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Convention of Alessandria
Signing of the Convention of Alexandria(byMichel Martin Drolling)
Contextafter thedefeatof theArchduchy of Austriaby theFrench First Republicin theWar of the Second Coalition
Signed15 June 1800(1800-06-15)
LocationAlessandria
PartiesFrench First Republic
Habsburg monarchyAustria
Full text
Convention of AlessandriaatWikisource

TheConvention of Alessandria(also known as theArmistice of Marengo) was anarmisticesigned on 15 June 1800 between theFrench First Republicled byNapoleonandAustriaduring theWar of the Second Coalition.Following the Austrian defeat at theBattle of Marengo,they agreed to evacuate Italy as far as theMincioand abandon strongholds inPiedmontandMilan.Great Britain and Austria were allies and hoped to negotiate a peace treaty with France, but Napoleon insisted on separate treaties with each nation. The negotiations failed, and fighting resumed on 22 November 1800.

Background[edit]

Main articles:War of the Second CoalitionandBattle of Marengo
Scene of the battle in which Napoleon, followed by some generals, advances on horseback from the left towards the centre of the image. Behind him a regiment confronts in line the head of the Austrian pursuit column, while Desaix is being mortally wounded at the head of his men. Further to the right, Gen. Zach is captured by some cavalrymen and General Saint-Julien tried to escape the same fate. In the background Gen. Kellermann conducts his famous cavalry charge in the flank of the Austrians. Behind all the action lies the village of Spinetta, in front of the Apennines.
The Battle of Marengo

The War of the Second Coalition was the second war againstrevolutionaryFranceby various European monarchies. The Second Coalition was led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and included the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples, various German monarchies and several other minor European states. Its aim was to contain the expansion of the French Republic and to restore the monarchy in France.[1][2][3][4]

French troops returned to Italy in 1799,following a brief period of absence which had precipitated the collapse of theirItalian client republics.[5]Napoleon Bonaparte,who had seized power in theCoup of 18 Brumaire,[6]carried out a crossing of the Alps with his Army of the Reserve (officially commanded byLouis-Alexandre Berthier) in May 1800.[7][8]This move, made almost before the passes were open, threatened Austrian GeneralMichael von Melas' lines of communications in northern Italy. The French army then seizedMilanon 2 June, followed byPavia,PiacenzaandStradella,cutting the main Austrian supply route eastward along the south bank of thePo river.Bonaparte hoped that Melas' preoccupation with theSiege of Genoa,held by French GeneralAndré Masséna,would prevent the Austrians from responding to his offensive. However, Masséna surrendered the town on 4 June, freeing a large number of Austrians for operations against the French.[9]

On 9 June French GeneralJean Lannesbeat AustrianFeldmarschallleutnantPeter Ottin theBattle of Montebello.Bonaparte subsequently convinced himself that Melas would not attack and, further, that the Austrians were about to retreat. As other French forces closed from the west and south, the Austrian commander had withdrawn most of his troops from their positions nearNiceandGenoatoAlessandriaon the mainTurin-Mantuaroad.[9]TheBattle of Marengowas fought on 14 June 1800 between Bonaparte and Melas near Alessandria. Towards the end of the day, the French overcame the Austrian surprise attack.[10]

Convention[edit]

Land ceded by the Convention of Alessandria
Ceded to France
Neutral territory
Retained by Austria

At 4:00am on 15 June 1800, von Melas sent General Johann Ferdinand von Skal and two captains to the French encampment with aflag of surrender.Napoleon, who had expected the Austrians to continue fighting, quickly accepted the surrender.[11][12]A cease-fire was signed a few hours later. In the agreement, the Austrians agreed to evacuate to the left bank of theBormida,and that hostilities would cease for forty-eight hours. The Austrians initially hoped to give up onlyPiedmontand Genoa, but Napoleon demanded they retreat to behind thePoandMincio.The final agreement was formalized and signed as the Convention of Alessandria.[13][14]

On 15 June, the convention was signed. It caused the fighting to end,[15]and the Austrians agreed to evacuate Italy as far as the Mincio and abandon all of their strongholds in the Piedmont and Milan,[16]losing all that they had gained in 1798 and 1799.[17]The Austrians agreed to give the FrenchTortona,Alessandria, Milan, Turin,Pizzighetone,Arona,and Piacenza by 20 June. They agreed to surrender by 24 June the fortress ofConi,the castles of Seva andSavona,and the city of Genoa; and the city ofUrbinoby 26 June. The land between theChiesa,theOglio,and the Po rivers was ceded to the French, and that between the Chiesa and the Mincio was designated a neutral zone, not to "be occupied by either of the two armies."[15]The Austrians retained control ofTuscany,[18]and the bulk of their army, with the French letting their soldiers retreat.[19]

Aftermath[edit]

Allegory Representing the Convention of Alessandria after Napoleon's Victory at the Battle of MarengobyGiuseppe Longhi

On 17 June, Napoleon left for Paris after the signing of the convention.[20]He stopped in Milan that same day,[21]and was greeted as a hero, with large crowds celebrating his arrival. TheCisalpine Republicwas again established as aFrench client republic,and a temporary government was put in place until the signing of a peace treaty with Austria. Many strongholds listed in the convention were given up by the Austrians and their fortifications dismantled by the French, including Genoa on 24 June. Napoleon left Milan the same day, and stopped briefly in Turin andLyonbefore arriving in Paris on 2 July.[22][23]The victory consolidated Napoleon's political position inParisasFirst Consul.[10]French historianFrançois Furetnoted that the battle served as "the true coronation of [Napoleon's] power and his regime".[24]

