Erfurt, Electorate of Mainz, Holy Roman Empire

April 19th, 1837

“Incoming!”

Sergent Benoit Dumont ducked as a shell exploded several meters away, punching a hole into through an earthen barrier and spraying dirt onto his head. Several soldiers were blown apart by the blast, and Dumont swore he saw a limp body flying out of the trenches like a ragdoll and tumbling onto the ground several meters away. The wide plains of central Germany were now filled with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and long cuts across the soil. A sprawling hill covered in forest separated them from their enemies, yet the artillery shells were flying through the clear blue sky and hitting their marks with ease.

He kept his head down as the shells landed one after another, a symphony of explosions and screams ringing in his ears. Amidst all the devastation around him, Dumont heard the familiar sound of French artillery firing in response. He silently prayed that the Prussians and Austrians would end up like the flying French soldier.

“Sergent!” Caporal Felix Renou yelled above the din. “The capitaine wants us to fix that barrier!”

“Is he fou? Didn’t he just see that soldier flying out of the trenches?”

“That was his second in command, so yes!”

“Sa mère,” Dumont cursed. “Probably landed too close to his ass and wants us to baby him. Tell him we’ll be right there.”

He motioned for his squad to follow him, and they crawled to the captain’s position as shells exploded around them. The barriers mostly held up, dampening the shrapnel and explosions with their sloped designs. Yet, more than a few broke through or landed within the gaps, showering the unfortunate recipients with lead.

After a few minutes, Dumont finally reached his destination and leaned against the dirt while glaring at his officer. A soldier was trembling next to the captain, a young man named Louis Adolphe Bonard, as he waved at the gap in the barrier. “I want you and your men to help this engineer fix the hole, aussitôt!”

“What happened to the dedicated team of engineers?”

“Blown up, like my lieutenant.” Captain Bonard answered pointedly. That was when Dumont realized the numerous corpses of men wearing black clothing and navy blue helmets with orange stripes strewn on the ground nearby.

The uniform of the French Combat Engineers.

“They have deadlier artillery than before! The range, the accuracy, the fire rate, and even the sounds of the shells are different!” The lone engineer babbled, his young face twisted in fear. “They couldn’t have designed and produced so many new guns that fast! It’s just not possible!”

“Snap out of it, caporal!” Bonard shouted as he shook him violently. “It’s Perfidious Albion. They’re the only nation… Damn, America was too soft on them; they should’ve burned the British to the ground!”

Dumont grimaced. “Too late for that, capitaine.”

“Maybe after we beat the Prussian dogs and the Austrian pigs, we can convince the Americans to finish what they started. Now fill in the hole, dépêche-toi!”

The sergeant grunted as he grabbed a shovel and dug up some dirt. His soldiers followed, and soon, the gaping hole was covered with a sizeable pile, overseen by the nervous engineer as he mumbled out instructions. Thankfully, the Prussian and Austrian guns had shifted elsewhere, and Dumont only heard the screaming and moaning of injured soldiers and the distant boom of artillery. However, he knew another poor French sergeant would be in his position very soon.

“Look at that! Our boys are advancing!” Captain Bonard hollered. “Unlike them, we march forward and fight head-on like real men! Give those enfoirés hell!”

Every soldier in the trenches looked up to see a swarming mass of French soldiers running out of Erfurt and to the west. Since the only other path to the enemy was a small uphill gap between two forests, Dumont guessed that the troops were moving around the forests themselves.

Which the enemy should have expected.

Some of his men cheered on the advancing soldiers, especially the newer ones, but they quieted down when Dumont scowled at them. “We’ll return to our previous position and be on guard. I want a constant flow of information from the signals officer; we will prepare for anything that comes our way.”

“Another trap, sergent?” Renou asked.

“The Prussian is tricky,” Dumont answered. No one needed him to clarify who the ‘Prussian’ was. “Our marshal knows this, so he probably has a plan in motion. However, it never hurts to prepare for the worst.”

Renou nodded. He and Dumont had fought in every major battle during this accursed war, evident by their haggard looks and thin faces. They had fought against Clausewitz’s army multiple times and barely scraped through each fight. Months of half rations, harassment from the locals, and the cold had taken a toll on them. It didn’t help that most of their former squad members were either dead or sick, including Soldat de 2nde classe Jean Perrot.

