Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to Western SIV, Episode six hundred and
Speaker 1: six Austerlitz. In May eighteen oh three, the uneasy piece
Speaker 1: that had held Europe together for barely a year collapsed
Speaker 1: into war once again. The Treaty of Aimes, the fragile
Speaker 1: pause between Britain and revolutionary of France, was broken. Britain
Speaker 1: declared war on Napoleon Bonaparte, and the world was plunged
Speaker 1: into what would become more than a decade of conflict. Here, folks,
Speaker 1: is where we actually be in the Napoleonic Wars. This
Speaker 1: today is going to be the story of those first
Speaker 1: furious years conflict, of the storms in Europe, the clashes
Speaker 1: at See, the armies on the March, and of course
Speaker 1: everything revolves around a single young emperor, Napoleon, who is
Speaker 1: going to stake his destiny and honestly the future of
Speaker 1: Europe and to a degree, the Western world, on one
Speaker 1: single throw of the dice. Austerlitz. So, the Treaty of Ames,
Speaker 1: signed in eighteen oh two, had promised peace between Britain
Speaker 1: and France after nearly ten years of revolutionary struggle, but
Speaker 1: peace with a guy like Napoleon was never meant to last.
Speaker 1: Britain had agreed to withdraw its forces from the Mediterranean,
Speaker 1: and France had promised to restrain its ambitions. However, within
Speaker 1: mere months, Napoleon's actions betrayed his true intentions. He reorganized
Speaker 1: the states of Italy, he played placed his relatives on
Speaker 1: various thrones. He tightened his grip over Holland and Switzerland,
Speaker 1: nations that Britain regarded as essential to Europe's balance of power.
Speaker 1: When Napoleon annexed Piedmont and occupied Dutch ports. The British
Speaker 1: government at that time, led by Prime Minister Henry Addington,
Speaker 1: soon replaced by the hawkish William Pitt the Younger decided
Speaker 1: enough's enough, and so on May sixteenth, eighteen oh three,
Speaker 1: Great Britain once again declared war on France. Napoleon responded furiously.
Speaker 1: He saw Britain as quote a nation of shopkeepers end quote,
Speaker 1: but also the lynchpin of every single coalition that had
Speaker 1: ever been arrayed against him. He wasn't totally wrong about that.
Speaker 1: If France was to dominate Europe, he believed Britain had
Speaker 1: to be defeated, or at the very least humbled, and
Speaker 1: so began One of Napoleon's most audacious plans an invasion
Speaker 1: of England itself. For the next two years, the coast
Speaker 1: of northern France became the staging ground of an enormous enterprise.
Speaker 1: Napoleon assembled the Army of England, over one hundred thousand
Speaker 1: men at blown on the Channel coast. He drilled them incessantly,
Speaker 1: not just as soldiers but as sailors. They practiced loading
Speaker 1: onto flat bottom barges, disembarking, firing in ranks, and charging
Speaker 1: across sand to do a kind of D Day style invasion,
Speaker 1: but a little over one hundred years before that was
Speaker 1: really realistic. Napoleon himself wrote among the tents daily inspecting, motivating,
Speaker 1: and imagining what could be. The invasion plan was really
Speaker 1: simple on paper, as most plans are, but almost impossible
Speaker 1: in practice. To cross the Channel, Napoleon would need control
Speaker 1: of the sea at least long enough for his transports
Speaker 1: to slip past the Royal Navy, and that meant he
Speaker 1: had to neutralize Britain's fleet. To do this, he turned
Speaker 1: to two admirals, Latouche Trevet, commanding at Toulon and later Villeneux,
Speaker 1: who would both take up the challenge. Their mission really
Speaker 1: was just to try to lure the British fleet away
Speaker 1: from the Channel, maybe to the Caribbean, and then race back,
Speaker 1: unite the French and Spanish squadrons, and sees a fleeting
Speaker 1: window for invasion. Napoleon believed that if his army ever
Speaker 1: got a foot on English soil, quote in three weeks,
Speaker 1: I shall be master of London. But standing in his
Speaker 1: way was the Royal Navy and the man who truly
Speaker 1: was it's beating heart, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson had become
Speaker 1: a national hero after the Battle of the Nile in
Speaker 1: seventeen ninety eight, where he had shattered Napoleon's fleet in Egypt.
