Peace of Leoben
 A sketch of the signing, for a painting drawn in 1806 byGuillaume Guillon-Lethière.Now in thePalace of Versailles. | |
| Type | Armistice |
|---|---|
| Signed | 18 April 1797 |
| Location | Leoben |
ThePeace of Leoben[a][1]was a generalarmisticeand preliminary peace agreement between theHoly Roman Empireand theFirst French Republicthat ended theWar of the First Coalition.It was signed at Eggenwaldsches Gartenhaus, nearLeoben,on 18 April 1797 (29 germinal V in theFrench revolutionary calendar) by GeneralMaximilian von Merveldtand theMarquis of Galloon behalf of theEmperor Francis IIand by GeneralNapoléon Bonaparteon behalf of theFrench Directory.Ratifications were exchanged inMontebelloon 24 May, and the treaty came into effect immediately.
On 30 March, Bonaparte had made his headquarters atKlagenfurtand from there, on 31 March, he sent a letter to the Austrian commander-in-chief,Archduke Charles,requesting an armistice to prevent the further loss of life. Receiving no response, the French advanced as far asJudenburgby the evening of 7 April. That night, Charles offered a truce for five days, which was accepted. On 13 April, Merveldt went to the French headquarters at Leoben. He requested the armistice be extended so that a preliminary peace could be signed, which was granted, and three proposals were drawn up. The final one was accepted by both sides, and on 18 April at Leoben, the preliminary peace was signed.[2]
The treaty contained nine public articles and eleven secret ones. In the public articles, the Emperor ceded his "Belgian Provinces" (theAustrian Netherlands), and in the secret articles, he ceded his Italian states (Lombardy) in exchange for theItalian mainland possessionsof theRepublic of Venice,which had not yet been conquered. Except for these personal losses to the rulingHabsburgs,the treaty preserved the integrity of the Holy Roman Empire, unlike in the amplifiedTreaty of Campo Formioof 17 October 1797.
No final peace between the Holy Roman Empire and France was reached before the outbreak of theWar of the Second Coalitionin 1799.
Notes[edit]
- ^Also called theTreaty of Leoben,thePreliminaries of Leoben,theConvention of Leoben,theTruce of Leobenor theArmistice of Leoben.
- ^Britannica
- ^Rose 1904,p. 582.
Sources[edit]
- Gagliardo, John G. (1980).Reich and Nation: The Holy Roman Empire as Idea and Reality, 1763–1806.University of Indiana Press.
- Kann, Robert A. (1974).A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526–1918.University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-02408-3.
- Rose, John Holland(1904). "Bonaparte and the Conquest of Italy". In Ward, A. W.; Prothero, G. W.; Leathes, Stanley (eds.).The Cambridge Modern History, Volume VIII: The French Revolution.Cambridge University Press. pp. 553–93.
- Whaley, Joachim (2012).Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, Volume II: The Peace of Westphalia to the Dissolution of the Reich, 1648–1806.Oxford University Press.
External links[edit]
- Text of treaty in original French
Media related toTreaty of Leobenat Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Action of 25 January 1797 |
French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Peace of Leoben |
Succeeded by Battle of Neuwied (1797) |
- 18th century in the Southern Netherlands
- Leoben
- Austria–France relations
- Peace treaties of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Treaties of the French First Republic
- Treaties of the Habsburg monarchy
- Secret treaties
- 1797 treaties
- 18th century in Austria
- 1797 in France
- 1797 in Italy
- 1797 in the Habsburg monarchy
- 1797 in the Holy Roman Empire
- France–Holy Roman Empire relations
- Fall of the Republic of Venice
- Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
- Napoleon