BONAPARTE. 



Gil 



movements of the Austrian cabinet speedily obliged 

 him to return. Austria declared war, April 9, 1809. 

 Napoleon entered Ingolstadt on the 18th. On the 

 20th, he defeated the Austrians at Abensberg ; on the 

 21st, at Landshut ; on the 22d, at Eckmuhl (see 

 Eckmuht) ; on the 23d, at Ratisbon ; and, on the 

 12th of May, Vienna capitulated. An attempt to ex- 

 cite the Hungarians to insurrection was unsuccessful ; 

 and in Tyrol, then belonging to Bavaria, the pea- 

 sants took arms against the French, being proniised 

 support by a letter of the Austrian emperor, and 

 afterwards shamefully abandoned. (See Hofer.) 

 Even in the north of Germany, an insurrectionary 

 spirit broke out. (See Schill.) On the 21st and 22nd 

 of May, Napoleon lost the battle of Aspern (q. v.) 

 and Esslingen ; but the Italian army came to his aid ; 

 and, after the battle of Raab, June 14, the Austrians 

 also lost, July 5th and 6th, the battle of Wagram 

 (q. v.), which resulted in the truce at Znaym, July 

 12. The Tyrolese alone continued to fight with 

 success, and the duke of Brunswick-OEls escaped the 

 pursuit of a superior force. But the occupation of Wal- 

 cheren by the British (see Otranto), the capitulation 

 of Flushing, August 15th, and the conquest of the 

 Ionian islands, October 9th, did not affect the success 

 of Napoleon in Austria. On the 13th, aGerman youth 

 of the name of Staps attempted to stab him in Schon- 

 brunn. Meanwhile he had united, May 17, 1809, 

 the whole of the states of the Church with France. 

 Pius VII. had no arms but excommunication, and this 

 he pronounced, June 12, against the emperor. For 

 this he was carried to France, where Napoleon 

 thought he could deprive him of all political influ- 

 ence. October 14, peace was concluded at Vienna. 

 Austria lost some valuable provinces and its seacoasts. 

 The Illyrian provinces were made a French govern- 

 ment. 



The most important of the negotiations following 

 this campaign was that for the hand of an Austrian 

 princess for the emperor, who, if his elevation to the 

 imperial dignity liad been necessary, according to the 

 general opinion, to give quiet to France, certainly 

 wanted a son for the firm establishment of his throne, 

 and the security of the laws and institutions connected 

 with it. Hard as it was for him to separate from 

 Josephine, the step was one that might have been 

 expected ; but whether he acted the wisest part in 

 marrying an Austrian princess is another question, 

 not to be discussed here. (See Otranto) December 

 2, Napoleon celebrated the anniversary of his coro- 

 nation at Paris with unusuarpomp a festival remark- 

 able for the great number of sovereigns from Germa- 

 ny and other parts of Europe, who attended it, and 

 for the speech which Napoleon delivered on that day 

 in the hall of the legislative body, and which was 

 dim ted much more to all Europe than to the assem- 

 bled representatives of the numerous departments of 

 France. December 16, a decree of the senate an- 

 nulled the marriage between Napoleon and Josephine. 

 March 11, 1810, the nuptials of the emperor with the 

 archduchess Maria Louisa (q. v.) of Austria were 

 celebrated in Vienna, and, April 2, cardinal Fesch 

 performed the marriage ceremony at Paris. Peace 

 had also been concluded, Jan. 6, 1810, with Sweden, 

 on the basis of the continental system. March 1 , 

 moreover, the viceroy of Italy was appointed heredi- 

 tary grand-duke of Frankfort, as successor of the 

 prince primate ; the remaining part of Hanover was 

 united with the kingdom of Westphalia ; and, on the 

 16th, the king of Holland was compelled to make 

 great concessions. He, therefore, unexpectedly re- 

 signed his crown, July 1, which he could no longer 

 wear with independence and honour ; and on the 9th, 

 the incorporation of the whole kingdom with HIP 

 French empire was declared. A similar fate befell 



Valais and the countries of the German confederacy 

 at the mouths of the Ems, Weser, and Elbe, the 

 Hanseatic towns, Oldenburg, a portion of the grand- 

 duchy of Berg, and even some parts of Westphalia, 

 which the king was obliged to cede. A great portion 

 of Europe was subjugated. Spain alone continued to 

 fight. England remained unconquered, and Russia 

 was still a formidable power. *with America, too, 

 differences arose respecting the continental system ; 

 for this reason the decrees of Berlin and Milan were 

 ostensibly revoked, April 28, 1811. But the tariff of 

 Trianon, as it was called, the continued captures and 

 burning of British and colonial goods, inflicted still 

 deeper wounds. Napoleon stood on the pinnacle of 

 his power, which, if possible, was still more consoli- 

 dated by the young empress giving birth to a prince, 

 March 20, 1811, to whom, even before his birth,had 

 been given the title of king of Rome. 



About the end of the year new differences arose 

 with Russia and Sweden. Sweden was easily deprived 

 of its German provinces, Jan. 27, 1812. Preparations 

 on the most extensive scale were soon after made 

 in France against Russia. The difference between 

 France and Russia, it is generally stated, was caused 

 by Napoleon's annexing the territory of several mem- 

 bers of the confederation of the Rhine to France. 

 Among these was the duke of Oldenburg, who re- 

 fused to take Erfurt, with the territory appertaining 

 to it, in exchange for his duchy, and preferred to re- 

 tire to the court of the emperor of Russia, his near 

 relation. But, in fact, the chief cause of the war 

 between France and Russia was, that Alexander 

 would not adhere so strictly to the continental system 

 as he had promised to do at Erfurt. Napoleon thought 

 that peace could not be obtained but by carrying this 

 system through. He had made too many sacrifices 

 already, in maintaining it, to be willing to give it up. 

 Moreover, he saw that the two empires would neces- 

 sarily come to war as soon as Russia should attempt 

 to execute her plans upon Constantinople, which 

 western Europe, could not permit. Napoleon was 

 then at the head of such a force as he might never 

 again be able to command, and thought it a great 

 object to prevent the execution of the projects of the 

 Russian colossus. The formidableness of this gigan- 

 tic power to the west of Europe, and the necessity of 

 clipping the wings of its ambition, are now sufficiently 

 apparent. But Napoleon foresaw not the burning of 

 Moscow*/and the great impulse given thereby to the 

 Russian people. The winter, which set in several 

 weeks earlier than usual, did the rest. The battalions 

 of the French and allied armies assembled in Ger- 

 many and Poland. The Prussian fortresses and Dant- 

 zic were still occupied by the French. Napoleon left 

 St Cloud May 9. In Dresden he collected around 

 him the German kings and princes, the emperor and 

 empress of Austria. June 24, he led his army across 

 the Niemen. Thus began the war with Russia. He 

 called it the second Polish war. (See Russian-Ger- 

 man/Far c/1812 15, forming a division of the 

 article Russia.) 



Napoleon's genius, however, shone amidst his re- 

 verses, and amazes even amidst the horrors of the 

 passage of the Berezina (November 26 and 27 1. How 

 striking is the twenty-ninth bulletin, of December 3 ! 

 The battle of Leipsic, on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of 

 October, displayed all his talent, but its consequences 

 were most disastrous to him. All his energies were 

 called into action in the series of conflicts between 

 the Marne and Seine, in February and March, 1814. 

 In spite of the entreaties of all who surrounded him, 

 he refused to make peace. (See Chatillon, Congress 

 at.) Several of his ministers, who thought his ruin 

 certain, considered it prudent to provide, in time, for 

 themselves, especially Talleyrand. They assisted 