Speaker 1: Now in eighteen oh three, he'd returned to the Mediterranean,
Speaker 1: commanding the British Blockade. The British strategy was relentless to
Speaker 1: choke France's ports, destroy its trade, and prevent its fleet
Speaker 1: from ever joining forces. The blockade was exhausting months at sea, storms,
Speaker 1: scurvy and monotony, but it strangled French ambitions. Napoleon's invasion
Speaker 1: army drilled and waited, but without control of the Channel,
Speaker 1: they could not move, and months slowly turned into years. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: across Europe, Napoleon sought to isolate Britain diplomatically. He pressured
Speaker 1: Spain into alliance, bellied smaller states, and in eighteen oh
Speaker 1: four crowned himself Emperor of the French, a gesture that
Speaker 1: shocked monarchs all across the continent. In Vienna and Saint
Speaker 1: Petersburg and London, Napoleon's enemies began to stir once more.
Speaker 1: In eighteen oh five, a new Grand Alliance formed, the
Speaker 1: Third Coalition, uniting Britain, Austria, Russia, and Sweden against France.
Speaker 1: Their plan was sweeping. While Britain struck at French colonies
Speaker 1: in trade, Austria and Russia would advance into Germany and Italy,
Speaker 1: liberating the territories Napoleon had overrun. But before Napoleon could
Speaker 1: meet them on land, he had to deal with a
Speaker 1: unified struggle at seas. His fleets, French and Spanish, were
Speaker 1: finally in motion. Napoleon's orders to Admiral Villen Nuevo were ambitious,
Speaker 1: even grandiose. Sail from Toulon a veiled Nelson's blockade, acrossed
Speaker 1: the Atlantic, unite with other French squadrons in the Caribbean,
Speaker 1: and then race back to the Channel to clear the
Speaker 1: way for an invasion. Villain Neuvu, a cautious man, did
Speaker 1: as he was told, at least partially. He slipped past
Speaker 1: Nelson in the spring of eighteen oh five cross to
Speaker 1: the West Indies, lingered uncertainly and then turned back. Nelson
Speaker 1: pursued but couldn't catch him. When villain U reached European
Speaker 1: waters again, he joined with Spanish ships at Caddith, but
Speaker 1: instead of heading north toward the Channel, he hesitated. Reports
Speaker 1: that a British fleet waited for him in the Bay
Speaker 1: of Biscay, and his own lack of confidence made him
Speaker 1: turn back. Napoleon was furious his dream of invasion was
Speaker 1: slipping away. He wrote an exasperation, what a navy, what
Speaker 1: an admiral? All lost because of one man's cowardice. The
Speaker 1: dream of crossing to England was abandoned. The Army of
Speaker 1: England would instead become the Grand Army, a continental force
Speaker 1: eastward toward Austria and Russia. Still, the unfinished naval struggle
Speaker 1: quickly reached its climax off the coast of Spain, in
Speaker 1: a place called Trafalgar. Admiral Nelson finally cornered villain News
Speaker 1: combined Franco Spanish fleet near Cape Trafalgar on the twenty
Speaker 1: first of October eighteen five, the British fleet, thirty three
Speaker 1: ships strong, sailed into battle in two columns, cutting directly
Speaker 1: through the enemy line, a bold and very unconventional tactic.
Speaker 1: As the ships closed, Nelson aboard his flagship the victory
Speaker 1: signaled his now immortal words England expects that every man
Speaker 1: will do his duty. The victory crashed through the line
Speaker 1: between villain News Buquetirne and the massive Spanish sent to
Speaker 1: Misa Trinidad, unleashing broadsides after broadside had virtually point blank range,
Speaker 1: cannon smoke, fire splinters filled. The air men were ripped
Speaker 1: apart by iron shot, Masts fell, and decks bursts into flames.
Speaker 1: Nelson himself paced the quarterdeck calmly, wearing his admiral's coat,
Speaker 1: metals glittering. At one fifteen PM, of French sniper aboard
Speaker 1: the redoubtable fired from the rigging. The bullet struck Nelson
Speaker 1: in the shoulder and lodged in his spine. He was
Speaker 1: carried below decks as the battle raged above. He murmured,
Speaker 1: they have done for me at last, But I have
Speaker 1: done my duty by evening, the Franco Spanish fleet was shattered.
Speaker 1: Nineteen enemy ships were captured or destroyed. Not a single
Speaker 1: British ship was lost. Nelson died at four thirty pm
Speaker 1: the same day, knowing that his victory had been complete.
Speaker 1: Travolgar forever ended Napoleon's hopes of challenging British mastery at sea.
