were cavalry, while the French had 90,000 men in the field. The army of the allies was not well generaled, while on the side of the French were Soult, Bernadotte, Davoust, Murat, Lannes, Oudinot, Bessières, &c. battle commenced on the morning of the 2d December, and continued till night. Both sides displayed the greatest skill and bravery; at one part of the field the allies would be victorious, at another the French; at one time victory would incline to the French, and again to the allies. At length, however, towards evening, the allies came to be beaten at all points, and the route soon became general. Numbers sought to save themselves by crossing the frozen lake of Satschan; but shots from the French batteries on the heights above broke the ice in all directions, and about

2000 men perished. The allies lost about 30,000 men, killed, wounded, or made prisoners, while the French lost about 12,000 in killed and wounded. This was the most glorious of all Napoleon's victories; but he was still in a very dangerous position. The Archduke Charles, with an army of 80,000 men, was now approaching Vienna; Hungary was rising en masse against him; Russian reserves were advancing; and Prussia was at length preparing to declare war, on account of the unauthorised passage of French troops through her territories. From these difficulties, however, he was freed by the desire of the Emperor Francis for peace. An armistice was agreed to, and finally a treaty of peace was drawn up and signed at Presburg (25th December 1805). By this treaty Austria ceded to Bavaria, now erected into a kingdom, the whole of the Tyrol, Vorarl- | berg, Lindau, Burgan, Passau, Eichstädt, Trent, and Brixen, besides several petty lordships; to Würtemberg, now also become a kingdom, the bordering Austrian dominions in Swabia; and to Baden the Breisgau, the Ortenau, and the town of Constance. She also yielded up her Venetian possessions, and agreed to pay a war contribution of £1,600,000. In exchange for all these sacrifices she merely received the small electorate of Salzburg, and the possessions of the Teutonic Order. In all, Austria lost about 28,000 square miles of territory, with a population of 2,700,000, and a revenue of 14,175,000 florins. It was evidently not the intention of Napoleon to overthrow the Austrian monarchy, but rather to throw its strength to the eastward, and to impose a barrier of subordinate kingdoms between it and France, so as to prevent its interference with his schemes of aggrandisement in Germany and Italy. A blow was inflicted upon the constitution of the German empire by Napoleon, in the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine. Representatives of the different powers concerned assembled at Paris in the beginning of July 1806; and, on the 12th of that month, an Act was signed whereby the kings of Bavaria and Würtemberg, the elector of Baden, and thirteen other princes of Western Germany, separated themselves from the German empire, and formed a confederation under the protection of the emperor of the French. 16,000,000 men were thus, by a single stroke, transferred from the empire to a foreign alliance. Wisely yielding to what he could not prevent, the Emperor Francis, by solemn deed, renounced the title of emperor of the Romans, and declared himself the first of the emperors of Austria.

The peace of Presburg was quickly followed by the war between France and Prussia, in which the latter suffered terrible retribution for her selfish policy in leaving Austria to struggle unaided against the common foe of Europe. Great efforts were made to induce Austria to take part in this war, but she prudently remained neutral, contenting herself with making every effort to strengthen and improve her ariny, and increase her warlike resources. During the whole of 1806 and 1807 the efforts of the war department, under the guidance of the Archduke Charles, were incessant to restore the losses that had been sustained in the late war. The army was also remodelled upon the system adopted by Napoleon. The transfer of a large portion of the French army in Germany to the Peninsula on the breaking out of war there, emboldened the Austrian Government to issue a decree (9th June, 1808), instituting a landwehr or militia to be raised by conscription, which soon amounted to 300,000 men, in addition to a regular standing army of 350,000. On hearing of this, Napoleon addressed strong remonstrances to the court at Vienna, which made loud professions of pacific intentions, but did not cease its warlike preparations. In the spring of 1809 the armies on both sides took the field, and, on 8th April, Austrian troops crossed the frontiers at once in Bohemia,

