The Battle of Austerlitz (December 2, 1805)
The peace treaties of Lunéville (February 9, 1801) and of Amiens (March 25, 1802) concluded hostilities that had lasted for nearly a decade. After that there was peace all over Europe. This, however, did not last long because neither the French nor the English observed the provisions of the treaties, and war broke out again on May 16, 1803. In September, 1805, England was joined by Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Naples, and military operations commenced on land.
Napoleon immediately started his forces around the camp at Boulogne, crossed the Rhine and surrounded the Austrian troops of General Mack with an ingenuous manoeuvre. Then the emperor, in pursuit of Kutusov, who had come to the aid of Mack, captured Vienna and Brünn, but the Russians eluded him. These Russians were joined near Olmütz by a Russian army deployed as a reinforcement, and by a hastily gathered. Austrian corps. Since Napoleon had to leave troops behind to secure his lines of communications, the Allies found themselves in superior numbers. Their military leadership decided to drive the French from the territory of the Austrian Empire. Napoleon was ready to give battle, so the opponents met near Brünn, at Austerlitz.
The Allies, following to the plan of Weyrother, attacked the southern (right) wing of the French, intending to turn north and destroy the French army. The assault of the Allies, after minor initial successes, was stopped by the resistance of the French troops firmly defending the line of the Goldbach stream. The attack was also hindered by the fact that the Allies, due to poor staff work, could not deploy their troops under united coordinaton, but part by part only.
Napoleon patiently waited until the opposition had withdrawn its forces from the centre to renew the halted attack in the south, and struck at the moment when there was no allied soldier to oppose them. The allied leadersip tried to stop the French breakthrough by launching a number of counterattacks — without success.
On the northern flank the opposing forces of similar size fought a see-saw battle for a long time, but with the moral and command superiority of the French triumphing, the Russian troops led by Bagration fled from the battlefield.
In the centre the allies were forced to deploy their last reserve, the Russian Imperial Guards against the French breakthrough. The counteroffensive started successfully, the French troops fled, but the cavalry of the French Imperial Guards along with the reserves managed to repulse the desperate Russian assaults. The outcome of the battle decided, the exploitation of victory followed.
Napoleon turned the troops breaking through the centre to the south to outflank the enemy there, while pursuing the fleeing enemy with the reserves. The whole allied offensive wing stood in the south, but the French troops were too tired, and some of the allied troops managed to escape from this difficult position; nevertheless, the French took a considerable number of prisoners.
In the battle the French lost 8300 men, while the allied casualties numbered 25-27.000.
The essay, besides narrating the events, analyses and asseses them. The presentation and assessment of the plans is remarkably novel since, contrary to the analytical methods used so far, the way of thinking that conceived the plans as well as the internal and external effects are also considered besides the examination of the effects of the plans. The tactical presentation in the greatest possible detail of some interesting events is an impotant aspect of the paper.
The present essay is the first detailed account of the battle of Austerlitz in Hungarian.