They hunkered down in their part of the trench, with the sergeant running drills and inspecting weapons. After half an hour, the only orders he received were to maintain position, and was told a large assault was underway in western Steigerwald, the name of the unending forest in front of them. He pulled out his binoculars and looked west, only to see a mass flurry of smoke and steel. Several explosions rocked the battlefield, though Dumont was unsure if the shells were from them or their enemy.

Suddenly, some of the French soldiers in the mass turned south to the forest and peeled off from the main attack. Dumont sharply turned his head to see a mass of Prussian and Austrian cavalry boring down the French attack group and sweeping behind them.

“No…” Dumont whispered. “Not again! Where is the cavalry?”

A group of French dragoons and cavalrymen answered his question several minutes later. However, they were outnumbered by their counterparts and edged out by the carbine fire from the Prussian dragoons.

“How is our cavalry outnumbered? Command told us that most of their cavalry were destroyed during and after Bamberg….”

Soon, the French charge turned into a chaotic and confused panic as the Coalition pincered the French infantry from two sides.

A shot rang out, and Dumont turned to see Renou with his Fusil modèle 1836 primed at the forest. “I just saw movement there. Probably Prussian skirmishers.”

“On your feet! Get moving! Grab your weapons and make sure they are loaded properly!” Dumont roared to his soldiers. Soldiers from other squads and regiments nearby also heard his shouts and looked up.

“What’s happening?” Someone asked.

“Our defeat.”

+++++

Excerpt from "Pride Comes Before the Fall: The Third Coalition War"

Tattered Supply Trains

… The severed rail connection prompted the French government to devote more time and effort to repairing the Liege-Hanover line and building a new one from Bremerhaven to Hanover. However, neither of these projects would finish until early March; by then, the war was nearing its end. The disrupted rail line threw French logistics into chaos, leading to food shortages that took far too long to rectify. Hence from December to February, the Grand Army was forced to ration its supplies and seize whatever it could from the locals to survive.

Clausewitz’s scorched-earth strategy meant that much of Germany was already on the brink of starvation before the French soldiers arrived. When the French began its occupation of the western HRE territories, promising liberation and liberalization, many German civilians rejoiced at the prospect of receiving aid and relief. However, this celebration quickly turned into confusion when the French refused to help the locals. Then it quickly morphed into horror when the French seized any foodstuffs from the locals during the winter. A German civilian in Berburg wrote in January of 1837, “[The French] are now seizing cats and dogs for their soldiers. I fear that this entire town will be devoid of life by next month, and there will be nothing left for them to " liberalize.”” Historians estimate that during the winter between 1836 and 1837, approximately half a million German civilians perished from starvation or diseases related to malnutrition…

It is important to note why the French Army refused to withdraw to a more suppliable position. The first was the insistence of the French government. Many in the upper echelons of government, including President Ange Rene Armand, believed that conceding the gains made by the French Army would only embolden France’s enemies and weaken France’s position. Additionally, with France’s finances in tatters due to the failed railway project, unstable trade, and the war, any retreat would be seen as a failure and strengthen the anti-war factions. If the war were to continue, then there would be no retreat. There was only one way forward, and it was to advance.

The second was the French Army itself. The French Army had already established their winter quarters in Halle, and a withdrawal would necessitate a massive construction effort elsewhere to base hundreds of thousands of French soldiers. Additionally, Marshal Suchet and other senior officers believed the war was only a few battles away from being won. After Bamberg, many officers were convinced that Clausewitz would continue to attack them during the winter months, which necessitated maintaining most French forces on the front lines. Thus, while several thousand National Guardsmen withdrew to ease logistics, the entirety of the Grand Army remained in central Germany, except for the ill and the injured…

