Treaty of Lunéville
The Austrian army had been defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Marengo on the 14th of June 1800. Jean Victor Moreau then crushed the Austrians at the Battle of Hohenlinden on the 3rd of December. These two military disasters forced Austria to sue for peace. The United Kingdom remained the sole nation still at war with France for another year after these events. The treaty formally ended Austrian and Imperial participation in the War of the Second Coalition.
On the 25th of December 1799, Bonaparte wrote to Francis II to propose peace. The imperial response was delayed until Austria signed a convention of alliance against Britain on the 20th of January 1800. Count Joseph von Saint-Julien arrived in Paris on the 21st of July 1800 and met with French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. A preliminary peace was signed on the 28th of July but rejected by the emperor when Saint-Julien returned to Vienna on the 5th of August. Ludwig von Cobenzl eventually replaced Ludwig Conrad von Lehrbach as the plenipotentiary for the final round of negotiations. The peace conference opened in Lunéville on the 7th of October but Cobenzl did not arrive for over two weeks.
The Treaty of Lunéville declared that there shall be peace among the parties henceforth and forever. The independence and sovereignty of the Cisalpine, Ligurian, Batavian and Helvetic republics was recognized. The entire left bank of the Rhine including the Austrian Netherlands was ceded to France. Imperial Italy was also ceded by the Empire becoming parts of France and the new Italian Republic. Whereas Campo Formio had not affected the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Lunéville ceded it to France. Certain imperial fortresses on the right bank of the Rhine were to be demolished.
Those princes who lost territory including the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Modena were to be compensated with territory in Germany east of the Rhine. This was accomplished largely through a programme of secularization of ecclesiastical principalities laid out at the Congress of Rastatt. France would supervise the process while Russia favored a more traditional balance. Eventually the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss final document reorganising the Empire was signed on the 25th of February 1803. Almost all free imperial cities lost their sovereignty during this restructuring.
The treaty was accepted by the Imperial Diet on the 7th of March. Austria resumed war against France in 1805 despite the peace agreement. The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss was the last major law in the history of the Holy Roman Empire before its dissolution in 1806. The United Kingdom remained at war with France for another year after the signing. Napoleon Bonaparte had won his victory at Hohenlinden on the 3rd of December which influenced Cobenzl's new instructions received on the 26th of December.
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Common questions
When was the Treaty of Lunéville signed?
The peace conference opened in Lunéville on the 7th of October. The treaty was accepted by the Imperial Diet on the 7th of March.
Who negotiated the Treaty of Lunéville for Austria?
Count Joseph von Saint-Julien arrived in Paris on the 21st of July 1800 to meet with French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. Ludwig von Cobenzl eventually replaced Ludwig Conrad von Lehrbach as the plenipotentiary for the final round of negotiations.
What territories did France gain from the Treaty of Lunéville?
The entire left bank of the Rhine including the Austrian Netherlands was ceded to France. Imperial Italy and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany were also ceded to France or became parts of the new Italian Republic.
Why did Austria sign the Treaty of Lunéville?
Austrian defeats at the Battle of Marengo on the 14th of June 1800 and the Battle of Hohenlinden on the 3rd of December forced Austria to sue for peace. These military disasters compelled the Empire to end its participation in the War of the Second Coalition.
When did the Holy Roman Empire dissolve after the Treaty of Lunéville?
The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss final document reorganising the Empire was signed on the 25th of February 1803. The Holy Roman Empire dissolved in 1806 following this restructuring which saw almost all free imperial cities lose their sovereignty.