on the Inn, in the Tyrol, and in Italy. In the meantime France was bringing together her forces from all quarters towards the valley of the Danube, where at length she had an army, including the troops of the German Confederation, of about 200,000 men, and Berthier was despatched to take the command till the arrival of the emperor. The Archduke Charles had crossed the Inn with upwards of 120,000 men, and on the 16th they had advanced as far as the Isar, which they crossed. Berthier, instead of concentrating his troops, was separating them, so that they were in the utmost danger, when the arrival of Napoleon at once changed the aspect of affairs. On the 19th an action took place at Thann, between a body of about 20,000 French and a like number of Austrians, without any decisive result; and the following day the main body of the Austrians, over 50,000 strong, was suddenly attacked and defeated after a feeble resistance at Abensberg, by a French army of 65,000 men. The same day the Austrians attacked and took Ratisbon, and secured the bridge over the Danube there. Both sides now prepared for a general engagement, which took place at Eckmühl on the 22d of April. The battle was bravely contested; but at length the French were victorious, the loss to the Austrians being 5000 killed and wounded, and 7000 prisoners. The archduke retired during the night to recruit his army in Bohemia, and Ratisbon was taken by storm. In other parts, particularly in Italy, success was attending the Austrian arms.

Napoleon now lost no time in again marching on to Vienna, and no great attempt was made to impede his progress except at Ebersberg, where Hiller with about 30,000 Austrians took his stand to defend the wooden bridge over the Traun. He was gallantly attacked by a body of French troops under Massena, and a fearful struggle took place; but at length the French prevailed, and Hiller withdrew his troops. Each side lost about 6000 men on this occasion. On the 10th of May the French eagles appeared before the walls of Vienna, and, after an ineffectual attempt at defence, the city surrendered on the 13th. The Archduke Charles was hastening to the relief of the town, but arrived too late. The two armies therefore prepared for battle, the one on the north bank of the Danube, the other on the south. On the night of the 19th the French prepared to cross the river at the island of Lobau, and by daybreak on the 21st they had 40,000 men landed on the northern side. The Austrians now resolved upon an attack, and by two o'clock, when the fight began, the French force amounted to about 50,000 men, while the Austrians had 80,000 to oppose them. The scene of action was near the villages of Aspern and Essling, and the struggle was maintained with the most desperate courage on both sides till night parted the combatants. The Austrians had everywhere the advantage, but both sides prepared to renew the contest the next day. During the night, and early in the morning, French troops were still passing over, so that, notwithstanding his losses, Napoleon had fully 70,000 men to renew the fight. It commenced early in the morning, and continued the greater part of the day; but at length the French were beaten on all sides, and compelled to retreat to the island of Lobau. In these two days they lost upwards of 30,000 men, and the Austrians not less than 20,000. The victory produced a great impression on the mind of Europe, and dissipated in a great degree the charm of Napoleon's invincibility.

He, however, made every preparation for renewing the contest. He summoned troops from different parts, and fortified his position on the island of Lobau, connecting it also by several bridges with the south bank of the river. On the evening of the 4th of July he assembled his troops on the island, amounting to 150 000 infantry and 30,000