While the Grand Army escaped mass starvation, the morale and discipline of the soldiers fell rapidly. Disease ran rampant among the hungry troops, worsened by malnutrition. After the French seized the foodstuffs from locals, they were greeted with shouts and slurs instead of open arms. Occasionally, German civilians fired back, further aggravating the French soldiers' moral dilemma. These factors disillusioned many young French men and women serving in the Grand Army, who had initially believed they were fighting a war of liberation. However, they quickly felt as though they were unwanted occupiers, as Sergent Benoit Dumont stated in his journal, “My soldiers are cold and hungry. They are bitter at the Prussians and Austrians denying them a chance of glory and avoid the [local Germans] like the plague.” It is unsurprising why the desertion rate was noticeably high throughout the winter, with tens of thousands deserting and fleeting to their homes or the United States in just January of 37 alone…

While French troops were suffering, Clausewitz reformed the broken Coalition army and improved its discipline and quality. Due to its war with the United States, Britain had large quantities of weapons and ammunition it was willing to sell in bulk. And while Britain lagged in developing infantry weapons, it was on par with the other powers in artillery (Whitworth Field Guns were comparable to the artillery pieces that America and France fielded). Thus, Prussia and Austria bought large quantities of cannons and explosive shells from the British, resolving the artillery gap between Prussia/Austria and France. Additionally, the Trieste Agreement regarding the Ottoman Empire and the growing power of Russia in the east strengthened ties between Britain and Austria. This would lead to several British observers within Prussian and Austrian ranks, imparting experience and knowledge the British officers gained from the Anglo-American War…

(Trieste Agreement, in which both Britain and Austria agreed to support the Ottomans and prevent them from collapsing or losing too much territory)

By spring, the two sides were in very different positions. The Coalition army exited the winter refreshed and strengthened. While they were still outnumbered by the French and lacked sufficient cavalry, the Coalition was ready to face their enemy on the battlefield with their new weaponry, tactics, and training. Contrastingly, the French soldiers were exhausted and demoralized. They still had better weapons and greater numbers, but their resolve and discipline were fraying. Even the French high command was faring poorly, with Marshal Suchet acting extremely cautious due to pressure from the French government and his own soldiers. This would lead to the Grand Army’s undoing and the disaster at Erfurt.

The Battle of Erfurt and Suchet’s Folly

The Grand Army immediately advanced at the first sign of spring, marching into Leipzig and moving towards Prague in early March. However, the Grand Army was halted at Dresden, failing to break the Coalition defenses around the city and retreating to Halle after an inconclusive battle on March 22nd, 1837. Frankfurt and Kustrin were captured but subsequently sacked and abandoned by French forces after they failed to cross the Oder. By this time, Marshal Suchet was much more reckless than before, the unpalatable winter failing to cool his temper and irrationality. Rumors of his potential dismissal due to his ‘failures’ also increased his willingness to risk his entire army in a ‘decisive’ battle, allowing Clausewitz to lead Suchet around and set the stage for his grand finale.

A failed Coalition probing attack outside Halle on March 30th confirmed Clausewitz’s belief that a direct attack into the leading French camps was far too costly and foolish. Thus, other targets were sought out and considered to surround the French Army or force it to retreat. To that end, after careful consideration, Clausewitz chose occupied Erfurt in the Electorate of Mainz as his battleground. It was a small town southwest of Halle that protected the flow of supplies to the French front lines. If the Coalition seized Erfurt, the French would abandon their positions on the Elbe River, including Halle, and retreat west. It would also open up a direct path to Hanover and threaten the encirclement of the Grand Army.

On April 11th, Clausewitz and the Duke of Teschen launched a joint assault toward Erfurt with one hundred and twenty thousand men. The towns of Jena and Weimar were rapidly liberated within the first four days of the campaign, opening the path to their objective and threatening the French’s rear. Suchet responded rapidly and overwhelmingly by deploying the main bulk of his forces to defend Erfurt and strengthen the defensive lines within the town. However, by the time he and his two hundred thousand troops arrived in the dead of night on the 18th, the Coalition was camped just south of the settlement, behind the thick Steigerwald Forest and hills. The Prussians and Austrians created a large defensive line running through the forest, with the Duke of Teschen taking charge of the east and Clausewitz holding the west.

The battle for Erfurt began on the morning of the 19th when French trenches were bombarded by the new Prussian and Austrian artillery guns, causing significant damage to the bewildered French defenders. French military engineers did not expect the Prussians or Austrians to launch explosive shells in sufficient numbers. As such, the inadequate earthworks and trenches were blown apart, resulting in thousands of casualties before the battle truly began. French artillery would soon provide counterfire, but the lack of proper spotters and the difficulty of seeing Coalition forces within the forest resulted in scattered hits on the Coalition lines. Meanwhile, the Coalition guns continued to rain fire from their elevated position above the town, forcing the French marshal to act.

