The world's leading conquerors

by Wilson Lloyd Bevan

As the Austrians had been equally unlucky in defending their Italian territories, the Treaty of Pressburg, December 20, 1805, showed how greatly the traditional balance of power was altered, giving place to Napoleon’s scheme for dominating the whole of Europe. Austria lost the territories of Venice, Istria except Trieste, Dalmatia; she recognized Napoleon as King of Italy and was forced to surrender valuable possessions to the German princes who were allies of the French. There was also a titular diminution of power, because Francis II now surrendered the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, which gave him a theoretical sovereignty over the German states, and accepted the territorial title of hereditary Emperor of Austria. To these extreme measures of humiliation Napoleon obstinately adhered, though his foreign minister, Talleyrand, wisely preached moderation to him, urging with unique diplomatic vision that if Austria were to be deprived of so much territory in the west, there should be compensation made for her losses by handing over to her Turkish provinces in the lower valley of the Danube. France, he pointed out, would profit by this act of generosity, for Austria would give up looking to England for support, and, as a power in the East, would be certain to excite the jealousy of Russia, because Russia had always looked to inherit the Ottoman domains. But Napoleon’s plans would tolerate no scheme by which any European state would be helped to preserve more than a fictitious independent existence.

After Austerlitz the Confederation of the Rhine was created, a league of sixteen dependent German princes, of which the French Emperor was the head. Bavaria and Wurtemburg were especially favored, receiving the title of kingdoms, while their royal houses were drawn close into the orbit of French influence by marriages with members of the Bonaparte and Beauharnais families. Italy being now absorbed, Napoleon’s sisters were rewarded with Italian principalities, while his brother Joseph took the place of one of the Bourbons on the throne of Naples. Only the Pope was left as an independent sovereign in the much reduced temporal dominions of the Church. Holland, in accordance with the fully developed imperial system, became a kingdom, in place of a republic, with Louis, the Emperor’s brother, as its sovereign. Only one member of the family proved recalcitrant to Napoleon’s plans, and, therefore, was not rewarded in this division of the spoils of conquest. This was Lucien, who had saved the day on the 19th Brumaire and had made it possible for his brother to climb into absolute power. He refused to divorce his wife and marry a princess, and, therefore, he shared none of the favors that were being distributed. Napoleon’s mother, Letitia Bonaparte, who took Lucien’s side in this quarrel, was never declared a princess, and had to be satisfied with the honorary title of Madame Mère. Napoleon had conferred upon himself officially the title of Great (1806). His birthday was kept as a national and imperial holiday on which was celebrated a quasi-religious feast of apotheosis, modeled after the precedents of the Roman Empire.

Although Austerlitz called forth a new distribution of the map of Europe, and elevated, as if by a miracle, the members of the house of Bonaparte, it did not give peace to France. Russia had not shared in the Treaty of Pressburg, and even the English government, which, after the death of Pitt, was headed by the liberal pro-French statesman Fox, could make no satisfactory peace terms with the Emperor of the French. Prussia, whose neutrality was suspected, was treated with little consideration and no frankness by Napoleon’s government. It is true that he handed Hanover to it, but he made no secret of the fact that he would withdraw his gift provided that, if he restored Hanover to England, that power would consent to make peace. There was an active war party in Prussia who were anxious to try conclusions with the French army, because they relied on the traditions of the perfect military machine established by Frederick the Great. They boasted of their ability to destroy Napoleon’s army which had only conquered Austrians and Russians. Alexander of Russia was also anxious to renew the conflict, and England poured out its treasures to the extent of 6,000,000 pounds.

The result was the Fourth Coalition against France, made up of England, Prussia, Russia, and Sweden. Hostilities began with an inflated ultimatum from the King of Prussia, ordering Napoleon to evacuate Germany and to give up the Confederation of the Rhine. The declaration of war on the part of Prussia was most ill-timed, for the Austrians had not yet recovered from the defeat of Austerlitz, and the Russians were not prepared to act the part of effective allies at the beginning of the campaign. To this carelessness in selecting the time for commencing hostilities was added over-confidence in the military superiority of the Prussian army. As a machine, it presented the outward semblance of the creation of Frederick the Great; but there was an absence of intelligent direction. The soldiers were badly treated under a régime of poor diet and strict discipline, while the officers were a privileged class, who remained in active service long after they had passed the prime of life. This artificial system collapsed like a pack of cards; as Heine said, “Napoleon breathed on Prussia and Prussia ceased to exist.”