cavalry, with 750 picces of cannon.
several bridges, which had been secretly prepared, were
thrown over to the northern bank at a point where they
were not looked for, and by six o'clock the following
morning the whole body had passed over. In the after-
noon the French made a vehement attack upon the
Austrians, but were repulsed with great slaughter. Early
on the morning of the 6th the Austrians began the attack.
Their numbers were then about 115,000 infantry and
25,000 cavalry; but they were in hourly expectation of
the arrival of an additional body of 30,000 under the Arch-
duke John, which was known to be not far off. The battle
was contested with the utmost determination and bravery
on both sides. The Austrian right wing succeeded in over-
throwing and putting to flight the left wing of the enemy.
On the other wing the contest was long and doubtful; but
two divisions of troops having at length succeeded in turn-
ing the extreme flank of the Austrians, the latter, after a
gallant defence, were compelled to abandon their position.
In these circumstances, Napoleon collected all his dispos-
able forces and brought them to bear upon the centre of
the Austrians, which was their weak point, the archduke
having thrown his strength chiefly into the two wings.
After repeated charges, which were repulsed with great
bravery, the French succeeded in forcing their line, and
the archduke, despairing of maintaining his position,
ordered a retreat, which was effected in good order and
with little loss. The French were so exhausted that they
displayed little vigour in the pursuit, and neither guns nor
prisoners were taken. The Archduke John came up in the
afternoon, but too late to be of any service. Had he made
his appearance sooner there can be no doubt that the result
would have been different. As it was, the Austrians suc-
ceeded in making a most gallant stand against a greater
number of the best troops of France, led by Napoleon
and some of his greatest generals. This battle of Wagram
was one of the greatest and most obstinately contested
fights in the whole war, and is perhaps the most glorious
in the annals of Austria. The loss on both sides was
immense, amounting to about 25,000 on each, including
killed and wounded. The Archduke Charles retreated
towards Bohemia without any serious molestation from the
enemy. A battle was fought at Znaim (11th July) be-
tween the Austrians and a French army under Massena
which was following them, but before it was decided news
of an armistice arrived. This was followed by the peace
of Vienna (14th October). "The campaign of Aspern and
Wagram," says Sir A. Alison, "is the most glorious in the
Austrian annals,- -one of the most memorable examples of
patriotic resistance recorded in the history of the world.

During the night | daughter of the emperor of Austria, and was accepted. The marriage was celebrated with great pomp at Vienna on the 11th March 1810. In 1812 Austria was obliged to enter into an alliance with France against Russia, and to furnish an auxiliary force of 30,000 men for the invasion of the latter country. The disastrous result of that expedition to the invaders showed Germany that the fortunate moment had now arrived for regaining her independence. Prussia was the first to form an alliance with Russia, and declared war against France (17th March 1813). Great efforts were made to induce Austria to join this alliance, but without success. She directed her attention to raising her military strength, and making other preparations to enable her to take an important part in the coming struggle, on the one side or the other. After the defeat of the allics at Lützen and Bautzen, and the conclusion of an armistice at Pleswitz, Austria came forward as a mediator, with the view of effecting a peace between the parties, and not without the view, also, of gaining some material advantage for herself. In fact, she now held in her hand the balance between the contending parties. Her army of 150,000 or 200,000, which she had collected in Bohemia, would bring victory to whatever side she joined. Metternich, who at that period had the direction of the cabinet of Vienna. was too clear-headed not to perceive the advantages of the position, and he determined to avail himself of them, in order if possible to restore to Austria her lost possessions. He had openly avowed, that if Napoleon would accede to the terms which he proposed Austria would throw her whole 200,000 men into the scale in his favour. At first it seemed doubtful to which side she would attach herself; but it would appear that the allies had reason to believe that she was favourable to them, and that Napoleon had also reason for suspecting the strength of her attachment to him. It is evident that she would have more to expect from the allies than from Napoleon, but at the same time it was deubtful how far she would be influenced by the existing matrimonial alliance. While things were in this doubtful state news arrived of the battle of Vitoria, by which the deathblow was given to the power of France in the Peninsula, and after this there was little hope of peace on either side. Austria, whatever her previous intentions, doubtless now felt that there was little to be gained from attaching her self to a sinking empire and a falling cause, and she agreed, in the event of Napoleon not accepting the terms proposed, to join the allies. They could have had little hope that the terms would be accepted; they included the cession to Austria of all the Illyrian provinces, with Trieste, the reinstatement of Prussia in her ancient possessions, with a frontier on the Elbe, and the dissolution of the grand duchy of Warsaw, to be divided between Russia, Austria, and Prussia. These terms not being acceded to, both parties prepared for war. Austria agreed to furnish 200,000 to the allied forces, stipulating in return that she should be restored to the condition in which she was in 1803, or, at any rate, at the peace of Presburg.

