Exploring the diplomatic, economic, and military aspects of the 1805 campaign, this vivid account details how Napoleon played upon historic relationships, competition, and animosities to lay the foundation for victory over his European rivals.
Poised to strike at England in the summer of 1805, Napoleon found himself facing a coalition of European powers determined to limit his territorial ambitions. Still, in less than one hundred days, Napoleon's armies marched from the English Channel to Central Europe, crushing the armies of Austria and Russia—the first step in his conquest of Europe. In this telling new account, Schneid demonstrates how this was possible. Schneid details how Napoleon's victory over the Third Coalition was the product of years of diplomatic preparation and the formation of French alliances. He played upon the prevailing conditions of the European state system and the internal politics of the Holy Roman Empire to improve France's strategic position.
This war must be understood in the context of the French Revolution and its influence on major and minor European states. In some cases, Napoleonic diplomacy returned to France's traditional and historic relationships; in others, he capitalized upon longstanding competition and animosities to gather allies and create wedges. Schneid approaches the campaign from a broad diplomatic, economic, and military perspective, including not only the French perspective, but the points of view of the other powers involved as well. This telling account reveals that the road to Vienna was paved long before Napoleon's armies marched upon the enemies arrayed against them.
Endorsements
"Schneid increases his stature among the rising generation of U.S. historians of the Napoleonic Wars with this comprehensively researched and economically presented analysis of the War of the Third Coalition. Demonstrating command of a broad spectrum of sources, he smoothly integrates policy formation, diplomatic interaction, and military operations in a work meriting recognition as a standard introduction to the war that made Napoleon master of Europe."—Dennis Showalter, Professor of History, Colorado College, author of The Wars of Frederick the Great and Tannenberg: Clash of Empires
"An excellent synthesis, and unusual in that it deals in great detail with the factors leading to the formation of the Third Coalition against France (1803-1805) and the ensuing war. In some cases Schneid traces the diplomatic, economic, political, cultural and personal reasons leading to conflict back into the seventeenth century. The battles are crisply and accurately recounted--especially Austerlitz--giving special attention to Napoleon's enemies, which is lacking in most military histories."—Owen Connelly, Professor of History, University of South Carolina, author of Blundering to Glory: Napoleon's Military Campaigns and Napoleon's Satellite Kingdoms