General Officer Count Joseph Saint-Julien was sent to deliver the convention toFrancis II,[a][26]and it was soon ratified by the Court of Vienna.[27][13]It proved to be only a temporary cease-fire, asJohann Amadeus von Thugut(and the Austrian government) refused to accept the terms and give up any of Austria's Italian holdings.[28][27]Francis II, several hours before receiving the convention on 20 June 1800, had signed a treaty with Britain, in which Britain agreed to give Austria two millionpounds sterlingin exchange for Austria continuing the war with France. The treaty also prohibited negotiations between Austria and France without the involvement of Britain before 1 February 1801.[29][30]

Austria soon dispatched Saint-Julien to travel to Paris, carrying news of the treaty's ratification, and to further consider the terms of it.[b][29][30]He arrived on 21 July and began negotiations.[23]On 22 July he attended a meeting of theMinistry of Foreign Affairsat which Saint-Julien was persuaded to assume the position of anaccredited diplomatand sign several preliminary articles on 28 July.[32]Saint-Julien andGéraud Durocwere dispatched to deliver the news to Vienna. On 4 August, they arrived at Alt Oettiugen, the headquarters ofPaul Kray.[33]The negotiations were disavowed by Austria due to their treaty with Britain. Duroc was turned away and Saint-Julien was arrested for negotiating without instructions. On 29 September, the Convention ofCastiglionewas signed, extending the Convention of Alessandria;[29][30]but further negotiations atLunévillewere fruitless, as Napoleon demanded separate peace treaties with England and Austria.[34]On 22 November 1800 hostilities resumed.[28]

Historical opinion[edit]

British general and military historianJohn Mitchellargued in 1846 that the French would have accepted many fewer concessions and wrote that "nothing equal to this ill-fated convention had ever been known in military history."[14]The treaty was described by British historianThomas Henry Dyerin 1877 as "one of the most disgraceful capitulations in history."[35]HistorianDavid Bellconcluded in 2014 that a bulk of the Austrian army had survived the Battle of Marengo, and Melas was still in a position that he could have continued fighting. Prussian historianDietrich Heinrich von Bülow,"the keenest contemporary observer of the 1800 campaign,"[36]said of the convention: "Bonaparte did not seize success; Melas threw it away."[12]According to historian David Hollins, the victory allowed Napoleon to "secure his political power for the next 14 years."[21]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^With a note from Napoleon, expressing his desire for a more permanent peace treaty.[25]
  2. ^Saint-Julien was sent to placate Napoleon and buy time for the Austrians, and had been instructed not to negotiate so as to avoid angering Britain.[13]He had a letter from the Austrians, addressed to Napoleon that contained "a ratification of the armistice both in Italy and Germany, and invited explanations in reference to the bases of future negotiation."[31]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Second Coalition."World History: The Modern Era,ABC-CLIO, 2018.
  2. ^Schroeder, Paul W. (June 1987). "The Collapse of the Second Coalition".The Journal of Modern History.59(2): 244–290.doi:10.1086/243185.ISSN0022-2801.S2CID144734206.
  3. ^A ́goston, Ga ́bor; Masters, Bruce Alan (2010).Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire.Infobase Publishing. p. 515.ISBN9781438110257.
  4. ^Nash, Jay Robert (18 May 1976).Darkest Hours.Rowman & Littlefield. p. 773.ISBN9781590775264.
  5. ^Holmes, George (2001).The Oxford Illustrated History of Italy.Oxford University Press. p.180.ISBN9780192854445.Retrieved15 January2019.
  6. ^"Coup of 18–19 Brumaire | French history [1799]".Encyclopedia Britannica.Retrieved19 January2019.
  7. ^"'Napoleon Crossing the Alps', Paul Delaroche (1797–1856) ".Archived fromthe originalon 22 November 2008.Retrieved11 August2007.
  8. ^Markham, J. David (2003).Napoleon's Road to Glory: Triumphs, Defeats and Immortality.Brassey's. p. 101.ISBN9781857533279.
  9. ^abHollins 2006,p. 606.
  10. ^abHollins 2006,pp. 605–606.
  11. ^Arnold 1999,p. 188.
  12. ^abDwyer 2013,p. 43.
  13. ^abcMassey 1865,p. 258.
  14. ^abMitchell 1846,p. 558.
  15. ^abBerthier, Alexander (1800).Convention of Alessandria– viaWikisource.
  16. ^Birchall 1876,p. 540.
  17. ^Knight 1814,p. 395.
  18. ^Thiers & Marie 1846,p. 137.
  19. ^Bell 2014,pp. 222–226.
  20. ^Chandler 1973,p. 298.
  21. ^abHollins 2005,p. 96.
  22. ^Kolla, Edward James (2017).Sovereignty, International Law, and the French Revolution.Cambridge University Press. p. 251.ISBN9781107179547.
  23. ^abDeans 1882,pp. 697–698.
  24. ^Bell 2014,p. 227.
  25. ^Deans 1882,p. 697.
  26. ^Sainsbury 1936,p. 258.
  27. ^abRitchie 1802,p. 258.
  28. ^abRyan 2003,pp. 109–110.
  29. ^abcDyer 1877,p. 134.
  30. ^abcMassey 1865,p. 259.
  31. ^Deans 1882,p. 707.
  32. ^Deans 1882,pp. 707–708.
  33. ^Clarke 1816,pp. 475–476.
  34. ^Bright 1837,p. 1226.
  35. ^Dyer 1877,p. 132.
  36. ^Bell 2014,pp. 224–226.

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

Preceded by
Battle of Marengo 		French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns
Convention of Alessandria 		Succeeded by
Battle of Hohenlinden
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