In preparing for this new campaign, Napoleon repeated the strategy of the Austerlitz campaign. He disguised, by feigned hostile movements and by ostentatiously remaining in Paris, his intention of striking one of his rapid, certain strokes at the enemy’s weakest spot. Led into a false self-confidence, the Prussians took the offensive with 150,000 men. By means of quick concentration, Napoleon’s army was brought up to a strength of 175,000. With this force, instead of coming into contact with the Prussians on the northwest, as had been expected, he turned their army on the southeast and threatened their communications with Berlin. The victory was won by two skilfully conducted pitched battles, at Jena and also at Auerstadt (the 14th of October, 1806), where Davout, with an army much inferior to that opposed to him, specially distinguished himself. The Prussian armies were reduced to a mass of fugitives; there were 20,000 killed and wounded and 18,000 prisoners, but the victory cost the French 12,000 men, for the Prussians had fought bravely, though their generalship was poor.

There was later a spectacular entrance into Berlin by the victorious army, arranged after the manner of a Roman triumph, with the Prussian regiment of the guards disarmed and following their conquerors. Napoleon interpreted his victory as giving him a chance to show his power of wreaking a personal vengeance on those who had so rashly questioned his power. “I will render this court nobility so small,” he said, “that they will be obliged to beg their bread.” He acted in the spirit of these words, and outraged public sentiment by carrying off, as part of the booty of Berlin, the sword of Frederick the Great. Over the conquered country was extended a network of officials, intrusted with the duty of collecting large money contributions. No community was allowed to escape the imposition, and all were made to feel their responsibility for the war. There was also a rearrangement of German territories, under which Jerome, the Emperor’s youngest and least competent brother, was provided with a throne under the title of King of Westphalia.

After the defeat of Prussia, the Russians, who had been slowly drawing together great masses of men, kept up an obstinate struggle against Napoleon’s generals, and little progress was made by the French. Marbot describes the campaign in all its hardships; the weather, he says, was terribly cold, but the troops seem to have suffered even more in their marches from the thaws which rendered the bad roads impassable. While the French army was encamped for the winter, Benningsen, the Russian general, tried, early in February, to force his way between the two divisions of the French army under Ney and Bernadotte. The plan failed because Bernadotte was not taken by surprise; his defense was a brilliant one, and gave Napoleon an opportunity for attempting a turning movement on Benningsen’s army. This purpose could not be carried out because the despatch announcing it to the French subordinate commanders fell into the hands of the Russians, who got away in time. In the pursuit, the Russians turned on the French, and the result was a “soldiers’ battle,” fought at Eylau, February 8, 1807, in which for a time the Emperor’s position was most critical, for his army was half encircled and suffered terribly from the enemy’s artillery fire. The day was finally saved by a remarkable cavalry charge, led by Murat, who passed through three Russian lines and broke up their attack. But despite this terrible massacre of men at Eylau,—10,000 French and 30,000 Russians,—no final result was attained by it. Neither side could claim to be victorious; it was something, however, to prove that Napoleon was not invincible, and, as Eylau was not a Russian defeat, the Russians interpreted it as a victory. The two powers, Prussia and Russia, agreed not to make a permanent treaty with France until the banks of the Rhine were accepted as her frontiers.

During the spring each side remained inactive, for both were in need of reinforcements. Benningsen with 100,000 men took the offensive, but after some preliminary hard fighting, placed himself, still on the offensive, in an unfavorable position near Friedland. He had brought his army into a narrow ravine with the river Alle behind him, so that in case of a check he had only the bridges to depend upon for withdrawing his men. These bridges were cut in a turning movement, made by Ney, while Lannes, with 26,000 French against 82,000 Russians, kept Benningsen from leaving his position, during a space of thirteen hours. By the evening the Russian army had but 25,000 men under arms and was hopelessly demoralized.

After this defeat the Fourth Coalition was at an end. The Peace of Tilsit was drawn up as the result of a personal interview between Alexander of Russia and Napoleon on a raft anchored in the river Niemen. After several private meetings Napoleon succeeded in attracting to himself the enthusiastic sympathy of his obstinate opponent. There was outlined a common plan of action by which both sides were to benefit, Russia was to gain territory in Finland, at the expense of Sweden, and in the East, at the expense of Turkey. Even more important was the winning over of Alexander to agree to Napoleon’s continental blockade against England, by which all English goods were to be kept out of continental ports.

But even by making this volteface in Russian policy, Alexander could secure no favorable terms for his late ally, Prussia. That power was denuded of territory to the east which it had originally acquired in the partition of Poland; for of this was constructed one of Napoleon’s new creations, the grand duchy of Warsaw, of which the elector of Saxony, approved by Napoleon for his pro-French policy, became sovereign with the title of King. On the west, all lands beyond the Elbe were taken, to be added to the new kingdom of Westphalia. Frederick of Prussia had besides to accede to the anti-British economic measures of Napoleon, to pay a war indemnity of $20,000,000, and to be humbly grateful for the return of four provinces in the northeast that had been detached from Prussia after the battle of Jena.