Battle of Austerlitz

The Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors and (among Czech speakers) as the Battle of Slavkov, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire. On December 2, 1805 (November 20, Old Style), French troops, commanded by Emperor Napoleon I, decisively defeated a Russo-Austrian army, commanded by Tsar Alexander I, after nearly nine hours of difficult fighting in many sectors. The battle took place at Austerlitz (Slavkov u Brna) about 6.5 km (four miles) east of Brno (BrĂ¼nn) in Moravia. The battle is often regarded as a tactical masterpiece.

The French victory at Austerlitz effectively brought the Third Coalition to an end. On December 26, 1805, Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg, which took the former out of the war, reinforced the earlier treaties of Campo Formio and LunĂ©ville, made Austria cede land to Napoleon's German allies, and imposed an indemnity of 40 million francs on the defeated Habsburgs. Russian troops were allowed to head back to home soil. Victory at Austerlitz also permitted the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of German states intended as a buffer zone between France and the rest of Europe. In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when Holy Roman Emperor Francis II kept Francis I of Austria as his only official title. These achievements, however, did not establish a lasting peace on the continent. Prussian worries about growing French influence in Central Europe sparked the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806.