August 18, 2025 • 19 mins
FOREWORD In the popular imagination, Empress Josephine wears a halo of goodness, making her biographers task particularly challenging. The disdain many hold for Napoleon is often linked to the perceived cruelty he showed towards the woman who stood by him for fourteen years. This biography seeks not to judge but to paint a vivid portrait of Josephine as she truly was, allowing readers to form their own opinions about her character. Join Walter Geer and Celine Major in exploring this complex figure of history.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve of Napoleon, A Short Biography. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Napoleon,
A Short Biography by R. M. Johnston. Chapter twelve Wagram
(00:24):
Austrian jealousy, French discontent, Napoleon leaves Spain, war with Austria,
aspern and Essling dispossession of the Pope Wagram peace. There
were two causes that brought Napoleon suddenly back from Spain
(00:46):
to Paris, one general and widely known, the other of
a more intimate and obscure character. The first of these
was connected with the relations of France with the great
powers of northeastern Europe. To understand it, we must go
back a little and pick up the thread of policy
spun by Napoleon at Tilsit in eighteen o seven. With
(01:10):
Prussia reduced to impotence and largely occupied by French troops,
there were now as military factors but two powers in
the northeast, Russia and Austria. The friendly advances of Napoleon
to the former indicated beyond question that his policy in
that quarter would turn on the balancing of these two
(01:33):
powers one against the other, and further, his friendship with
Russia was held at Vienna to imply hostility to Austria.
The inference was obvious and told more deeply, owing to
the repeated humiliations Austria had met with though Napoleon would
doubtless have been pleased to remain at peace with her
(01:55):
from the time when Ailau opened anew the possibility of
shaking off the Napoleonic yoke. The cabinet of Vienna made
great efforts to reorganize its army and resources. But the
emperor's relations with Alexander, though outwardly friendly, had already developed
slight points of friction, and in the summer of eighteen
(02:18):
o eight an interview between the two was arranged for
the discussion of their interests. It took place at airport here,
amid much pomp, surrounded by the princes of Germany and
of the French Empire, they privately debated the questions of Poland,
of Prussia, of Great Britain, and in short, the whole
(02:40):
political field from Saint Petersburg to Kiddiz and from Norway
to India. The nature of these conferences was not generally known,
and it was only a few of the best placed
and most astute observers, such as Talleyrand, who detected the
fundamental incompatibility of views between Napoleon and Alexander that must
(03:04):
sooner or later break down their alliance. The general opinion
was that France and Russia were in perfect accord and
that jointly they could control the whole of continental Europe.
In reality, the Czar chafed at the pressure of the
French Empire eastwards in Prussia, in Poland, in the Balkan Peninsula.
(03:26):
The conference at Erefort alarmed Austria. Her statesmen were not
sure that Napoleon had not given Russia a free hand
against Sweden and Turkey as a price for her abstention
from interfering against his carrying out some design against Austria.
Was it his intention to reduce the Emperor Francis to
(03:47):
the position of King Frederick William, or perhaps even to
steel his throne as he had that of Charles the Fourth.
