At dawn on December 2, 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée was assembled near the tiny village of Austerlitz, some 60 miles from Vienna, Although he was outnumbered by the Russian and Austrian allies of the Third Coalition, the French Emperor forced them to do battle on his own terms.
Leading his enemies to believe that his right flank was weak, Napoleon provoked them to attack with part of their troops. This division of forces weakened the allies, and Napoleon smashed through the center. The enemy retreated in confusion across ice-covered swamps. French cannon balls shattered the ice; hundreds of frantic men and horses were drowned. The panicked survivors threw down their arms and surrendered. One-third of the allied army had been destroyed.
This dramatic account of one of the most perfectly conceived and executed battles in history illuminates Napoleon's finest hour. The decisive victory wrecked the Holy Roman Empire which had dominated Europe for more than 1,000 years. And the social changes begun by the French Revolution—the rise of a middle class and the concept of equal rights for all—were extended over most of Europe.
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