Treaty of Schönbrunn — 14 octobre 1809

After Wagram, Austria ceded Salzburg to Bavaria, western Galicia to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and its Illyrian provinces to France: three and a half million subjects and a heavy indemnity. It joined the Continental System and cut its army to one hundred and fifty thousand men. Beaten for a fourth time, it would choose a marriage alliance rather than immediate revenge.

The Fifth Coalition

Taking advantage of the Spanish quagmire, Archduke Charles's rearmed Austria attacked Bavaria in April 1809, calling on Germany to rise. Napoleon, arriving in haste, won Abensberg, Landshut and Eckmühl and entered Vienna on 13 May. But the crossing of the Danube turned to disaster at Essling on 21-22 May — the Emperor's first personal defeat, in which Lannes was killed.

Wagram and the armistice

Six weeks of preparation allowed a successful second crossing. On 5 and 6 July at Wagram, three hundred thousand men clashed on the Marchfeld plain; Lauriston's massed artillery broke the Austrian centre. The victory was costly and the army too exhausted to pursue: the armistice of Znaim was signed on 12 July.

A treaty that prepared a marriage

Signed on 14 October in the palace of Schönbrunn, the treaty cost Austria three and a half million subjects: Salzburg to Bavaria, western Galicia to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, the Illyrian provinces to France, which thereby reached the Adriatic. Vienna joined the Continental System, cut its army to one hundred and fifty thousand men and paid eighty-five million.

Metternich, now minister, drew the opposite conclusion from revenge: since Austria could not win, it must ally. Five months later Archduchess Marie Louise married Napoleon.