Treaty of Schönbrunn
The Treaty of Schönbrunn, also called the Peace of Schönbrunn or the Treaty of Vienna, was signed on the 14th of October 1809. France and Austria put their names to it at Schönbrunn Palace, just outside Vienna. German speakers knew it as the Friede von Schönbrunn or the Wiener Frieden. Only days before the signing, Napoleon, the man who dictated its terms, narrowly escaped an attempt on his life. Why did a defeated empire accept such a harsh peace? Which lands did Austria lose, and what else did it promise? And who was willing to risk everything to stop the emperor before the pen touched the paper?
The Peace of Pressburg of 1805 was the settlement Austria most wanted to reverse. While Spain resisted Napoleon in the Peninsular War, Austria tried to spark national uprisings in French-occupied parts of Central Europe. The most notable was the Tyrolean Rebellion, aimed at Bavaria, which was Napoleon's ally.
Those attempts failed, and French forces occupied Vienna in May 1809. Archduke Charles still managed to repulse the French at the Battle of Aspern on the 21st and the 22nd of May. Napoleon pulled his forces back. A few weeks later, on the 5th and the 6th of July, he crushed Charles' army at the Battle of Wagram. That decisive defeat ended the Fifth Coalition in the Napoleonic Wars. On the 12th of July, the archduke had to sign the Armistice of Znaim.
In October, Foreign Minister Johann Philipp Stadion was superseded by Klemens von Metternich, a change that would shape Austrian policy for years.
The Duchy of Salzburg passed to Bavaria under the treaty. France imposed harsh terms, and the territorial losses were large. Austria gave up its access to the Adriatic Sea by waiving the Littoral territories of Gorizia and Gradisca, along with the Imperial Free City of Trieste.
Carniola and the March of Istria also went to the French Empire. So did western, or "Upper," Carinthia together with East Tyrol, and the Croatian lands southwest of the river Sava. France gathered much of this territory into what became known as the Illyrian Provinces.
The northeast was carved up as well. West Galicia was ceded to the Duchy of Warsaw. The Tarnopol district went to the Russian Empire, which gained land despite taking no part in this settlement.
Austria also had to accept Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain. Napoleon's brother ruled there, and the treaty made Vienna recognize both his throne and every earlier conquest Napoleon had made from other nations.
Money and arms followed. Austria owed France a large indemnity, and its army was to shrink to 150,000 men. That promise was never fulfilled.
The fortress on the Schlossberg at Graz received a harsher fate. Its garrison had firmly resisted the French occupation forces, and the fortress was largely demolished.
Britain remained at war with France, so Austria also had to apply Napoleon's Continental System. A British commentator of the time read these clauses with open disgust.
Four hundred thousand subjects changed hands in this treaty, and one contemporary British writer was appalled. He accused a Christian king, who called himself the father of his people, of disposing of them "like swine in a market." The same writer mocked the great prince who bargained with his adversary even over the brushwood of his own forests.
The heir to the Imperial sceptre of Germany drew special scorn. By the writer's account, he had accepted past changes to his own dominions. He had also agreed to any future alterations Napoleon might choose for Austria's allies in Spain and Portugal, or for its neighbours in Italy.
The writer saw in all of it the humiliation of the weak and unfortunate Francis. In his view, Francis preferred giving up his fairest territories to granting his vassals liberties. The passage ends with a lament: "O, the brave and loyal, but, we fear, lost Tyrolese!"
In 1810, Emperor Francis I moved closer to France by marrying his daughter Marie Louise to Napoleon. She had at first detested him. Austria was considerably weakened by the treaty, yet it remained a European great power.
Metternich's change of policies carried the new alignment further. In 1812, Austrian forces joined the French invasion of Russia.
At Schönbrunn in October 1809, a very different challenge to Napoleon had unfolded, and no diplomat had planned it.
On the 12th of October, shortly before the signing, Napoleon left the palace with a large entourage to watch a military parade. Seventeen-year-old Friedrich Staps had arrived in Vienna from Naumburg. He was the son of a Lutheran pastor, and he demanded an audience to present a petition.
General Jean Rapp, the emperor's aide, refused him. Soon afterward, Rapp saw Staps in the courtyard, pushing through the crowd toward Napoleon from another direction. Rapp had him arrested.
At the palace, the guards found a large kitchen knife inside his coat, hidden among the petition papers. Questioned, Staps frankly admitted his plan to kill the emperor. He called Napoleon the misfortune of his country.
Napoleon was brought face to face with him and asked whether Staps would thank him if he were pardoned. Staps answered: "I would kill you none the less." Napoleon left Vienna on the 16th of October, and the young man's fate was sealed.
On the day after Napoleon's departure, fusiliers from Württemberg shot Staps outside the palace. He is said to have shouted "Long live freedom! Long live Germany!" at his execution.
Napoleon was impressed by the young man, and he feared a larger conspiracy lay behind him. He instructed his police minister, Joseph Fouché, to keep the incident secret.
Soon after the German campaign of 1813, Staps came to be seen as a martyr of the burgeoning German nationalism. A poem by Christian Friedrich Hebbel and a play by Walter von Molo later took his story as their subject.
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Common questions
When was the Treaty of Schönbrunn signed?
The Treaty of Schönbrunn was signed on the 14th of October 1809 at Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna. France and Austria were the signing parties.
What war did the Treaty of Schönbrunn end?
The Treaty of Schönbrunn ended the Fifth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars. Austria had been defeated at the decisive Battle of Wagram on the 5th and the 6th of July 1809.
What territory did Austria lose in the Treaty of Schönbrunn?
Austria ceded the Duchy of Salzburg to Bavaria and lost its Adriatic access, including Trieste, Carniola and Istria, to the French Empire. West Galicia went to the Duchy of Warsaw and the Tarnopol district to the Russian Empire.
What other obligations did the Treaty of Schönbrunn place on Austria?
Austria recognized Napoleon's earlier conquests and Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain, paid a large indemnity, and had to apply the Continental System. The treaty also reduced the Austrian army to 150,000 men, a promise that was not fulfilled.
Who tried to assassinate Napoleon during the Treaty of Schönbrunn negotiations?
Seventeen-year-old Friedrich Staps, son of a Lutheran pastor from Naumburg, tried to kill Napoleon on the 12th of October 1809. General Jean Rapp had him arrested, and he was found carrying a large kitchen knife.
What happened to Friedrich Staps after the Schönbrunn assassination attempt?
Staps was shot by Württemberg fusiliers outside the palace the day after Napoleon left Vienna on the 16th of October. He later came to be seen as a martyr of German nationalism and became the subject of a poem by Christian Friedrich Hebbel and a play by Walter von Molo.
All sources
6 references cited across the entry
- 1See Article 1.5
- 2See Article 1.1
- 3See Article 15