Luneville world

The war between France and Austria in 1800-1801 went on two fronts. On the southern, Italian front, Napoleon and his marshals defeated (General Dese became the main actor of the victory) the Austrian army of Melas at Marengo ( June 14, 1800 ), after which the Alexandrian truce was concluded. After the ceasefire expired, hostilities in Italy resumed, and during the winter campaign the Austrians suffered a series of new defeats, as a result of which Austria was forced to sign a ceasefire in Treviso ( January 16, 1801 ) and Foligno . In fact, all of Italy was again in the hands of the French.

Around the same time, General Moreau , who was active in Germany , defeated the army of the Austrian Archduke John at Hohenlinden (according to various sources, December 2 or 3, 1800 ), after which the Shtayers truce was concluded ( December 25, 1800 ). Despite the fact that hostilities were still ongoing in Italy, the outcome of the war was decided after Hohenlinden, since the road to Vienna was open for Moreau's army, but he generously preferred to conclude a truce , believing that the goal of the war was achieved and new victims were meaningless.

After Hohenlinden, Count Kobenzl was appointed the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria instead of Baron Tugut , and Archduke Karl , brother of John, the most talented Austrian commander of the time, was appointed army commander. Karl, having familiarized himself with the state of the army, immediately called for peace talks, which were not slow to begin.

Initially, the Austro-French negotiations began in October 1800 in Paris between Cobenzl and Napoleon Bonaparte with Talleyrand , and then continued in Luneville with the same Cobenzl and Joseph Bonaparte, acting under the dictation of Napoleon. At first, Kobenzl dragged on negotiations, hoping that Napoleon, meanwhile, would be defeated. But in November 1800 the ceasefire concluded after the battle of Marengo ended, hostilities resumed and led to the defeat of the Austrians at Hohenlinden and a new ceasefire. Now Kobenzl began to accelerate the course of negotiations, and Napoleon, on the contrary, gave Joseph instructions not to rush with the signing of a peace treaty.

Napoleon determined the requirements of France on January 2, 1801 in a letter to the Legislative Assembly . He said that the obligatory terms of the contract should be the recognition of the Rhine River as the border of France, and the Adige (Ech) River as the border of the Cisalpine Republic . Count Cobenzl made every effort to save Tuscany for Archduke Ferdinand, but without success, and in the end was forced to agree to all the conditions of the winners. After Cobenzl agreed to a separate peace without England and to confirm the terms of the Campoformy Peace Treaty of 1797, negotiations ended with the signing of the Luneville Peace.

In content, the Luneville world was a worsened (for Austria) edition of the Campoforma Treaty of 1797, which was the basis for the new treaty. The Holy Roman Empire was completely squeezed out from the left bank of the Rhine, and this territory completely passed to France, which, in addition, acquired the Dutch possessions of Austria (Belgium) and Luxembourg.

Two new items that were disadvantageous for Austria were also included:

1. two new “republics” dependent on France — the Batavian and Helvetic — were recognized and the existence of two Ligurian and Cisalpine republics also dependent on France was confirmed;
2. the Austrian emperor Franz II was to guarantee the agreement not only as the Austrian sovereign, but also as the head of the German Empire - Napoleon wanted to avoid repeating the delays of the Rastatt Congress .

Austria retained Istria, Dalmatia and Venice with the region up to the Ech River, the lands on the right bank of which Austria ceded to the Cisalpine Republic. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany , taken from Archduke Ferdinand III , was transformed into the kingdom of Etruria and was given to the son of the Duke of Parma , Louis , married to the Spanish princess Louise .

The first consul prudently abandoned the idea of ​​restoring the Republic of Rome and Parthenopeia , returning to the pope his possession to the extent that they had at the end of 1797 , that is, without Romagna and Legatus.

A separate agreement was concluded with the Neapolitan Bourbons in Florence , which approved the terms of the armistice in Foligno, which gave the French the right to occupy Otranto , Tarento and Brindisi .

The Luneville Treaty restored peace on the continent after almost 10 years of continuous wars with revolutionary France .

The conclusion of the Luneville Peace marked the end of the Second Anti-French Coalition . Of the countries that were originally members of this coalition, only Great Britain continued the war. But having lost all her allies on the continent, she was forced to conclude the Amiens peace of 1802 .

France has become a leading power on the continent. Austria finally lost its significance as a great European power, which it has been since the 15th century . According to some historians, the salvation for Austria as a great power consisted in the internal consolidation and resolution of ethnic conflicts within the empire, but the Habsburgs chose a different path - the further struggle for hegemony in Germany, which led to new defeats and the final loss of Austria's influence on European politics in XIX century .