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The Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors was one of the most important battles in European History. It was also Napoleon’s greatest victory. At the battle, Napoleon’s employed a brilliant strategy to defeat the combined forces of the Russian and the Austrian Empires. The victory of the French stunned Europe and meant that they were masters of Europe, for a brief period of time. This article will discuss the reasons for the French victory, this will include Napoleon's military genius, the superiority of the French army and poor Allied decision-making.

==Background==

After a string of brilliant victories, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the France. By 1805, his armies had proven victorious in Germany, Spain, and Italy and he was the most powerful man in Europe. This prompted the other powers in Europe to form the Third Coalition in order to defeat the French. This Coalition included England, Russia, Prussia and Austria. The formation of this alliance caught Napoleon off guard. He had been planning for the invasion of England and had amassed a large army in northern France, known as the Army of England. However, he learned that Austria, Prussia, and the Russians were mobilizing and planned to attack the French and their allies. Napoleon abandoned his plans to invade England and decided to attack his enemies in the east before they could unite their forces. This was typical of Napoleon who was always willing to go on the attack and believed that the key to success was to never let the enemy to settle and attack them before they were in a position to attack the French.<ref> David G. Chandler, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0025236601/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0025236601&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=b7102b4553a33f72683b1ad69f241308 The Campaigns of Napoleon]</i>.(Longman, N.Y., 2000) p. 407</ref>

Moving with great speed he took his army of over 200,000 French and allied troops from their encampments near Boulogne and crossed into Germany on September the 25th. The army was divided into several corps. They were independent units with attachments of artillery and each corps commander had a great deal of autonomy in their decision making. The army had also two cavalry divisions of approximately 20,000. The Austrians with their German allies decided to meet Napoleon in Bavaria in Germany. They intended to slow down his army and to defend Austria from a French invasion until the arrival of the huge Russian army. The Prussians because of internal politics had been very slow in mobilizing and the Austrians were forced to meet Napoleon almost on their own. The Austrian General Mack established a line of defense near Ulm in Bavaria. However, Napoleon’s army was very quick and after a feint attack, he was able to appear at the rear of the Austrian army and inflicted a decisive defeat on Mack. In this battle, the French captured Mack and some 23,000 of his men. Napoleon was free to march into Central Europe.<ref> Chandler, p. 401</ref>

==The Preparations==

The Allies leadership was divided.<ref>Fisher, Todd & Fremont-Barnes Gregory, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LYHOVVZ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01LYHOVVZ&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=286956cb7b56cd3271bf57ffab84c6ca The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire]</i> (Pelican, London, 1987), p. 33</ref> The Austrian and the Russian Emperors were present at the battle and they had a great influence on the commanders. General Kutsov, the Russian commander in chief, correctly believed that Napoleon’s forces were running low on supplies and that together with the weather, that his army would soon be in difficulties and then ready for an allied attack possibly in the Spring, the Austrian Emperor agreed with his strategy. The Tsar over-ruled General Kutuzov and the Austrian Emperor was in a weak position after the defeat at Ulm and the loss of his capital. Napoleon wanted the allies to fight him in a battle and he pretended to want peace negotiations.<ref> Fischer and Fremont-Barnes, p. 137</ref> He was not sincere and did not want to peace. This fooled some of the allies and persuaded them that they should attack Napoleon immediately. The wily Kutuzov knew that it was a trap and he counseled for a more cautious approach. He lost out, once again and the allies agreed that once they made contact with the French army they would stand and fight.<ref>Chandler, p. 411</ref>

==Battle of Austerlitz==

The two armies faced each other at Austerlitz on the 1st of December 1805. The allies made an attack against the French right. This was what Napoleon had expected, he had deliberately weakened it so as to entice the allies into an attack on this area. He simply ordered his right to hold on for as long as possible. The Allies initially made some headway and they drove the French from a small hamlet, but the French right retreated in an orderly manner and inflicted heavy casualties on the Russians and the Austrians. The French artillery was very accurate and efficient and it managed to at first slow the allies and later stopped their attack on the right. A Corps under Davout then arrived and bolstered the right. Napoleon saw that the allies had weakened their center in order to attack his right.

Napoleon placed Lannes's V Corps at the northern end of the line, and Claude Legrand's Corps men at the southern end. He then placed Soult’s IV Corps in the center and this strengthened it greatly. This was a very complex maneuver but it was carried out efficiently and speedily thanks to the efficiency of the '''Grand Armee''' corps system. Then Napoleon ordered a corps under Davout to attack his right flank and this caught the allies by surprise, the Russian commander was drunk and soon the allies were in full retreat in this sector<ref> Chandler, p. 415</ref>.

*[[How did Winston Churchill become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in World War Two?]]

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==Reference==

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