Suchet begrudgingly realized that with the current layout of the battlefield and the new Coalition artillery guns, the French army would suffer a disproportionate number of casualties before engaging the enemy infantry. France’s advantage in long-distance duels was negated at Erfurt, and he would need to command his army swiftly or suffer a humiliating defeat from artillery fire. This led to a hasty decision to attack due west, where the forest cleared up. The open plains would provide space for his infantry and cavalry to maneuver. Though a large Coalition force led by Brigadier Wrangel was positioned there, Suchet believed it was the best place for his army’s numbers and superior weaponry to be exploited.

There were only two clear routes through the Steigerwald Forest in the south, and they were far too narrow and easily defensible. The east was filled with atrocious terrain that was also advantageous for the defenders. Thus, Suchet chose the only option he believed was available, even though he knew Clausewitz would be ready for him there. Yet, the only choice here was to retreat or advance, and with his career and the war on the line, he ordered the charge. Till the very end, he truly believed that despite their condition, his soldiers would break the Coalition lines and finish the war.

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The main French assault into the Coalition defenses began at noon, with nearly sixty thousand men led by General Bousset pushing into the Prussian lines. Despite having a clear angle at the enemy push, the Coalition artillery ignored them and continued to fire into the French trenches toward Erfurt. This unnerved Bousset, who believed he and his men were being urged to charge into the Coalition lines and being placed into a trap. Suchet agreed and sent additional reinforcements, which included some cavalry, to Bousset’s position. However, Bousset was mistakenly informed that the reinforcements would cover his flank. In reality, they remained within the outskirts of Erfurt, and a noticeable gap formed between Bousset’s group and the main French lines.

Bousset’s charge crashed into the main Coalition lines as the Coalition forces withdrew from the first line of trenches and into the second. Bousset noticed this and again requested assurance of his retreat path should he need to pull back quickly. Suchet reaffirmed his request, though he was busy with skirmishes in the east and failed to check in with the reinforcements he had sent. After the first trench line was seized, the Coalition turned their artillery and struck the overextended French soldiers.

The trench line was shoddily constructed on purpose, allowing shells to inflict the maximum amount of damage on Bousset’s group. Continual harassment from the Coalition soldiers in the second trench line placed immense pressure on the beleaguered French soldiers. While they fought bravely, it was clear that they were outmatched in their current position. They lacked artillery support, and the enemy’s artillery was angled perfectly to bombard them. Additionally, some regiments under Bousset were already routing or ducking out of the fight, an effect of the harsh winter sapping the morale and discipline of the French Army.

After an hour of intense firefight and artillery fire, Bousset ordered a general retreat after taking thousands of casualties with little gains to show for the effort. While Suchet had ordered him to soldier on and break the Coalition lines, Bousset believed his push was getting nowhere and worried about a potential flank. As he was leading almost a third of the French forces committed in the battle, he chose to pull back and regroup instead of whittling down his soldiers and being encircled. His worries materialized into reality as four Prussian dragoon regiments emerged from the woods and quickly exploited the gap between Bousset’s group and the main French lines.

The Prussian dragoons were some of the few cavalry units Clausewitz still had under his command. Yet, they and the rest of the Coalition cavalry had been deployed in the east near Suchet’s command for most of the fight. Clausewitz had these units publicly visible and known to the French, as their presence forced Suchet to maintain most of his own cavalry in the area. Clausewitz knew that his cavalry was heavily outnumbered, even after accounting for the losses France suffered at Bamberg and during the winter. That was one of the factors he considered when he chose Erfurt as his battleground and why he refused to push into the town proper and placed his army within the forests and hills. He utilized the sprawling forest as cover to hide his calvary's movement from the recon balloons above.

(France’s infantry-to-cavalry ratio was approximately four to one, one of the highest in Europe. This was due to the French Army refining trench doctrines since the First French Revolution, where Murat discovered the necessity of highly mobile units to flank and surround trench lines. However, the war's attrition and length had whittled down the French ratio to about five to one. In contrast, at Erfurt, the Coalition’s ratio was eight to one.)

