Battle of Austerlitz

Quick Facts: Who was Battle of Austerlitz?

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Battle of Austerlitz

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Decisive 1805 battle where Napoleon's Grande Armée defeated a combined Russo-Austrian force.

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Origins & Early Life

The Battle of Austerlitz was fought on Monday 2 December 1805, near Austerlitz (then in the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic), being the decisive engagement of the War of the Third Coalition. The Grande Armée under the command of Emperor Napoleon I defeated a combined Russo-Austrian army. One force was an imperial Russian army under the command of Tsar Alexander I and General Mikhail Kutuzov, while the other comprised an imperial Austrian army under the command of Emperor Francis II. The battle was known contemporaneously as the Battle of the Three Emperors (after the three monarchs present on the field). The battle is often cited by military historians as one of Napoleon's tactical masterpieces, in the same league as other historic engagements like Hannibal's Cannae (216 BC) or Alexander the Great's Gaugamela (331 BC).

Pivotal Works & Achievements

The military victory of Napoleon's Grande Armée at Austerlitz brought the War of the Third Coalition to an end, with the Peace of Pressburg signed by the French and Austrians later in the month. These achievements did not establish a lasting peace on the continent. Austerlitz had driven neither Russia nor Britain, whose armies protected Sicily from a French invasion, to settle. After eliminating an Austrian army during the Ulm campaign, French forces seized Vienna in November 1805. The Austrians avoided further conflict until the arrival of the Russians, who helped increase the allied numbers.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Napoleon sent his army north in pursuit of the Allies, but then ordered his forces to retreat so he could feign a grave weakness to lure the Allies into thinking that they were facing a weak army, while it was in fact formidable. Napoleon gave every indication in the days preceding the engagement that the French army was in a pitiful state, even abandoning the dominant Pratzen Heights near Austerlitz. He deployed the French army below the Pratzen Heights and weakened his right flank, enticing the Allies to launch an assault there to roll up the French line. The French Emperor meanwhile hid the main army in dead ground (ground obscured from a particular vantage point). Napoleon's plan was based on the hope that Marshal Davout and his III Corps would arrive soon on their way from Vienna.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1805: 1805 Milestone — The Battle of Austerlitz was fought on Monday 2 December 1805, near Austerlitz (then in the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic), being the decisive engagement of the War of the Third Coalition.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Battle of Austerlitz

True or False: “The Battle of Austerlitz was the final military engagement that ended the War of the Third Coalition.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): While decisive, the war did not end immediately; the Peace of Pressburg followed later in December 1805.

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