chapter five

The Consul’s peace

5.1 The Interpax of the Second Coalition

The Peace of Campoformio was not to last long. War on the Continent broke out as early as December 1798, with negotiations at Rastatt still going on. The French expedition to Egypt alarmed Russia, traditionally very sensitive about control of the eastern part of the Mediterranean for economical reasons. Moreover, on his way to Egypt, Bonaparte had attacked and occupied Malta, whereas Tsar Paul had just become Grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Saint John. Since the Tsar was already annoyed by France because of French interference in the German Empire, especially while Russia had been excluded from the Rastatt congress and whilst the Tsar had family ties with various Ger- man princes whose interests were involved, this was sufficient reason to go to war.1 Austria, somewhat recovered from the previous war, was angered by French interventions in Switzerland and Italy. On 11 February 1798, French forces had occupied Rome after riots had broken out and the French General Duphot was assassinated.2 En passant, they destroyed Papal government and created the Roman Republic.3 Since the Rastatt congress had not resulted in a peace treaty, the Empire was still at war with France; as was Britain. The Sublime Porte—nominally sovereign in Egypt—was the first to declare war on France,4 which on its part declared war to Naples and Sardinia on 6 December. Austria declared war on 12 March 1799. Soon afterwards, Russia joined the Second Coalition. The sister republics, although offi- cially not at war with any Continental power, were in the middle of the imbroglio Europe had become. They were to take the first blow of the Coalition’s attack on France, thus perfectly fulfilling their task of

1 hüffer, 1879, p. 25; Blanning, 1996, p. 228; Kagan, 2006, pp. 13–15. 2 28 December 1797; General Duphot was affiliated to the French legation. 3 21 April 1798. 4 9 September 1798. 652 part iii, chapter five

­buffer attributed to them in French security policy. All sister republics saw their territory invaded and until the final phase of the War of the Second Coalition—General Moreau’s campaign in southern Ger- many—the war was fought on their soils. Officially, the sister republics stayed out of the renewed war with Austria. War between them and the Emperor was not declared. They did, however, partake in the war as French auxiliaries, that is to say they provided troops that fought under the supreme command of French generals. Thereto, the Bata- vian Republic was, of course, still at war with Britain. The King of the Two Sicilies kicked of hostilities by having his army attack French forces occupying Rome.5 His troops were, how- ever, no match for the French army and defeat was imminent, the Sicilian attack having started too early to be backed by an Austro- Russian advance in the north of Italy. The French occupied Naples on 23 January 1799 and three days later the Neapolitan or Parthenopean Republic was proclaimed. In February 1799, Piedmont was annexed to the French Republic. The Austro-Russian advance also came too late for Belgian rebels, who had risen against France. With its foes’ armies still marching westward, the French government was able to deploy enough troops in the Belgian departments to crush the revolt. Once on the move, combined Austrian and Russian forces initially made a considerable advance. They drove the French almost entirely out of Italy—causing the end of the Cisalpine, Roman, and Partheno- pean Republics—and well into Switzerland, where Zurich was con- quered in early June.6 Russian forces occupied Milan on 29 April and the Cisalpine government went into exile.7 In the Battle of Novi (15 August 1799) combined French, Cisalpine, and Ligurian forces were defeated by a Austro-Russian army under the command of Field Mar- shal Alexander Suvorov leading to the end of any serious resistance to Coalition forces in Italy. The Batavian Republic was not spared hos-

5 18 december 1798 France declares war on Kings of Piedmont and Naples. 6 first battle of Zurich (4 June 1799). 7 after some time, the Cisalpine government settled in Grenoble, where it stayed until the reconquest of Lombardy by the French in the summer of 1800. The gov- ernment in exile was dissolved as Bonaparte—using his authority as commander of the occupying forces—established a new, provisional government in Milan under the supervision of a French commissioner—Claude-Louis Petiet—who functioned as the French envoy to the (Second) Cisalpine Republic as well (17 June 1800, decree Pre- mier Consul; AAE CP Milanais 57 and AAE CP Milanais Supplément 5; 23 June 1800, decree Premier Consul; AAE CP Milanais 57).