Once he was informed of Bousset’s assault, Clausewitz immediately sent a message to the Duke of Teschen to bring forth the Prussian dragoons and flank the French push. He planned to draw the main French assault group deeper into his own lines and then whittle them down while using his cavalry to threaten and harass the retreat. However, minutes before his cavalry arrived, he noticed the lack of a proper rearguard covering the escape path and gave new orders to both the dragoons and his infantry.

Snap the rat trap close, and push outward.

The well-trained and disciplined Prussian and Austrian soldiers carried out the orders with due haste, with the dragoons leading the countercharge and encircling Bousset and his men within minutes. Two French cavalry regiments stormed out of Erfurt to break the encirclement, but were driven back by shrapnel and carbine fire. Unfortunately for Bousset, Suchet had failed to notice the movement of the Prussian dragoons, and as a result, the Prussian dragoons outnumbered their French counterparts. Additionally, the winter had taken its toll on the French cavalry, and their unit sizes had shrunk by a third. Thus, while they were still powerful, vaunted legions on paper, their actual abilities and effectiveness were greatly reduced.

Expectedly, the sudden Coalition push trapped Bousset and his group in place, while constantly expanding outwards toward Erfurt. Tens of thousands of Coalition soldiers began their assault into the French lines while artillery bombarded both the trenches and Bousset’s men. Clausewitz knew that completely destroying the pocket would be far too time-consuming and costly. Instead, he opted to force Bousset to surrender and make his hopeless position more evident. While the French were persistent, the Prussian marshal knew that even they had their breaking point. And due to their rough winter and situation, that breaking point was much lower.

After witnessing a second failed counterattack by hastily deployed French cavalry, Bousset surrendered. As he handed over his sword and took off his hat, he muttered, “Alas, we were always a few steps away from victory.”

Thirty thousand French soldiers followed suit and surrendered en masse, with the other thirty thousand already dead or wounded. The Coalition casualties from this phase of the battle were significantly lighter, with fourteen thousand casualties. This number would increase as the Coalition continued its advance into the French lines, but the damage was already done. More than a third of Suchet’s men were gone, and at the sight of the mass surrender, the trench lines in the west collapsed. Erfurt was shortly abandoned, and as more and more soldiers broke, Suchet could not maintain his positions in the east.

However, he stubbornly forced the soldiers under his direct command to remain, believing that the deserters would return if he held firm. He sent out his cavalry to cut off the flow of Coalition soldiers pushing from the west and to execute his own encirclement to rally his men. Artillery bombarded anything that moved, often dangerously close to the remaining few French defenders struggling in the trenches. Despite the chaos and the breakdown in cohesion, Suchet still had eighty thousand men under his command and held the brunt of his main defensive positions. If he stopped the Coalition's advance and whittled down their numbers with artillery, then the situation was still salvageable.

Yet, it was not meant to be as Brigadier Bandiera arrived from the southwest with fresh Austrian reinforcements of thirty thousand, among them some cavalry. Bandiera was the commanding officer of the divisions on the southern front, and rushed north when he received orders about the assault into Erfurt. While he arrived when the battle was well underway, his appearance was excellently timed and gave Clausewitz the extra troops he needed to complete the fight.

While the other Coalition soldiers continued their assault into the French lines, Bandiera and his men swung further north and threatened to envelop the remaining French defenders completely. This move was made independently from Clausewitz, as Bandiera made this decision with the Duke of Teschen’s inputs (who was immediately informed of his Austrian officer’s arrival). In conjunction with Bandiera, the Duke also detached some units to Bechstedtstraß, a village just east of Erfurt and the outer limits of the French defenses.

Suchet recognized this maneuver a bit too late and recalled his cavalry to prevent them from surrounding him. However, while he managed to secure Bechstedtstraß, Bandiera continued his advance north of Erfurt. Realizing that his retreating units were scattered and broken, Suchet ordered his remaining soldiers to retreat northeast. However, his orders were issued when most defenders were locked in close combat, and only a few responded quickly enough to escape. The others were left behind and captured by the Coalition, though they fought valiantly until it was clear they could not run.

