Key Facts
- French force size
- 210,000 troops in seven corps
- Austrian prisoners captured
- ~60,000 at Ulm
- Date of Austrian surrender
- 20 October 1805
- Vienna captured
- 12 November 1805
- Battle of Austerlitz casualties
- 24,000–36,000
Strategic Narrative Overview
Napoleon executed a sweeping wheeling maneuver, rapidly marching his corps to encircle the Austrian army under FML Karl Mack von Leiberich near Ulm. Outflanked and cut off, Mack surrendered approximately 60,000 troops on 20 October 1805. The French then advanced aggressively eastward, capturing Vienna on 12 November. Kutuzov's Russian army withdrew northeast to await reinforcements, leading to the climactic confrontation at Austerlitz on 2 December.
01 / The Origins
In 1805, the War of the Third Coalition brought Austria, Russia, and Britain into alliance against Napoleonic France. An Austrian army advanced into Bavaria, a French ally, before Russian reinforcements could arrive. Napoleon, commanding the Grande Armée of 210,000 troops organized into seven corps, sought to destroy the Austrian force in the Danube valley quickly and decisively to prevent the two enemy armies from combining into an overwhelming force.
03 / The Outcome
The Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805 inflicted 24,000 to 36,000 casualties and forced Austria from the war. The Treaty of Pressburg in late December ended the Third Coalition and confirmed Napoleonic France as the dominant power in Central Europe. These events directly precipitated the War of the Fourth Coalition the following year, pitting France against Prussia and Russia.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Napoleon Bonaparte.
Side B
2 belligerents
Karl Mack von Leiberich, Mikhail Kutuzov.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.