Congress of Prague

Austria was in a unique position: France's ally by the treaty of 1812 and the marriage of 1810, father-in-law of the Emperor in the person of Francis I, and yet determined not to let France dominate Germany. Metternich chose mediation, which let him set the price of his neutrality — or of his entry into the war.

On 26 June 1813, at Dresden, he met Napoleon for several hours. The interview is famous for its violence; what emerged was that France would not yield easily, and that Austria now had the choice of arms.

The terms presented during the summer were, for a France that had just lost an army in Russia, remarkably moderate: dissolution of the Duchy of Warsaw, return of the Illyrian Provinces to Austria, abandonment of the Hanseatic cities, restoration of Prussia. In exchange France would keep the Rhine frontier, Belgium, Italy.

The congress opened at Prague in July. Caulaincourt represented France there without powers sufficient to conclude; Metternich set an ultimatum for midnight on 10 August.

Napoleon played for time. He counted on an autumn victory to negotiate better, and refused to pay in territory for what arms had not yet taken from him. The ultimatum expired without a useful answer; Austria declared war on 12 August.

France thus passed from one more adversary to a complete coalition: Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, England. Ten weeks later, at Leipzig, the Empire lost Germany. Prague was the last moment at which a peace leaving France the Rhine remained on the table.