There was little present ground for fear, yet Austria pressed
her armaments forward. Napoleon declared to Count Metternich, Austrian ambassador
at Paris, that if Austria armed, she could never afford
(04:10):
to disarm without fighting, and that war must therefore follow,
and he disclaimed, probably sincerely, all hostile intention. Yet the
dangerous process continued during the autumn and winter months of
eighteen o eight. By the beginning of eighteen o nine,
Austria had gone so far that war was inevitable, and
(04:33):
it became clear that sooner or later Napoleon must leave
Spain and return to Germany. It does not appear probable, however,
that he would have abandoned the pursuit of Sir John
Moore quite so precipitately as he did, had there not
been another matter of importance that required his presence in
Paris without delay in seventeen ninety nine. Bonaparte's advent to
(04:58):
power had been eagerly supported by reasonable men of many
shades of political opinion. His early steps as a ruler
tended to confirm the hopes of those who looked to
him to provide stability, and even if he aimed openly
at personal power, yet through him was introduced such sound administration, finance,
(05:21):
and justice as France had never known. Many therefore viewed
his personal rule so far as a blessing, but the
development of Napoleon's policy after the proclamation of the Empire,
after Austerlitz, after Jena, and especially after tilsit frightened those
(05:42):
who dared think for themselves and whose insight was not
obscured by apparent prosperity, large salaries and unaccustomed titles. Teleyrand,
after long directing the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, had held
back strongly from the Tills policy and had been transferred
(06:02):
to the non political functions of High Chamberlain. Fouchet, the
ex terrorist and Jacobin head of the Secret Police, thought
that Napoleon was going too far. Saw in the Spanish
War the possibility of a personal or military disaster for
the Emperor, and ever on the lookout for political evolutions,
(06:25):
viewed with complacency and eventual vacancy of the throne, and
the possible promotion of his friend, the dashing, popular, liberal
minded and liberal handed Joaquim Murat, King of Naples. Nothing
much was actually done, yet a political demonstration of the
greatest significance occurred. For many years, Teleyran and Fuchchet had
(06:51):
been estranged and barely on speaking terms. One night, while
Napoleon was toiling through the snow clad passes of Revolting
in Spain. After Sir John Moore, these two important political
personages made their entrance at a fashionable reception arm in arm,
and ostentatiously promenaded their alliance before the astonished guests. It
(07:16):
was a little thing, and yet it was a great one,
for Talleyrand and Fouchet were the two most delicate political
weathercocks in France, and if they both veered together, it
was safe to conclude there was something in the wind,
so Napoleon thought. As he spurred and galloped back to Paris.
(07:39):
He publicly disgraced talleyrande he privately admonished Fouchet, but continued
to employ him. But though on the surface this was
the close of the incident, there can be little doubt
when the course of events is noted that Napoleon now
had brought into stronger prominence before him than ever perplexing
(08:00):
question of the imperial succession. He was now the most
powerful sovereign of Europe. He had already established his fame
as the greatest legislator and conqueror of history. Yet two
of his subjects could venture to suggest publicly that they,
and not he, might eventually decide to whom his magnificent
(08:23):
empire should revert. Josephine could not give him an air.
He had no faith in the power of any of
his brothers to retain his throne. Yet he could not
live forever, more, especially if continually exposing his life to
the dangers of the battlefield. It was in no pleasant
(08:44):
mood that Napoleon now faced the fast approaching war with Austria,
a war he did not seek from which he could
gain little, and that interfered with the completion of the
conquest of Spain. It came at the last some point
somewhat unexpectedly. On the tenth of April eighteen o nine,
the Archduke Charles crossed the Bavarian frontier, announcing in his
(09:09):
proclamations that Austria was championing the cause of European liberty
and calling on all Germans to rise against their oppressors.
It was making the courageous stand of the people of
Spain a text for all the nations of Europe. For
a few days, the Archduke held a great strategic advantage,
(09:32):
and had he pressed forward among the scattered French corps,
would probably have won considerable successes. Napoleon hurried on from Paris, and,
by a series of rapid maneuvers, which he always considered
the most brilliant he ever carried out, concentrated his corps,
forced the passage of the Esar, and brought to the
(09:55):
Archduke to a general engagement at Ecmour. Rest of these
operations depends on an examination too minute and lengthy to
be followed out here. All that it will be possible
to say is that at Ekmoule, the Archduke Charles was
severely defeated, and Napoleon found himself as after Ulm on
(10:18):
the high road to Vienna. On the tenth of May
occurred a slight incident of which the interest is of
a character rarely to be found in the life of Napoleon.