Speaker 1: The invasion of England was officially dead, but even as
Speaker 1: the guns fell silent off Spain, Napoleon's armies were already
Speaker 1: marching toward glory in the heart of Europe. In late
Speaker 1: August eighteen oh five, Napoleon shifted his focus east. The
Speaker 1: Grand Army, now nearly two hundred thousand men strong, poured
Speaker 1: out of the Bolong camps and began the long march
Speaker 1: across the Rhine into southern Germany. Their speed and organization
Speaker 1: astonished Europe. Moving in self sufficient corps, each a miniature
Speaker 1: army of infantry, cavalry and artillery, they advanced with precision
Speaker 1: and discipline. Napoleon called it la Marche and Avant the
Speaker 1: March Forward. I would personally say Europe hadn't seen anything
Speaker 1: like it since the Leege of Rome Austria under General
Speaker 1: Karl Mack had moved first, occupying Bavaria and expecting Russian reinforcements,
Speaker 1: but Napoleon struck well before the Russians could arrive. His
Speaker 1: strategy was classic, surround and destroy one enemy before the
Speaker 1: others could unite. The campaign that followed would be a
Speaker 1: master class in maneuvering and warfare. Max Austrian army, about
Speaker 1: seventy thousand strong, was positioned around the town of Ulm
Speaker 1: on the Upper Danube River. He believed that Napoleon would
Speaker 1: attack head on from the west. Instead, Napoleon swung his
Speaker 1: army in a vast arc to the north, crossing the
Speaker 1: Rhine at multiple points and sweeping down behind the Austrians
Speaker 1: from the east. This maneuver, known as strategic envelopment, cut
Speaker 1: Max lines of communication and encircled his forces without a
Speaker 1: major battle. By mid October, the Austrians were totally trapped
Speaker 1: as the French corps tightened the ring. Small engagements flared
Speaker 1: at Wurtemberg, Gutensenberg and Elkshen, each tightening the noose. Marshall
Speaker 1: Michael Nay stormed bridges under heavy fire. Joe Kim Murrat's
Speaker 1: cavalry cut off retreat routes. Mac realized way too late
Speaker 1: what was happening. On October the nineteenth, Surrounded and hopeless,
Speaker 1: he surrendered his entire army, nearly thirty thousand men, without
Speaker 1: a decisive battle. Napoleon wrote back to Empress Josephine that night,
Speaker 1: in fifteen days, we have finished a campaign. I have
Speaker 1: destroyed the Austrian army by marches alone. The victory at
Speaker 1: Um was one of the most brilliant strategic feats in
Speaker 1: modern warfare. It opened the road to Vienna, shattered Austrian morale,
Speaker 1: and left the Russians dangerously Napoleon marched on relentlessly. By
Speaker 1: mid October, French forces entered Vienna, the Austrian capital. The
Speaker 1: city fell without resistance. The imperial family fled eastward toward
Speaker 1: the advancing Russians. Napoleon crossed the Danube at the captured
Speaker 1: Taber Bridge, famously stopping an Austrian attempt to destroy it
Speaker 1: by bluffing his way past the guards. Soldiers, Would you
Speaker 1: destroy your bridge in the face of the Emperor of France,
Speaker 1: he cried, and the men hesitated just long enough for
Speaker 1: his troops to seize it. Vienna's fall was a stunning
Speaker 1: humiliation for Austria, but Napoleon knew the real test lay ahead.
Speaker 1: The Russian army under generals Kutsov and Boxden. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that I'm getting those right, was closing in behind them.
Speaker 1: Loomed the figure of Alexander the First of Russia, determined
Speaker 1: to avenge the loss at and defend his Austrian ally,
Speaker 1: would come down on the frozen plains of Moravia at
Speaker 1: a small village called Austerlitz. By early December eighteen oh five,
Speaker 1: the two armies were maneuvering for position near Bruneau in
Speaker 1: modern day Czech Republic. Napoleon's force numbered about seventy three thousand.
Speaker 1: The allies, Russians and Austrians combined over eighty five thousand.
Speaker 1: Napoleon knew he was outnumbered, but he also knew how
Speaker 1: to make the enemy play his game. He feigned weakness,
Speaker 1: deliberately thinning his right flank to lure the Austrians into
Speaker 1: attacking it. If they believe I am retreating, he told
Speaker 1: his marshals, they are lost. On December the first, the
Speaker 1: day before the battle, Napoleon surveyed the field from the
Speaker 1: prots and heights, a gently rising ridge that dominated the landscape.
Speaker 1: Then he withdrew his men from it, a calculated deception.
Speaker 1: That night, his soldiers camped in frost and missed. Fires
Speaker 1: flickered across the valley. Napoleon rode amongst them, speaking softly,
Speaker 1: promising victory. His words spread through the ranks. Remember, soldiers,
Speaker 1: your emperor watches over you. Then came one of the
Speaker 1: most famous moments in the Napoleonic legend, the dawn of
Speaker 1: December the second, eighteen oh five, the anniversary of his coronation,
Speaker 1: As the morning mist was lifted, sunlight breaking through the
Speaker 1: sun of Austerlitz, as his veterans would forever call it.
