[1805] - Napoleon defeats Russian and Austrian armies at Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, swiftly following on from the British naval victory at Trafalgar on 21 October, proved to be Napoleon’s greatest military victory. It took place near Austerlitz in Moravia on 2 December 1805. After nearly nine hours of fighting, Napoleon decisively defeated the combined forces of the Russian and Austrian armies, effectively bringing an end to the War of the Third Coalition. On 26 December Austria withdrew from the war after signing the Treaty of Pressburg.
Useful Links and Further Reading
- Military History Online, ‘Austerlitz’, http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/19thcentury/articles/austerlitz.aspx
- www.napoleon.org, ‘François Gérard, Battle of Austerlitz, 2 December, 1805’,
http://www.napoleon.org/en/gallery/pictures/files/austerlitz_1805.asp
- David Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon (New York, NY, 1966)
- Ian Castle, Austerlitz 1805: The Fate of Empires (Oxford, 2005)
- Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, trans. Rosemary Edmonds (London, 2009)