The French had arrived in front of Vienna, and although
the Archduke Charles, with the great mass of the Austrian army,
was on the further bank of the Danube, there was
(10:41):
an attempt at resistance. The invaders brought artillery into position
and opened fire on the city. Napoleon was now informed
that the young Archduchess Maria Louisa had not been able
to leave the Palace, owing to illness, he immediately gave
order to have the guns trained in another direction. He
(11:03):
probably little guessed that the princess for whom he showed
this consideration would in less than twelve months be Empress
of the French. The resistance of Vienna was not serious,
and the French army quickly occupied it while Napoleon was
maturing a plan for crossing to the north side of
the Danube. Whence the Archduke Charles was watching his movements
(11:28):
with a large army, He issued a decree annexing Rome
to the Empire May seventeen. The army was now moved
a few miles east of Vienna. Bridges were constructed, and
on the twenty first the leading brigades began to deploy
on the further bank, between the villages of Aspern and Essling.
(11:52):
At this point desperate fighting took place. During the twenty
first and twenty second the Archduke Charles attacked in force.
The French numbers on the northern bank gradually increased, until
on the second day a rise of the Danube broke
down the bridges. Then it became a question of whether
(12:13):
the French could hold their ground while engineers worked desperately
to re establish communications. Lan and Massena held the Austrians
at bay with dogged obstinacy, fought on till night, and
thus enabled the troops to retreat in safety. But Napoleon
had lost twenty five thousand men, including Marshal Lan, who
(12:38):
was mortally wounded at the close of the day, and
whatever excuses there might be to offer, he had been
defeated by the Archduke Charles. The French army had now
retreated from the northern Bank into the large island of Lobau,
and the marshals whom Napoleon consulted were all of opinion
(12:59):
that the retreat should be continued to Vienna, or at
all events, to the southern Bank. Napoleon's decision admirably illustrates
a cardinal principle of strategy. It is nearly invariably the
rule that of two armies, one is attacking, the other defending.
One has the offensive, the other the defensive. So long
(13:23):
as that relation holds, the army on the offensive has
the move. That is, it may, within certain limits, choose
a line of operations which its opponent is compelled to
devise methods to defend the offensive in the hands of
a competent general is an immense military advantage to be
(13:43):
retained at any cost, and for this reason Napoleon decided
to keep his army in the island of Loboo rather
than seek safety on the southern bank of the Danube.
For in that position he still threatened Aspern and Essling,
which the Archduke could not abandon. But had he fallen back,
(14:04):
then the offensive would have passed to the enemy, and
he would have been obliged to reply to whatever move
the Archduke chose to make. Napoleon therefore remained cooped up
with his army in the island of Lobau, while the
Austrians daily entrenched themselves along his front. The check was
not unlike that at Ailau, and all Europe was eagerly
(14:28):
on the watch for several weeks to see what the
next move would be. The opponents of Napoleon plucked up courage,
the more so as Sir Arthur Wellesley was once more
operating in Portugal and had defeated Seoul at Oporto, Germany
appeared on the point of rising. The dispossessed Pope fulminated
(14:49):
a degree of excommunication against his spoilers and had to
be removed from Rome as a prisoner. A British fleet
and army occupied the island of Iski in the Bay
of Naples and threatened Joachim Murat in his capital once more,
as at Austerlitz, as at Friedland, Napoleon cleared a threatening
(15:11):
situation by a great military stroke at the northwest corner
of the island of Lobau, where his bridges had been
established opposite the heavily fortified Austrian lines at Aspern and Essling.
He placed his largest guns and opened a fierce bombardment.
