War of the First Coalition

The War of the First Coalition lasted five years from 1792 to 1797 and encompassed most of the great powers of Europe.  The powers of Europe looked on in increasing alarm when France descended into Revolution.  The Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of Austria Leopold II was perhaps the most perturbed as it was his sister who sit in the middle of the maelstrom as Marie Antoinette Queen of France.  As the Royal family were forced to move to Paris in October 1789 and the power of the monarchy was steadily eroded.

As more French noblemen and eventually the Princes of the Blood fled France they found themselves in the courts of the Kings of Europe.  Leopold and King Frederick William II of Prussia issued the Declaration of Pillnitz in August 1791.  The statement demanded that the Royal Family be treated with the respect due to their position.  The declaration and the threat of perceived counter revolutionaries at home made the Assembly act and they declared war on the 20th April 1792.

The war did not start well for France with many troops deserting and refusing to stand in battle.  The Duke of Brunswick invaded France taking the key fortress of Verdun.  Feeling that the war was going in his favour he issued a Declaration on the 25th July 1792 stating he would restore Louis XVI and kill anyone who opposed him.  This did not have the effect he wanted as this led to the rallying of the French Revolution and the toppling of the monarchy as mobs stormed the Tuileries Palace.

The wave of enthusiasm carried  the Republican forces onto the field of Valmy on the 20th September 1792.  The French armies under Dumouriez and Kellermann although not winning the battle in any decisive fashion managed to stand and fight.  The Prussians not gaining the easy win they expected retreated.  The French would now go on the offensive into Savoy, Belgium (with Dumouriez winning a victory at Jemappes on 6 November 1792) and Germany itself.

With the execution of the King tension rose in the previously peaceful parts of Europe.  The Assembly declared war on Spain and Britain in the early months of 1793. Over the course of the year Portugal, Tuscany and Naples would declare war on France.  The government had to issue a form of conscription to draw hundreds of thousands into the Revolutionary armies.  Although this in turn would cause internal tension throughout France particularly in Royalist areas and more specifically the Vendee.

In 1794 the war stretched across the globe as Britain seized the islands of Martinique, St Lucia and Guadeloupe (which the French would recover).  The Revolutionary Armies were more successful in the European theatre where they seized Belgium after the Battle of Fleurus.  The Revolutionary Armies would also sweep into the Netherlands transforming it into the Batavian Republic.  The Prussians would soon come to terms with France at the Peace of Basel in April 1795.  Tuscany and Spain would quickly come to terms with the French.

Britain throughout this time period supported Royalist attempts at overthrowing the government and reintroducing the Bourbons.  They landed émigrés at Quiberon but the troops and other Royalists in the area were quickly destroyed by forces from the government.

By 1796 the French government (at this point the Directory) went on the offensive.  Jourdan and Moreau surged over the Rhine and although initially successful were forced back beyond the Rhine by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen.  In Italy however a young Napoleon Bonaparte was revealing a talent for war defeating all Austrian armies sent to him in the field whilst capturing Milan.  By 1797 he had captured Mantua and pushing into the Tyrol.  The Austrians were forced to sue for peace.   The Treaty of Campo Formio gave Belgium to France and acknowledged the French right to control much of Italy and the Rhineland.

The Revolutionary government even went so far as to attempt an invasion of unstable Ireland in 1796.  Although Lazare Hoche’s attempts would flounder in the foul weather of the English Channel.  This unsuccessful attempt was followed up by an invasion of Wales hoping to raise the population in rebellion.  They were given short shrift by the local population and forced to surrender.  Panic however coursed through Britain as France seemed to be able to strike anywhere.

By the end of 1797 only Britain was still at war with France.