Other empires have almost invariably succumbed upon the capture of the capital. Austria is the only state recorded in history which (without the aid of a rigorous climate like Moscow) fought two desperate battles in defence of its independence after its capital had fallen." -(History of Europe.) By the peace of Vienna Austria was compelled to cede Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, the Innviertel, and the Hausruckviertel, to Bavaria; portions of Galicia to Russia and the grand duke of Warsaw; and Carniola, Trieste, the greater part of Croatia, Istria, the circle of Villach, &c., to Italy In all she lost about 42,000 square miles of territory and 3,500,000 inhabitants, together with more than 11,000,000 florins of revenue. The emperor also agreed to reduce his army to not more than 150,000 men; and a war contribution of £3,400,000 was imposed on the provinces occupied by the French troops. Before leaving the Austrian capital Napoleon caused the fortifications to be blown up.

Soon after this Napoleon obtained a divorce from his wife Josephine, and offered his hand to Maria Louisa,

By gigantic efforts Napoleon was able to raise his army to 400,000 men, of whom nearly 350,000 were effective, and he resolved to make Dresden the pivot on which all his operations should turn. To oppose him the allies mustered about 400,000 men, so that the two forces were pretty nearly equal. Of the latter, a grand army of 220,000 men, chiefly Austrians, under Prince Schwarzenberg, was stationed in Bohemia; Blücher, with 95,000 men, was to protect Silesia; while Bernadotte, the crown prince of Sweden, who had joined the allies with 28,000 troops, was to protect Berlin and Brandenburg with an army of 90,000. Napoleon resolved to march with the main body of his troops into Silesia against Blücher, having despatched an army of 80,000 men under Oudinot against Berlin, and

sending a force of 30,000 to keep the passes from Bohemia to Dresden. Blücher judiciously retreated before the French troops, and while Napoleon was following him, the allied army in Bohemia came down upon Dresden. In place, however, of at once beginning the attack, it was delayed till Bonaparte, who had been informed of their movements, had time to arrive. The attack was commenced on 28th August, and kept up with great fury during the day; but in the evening a series of sallies were made from the town, which took the besiegers completely by surprise, and compelled them to withdraw. Napoleon had now received sufficient reinforcements to enable him to give battle, which he did the next day. He was then able to muster 130,000 men, while the allies numbered about 160,000. The fight was maintained for some time with great bravery on both sides, but at length a body of French troops under Murat succeeded in turning the flank of the allied left wing, and then attacking them suddenly on flank and rear; they were thus thrown into confusion, and the great body of them killed or made prisoners. The allies lost on this occasion about 26,000 men, of whom about 13,000 were prisoners. A French force under Vandamme had been sent to cut off the retreat of the allies, but this was engaged near Culm (29th August) by a body of Russians under Ostermann, and a desperate struggle took place, which was renewed the next day, and only ended by the appearance in the rear of the French of a large body of Prussians, when the leader and most of his troops were made prisoners. The French lost in the two days 18,000 men, of whom 7000 were prisoners.

Napoleon, on quitting Silesia, had left Macdonald with an army of 80,000 men to oppose Blücher. The latter suddenly attacked them with great fury on the Katzbach (26th August), and defeated them with great slaughter. The fight was several times renewed during the three following days when the allies were in pursuit, and in all the French lost about 7000 men in killed and wounded, and 18,000 prisoners. Nor was the French army under Oudinot more successful, for it sustained a severe defeat at Gross Beeren (23d Áugust), and in that and subsequent engagements lost about 4000 in killed and wounded, and an equal number of prisoners. Napoleon was strongly affected by these reverses, the more so that they were quite unexpected. He gave the command of the army in the north to Ney, and set out himself against Blücher. Ney engaged the allied army at Dennewitz, and a desperate battle was fought (6th September), in which the French were at length beaten and put to flight with a loss of 13,000 men, of whom one-half were prisoners. The army in Bohemia now again resumed the offensive, and was preparing to fall upon Dresden, when Napoleon suddenly returned and drove them back. He again marched against Blücher, but returned to Dresden without effecting anything. He then resolved to enter Prussia and take Berlin, but was obliged to give up this project on learning-that Bavaria had joined the allies (8th October). Now fearing that his retreat might be cut off, he directed his march towards the Rhine, and reached Leipsic on the 15th of October. Here the combined allied armies under Schwarzenberg, Blücher, and Bernadotte assembled, and on the 16th an indecisive battle was fought, which to the French was equivalent to a defeat, and the same evening Napoleon made proposals for peace, but no answer was returned. The battle was renewed on the 18th. The French army numbered about 175,000 men, while the allied forces amounted to about 290,000. The French strength was. also weakened by two Saxon brigades of foot and one of cavalry passing over to the enemy during the engagement. Notwithstanding these disadvantages the French fought with great bravery and determination but were at length