He wanted the Austrians to believe that he intended forcing
(15:34):
their position by a frontal attack. In the meanwhile, secret
preparations were made for another move. On the night of
the fourth of July, bridges were rapidly thrown over the
Danube from the lower or southeastern end of the island,
and in the early hours of the fifth the army
(15:55):
had got a footing on the northern bank in the Marchfeld,
thus turning the the Archduke's position at Essling. The Austrians
changed front and during that day there was considerable fighting
between the two armies on the sixth was fought the
memorable Battle of Wagram, in which about two hundred fifty
(16:16):
thousand men were engaged. The Austrians, having abandoned their essling
Aspern position, had now fallen back a few miles to
the west. Napoleon faced them and made dispositions not dissimilar
to those that had given him such a complete victory
at Austerlitz. The Archduke's right was extended towards the Danube,
(16:39):
nearly opposite Vienna, and it was clearly to his interest
not to be driven back. At this point. There was
a further incitement to strengthen this wing, because if the
opposite wing of the French could be made to give away,
Napoleon's line of retreat through the island of Lobau would
be compromised. The Emperor, divining his opponent's thoughts and relying
(17:05):
on his own numerical superiority, decided to encourage the arch
Duke to attack this part of his line, but placed Massena,
the most resolute and resourceful of all the marshals in command.
In the meantime, the French right under d'avoust strongly attacked
(17:26):
the Austrian left. The Archduke Charles met with some measure
of success at first, Though pressed by Davoust on his left,
his center held its ground and his right was slowly
driving back Massena. As success began to appear possible on
this part of the field, the Austrian supports were gradually
(17:48):
pushed out from the center towards the right, until at
last Napoleon judged the moment had come for the decisive movement.
A battery of one hundred twenty guns was suddenly masked
within short range of the Austrian center. Bernardott and MacDonald
were pushed forward, and the Archduke found his line too
(18:11):
weak to resist. His right wing was in the greatest
danger of being cut off and separated, and there was
no alternative but to order a retreat along the whole line.
He drew off, his army defeated but far from routed.
Some fifty thousand men were killed and wounded, the losses
(18:33):
being fairly equally divided, but though beaten, the Austrians left
behind them practically no prisoners. Shortly afterwards, an armistice was concluded,
and for the fourth time Austria accepted defeat at the
hands of Napoleon. This was recorded in the Treaty of Chenbrun,
(18:54):
whereby she lost with other territory Trieste and Illyria, thus
becoming an inland power, but however humbled and weakened for
the moment. An unexpected event a few months later gave
the House of Habsburg renewed importance in the politics of Europe.
(19:15):
That event must be discussed in the next chapter. End
of Chapter twelve. Recording by Linda Johnson
Chapter twelve of Napoleon, A Short Biography. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Napoleon,
A Short Biography by R. M. Johnston. Chapter twelve Wagram
(00:24):
Austrian jealousy, French discontent, Napoleon leaves Spain, war with Austria,
aspern and Essling dispossession of the Pope Wagram peace. There
were two causes that brought Napoleon suddenly back from Spain
(00:46):
to Paris, one general and widely known, the other of
a more intimate and obscure character. The first of these
was connected with the relations of France with the great
powers of northeastern Europe. To understand it, we must go
back a little and pick up the thread of policy
spun by Napoleon at Tilsit in eighteen o seven. With
(01:10):
Prussia reduced to impotence and largely occupied by French troops,
there were now as military factors but two powers in
the northeast, Russia and Austria. The friendly advances of Napoleon
to the former indicated beyond question that his policy in
that quarter would turn on the balancing of these two
(01:33):
powers one against the other, and further, his friendship with
Russia was held at Vienna to imply hostility to Austria.
The inference was obvious and told more deeply, owing to
the repeated humiliations Austria had met with though Napoleon would
doubtless have been pleased to remain at peace with her
(01:55):
from the time when Ailau opened anew the possibility of
shaking off the Napoleonic yoke. The cabinet of Vienna made
great efforts to reorganize its army and resources. But the
emperor's relations with Alexander, though outwardly friendly, had already developed
slight points of friction, and in the summer of eighteen
(02:18):
o eight an interview between the two was arranged for
the discussion of their interests. It took place at airport here,
amid much pomp, surrounded by the princes of Germany and
of the French Empire, they privately debated the questions of Poland,
of Prussia, of Great Britain, and in short, the whole
(02:40):
political field from Saint Petersburg to Kiddiz and from Norway
to India. The nature of these conferences was not generally known,
and it was only a few of the best placed
and most astute observers, such as Talleyrand, who detected the
fundamental incompatibility of views between Napoleon and Alexander that must
(03:04):
sooner or later break down their alliance. The general opinion
was that France and Russia were in perfect accord and
that jointly they could control the whole of continental Europe.
