1809 Gottscheer Rebellion

1809 Gottscheer rebellion
Part of War of the Fifth Coalition
Date September 10; October 7–18, 1809 Location Gottschee County, modern day Slovenia Result Execution of rebel leaders Plundering of the City of Gottschee and burning of several peasant villages Scattered guerrilla attacks by Gottscheer farmers begin French occupation of Carniola is enforced
Belligerents
Gottschee Germans	First French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Mathias Dulzer † Johann Erker  † Georg Eisenzopf † Bartholomäus Kusold † Johann Jonke †	District Commissioner Gasparini † General Carlo Zucchi Captain Luigi Tarducci
Strength
c. 2,000 Gottscheers c. 500 Slovenes Total: c. 2,500	- 2nd Italian Light Infantry Regiment - 8th Italian Infantry Regiment - Unknown Artillery Unit - Unknown Cavalry Regiment - Garrison troops Total: 1,300-1,500
Casualties and losses
Unknown, but more than the French	Unknown, but minimal

The 1809 Gottscheer rebellion (German: Gottscheer Bauernaufstand) was a revolt by the Gottschee Germans against the First French Empire during the French occupation of Gottschee following the War of the Fifth Coalition.

In April 1809, the Austrian Empire declared war against Napoleon I to start the War of the Fifth Coalition. After suffering some major setbacks, notably the Battle of Aspern-Essling, the French swiftly triumphed over the Austrian commander Archduke Charles. At the Battle of Wagram, the French ultimately had already won the war. Following this battle, the French troops marched south to occupy Carniola, and with it Gottschee County.

Determined not to be occupied, the Gottscheers hastily assembled a local militia who marched north from the City of Gottschee to face the advancing French. At the Battle of Kerndorf, located just north of the City, 900 Gottscheer peasants stood against the French army. In a quick fight, the Gottscheers were thoroughly routed. After this brief episode, the French occupied the remainder of the region with little incident, however French troops were needed to disperse 600 Gottscheer farmers on September 10, 1809, when they protested the new war tax imposed on them. On October 14, 1809, the Treaty of Schönbrunn transferred the region of Carniola, which Gottschee was in, to France along with many other territories.

It was the riot of September 10 in the town of Gottschee that escalated the turmoil in the Gottschee region and the adjacent Slovene counties. On October 6, a squad of 18 French soldiers entered the Slovene village of Kostel, south of the Gottschee German region. When the French could not find any tax money, they threatened to burn down the town in retribution. The town mayor managed to escape the French, and he rallied the neighboring villagers (mostly Gottschee Germans) and on the morning of October 7 attacked the French squadron in Kostel. After a brief fight, only 1 farmer and 2 French soldiers were wounded. With their backs to the Kolpa River, the French officer surrendered. The rebels then delivered their captives to Austrian positions on the other side of the river, in present-day Croatia. Later that day, once word of the action in Kostel spread, the Slovene villagers of the village of Pölland, also just south of the Gottschee region, drove out a French garrison of 28 men. They fled to nearby Altenmarkt, where the following morning they were surrounded by 300 rebels, a mix of Gottschee Germans and Slovenes. The French surrendered and were summarily marched to the banks of the Kolpa and executed.

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