beaten on every side. Next day they were in full retreat, and Leipsic was taken by the allies after a gallaut defence. The total loss of the French during these four days exceeded 60,000 men. The emperor reached Erfurt on the 23d October, and there collected the scattered remains of his army. The Bavarians, under Wrede, attempted to intercept his retreat at Hanau, but though aided by some of the allied troops, they were defeated with great slaughter (30th October). The Rhine was crossed on 1st November, and on the 9th Napoleon arrived in Paris. Thus Germany regained its independence, and the Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved. Austria, as we have seen, had a principal share in bringing this about; but the Emperor Francis was opposed to the adoption of extreme measures against Napoleon, being desirous that the sceptre of France should continue in the hands of his daughter and her descendants. Other views, however, prevailed. The war was carried into the enemy's country, and at length, not without a good deal of fighting, the allies entered Paris on 31st March 1814 On 11th April Napoleon resigned the im perial crown.

In the end of September following a congress was assembled at Vienna to adjust the claims and the mutual relations of the several states. This, however, was found to be a matter of no small difficulty. Russia demanded the whole of Poland, and Prussia aid claim to Saxony. Austria, France, and England were opposed to these claims, and determined to resist them, so that at one time it appeared as if war was again to break out; but more peaceful views began to prevail, and when the news arrived that Napoleon had secretly quitted Elba, all minor differences were forgotten in the presence of this pressing danger. They at once declared him an enemy and a disturber of the peace of the world, and prepared to bring against him an army of upwards of half a million of men. But before these had all been collected, Wellington and Blücher had brought the military career of Bonaparte to a close on the field of Waterloo. In the new partition of Europe, which was fixed by the Congress of Vienna (1815), Austria received Lombardy, and Venice, the Illyrian provinces, Dalmatia, the Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Salzburg, the Innviertel, and Hausruckviertel, together with the part of Galicia formerly ceded by her, making in all about 3,200 square miles of territory.

The emperors of Austria and Russia and the king of Prussia also entered into a "Holy Alliance," by which they bound themselves to remain united in the bands of true and brotherly love, to mutually help and assist each other, to govern their people like fathers of families, and to maintain religion, peace, and justice in their dominions. This alliance, beautiful in theory, was made, in fact, the means of maintaining absolute power in the hands of the rulers, and of suppressing free institutions and almost every form of liberty among the people. This was particularly the case in Austria, under the direction of Metternich, who did everything in his power to carry out these principles. A strict censorship of the press was established, not only to overlook the home press, but also to superintend the introduction of foreign publications. A system of secret police was also organised to observe and report what was said and done by the people in private. Besides this, Austria was ever ready to aid in the suppression of revolutionary movements in other states. In the construction of the German Confederation she used her influence to suppress the popular voice in all matters of government; her armies were employed in quelling the popular insurrections in Naples and Piedmont in 1822; and by diplomacy she aided in the suppression of the popular movement in Spain in 1823. During the insurrection in Greece the influence of Austria was exerted against it; and when Greece was established as a kingdom (1827), under the protection of England,

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