In reality, the Czar chafed at the pressure of the
French Empire eastwards in Prussia, in Poland, in the Balkan Peninsula.
(03:26):
The conference at Erefort alarmed Austria. Her statesmen were not
sure that Napoleon had not given Russia a free hand
against Sweden and Turkey as a price for her abstention
from interfering against his carrying out some design against Austria.
Was it his intention to reduce the Emperor Francis to
(03:47):
the position of King Frederick William, or perhaps even to
steel his throne as he had that of Charles the Fourth.
There was little present ground for fear, yet Austria pressed
her armaments forward. Napoleon declared to Count Metternich, Austrian ambassador
at Paris, that if Austria armed, she could never afford
(04:10):
to disarm without fighting, and that war must therefore follow,
and he disclaimed, probably sincerely, all hostile intention. Yet the
dangerous process continued during the autumn and winter months of
eighteen o eight. By the beginning of eighteen o nine,
Austria had gone so far that war was inevitable, and
(04:33):
it became clear that sooner or later Napoleon must leave
Spain and return to Germany. It does not appear probable, however,
that he would have abandoned the pursuit of Sir John
Moore quite so precipitately as he did, had there not
been another matter of importance that required his presence in
Paris without delay in seventeen ninety nine. Bonaparte's advent to
(04:58):
power had been eagerly supported by reasonable men of many
shades of political opinion. His early steps as a ruler
tended to confirm the hopes of those who looked to
him to provide stability, and even if he aimed openly
at personal power, yet through him was introduced such sound administration, finance,
(05:21):
and justice as France had never known. Many therefore viewed
his personal rule so far as a blessing, but the
development of Napoleon's policy after the proclamation of the Empire,
after Austerlitz, after Jena, and especially after tilsit frightened those
(05:42):
who dared think for themselves and whose insight was not
obscured by apparent prosperity, large salaries and unaccustomed titles. Teleyrand,
after long directing the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, had held
back strongly from the Tills policy and had been transferred
(06:02):
to the non political functions of High Chamberlain. Fouchet, the
ex terrorist and Jacobin head of the Secret Police, thought
that Napoleon was going too far. Saw in the Spanish
War the possibility of a personal or military disaster for
the Emperor, and ever on the lookout for political evolutions,
(06:25):
viewed with complacency and eventual vacancy of the throne, and
the possible promotion of his friend, the dashing, popular, liberal
minded and liberal handed Joaquim Murat, King of Naples. Nothing
much was actually done, yet a political demonstration of the
greatest significance occurred. For many years, Teleyran and Fuchchet had
(06:51):
been estranged and barely on speaking terms. One night, while
Napoleon was toiling through the snow clad passes of Revolting
in Spain. After Sir John Moore, these two important political
personages made their entrance at a fashionable reception arm in arm,
and ostentatiously promenaded their alliance before the astonished guests. It
(07:16):
was a little thing, and yet it was a great one,
for Talleyrand and Fouchet were the two most delicate political
weathercocks in France, and if they both veered together, it
was safe to conclude there was something in the wind,
so Napoleon thought. As he spurred and galloped back to Paris.
(07:39):
He publicly disgraced talleyrande he privately admonished Fouchet, but continued
to employ him. But though on the surface this was
the close of the incident, there can be little doubt
when the course of events is noted that Napoleon now
had brought into stronger prominence before him than ever perplexing
(08:00):
question of the imperial succession. He was now the most
powerful sovereign of Europe. He had already established his fame
as the greatest legislator and conqueror of history. Yet two
of his subjects could venture to suggest publicly that they,
and not he, might eventually decide to whom his magnificent
(08:23):
empire should revert. Josephine could not give him an air.
