Nexus of Thought: War of the Fifth Coalition

Thursday, August 1, 2019

War of the Fifth Coalition

The War of the Fifth Coalition was the fifth of the seven coalition wars that defined the Napoleonic Era. It was fought between April and October of 1809.

Napoleon at Wagram (1809). Source: Napoleon In Wagram July 1809 by Joseph Louis Hippolyte Bellange

Napoleon’s France (allied with the Confederation of the Rhine, Holland plus several smaller states) faced off against an Austrian dominated coalition that included Hungary, Tyrol, Britain, Sicily and Sardinia.

The coalition has earlier been given a boost by a Spanish victory at the Battle of Bailen in 1808 (part of the Peninsular War). The defeat caused much consternation among Napoleon’s Allies. This was further compounded by the backroom political deals instigated by France’s foreign minister Talleyrand and Russia’s Tsar Alexander I at the Congress of Erfut (October 1808).

The ever scheming Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, prince de Bénévent- French diplomat and political chameleon. He survived both the turbulence of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. Source Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, prince de Bénévent | French statesman and diplomat

The Austrians seized the moment and struck first in the War winning the Battle of Aspen-Essling. However the French regrouped and defeated the Austrians at Wagram. A final French victory occurred at the Battle of Znaim. In October 1809 the Treaty of Schönbrunn was signed ending the war. Austria gave up land to Bavaria (Tyrol and Salzburg). The Russians received the Duchy of Warsaw and France took control over much of Austria’s Adriatic coastal possessions (Ilyrian provinces) leaving her landlocked, 3.5 million less in population and having to pay a war debt of 75 million francs to France.

Map of the Battle of Wagram - Map of the battle of Wagram

Worth noting is that although the French won the critical battle of the war - Wagram - it came at a heavy price. French losses were placed at 27,500 compared to the Austrian death toll of 23,750.Battle of Wagram, 5-6 July 1809

On a grander scheme. The war halted hostilities in non-Iberian Europe until 1812 when the France invaded Russia.

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1.That there is a God who transcends space and time. (I call it God for want of a name although I personally prefer the Kabbalistic term Ein Sof).

2. That it is impossible to know the nature of God. It cannot be truly defined.

3. That the universe operates according to the Laws of Physics. Life evolved through a combination of natural selection, genetic drift and other selection pressures acting on a genome whose variation arose as a consequence of mutation.

4. That God can intervene but such intervention is undetectable and does not contravene the laws of physics. God is a subtle actor who presents no evidence of understandable design.

5. That an agnostic position on a personal God makes sense.

6. That revealed religion are merely man made attempts at trying to understand God and although some carry the wisdom of earlier thought they are all inherently flawed.

7. That humans need to develop their own moral code based on reason, logic and the collective thinking of what has worked in the past.

8. That some religious customs may serve a purpose with respect to group cohesion but they need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

9. That God is a minimalist in action but not a disinterested party.

10. That the afterlife is unknowable.

11. That skepticism and the scientific method are the best tools we have in understanding the world.