Second Coalition

This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Second Coalition is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:

The Second Coalition
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars

Louis-François Lejeune: The Battle of Marengo
Date 1799-1802
Location Central Europe, Italy
Result French victory, Treaty of Lunéville, Treaty of Amiens
Belligerents
Flag of Holy Roman Empire Austria[a]
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain[b]
Flag of Russia Russia[f]
French Royalists
Flag of Portugal Portugal
Flag of Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Naples and Sicily
Ottoman flag Ottoman Empire
Flag of France French Republic
Flag of Spain Spain
Flag of Poland Polish Legions
Flag of Denmark Denmark–Norway[c]
French client republics:
  1. Nominally the Holy Roman Empire, of which the Austrian Netherlands and the Duchy of Milan were under direct Austrian rule. Also encompassed many other Italian states, as well as other Habsburg states such as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
  2. Became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801.
  3. Officially neutral but Danish fleet was attacked by Britain at the Battle of Copenhagen.
  4. Abolished following the restoration of the neutral Papal States in 1800.
  5. Short lived state that replaced the Kingdom of Naples in 1799.
  6. Left the Coalition in 1799

The "Second Coalition" (17991802) was the second attempt by other European powers to contain or eliminate Revolutionary France. While Napoleon Bonaparte was leading an expedition to Egypt, a number of France's enemies formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back his previous conquests. Austria and Russia raised fresh armies for campaigns in Germany and Italy in 1799.

The only military activity before the end of 1798 was in Italy, where Naples captured Rome on 28 October but was driven out by the end of the year.

In Italy, Russian general Aleksandr Suvorov won a string of victories driving the French under Moreau out of the Po Valley, and forcing them back on the French Alps and the coast around Genoa. However, the Russian armies in the Helvetic Republic (Switzerland) were defeated by André Masséna, and Suvorov's army was eventually withdrawn for political reasons.

In Germany, Archduke Charles of Austria drove the French under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan back across the Rhine, and won several victories in Switzerland. Jourdan was replaced by Massena.

Russia left the coalition on account of British insistence that they would have the right to search any vessel on the sea.

By the end of the year, Napoleon had returned from Egypt, leaving his army behind, and took control of France in a coup d'état. He reorganized the French armies and command for the next year's campaign.

In 1800, Napoleon took personal command of the army in Italy, and eventually won a victory at the Battle of Marengo against the Austrian general Michael Melas, driving the Austrians back toward the Alps.

In Germany, General Moreau defeated Archduke Johann at the Battle of Hohenlinden, forcing him to sign an armistice.

In February 1801 the Austrians signed the Treaty of Lunéville, accepting French control up to the Rhine and the French client republics in Italy and the Netherlands.

The Treaty of Amiens between France and Britain began the longest break in the war between the two during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods.

See also

French Revolutionary Wars:

Notes

Wikipedia content modification information:

  • This page was last modified on 1 December 2008, at 07:35.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Second Coalition".

The URL for this specific entry is:

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.