Slavkov u Brna - Austerlitz
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Slavkov u Brna - Austerlitz |
[Three armies, two strategies] [Description of the armies] [Before the Battle]
[The Battle]
[After the Battle] [Tradition]
It was the year 1805, Moravia was enjoying its normal, quiet existence. Not that life was completely trouble free. Before that year's harvest, a regime of high costs had reigned over the land, as a result of the previous year's poor crop. The prolonged period of war with revolutionary France had exhausted the economy and left the country's finances in a catastrophic state. This naturally had a negative impact on every subject of the Austrian monarchy. Silver and copper coins had been devalued many years earlier and the state debt had steadily increased, till it had reached 650 million florins. The state tried to alleviate this situation with the issuance of unsecured paper money, the so-called "bankocetle". All this resulted in a steady rise in the prices of food stuffs and other goods. Beginning in 1801, peace was reestablished and with it hope for the better. The crop of 1805 was good and especially rich in wine. As a result, the farmers of South Moravia, where there are many vineyards, were once again optimistic about the future. That is why no one got excited, when, in the autumn, the news spread that the French were again fighting in Germany. The inhabitants of Moravia had always perceived war as a distant thing and no one ever thought that war would visit their homes.
Then everything happened all at once. The French occuppied Vienna without a struggle and, by means of subterfuge, got hold of the only undamaged bridge over the Danube. This opened the way to the north and Moravia. This happened on Wednesday, November 13. The Emperor Francis I, who had only recently fled before the enemy from his capital, settled for a short time in Brno. He believed, up until the last moment, that the advancing enemy would be stopped on the Danube. On the November 16, a countless number of the emperor's couriers hastened to Brno with alarming and often contradictory news. The following day, the Emperor and his court traveled hurredly from Brno to Olomouc. Following him were three thousand wagons full of luggage and assorted materials. On November 18, the garrison left Brno and the once impregnable fortress of Spilberk, which towered above the city, was abandoned.
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had become Emperor of the French the previous year, began the military campaign against the coalition of his enemies at the end of August, 1805. His army, which numbered 200,000 men, set off from the English Channel, where it had been making preparations for the invasion of the British lsles, in the direction of the Rhine. Napoleon's plan to defeat and humiliate Britain, his greatest enemy, on their own territory, was never realized. The deft diplomacy of the British Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, saved the isles from the French invasion at the last moment. With tremendous effort and at great financial expense, English diplomats succeeded in giving life to a new anti-French coalition, the third such alliance. The military pillars of the coalition were Russia and Austria. Napoleon, with a heavy heart, gave up the idea of landing of his army at Dover. Instead, he was forced to turn to the east and march against the armies of Russia and Austria, who were already on the move. In London, a sigh of relief was breathed. This new war was to be very expensive for Great Britain, but blood at least would be shed by others.
The performance of Napoleon's army during this campaign can, without exaggeration, be referred to as a "blitzkrieg". Nineteenth century Europe was very surprised by the speed of its march. Thirty kilometers per day was the average speed of the French army on the march. This army could also boast the most modern organization and tactics. The French were in a race against time. Within the space of a few weeks, the core of the Austrian army in Germany, led by General Mack von Leiberich, was trapped, encircled and forced to surrender near Ulm. This happened before the auxiliary Russian corps of General Kutuzov, who had been marching at a slow pace from the Ukraine, arrived. The linking of the Russian and Austrian armies, for the time being, remained unrealized. This linkage was only effected on Austrian soil near Braunau, where the remnants of the Austrian army finally met up with Kutuzov. After the surrender of Mack, the French advanced along the Danube in the direction of Vienna, driving before them remnants of Kutuzov's troops. Vienna surrendered and the battlefield shifted to Moravia. The weakened core of the Austrians withdrew to Olomouc, together with Kutuzov's army, which had been decimated by the long march and encounters with the French. The French army had in the meantime not only occupied the greater part of Germany and Austria but also southern Bohemia and Moravia.
On Monday, November 18, the vanguard of Napoleon's army approached Brno and the following day, in the afternoon, Napoleon entered the city accompanied by his guard. In the course of the following days, more and more French units came to the city, while others marched away. Everything was in a constant state of movement. The inhabitants were afraid to go into the streets and all sorts of the most horrible rumors were circulating in the city. The French had, in the meantime, occupied positions north and east of the city and were determined not to move from these places.
The Russo-Austrian army, with more than 100,000 men, was concentrated at that time near Olomouc. Both the Austrian Emperor Francis I and the Russian Tzar Alexander I were there, the latter having arrived from St. Petersburgh with his magnificent Imperial Guard. Their arrival, along with the arrival of additional Russian reinforcements, lifted the spirits of the men in the Allied camp. At the first council following their arrival, on November 24, it was decided to march from Olomouc towards Brno, where the decisive battle with the French usurper would be fought. The Allied headquarters believed that Napoleon could not have more than fifty thousand men in and around Brno and that he would certainly flee before the overwhelming forces of the Allies. The die had been cast and the great game could begin.
However, Napoleon did not wait and quickly brought in reinforcements to Brno. From around Jihlava, came the First Corp of Marshal Bernadotte and from around Vienna advanced the Third Corp of Marshal Davout. This meant that on the first day of the decisive clash, the forces of both sides were not as dissimilar in number as the Allies had believed.
On Monday, December 2, 1805 , the bloody unravelling of situation happened in the rolling countryside between Brno and Austerlitz. Napoleon had prepared a trap, in to which the whole of the Russo-Austrian army fell.