Only Suchet and twenty thousand soldiers escaped from the group of eighty thousand. Thirty-five thousand surrendered, and an additional twenty-five thousand were casualties. In total, the French suffered over seventy thousand casualties, excluding those captured. The Coalition took over sixty thousand prisoners, the biggest surrender during the war. France nearly lost a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers from a single battle, with only about fifty thousand escaping. Meanwhile, the Coalition suffered ‘only’ forty thousand casualties…

The French high command and government were unaware that the war was now over; it was only a matter of how, not when, they would be forced to sue for peace.

The Panic and the Treaty of Frankfurt

Following the devastating defeat at Erfurt, Suchet led the survivors of the Grand Army back to Halle and began a hasty evacuation from the town. The loss had snapped some rationale into him, and he quickly regrouped the remaining divisions under his command and ordered them to shorten the front lines. He sent out orders for defenses to be erected in Gottingen and Magdeburg immediately to exploit the natural terrain in the area. Even if France could not force Prussia and Austria to bow out of the war, it could at least force them to recognize Hanover as an independent state.

Yet, just two weeks after the Battle of Erfurt, he received a notice informing him that President Armand had sacked him and replaced him with Marshal Gerard. The news curbed Suchet’s urgency, and instead of helping his successor ease into his role, Suchet left the front lines in disgust and promptly returned to France. Expectedly, Suchet’s dismissal and departure sowed chaos within the French high command, and instead of an orderly withdrawal to the designated defensive lines, the French Army collapsed into disarray. Gerard did his best to reorganize the Grand Army, but the breakdown in order and morale snowballed rapidly. By the end of April, he only had direct control over a single division, just forty thousand men…

Clausewitz wasted no time finishing what he had started and pursued the largest army groups. Another fifty thousand French soldiers were wounded, captured, or killed during May, eroding any opportunity of halting the Coalition’s advance. By May 15th, he and his army had seized Hanover, forcing Gerard and the remnants of the French Army to flee to Munster and retreat back into France. This allowed Clausewitz to move his entire army onto the border with the Rhineland Kingdom, only a short distance from French territory. Clausewitz’s rapid advance had rattled France’s allies, and the Netherlands and the Rhineland would mobilize to prevent a potential invasion. However, the French public was most impacted by the threat of invasion.

Millions of French citizens personally witnessed the French Revolutions and the Coalition Wars, and the thought of another invasion into France incited panic among the public. Additionally, the French government had released ambiguous information during the war, lulling the French public into a false sense of victory due to the sheer size of the Grand Army and its constant advance into HRE territory. When several newspapers leaked the full extent of the disaster at Erfurt and its aftermath, with hundreds of thousands of French soldiers being casualties or prisoners, it provoked an outcry against the government and a fear of a foreign invasion while France was weakened.

Thus, between May and June, the French government spent millions of francs recruiting new soldiers, building and expanding border forts, purchasing weapons and equipment, and preparing for a prolonged resistance against the Coalition. Meanwhile, dozens of protests broke out across the country, calling for the government's resignation and an end to the war. Popular slogans such as “Pourquoi mourir pour Hanover?” (Why die for Hanover?) reflected the popular sentiment against the war and the desire to avoid another drawn-out bloody war like the First French Revolution and Coalition War, which traumatized an entire generation of French people. The threat of invasion and the activation of the draft also caused the French economy to enter a downward spiral, just as it had barely recovered from the shock of losing its trade with America. The situation looked grim, and even President Armand lamented, “We will either be destroyed by the Coalition or ourselves.”

As the situation in France deteriorated, Chancellor Metternich publicly proposed a peace treaty to the French government, shocking officials on both sides. On the Coalition’s side, many Prussians sought to press the war and force France to pay for its invasion. However, unlike most of the Prussian officers, Clausewitz agreed with Metternich’s proposal, as he believed that a continued war against France would ruin the Coalition. A direct invasion of France would only galvanize the French, and even if they took Paris, it was unlikely the French government would surrender. The French still had millions of citizens it could mobilize, and with shorter supply trains, they could wield the full weight of millions.

