Austerlitz, Battle of

Austerlitz, Battle of, one of the greatest military engagements won by Napoleon I. It took place near the village of Austerlitz (now Slavkov, Czech Republic) on December 2, 1805, between a French army of about 68,000 and an Austro-Russian army of nearly 90,000. It is sometimes called the Battle of the Three Emperors because Napoleon, Francis I of Austria (later Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor), and Alexander I of Russia were all present on the field.

Napoleon had defeated the Austrians at Ulm in October and had occupied Vienna, the Austrian capital, in November, but part of the Austrian army remained intact and moved north to join its Russian ally at Olmütz (Olomouc) in Moravia (present-day Czech Republic). Napoleon followed, with the aim of winning a quick victory before Prussia could join the anti-French coalition and tip the scales against him.

Napoleon advanced as far as Brünn (Brno) in late November and then retired a few miles, hoping that the Russian commander, Prince Mikhail Illaironovich Kutuzov, would try to outflank him and cut off his line of retreat to Vienna. The anti-French allies thereupon occupied the Pratzen plateau west of Austerlitz, and, on December 2, the Russians advanced to attack Napoleon's right flank, as he had hoped they would. This attack and another by the Austrians on the left flank were both repelled. At that point, Napoleon sent his main force, under Marshal Nicolas Soult, against the weakened allied centre to carry out flanking movements. After a fierce struggle, the French broke the Austrian and Russian lines, and a complete rout ensued. The French lost 9,000 men; the allies, about 25,000. As a result of this victory, the third coalition against Napoleon dissolved. The Russian army was forced to withdraw from Austria, and Austria signed the Treaty of Pressburg (1805), in which it recognized Napoleon as King of Italy, and relinquished territories in north Italy, the Alpine regions, and on the Adriatic coast.