War of the Fourth Coalition

1806 Jan 1

Prologue

Berlin, Germany

The Fourth Coalition (1806–1807) of Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden formed against France within months of the collapse of the previous coalition. Following his triumph at the Battle of Austerlitz and the subsequent demise of the Third Coalition, Napoleon looked forward to achieving a general peace in Europe, especially with his two main remaining antagonists, Britain and Russia. One point of contention was the fate of Hanover, aGerman electorate in personal union with the British monarchy that had been occupied by France since 1803. Dispute over this state would eventually become a casus belli for both Britain and Prussia against France. This issue also dragged Sweden into the war, whose forces had been deployed there as part of the effort to liberate Hanover during the war of the previous coalition. The path to war seemed inevitable after French forces ejected the Swedish troops in April 1806. Another cause was Napoleon's formation in July 1806 of the Confederation of the Rhine out of the various German states which constituted the Rhineland and other parts of western Germany. The formation of the Confederation was the final nail in the coffin of the moribund Holy Roman Empire and subsequently its last Habsburg emperor, Francis II, changed his title to simply Francis I, Emperor of Austria.

Last Updated: Tue Aug 02 2022

HistoryMaps Shop

Shop Now

There are several ways to support the HistoryMaps Project.
Shop Now
Donate
Support Page

What's New

New Features

Timelines
Articles

Fixed/Updated

Herodotus
Today

New HistoryMaps

History of Afghanistan
History of Georgia
History of Azerbaijan
History of Albania