He had no faith in the power of any of
his brothers to retain his throne. Yet he could not
live forever, more, especially if continually exposing his life to
the dangers of the battlefield. It was in no pleasant
(08:44):
mood that Napoleon now faced the fast approaching war with Austria,
a war he did not seek from which he could
gain little, and that interfered with the completion of the
conquest of Spain. It came at the last some point
somewhat unexpectedly. On the tenth of April eighteen o nine,
the Archduke Charles crossed the Bavarian frontier, announcing in his
(09:09):
proclamations that Austria was championing the cause of European liberty
and calling on all Germans to rise against their oppressors.
It was making the courageous stand of the people of
Spain a text for all the nations of Europe. For
a few days, the Archduke held a great strategic advantage,
(09:32):
and had he pressed forward among the scattered French corps,
would probably have won considerable successes. Napoleon hurried on from Paris, and,
by a series of rapid maneuvers, which he always considered
the most brilliant he ever carried out, concentrated his corps,
forced the passage of the Esar, and brought to the
(09:55):
Archduke to a general engagement at Ecmour. Rest of these
operations depends on an examination too minute and lengthy to
be followed out here. All that it will be possible
to say is that at Ekmoule, the Archduke Charles was
severely defeated, and Napoleon found himself as after Ulm on
(10:18):
the high road to Vienna. On the tenth of May
occurred a slight incident of which the interest is of
a character rarely to be found in the life of Napoleon.
The French had arrived in front of Vienna, and although
the Archduke Charles, with the great mass of the Austrian army,
was on the further bank of the Danube, there was
(10:41):
an attempt at resistance. The invaders brought artillery into position
and opened fire on the city. Napoleon was now informed
that the young Archduchess Maria Louisa had not been able
to leave the Palace, owing to illness, he immediately gave
order to have the guns trained in another direction. He
(11:03):
probably little guessed that the princess for whom he showed
this consideration would in less than twelve months be Empress
of the French. The resistance of Vienna was not serious,
and the French army quickly occupied it while Napoleon was
maturing a plan for crossing to the north side of
the Danube. Whence the Archduke Charles was watching his movements
(11:28):
with a large army, He issued a decree annexing Rome
to the Empire May seventeen. The army was now moved
a few miles east of Vienna. Bridges were constructed, and
on the twenty first the leading brigades began to deploy
on the further bank, between the villages of Aspern and Essling.
(11:52):
At this point desperate fighting took place. During the twenty
first and twenty second the Archduke Charles attacked in force.
The French numbers on the northern bank gradually increased, until
on the second day a rise of the Danube broke
down the bridges. Then it became a question of whether
(12:13):
the French could hold their ground while engineers worked desperately
to re establish communications. Lan and Massena held the Austrians
at bay with dogged obstinacy, fought on till night, and
thus enabled the troops to retreat in safety. But Napoleon
had lost twenty five thousand men, including Marshal Lan, who
(12:38):
was mortally wounded at the close of the day, and
whatever excuses there might be to offer, he had been
defeated by the Archduke Charles. The French army had now
retreated from the northern Bank into the large island of Lobau,
and the marshals whom Napoleon consulted were all of opinion
(12:59):
that the retreat should be continued to Vienna, or at
all events, to the southern Bank. Napoleon's decision admirably illustrates
a cardinal principle of strategy. It is nearly invariably the
rule that of two armies, one is attacking, the other defending.
One has the offensive, the other the defensive. So long
(13:23):
as that relation holds, the army on the offensive has
the move. That is, it may, within certain limits, choose
a line of operations which its opponent is compelled to
devise methods to defend the offensive in the hands of
a competent general is an immense military advantage to be
(13:43):
retained at any cost, and for this reason Napoleon decided
to keep his army in the island of Loboo rather
than seek safety on the southern bank of the Danube.
