|
Product Description
The Franco-Austrian War of 1809 was Napoleon's last victorious war. Napoleon faced the Archduke Charles, the best of the Habsburg commanders, and a reformed Austrian Army that was arguably the best ever fielded by the Danubian Monarchy. The French ultimately triumphed but the margin of superiority was decreasing and all of Napoleon's skill and determination was required to achieve a victorious outcome.Gill tackles the political background to the war, especially the motivations that prompted Austria to launch an offensive against France while Napoleon and many of his veterans were distracted in Spain. Though surprised by the timing of the Austrian attack on April 10th, the French Emperor completely reversed a dire strategic situation with stunning blows that he called his 'most brilliant and most skillful maneuvers'. Following a breathless pursuit down the Danube valley, Napoleon occupied the palaces of the Habsburgs for the second time in four years. The Austrians recovered, however, and Napoleon suffered his first unequivocal repulse at the Battle of Aspern-Essling on the shores of the Danube opposite Vienna.
He would win many battles in his future campaigns, but never again would one of Europe's great powers lie broken at his feet.
In this respect 1809 represents a high point of the First Empire as well as a watershed, for Napoleon's armies were declining in quality and he was beginning to display the corrosive flaws that contributed to his downfall five years later.
Features
- Orders are despatched from our UK warehouse next working day.
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- 1809 Thunder on the Danube. Volume 2: Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburgs: The Fall of Vienna and the Battle of Aspern
- With Eagles to Glory: Napoleon and his German Allies in the 1809 Campaign
- 1809 Thunder on the Danube. Volume 3: Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburgs: Wagram and Znaim
- The Campaigns of Napoleon
- 1805: Austerlitz: Napoleon and the Destruction of the Third Coalition
- Napoleon at Leipzig: The Battle of the Nations 1813
- Retreat from Moscow: A New History of Germany's Winter Campaign, 1941-1942
- Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy
- The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov (Campaign Chronicles)
- Napoleon at Dresden: The Battles of August 1813
*If this is not the "1809 Thunder on the Danube. Volume 1: Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburg" product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link. Details were last updated on Nov 23, 2024 18:51 +08.