Questions about War of the First Coalition
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What caused the War of the First Coalition to start in 1792?
France declared war on Austria on the 20th of April 1792 after the Legislative Assembly voted for war following a list of grievances presented by foreign minister Charles François Dumouriez. Tensions had been building since the Declaration of Pillnitz in August 1791, when Leopold II and Frederick William II of Prussia threatened consequences if the French royal family was harmed. Prussia then allied with Austria in February 1792 and declared war on France in June 1792.
What was the levée en masse and how did it affect the War of the First Coalition?
The levée en masse was a mass conscription law passed in August 1793 that drafted all French men aged 18 to 25 into the army. It gave France the ability to field far larger armies than any coalition member, and those armies were designed to live off conquered territory rather than relying on French supply lines. The measure turned the tide of the war by overwhelming the professional but numerically smaller forces of France's opponents.
Why did Prussia withdraw from the First Coalition?
Prussia withdrew because it could not afford a prolonged two-front war. Of the 42,000 Prussian soldiers who entered France in 1792, fewer than 20,000 returned across the frontier, most of them sick. The kingdom's treasury had been nearly emptied by earlier mobilizations against Austria and Russia, and Prussia was simultaneously managing the Partitions of Poland in the east. Frederick William II signed the Treaty of Basel on the 17th of May 1795, accepting the loss of Prussian territories west of the Rhine.
What was the Battle of Valmy and why was it significant in the War of the First Coalition?
The Battle of Valmy took place on the 20th of September 1792, when the Prussian army under the Duke of Brunswick met French forces under Dumouriez and Kellermann. The skilled French artillery held the Prussians to a tactical draw rather than a defeat. The result gave French morale a critical boost, convinced the Prussians to retreat from France, and bought time for the revolutionary government to build new armies. Two days later, the National Convention proclaimed the French Republic.
How did Napoleon Bonaparte contribute to ending the War of the First Coalition?
Napoleon, newly promoted general, conducted a campaign in Italy starting in 1796 that defeated Austria's successive relief armies under Beaulieu, Wurmser, and Alvinczi. On the 2nd of February 1797, Mantua fell with 18,000 Austrian prisoners. Napoleon then advanced into the Tyrol, forcing Austria to sue for peace. The resulting Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797 ended the war, with Austria ceding Belgium and recognizing French control of the Rhineland and much of Italy.
Was there ever a battle fought on British soil during the War of the First Coalition?
Yes. On the 22nd of February 1797, a French force of 1,400 troops from the Légion Noire under Colonel William Tate landed near Fishguard in Wales. Around 500 British reservists, militia, and sailors under John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor, confronted them. After brief clashes on the 23rd of February, Tate surrendered unconditionally on the 24th. This was the only battle fought on British soil during the Revolutionary Wars.