Everything about First Coalition totally explained
The
First Coalition (
1792–
1797) was the first major concerted effort of multiple European
powers to contain
Revolutionary France. It took shape after the
French Revolutionary Wars had already begun.
After the stated aim of the
National Convention to export
revolution, the guillotining of
Louis XVI of France (January 1793) and the French opening of the
Scheldt, a military coalition was formed against France.
These powers initiated a series of invasions of France by land and sea, with Prussia and Austria attacking from the
Austrian Netherlands and the
Rhine, and Great Britain supporting revolts in provincial France and laying siege to
Toulon. France suffered reverses (
Battle of Neerwinden,
18 March 1793) and internal strife (
Revolt in the Vendée), and responded with extreme measures: the
Committee of Public Safety formed (
6 April 1793) and the
levée en masse drafted all potential soldiers aged 18 to 25 (August 1793). The new French armies counter-attacked, repelled the invaders, and moved beyond France. French arms established the
Batavian Republic as a
satellite state (May
1795) and gained the Prussian
Rhineland by the first
Treaty of Basel. Spain made a separate peace accord with France (second Treaty of Basel) and the
French Directory carried out plans to conquer more of
Germany and northern
Italy (1795).
North of the
Alps,
Archduke Charles of Austria redressed the situation in
1796, but
Napoleon carried all before him against Sardinia and Austria in northern Italy (1796–1797) near the
Po Valley, culminating in the
peace of Leoben and the
Treaty of Campo Formio (October
1797). The First Coalition collapsed, leaving only Britain in the field fighting against France.
Background
See also:
As early as
1791, the other
monarchies of Europe watched with alarm at the developments in France, and considered whether they should intervene, either in support of
Louis XVI or to take advantage of the chaos in France. The key figure was
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, brother to the French Queen
Marie Antoinette, who had initially looked on the Revolution with equanimity, but became more and more disturbed as the Revolution became more radical, although he still hoped to avoid war. On
August 27, Leopold and King
Frederick William II of
Prussia, in consultation with emigrant French nobles, issued the
Declaration of Pilnitz, which declared the interest of the monarchs of Europe in the well-being of Louis and his family, and threatened vague but severe consequences if anything should befall them. Although Leopold saw the Pillnitz Declaration as a way of taking action that would enable him to avoid actually doing anything about France, at least for the moment, it was seen in France as a serious threat and was denounced by the revolutionary leaders.
In addition to the ideological differences between France and the monarchical powers of Europe, there were continuing disputes over the states of Imperial estates in
Alsace, and the French were becoming concerned about the agitation of
emigré nobles abroad, especially in the
Austrian Netherlands and the minor states of
Germany.
In the end, France declared war on Austria first, with the Assembly voting for war on
April 20,
1792, after a long list of grievances presented by foreign minister
Dumouriez. Dumouriez prepared an immediate invasion of the Austrian Netherlands, where he expected the local population to rise against Austrian rule.
However, the revolution had thoroughly disorganized the army, and the forces raised were insufficient for the invasion. The soldiers fled at the first sign of battle, deserting en masse and in one case, murdering their general.
While the revolutionary government frantically raised fresh troops and reorganized its armies, a mostly Prussian allied army under
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick assembled at
Koblenz on the Rhine. In July, the invasion commenced, with Brunswick's army easily taking the fortresses of
Longwy and
Verdun. Brunswick then issued a proclamation, written by the emigré
Prince de Condé, declaring their intent to restore the King to his full powers and to treat any person or town who opposed them as rebels to be condemned to death by martial-law. This had the effect of motivating the revolutionary army and government to oppose them by any means necessary, and led almost immediately to the overthrow of the King by a crowd which stormed the
Tuileries Palace.
The invaders continued, but at
Valmy on
September 20, they came to a stalemate against Dumouriez and
Kellermann in which the highly professional French
artillery distinguished itself. Although the battle was a tactical draw, it gave a great boost to French morale. Further, the Prussians, finding that the campaign had been longer and more costly than predicted, decided that the cost and risk of continued fighting was too great, and they decided to retreat from France to preserve their army.
