Napoleon's Conquest of Europe: The War of the Third Coalition (Studies in Military History and International Affairs) PDF
Preview Napoleon's Conquest of Europe: The War of the Third Coalition (Studies in Military History and International Affairs)
NAPOLEON’S CONQUEST OF EUROPE: THE WAR OF THE THIRD COALITION Frederick C. Schneid PRAEGER NAPOLEON’S CONQUEST OF EUROPE Recent Titles inStudies in Military History and International Affairs Jeremy Black, Series Editor When Reason Fails: Portraits of Armies at War: America, Britain, Israel and the Future Michael Goodspeed A History of Modern Wars of Attrition Carter Malkasian When Men Lost Faith in Reason: Reflections on War and Society in the Twentieth Century H. P. Willmott Between the Lines: Banditti of the American Revolution Harry M. Ward America as a Military Power: From the American Revolution to the Civil War Jeremy Black British Strategy and Politics during the Phony War: Before the Balloon Went Up Nick Smart War in the Age of the Enlightenment, 1700–1789 Armstrong Starkey Turning the World Upside Down: The War of American Independence and the Problem of Empire Neil Longley York The Transformation of the North Atlantic World, 1492–1763: An Introduction M.J. Seymour John Dee: The Limits of the British Empire Edited by Ken MacMillan with Jennifer Abeles N ’ APOLEON S C E ONQUEST OF UROPE THE WAR OF THE THIRD COALITION Frederick C. Schneid Studies in Military History and International Affairs Jeremy Black, Series Editor Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleon’s conquest of Europe : the war of the Third Coalition / Frederick C. Schneid. p. cm. — (Studies in military history and international affairs, ISSN 1537– 4432) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–275–98096–0 (alk. paper) 1. Napoleonic Wars, 1800–1815. 2. Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769–1821—Military leadership. 3. France—History, Military—1789–1815. 4. Europe—History—1789–1815. 5. Europe—Politics and government— 1789–1815. I. Title. II. Series. DC226.3.S36 2005 940.2(cid:1)7—dc22 2004028444 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2005 by Frederick C. Schneid All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004028444 ISBN: 0–275–98096–0 ISSN: 1537–4432 First published in 2005 Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.praeger.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In memory of Gunther Erich Rothenberg (1923–2004) Scholar, Mentor, Friend CONTENTS Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Campaign and Battle Maps xiii One Napoleon 1 Two France and Spain 11 Three Spain, France, and War with England 25 Four Napoleon and Germany, 1792–1803 37 Five Napoleon, Prussia, and German Politics, 1803–1805 53 Six Austria, Italy, and the Mediterranean 63 Seven The Third Coalition 77 Eight August–September 1805 91 Nine From the Rhine to the Inn 105 Ten November 1805 119 Eleven Austerlitz, Pressburg, and Prussia 133 Notes 145 Bibliography 175 Index 183 FOREWORD Much of the fascination offered by Napoleon is that his career was simulta- neously a study in failure and an account of success. If this was true of his political career, it was even more the case with his military one. Frederick Schneid’s scholarly and accessible study focuses on military and international success, but it also throws light on some of the causes of failure. It is particu- larly valuable because Schneid seeks to revitalize the study of grand strategy, presenting it as at once military and political. In doing so, he offers an account that reflects current interest in strategic cultures, because Schneid seeks to locate the short-term with reference to the long-term interests and commit- ments. As a consequence, the book places the strategic, operational, and tac- tical dimensions of the campaign in their appropriate long-term context. This wide-ranging character of Schneid’s study offers not only a broader historical framework, but also a pertinent geographical one. Napoleon’s successful opportunism emerges from an extensive exami- nation of the motives and conduct of the European states in relation to France and to each other. This gives a dynamic character to his assessment of the Third Coalition. The states given particular attention include not only France and Austria, but also Britain, Prussia, Russia, Spain, and Sweden. Furthermore, far from treating these powers simply as players in a system driven by systemic factors, Schneid shows how European events and internal politics affected their response to tensions. In doing so, Schneid devotes appropriate attention to the French alliances formed prior to the campaign of 1805, particularly exploring Franco-Spanish and Franco-German relations. The campaign itself indicated the superiority of the French corps and divisional structure over the less coherent and less coordinated opposing forces. French staff work at army and corps level was superior to that of both Austria and Russia, and this helped to vitiate the numbers France’s opponents
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