The Armistice of Steyr (or Steyer) was a ceasefire agreement between the forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the French Republic that ended active hostilities in the War of the Second Coalition in Germany. It was signed on 25 December 1800 in the Austrian town of Steyr by Archduke Charles of Austria and the French commander, Jean Victor Moreau. [1]
Following the French victory at Hohenlinden on 3 December, the archduke took command of the imperial armies in Germany on 17 December. His priority was signing an armistice. The imperial armies were in disarray, but Moreau had bypassed several Austrian fortresses, which could threaten his lines of communication. [2] There were French cavalry outposts only 40 miles (64 km) from Vienna. [3]
On 18 December, Emperor Francis II's foreign minister, Johann Amadeus von Thugut, drafted new instructions for his plenipotentiary in Paris, Ludwig von Cobenzl. [1] Although Thugut opposed an armistice and preferred to fight "to the knife", [2] he instructed Cobenzl to seek a preliminary peace agreement in order to obtain an armistice. [1] On 23 December, Thugut drafted a formal imperial rescript to Cobenzl authorizing peace negotiations, which has been called the "epitaph" of his policy and which he called the "epitaph of the Monarchy and the glory of Austria". [2] By the time the instructions of the 18th reached Cobenzl on 26 December, the archduke had already signed an armistice the day before. [1]
The armistice of Steyr applied only to Germany and was to last thirty days. Fighting between imperial and French forces continued in Italy. [1] In Italy, the imperial general Heinrich von Bellegarde had to seek a separate armistice with his French counterpart, Guillaume Brune. [2] The armistice of Treviso was signed on 16 January, although news of it was late in reaching Paris. [1] [2]
Since the emperor had pledged to Great Britain not to make peace with France before February, he intended to drag out peace negotiations at least that long. [2] On 27 December, the emperor informed King George III of Great Britain that he was unable to fulfill his obligations to the alliance and was treating with France. On 31 December, Cobenzl officially informed the French that he would sign a peace treaty without Britain. [1]
The Treaty of Lunéville that formally ended the war was signed on 9 February 1801. [1]
Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the younger brother of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. Despite being epileptic, Charles achieved respect both as a commander and as a reformer of the Austrian army. He was considered one of Napoleon's more formidable opponents and one of the greatest generals of the French Revolutionary Wars.
The Treaty of Lunéville was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The signatory parties were the French Republic and Emperor Francis II, who signed on his own behalf as ruler of the hereditary domains of the House of Austria and on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire. The signatories were Joseph Bonaparte and Count Ludwig von Cobenzl, the Austrian foreign minister. The treaty formally ended Austrian and Imperial participation in the War of the Second Coalition and the French Revolutionary Wars.
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The Battle of Hohenlinden was fought on 3 December 1800 during the French Revolutionary Wars. A French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau won a decisive victory over an Austrian and Bavarian force led by 18-year-old Archduke John of Austria. The allies were forced into a disastrous retreat that compelled them to request an armistice, effectively ending the War of the Second Coalition. Hohenlinden is 33 km east of Munich in modern Germany.
François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, a Walloon, joined the army of the Habsburg monarchy and soon fought in the Seven Years' War. Later in his military career, he led Austrian troops in the war against Ottoman Turkey. During the French Revolutionary Wars he saw extensive fighting and rose to the rank of Field Marshal.
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other monarchies. They are divided in two periods: the War of the First Coalition (1792–97) and the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802). Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension. After a decade of constant warfare and aggressive diplomacy, France had conquered territories in the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and the Rhineland in Europe and abandoned Louisiana in North America. French success in these conflicts ensured the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe.
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The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1799 with the French fighting the forces of the Second Coalition. Napoleon Bonaparte had returned from Egypt and taken control of the French government. He prepared a new campaign, sending Moreau to the Rhine frontier and personally going to take command in the Alps, where French forces had been driven almost out of Italy in 1799.
Archduke John of Austria, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was an Austrian field marshal and imperial regent (Reichsverweser) of the short-lived German Empire during the Revolutions of 1848.
Johann Ludwig Joseph, Graf von Cobenzl was a diplomat and politician of the Habsburg monarchy.
Johann Amadeus Franz de Paula Freiherr von Thugut was an Austrian diplomat.
Johann Philipp, Graf von Cobenzl was a statesman of the Habsburg monarchy and the Austrian Empire.
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The Convention of Alessandria was an armistice signed on 15 June 1800 between the French First Republic led by Napoleon and Austria during the War of the Second Coalition. Following the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Marengo, they agreed to evacuate Italy as far as the Mincio and abandon strongholds in Piedmont and Milan. Great Britain and Austria were allies and hoped to negotiate a peace treaty with France, but Napoleon insisted on separate treaties with each nation. The negotiations failed, and fighting resumed on 22 November 1800.
The Armistice of Treviso was a ceasefire signed on 16 January 1801, in Treviso, Italy, between French General Guillaume Brune and the Austrians during the War of the Second Coalition. Brune had defeated Austrian General Heinrich von Bellegarde at the Battle of Pozzolo on 25 December 1800 and drove Generals Josef Philipp Vukassovich and Johann Ludwig Alexius von Loudon from a succession of defensive positions in the mountains. Bellegarde retreated to Treviso and prepared for its defence but agreed to a ceasefire. Under the terms the Austrians ceded many towns in northern Italy but retained Mantua. Napoleon desired the city, which was within striking distance of a French force, and as a result was displeased with Brune, who had promised that Mantua would form part of any armistice deal. However, following French victories in Tuscany and Germany, the French were able to negotiate the ceding of Mantua as part of the Treaty of Lunéville of 9 February 1801.