Speaker 1: At dawn, the Allied army began its attack, just as
Speaker 1: Napoleon had hoped. Believing his right flank weak, they sent
Speaker 1: their main force, over forty thousand men against the French
Speaker 1: positions near the villages of Telns and Skolinst. The French right,
Speaker 1: commanded by martial Devout, was hard pressed but held firm.
Speaker 1: His third Corps had marched more than seventy miles in
Speaker 1: two days to join the battle. They fought desperately against
Speaker 1: superior numbers, buying time for Napoleon's trap to close. On
Speaker 1: eight thirty in the morning, as the Allied center thinned
Speaker 1: to reinforce the assault, Napoleon turned to Marshal Sout, commanding
Speaker 1: the fourth Corps. How long will you need to reach
Speaker 1: the heights, he asked, Less than twenty minutes, Sire Salt replied.
Speaker 1: Napoleon waited a moment longer, then raised his hand. One
Speaker 1: sharp blow, and the war is over. Advance Salt's divisions
Speaker 1: surged forward through the mist, up the slopes of the
Speaker 1: Prots and Heights. The battle's balance shifted in an instant.
Speaker 1: French columns smashed into the weakened Allied center, driving them
Speaker 1: back in confusion. Napoleon himself rode with the advance, directing
Speaker 1: artillery fire and urging on his men. By midday, the
Speaker 1: Prots and Heights, the key to the battlefield, were in
Speaker 1: French hands. From that vantage point, French guns now poured
Speaker 1: fire down on the Allied in planks below. On the
Speaker 1: southern end, near the frozen ponds of Sachin, chaos erupted
Speaker 1: as the Allied left tried to retreat. French artillery raked
Speaker 1: the ice. Contemporary accounts claimed that hundreds drowned as the
Speaker 1: surface shattered under cannon fire, though later historians suggest that
Speaker 1: the number was a lot smaller. Still, the image of men,
Speaker 1: horses and wagons crashing through the ice became part of
Speaker 1: the Napoleonic legend. By afternoon, the battle was decided. The
Speaker 1: Allied army was shattered thirty six thousand casualties to the
Speaker 1: French nine thousand. The emperors of Austria and Russia fled
Speaker 1: the field. Napoleon rode amongst his troops as they cheered, shouting,
Speaker 1: vived Emperor. That night, from the captured Frats and Heights,
Speaker 1: Napoleon dictated his report to Paris soldiers. I am satisfied
Speaker 1: with you on this day. You have justified all my expectations.
Speaker 1: You have crowned yourselves with immortal glory. The victory at
Speaker 1: Austerlitz ended the Third Coalition in one stroke. Austria sued
Speaker 1: for peace immediately. The resulting Treaty of Presburg forced heavy
Speaker 1: territorial concessions. Austria seated lands in Italy and Germany, recognizing
Speaker 1: Napoleon's control over the new Kingdom of Italy, and paid
Speaker 1: him a massive indemnity. Russia retreated eastward, humiliated but not broken,
Speaker 1: written isolated once again continued the war at sea, but
Speaker 1: now alone. In just two months, Napoleon had destroyed one army,
Speaker 1: captured a capital, and annihilated a coalition on the field
Speaker 1: of battle. The map of Europe was now his to
Speaker 1: a redraw. By the end of eighteen oh five, Napoleon
Speaker 1: stood at the height of his power, from the Atlantic
Speaker 1: to the Carpathians. His empire dominated the continent. The Grand Army,
Speaker 1: once posed on the Channel coast, was now the most
Speaker 1: formidable military force in the world. Soldiers veterans of the
Speaker 1: Battles of Bologne, whom and now Austerlitz, believed that they
Speaker 1: were invincible. In Paris, the bells of Notre Dame rang
Speaker 1: out in celebration. The French Senate declared that peace is
Speaker 1: restored to Europe, though few, if anyone, believed it would last.
Speaker 1: From London, William Pitt looked down upon the news of Austerlitz. Grimly.
Speaker 1: He said to have been remarked, roll up that map
Speaker 1: of Europe. It will not be wanted these ten years.
Speaker 1: But even Pitt underestimated Napoleon's ambition. The peace of eighteen
Speaker 1: o five would soon give way to new wars against Prussia.
Speaker 1: Against Russia again and eventually against the world. Still in
Speaker 1: that moment, beneath the bright winter sun in Moravia, for
Speaker 1: that moment, at least, Napoleon Bonaparte stood supreme, you know,
Speaker 1: almost co