Spiegel and Clausewitz, two of the most prominent Prussian officers, clashed over this issue for weeks. Yet, Clausewitz’s popularity and role in the war's major battles allowed him to clamp down on the dissenting Prussian officers. King Frederick William III approved of Metternich’s position after receiving pressure from the Austrian chancellor and from Clausewitz, which only cemented Clausewitz’s control over the Prussian military. King William was easily influenceable, and his marriage ties with Austria made him malleable to Austria’s demands. This seeming ‘betrayal’ from the weak and arbitrary Prussian monarch might have convinced Spiegel of the necessity of a stronger figure leading Prussia, hence his sturz of the government during the Revolutions of the 1840s…

The French government had little choice but to accept the proposal. The public demand for the end of the war only grew stronger after Chancellor Metternich publicly offered an end to the war. And with Hanover already occupied by the Coalition, many believed that the war was already lost. While some within the Assembly clamored to bleed out the Coalition and only accept peace after France was in a stronger position, the majority wanted the war to end. Hence, the government approved the beginning of talks to close out the Third Coalition War, the first major defeat for the young Republic in its history.

On September 4th, 1837, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed by all participants of the Third Coalition War. The treaty reaffirmed Hanover’s position within the Holy Roman Empire, though it would lose its electorate status. King Augustus would be reinstated onto the Hanoverian throne, and those that participated in the ‘rebellion’ against King Augustus would be imprisoned. France would pay some reparations for the destruction it caused within the HRE, which amounted to about twenty million francs (a rather lenient reparation considering the devastation from the war). The French prisoners of war would be returned gradually as the reparations were paid, though tens of thousands were released as a show of goodwill from the Coalition. Despite fears of the Rhineland Kingdom being re-absorbed into the HRE, Metternich wisely steered clear of the issue, and instead offered a humiliating, yet manageable peace for the French.

Overall, the peace was humiliating for France but wasn’t enough to create a deep hatred toward Austria and Prussia. France lost money and soldiers, but its client states and nation remained intact. Despite its loss, it was still the strongest power on the continent. As such, the French public turned their anger and frustration onto the government…

The Legacy of the Third Coalition War

The direct aftermath of the Third Coalition War led to a political shift within France. Even before the war, the Republicans were the biggest party in France and a large tent party prone to infighting. In particular, the two loudest voices within the party were the Dantonists (moderate liberals) and Cordayists (liberal jingoists), who quickly blamed each other for the embarrassing defeat. The Cordayists were largely influential, even with the ruling Girondins, and were the most vocal supporters in the Assembly for war. Jingoistic and supporters of “exporting” revolutions across Europe, the Cordayists pressured the Girondins into helping Hanover even with the risk of war. Claiming that France’s military would cruise to victory, which would lead to the liberation of the German states, the Cordayists were slapped with reality as the war shattered the perception of an invincible French military.

The Dantonists supported Danton’s policy of creating a “ring” of friendly republics around France but rejected the outright invasion of the other powers to spread republicanism. They claimed that the Cordayists were unrestrained warmongerers that wanted to conquer all of Europe in the name of liberalism, tarnishing the very principles laid out by Lafayette. Meanwhile, Cordayists berated the Dantonists for being too passive in foreign affairs and allowed France’s enemies to grow stronger while encircling the Republic. When President Armand, a Girondin war hawk, refused calls to begin reconciliation with Austria and Prussia after the war, it further solidified the split in the party. The Cordayists would support his position, while the Dantonists would be disgusted by the Cordayists supporting the conservative Girondins despite largely conflicting views and policies. This split would lead to the creation of Les Centristes (The Centrists, Dantonist) and Parti Radical (The Radical Party, Cordayist)...