For in that position he still threatened Aspern and Essling,
which the Archduke could not abandon. But had he fallen back,
(14:04):
then the offensive would have passed to the enemy, and
he would have been obliged to reply to whatever move
the Archduke chose to make. Napoleon therefore remained cooped up
with his army in the island of Lobau, while the
Austrians daily entrenched themselves along his front. The check was
not unlike that at Ailau, and all Europe was eagerly
(14:28):
on the watch for several weeks to see what the
next move would be. The opponents of Napoleon plucked up courage,
the more so as Sir Arthur Wellesley was once more
operating in Portugal and had defeated Seoul at Oporto, Germany
appeared on the point of rising. The dispossessed Pope fulminated
(14:49):
a degree of excommunication against his spoilers and had to
be removed from Rome as a prisoner. A British fleet
and army occupied the island of Iski in the Bay
of Naples and threatened Joachim Murat in his capital once more,
as at Austerlitz, as at Friedland, Napoleon cleared a threatening
(15:11):
situation by a great military stroke at the northwest corner
of the island of Lobau, where his bridges had been
established opposite the heavily fortified Austrian lines at Aspern and Essling.
He placed his largest guns and opened a fierce bombardment.
He wanted the Austrians to believe that he intended forcing
(15:34):
their position by a frontal attack. In the meanwhile, secret
preparations were made for another move. On the night of
the fourth of July, bridges were rapidly thrown over the
Danube from the lower or southeastern end of the island,
and in the early hours of the fifth the army
(15:55):
had got a footing on the northern bank in the Marchfeld,
thus turning the the Archduke's position at Essling. The Austrians
changed front and during that day there was considerable fighting
between the two armies on the sixth was fought the
memorable Battle of Wagram, in which about two hundred fifty
(16:16):
thousand men were engaged. The Austrians, having abandoned their essling
Aspern position, had now fallen back a few miles to
the west. Napoleon faced them and made dispositions not dissimilar
to those that had given him such a complete victory
at Austerlitz. The Archduke's right was extended towards the Danube,
(16:39):
nearly opposite Vienna, and it was clearly to his interest
not to be driven back. At this point. There was
a further incitement to strengthen this wing, because if the
opposite wing of the French could be made to give away,
Napoleon's line of retreat through the island of Lobau would
be compromised. The Emperor, divining his opponent's thoughts and relying
(17:05):
on his own numerical superiority, decided to encourage the arch
Duke to attack this part of his line, but placed Massena,
the most resolute and resourceful of all the marshals in command.
In the meantime, the French right under d'avoust strongly attacked
(17:26):
the Austrian left. The Archduke Charles met with some measure
of success at first, Though pressed by Davoust on his left,
his center held its ground and his right was slowly
driving back Massena. As success began to appear possible on
this part of the field, the Austrian supports were gradually
(17:48):
pushed out from the center towards the right, until at
last Napoleon judged the moment had come for the decisive movement.
A battery of one hundred twenty guns was suddenly masked
within short range of the Austrian center. Bernardott and MacDonald
were pushed forward, and the Archduke found his line too
(18:11):
weak to resist. His right wing was in the greatest
danger of being cut off and separated, and there was
no alternative but to order a retreat along the whole line.
He drew off, his army defeated but far from routed.
Some fifty thousand men were killed and wounded, the losses
(18:33):
being fairly equally divided, but though beaten, the Austrians left
behind them practically no prisoners. Shortly afterwards, an armistice was concluded,
and for the fourth time Austria accepted defeat at the
hands of Napoleon. This was recorded in the Treaty of Chenbrun,
(18:54):
whereby she lost with other territory Trieste and Illyria, thus
becoming an inland power, but however humbled and weakened for
the moment. An unexpected event a few months later gave
the House of Habsburg renewed importance in the politics of Europe.
(19:15):
That event must be discussed in the next chapter. End
of Chapter twelve. Recording by Linda Johnson
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