The Battle of Austerlitz, 1805: Napoleon's masterpiece

Some generals win by strength. At Austerlitz, Napoleon won by making his enemy believe he was weak. Fought on the first anniversary of his coronation, against the combined armies of two emperors, it is the battle most often called his masterpiece.

The Battle of the Three Emperors

By late 1805 Napoleon faced a Third Coalition. In Moravia, the armies of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Emperor Francis II of Austria gathered against him, outnumbering the French. Napoleon wanted them to attack before more allies arrived, so he set about tempting them into it.

The bait

He gave up the commanding Pratzen Heights in the centre without a fight and deliberately left his right flank looking thin and vulnerable. To the watching Allied generals it looked like a French army in trouble, ripe to be cut off from Vienna. They took the bait.

Napoleon offered his enemy exactly the victory they wanted, then closed the door behind them.

The trap springs

At dawn on 2 December the Allies poured down off the Pratzen Heights to crush the French right. As their army slid south and the centre emptied, Napoleon launched Marshal Soult straight up the fog-covered slopes they had abandoned. The French seized the heights and drove a wedge through the middle of the Allied army, splitting it in two.

The rout

With their centre gone, the Allied wings were surrounded and shattered. Thousands of retreating soldiers streamed across frozen ponds to the south as French guns fired on the ice behind them, an image that became legend even if the drownings were fewer than the stories claimed. By afternoon the coalition army had come apart.

The peace

Austerlitz was total. Austria sued for peace within days, signing the Treaty of Pressburg; the Third Coalition collapsed, and within a year the thousand-year-old Holy Roman Empire was formally dissolved. Napoleon stood, for the moment, as master of continental Europe.

The masterpiece

What makes Austerlitz endure is not the scale but the design: an enemy tempted into attacking exactly where Napoleon wanted, then destroyed by a single decisive blow at the point they had weakened themselves. It is still studied as the model of a battle won in the mind before it was won on the field.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 called Napoleon's masterpiece?

The Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 is called Napoleon's masterpiece for its design rather than its scale: he tempted the enemy into attacking exactly where he wanted, then destroyed them with a single decisive blow at the point they had weakened. It is still studied as a battle won in the mind before it was won on the field.

How did Napoleon trap the Allies at Austerlitz in 1805?

At Austerlitz in 1805 Napoleon gave up the commanding Pratzen Heights without a fight and left his right flank looking thin, luring the Allies to pour down and attack it. As their centre emptied he sent Marshal Soult up the abandoned heights, split the Allied army in two and shattered its wings.

Did huge numbers of Allied soldiers really drown in the frozen ponds at Austerlitz in 1805?

The image of retreating soldiers dying on the frozen ponds at Austerlitz in 1805 became legend, but the drownings were fewer than the stories later claimed. The Allied army came apart chiefly because its centre was broken and its wings were surrounded.

When was the Battle of Austerlitz fought and who took part?

The Battle of Austerlitz, known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was fought on 2 December 1805 in Moravia, pitting Napoleon's France against the larger combined armies of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Emperor Francis II of Austria.

What were the consequences of the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805?

After the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 Austria sued for peace within days and signed the Treaty of Pressburg, the Third Coalition collapsed, and within a year the thousand-year-old Holy Roman Empire was formally dissolved, leaving Napoleon master of continental Europe.

Who won the Battle of Austerlitz?

France under Napoleon won the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, decisively beating the larger combined armies of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Emperor Francis II of Austria. The victory was total, and Austria sued for peace within days.