Meanwhile, the French had been successful on several other fronts, occupying
Savoy and
Nice in Italy, while General
Custine invaded Germany, several German towns along the Rhine, and reaching as far as
Frankfurt. Dumouriez went on the offensive in Belgium once again, winning a great victory over the Austrians at
Jemappes on
November 6, and occupying the entire country by the beginning of winter.
1793
See also:
On
January 21, the revolutionary government executed Louis XVI after a trial. This united all Europe, including
Spain,
Naples, and
the Netherlands against the revolution. Even
Great Britain, initially sympathetic to the assembly, had by now joined the First Coalition against France, and armies were raised against France on all its borders.
France responded by declaring a new levy of hundreds of thousands of men, beginning a French policy of using mass
conscription to deploy more of its manpower than the aristocratic states could, and remaining on the offensive so that these mass armies could commandeer war material from the territory of their enemies.
France suffered severe reverses at first, being driven out of
Belgium and suffering revolts in the west and south. By the end of the year, the new large armies and a fierce policy of internal repression including mass executions had repelled the invasions and suppressed the revolts. The year ended with French forces in the ascendant, but still close to France's pre-war borders.
1794
See also:
1794 brought increased success to the revolutionary armies. Although an invasion of
Piedmont failed, an invasion of
Spain across the
Pyrenees took
San Sebastián, and the French won a victory at the
Battle of Fleurus, occupying all of Belgium and the
Rhineland.
1795
See also:
After seizing the
Netherlands in a surprise winter attack, France established the
Batavian Republic as a puppet state. Further, Prussia and Spain both decided to make peace, in the
Peace of Basel ceding the left bank of the Rhine to France and freeing French armies from the Pyrenees. This ended the main crisis phase of the Revolution and France proper would be free from invasion for many years.
Britain attempted to reinforce the rebels in the
Vendée by landing French Royalist troops at
Quiberon, but failed, and
attempts to overthrow the government at Paris by force were foiled by the military garrison led by
Napoleon Bonaparte, leading to the establishment of the
Directory.
On the
Rhine frontier, General
Pichegru, negotiating with the exiled
Royalists, betrayed his army and forced the evacuation of
Mannheim and the failure of the siege of
Mayence by
Jourdan.
1796
See also:
The French prepared a great advance on three fronts, with Jourdan and
Moreau on the Rhine, and Bonaparte in Italy. The three armies were to link up in the
Tyrol and march on
Vienna.
Jourdan and Moreau advanced rapidly into Germany, and Moreau had reached
Bavaria and the edge of Tyrol by September, but Jourdan was defeated by
Archduke Charles, and both armies were forced to retreat back across the Rhine.
Napoleon, on the other hand, was completely successful in a daring invasion of Italy. He separated the armies of
Sardinia and
Austria, defeating them in detail, and forced a
peace on Sardinia while capturing
Milan and besieging
Mantua. He defeated successive Austrian armies sent against him under
Wurmser and
Alvintzy while continuing the siege.
The rebellion in the
Vendée was also finally crushed in 1796 by
Hoche, but Hoche's attempt to land a large invasion force in
Ireland was unsuccessful.
1797
See also:
Napoleon finally captured Mantua, with the Austrians surrendering 18,000 men.
Archduke Charles of Austria was unable to stop Napoleon from invading the Tyrol, and the Austrian government sued for peace in April, simultaneous with a new French invasion of Germany under Moreau and Hoche.
Austria signed the
Treaty of Campo Formio in October, ceding Belgium to France and recognizing French control of the Rhineland and much of Italy. The ancient republic of
Venice was partitioned between Austria and France. This ended the War of the First Coalition, although Great Britain remained in the war.
Sources
Original text from 1911 Encyclopædia BritannicaFurther Information
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