Meanwhile, the economic cost of the war was significant for every involved major power. France would suffer the most economic loss in the aftermath, with government spending due to the military and reparations flailing widely out of control, resulting in a recession mirroring the downturn within Britain and the United States. While the Girondins would hold onto power for several years and attempt to reverse the economic downturn, the instability and the loss of face from the Third Coalition War would allow the liberals to return to power, rallying around the reformed-minded faction of the Radical Party. Like the Liberal Party of America, the Radical Party would pass much progressive legislation that would transform France into a more radical liberal republic while closely tying France’s sister republics to the French Metropole. The aggressive attitude of the Radicals in foreign affairs would also lead to the French Invasion of Algeria and the subsequent diplomatic crisis between France and Britain…

While Britain did not directly participate in the war, its arms export to the Coalition and increased trade with France helped the empire stabilize its finances and slow down its recession. After the war’s end, its attention would shift towards Spain and supplying the Christinos with arms against the Republicans. Britain’s policy on the mainland would be to contain ‘radical republicanism’ and support more moderate kingdoms, as seen in Iberia and Italy. This would contribute to Britain’s disapproval of a Republican Spain, the increased garrison at Gibraltar, the capture of Malta, and the fierce negotiations with France regarding the future of Morocco and Algeria…

Western Prussia was occupied for most of the war and was the site of numerous battles that wreaked havoc across the region. The fighting and scorched-earth tactics destroyed much of the area, and the cost of the war was significantly higher than expected for the Prussian government. Cities such as Magdeburg, Stendal, and Postdam would never recover to pre-war levels and languish for decades, while much of the countryside was devastated and depopulated. Not even the reparations were enough to rebuild the devastation caused by the war. Many Prussians would migrate out of the country, especially to the United States, and the military would see a slash in funding due to struggling finances. This would lead to Prussia faltering economically for years, resulting in the liberal wave during the Revolutions of the 1840s…

In Austria, the war was costly but not ruinous. Austrian territories were not invaded or sacked during the war, leaving much of its economy intact and untouched. Metternich’s impressive administrative capabilities allowed the nation to escape the economic downturn and utilize Austria’s stable position to exert more influence over the ruined German states. This was one of the reasons why Metternich was supportive of a scorched-earth policy: to weaken the smaller German states and force them to become more reliant on Austria, thus ensuring Habsburg supremacy within the Holy Roman Empire. Indeed, after the war, even large electorates such as Saxony and Bavaria were firmly under Austria’s thumb, and most of southern Germany was within Vienna’s grasp. The dream of a united Germany under the guidance of the Habsburgs was one step closer…

(It is important to note that Metternich failed to reform some of Austria's underlying economic and structural problems. Thus, while he staved off the economic downturn after the Third Coalition War, Austria would not escape the Panic of 1848 unscathed)

Yet, while the French were met with hostility and eventually defeated, they left a lasting impression on the local Germans. During their invasion of the HRE, the French Army systematically dismantled the nobility and encouraged the formation of democratic councils to head local governments. The Third Coalition War was not only an attempt by France to establish continental hegemony but also a maneuver to destabilize its rivals with the fires of revolution, much like in Liege and Hanover. Despite its defeat during the war, France planted the seeds of democracy across the HRE, which sprouted into waves of liberal movements in the region. For many locals, the brief French occupation was their first direct exposure to the ideas of liberty and democracy. While the French were oppressive occupiers, the views they left behind were seen in a much more favorable light, especially as word began to spread about the scorched earth policy that left much of the German states in ruins…

Ironically, France would get the last laugh in the aftermath of the Third Coalition War, as revolutions would sweep much of the HRE and lead to Prussia and Austria being occupied with quashing uprisings during much of the 1840s. While many of these revolutions would fail, they would lead to some reforms across the region’s major powers. However, one notable revolution did succeed, the Hungarian Revolution, which rocked Austria and expedited the formation of a Greater Germany under the Habsburgs (due to the instability and weak position of Prussia after the sturz)...

Additionally, the 1840s Revolutions would lead to the sturz (military overthrow) of the Prussian king due to his acceptance of liberal reforms. Led by Marshal Spiegel, the military government of Prussia would make the king a puppet figurehead, eventually leading to the Prussian Chaos and the formation of the German Empire under Austria in the years after….

However, the dreams of a liberal, democratic Germany did not die like the revolutions. Some revolutionaries would remain behind and create underground movements, criticizing the reformist yet conservative and nobility-centered German government. However, many would flee to the United States and, like the Irish, establish an overseas community to help stoke liberal movements in their homeland while building a new life in America. While failing to spark another revolution in their lifetime, their descendants would play a critical role in smoothing American-German relations after the Great War and the rising Cornflower Movement that would dominate Germany in the aftermath…