In video: Napoleon’s exceptional fate and his military masterpiece, the Battle of Austerlitz

In less than 20 years, Napoleon Bonaparte fulfilled his extraordinary destiny in the world. He left behind reforms which still permeate French society and the French way of life today. The Civil Code and the modernization of the administration and the economy are part of a heritage from which France continues to live.

In the first of two videos of the Herodotus Magazine, which are reproduced here, you can see a tight synthesis of that an exceptional destination, which was that of Bonaparte. And in the second, a chronicle of his military masterpiece, the Battle of Austerlitz or Battle of the Three Emperors.

Napoleon consolidated the principles of equality of the French Revolution by transforming them into an institutional organization. He defeated the great absolutist powers of the time: Austria at Austerlitz, Prussia at Jena and Russia at Friedland.

He changed the structures of Europe and defeated the Holy Roman Empire, and brought the ideas of the Revolution to Moscow.

Their victories and defeats revealed to the nations themselves: among others, their actions he laid the foundations for the unity of Germany and Italy.

The Napoleonic act also had an impact on our continent, because the American colonies took advantage of the French war against Spain and Portugal to emancipate themselves.

VIDEO: HOW WAS THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ OR THE BATTLE OF THE THREE EMPERORS

The Battle of Austerlitz pitted Napoleon’s Grand Army – 75,000 men – against the 85,000 soldiers of the coalition formed by Austria and Russia, commanded by the Emperor of Austria Francis II and the Tsar of all the Russias, Alexander I.

In this battle, Napoleon Bonaparte compensated for the numerical inferiority of his forces, make his enemies believe he was retreating, to encourage them to attack on his weaker flank while reserving the bulk of his forces to counterattack at a convenient time.

The development of the battle, which started at 4 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m., is depicted in this video.

But beyond the military defeat, unexpected for the Austro-Russian coalition, there is the geopolitical impact that Austerlitz had. The Holy Roman Empire, almost a thousand years old, disappeared the day after the defeat, giving rise, in a large part of its territories, to the Confederation of the Rhine, made up of 16 states allied to Napoleon and which were in its orbit.

The great vanquished was therefore Francisco II, who had to cede to France, the German States and the Kingdom of Italy, whose viceroy was neither more nor less than the son-in-law of Bonaparte, Eugène de Beauharnais, son by Joséphine.

Russia was also defeated from battle, seeing its prestige as an imperial power affected, in addition to the fact that most of the casualties were Russians.

Austerlitz consolidates the power of Napoleon on the European continent and establishes France as the great power of the moment. At the same time, this domination over Europe, which was not always exercised in the right way, fueled national feelings in the different territories, sowing the seeds for the consolidation of future nations.

The battle too fueled the myth around Napoleon, for the conditions under which he defeated two powerful empires, based essentially on a daring strategy.

THE ORPHANS OF AUSTERLITZ

Napoleon was a genius of grand strategy, but he neglected no detail.

After the victory, he wrote a decree, the first article of which read: “We adopt all the children of French generals, officers and soldiers killed in the Battle of Austerlitz.”

Article 2 established that these orphans would be “taken care of and educated” by the French State and that “widows would receive a pension”.

Finally, article 3 stated: “Whatever your family and baptismal names, they will have the right to join it that of Napoleon ”.

For example, in a French cemetery, a tombstone with the name of Genevieve Napoleon.

The inscription reads as follows: “Here lies Geneviève Napoléon Lamarche, Orphan of Austerlitz, adopted daughter of the Emperor Napoleon. Wife of Pierre Barnabé Lebrequier, mayor of Carneville, died in this town on January 23, 1842 at the age of 40 years and 21 days. A good wife, a tender and kind mother, a sincere friend, in love with order and work, she never ceased to set an example until her last moments, a worthy wife and mother ”.

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