First Battle of Zurich

First Battle of Zurich
Part of the War of the Second Coalition
Grossmünster church, Zurich. River Limmat, Zurich
Date 4–7 June 1799 Location Zurich, Switzerland Result Austrian victory
Belligerents
France	Austria
Commanders and leaders
André Masséna	Archduke Charles of Austria Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
Strength
30,000	40,000
Casualties and losses
1,700	3,500

Coordinates: 47°22′0″N 8°33′0″E / 47.36667°N 8.55000°E / 47.36667; 8.55000

The Helvetic Republic in 1798 became a battlefield of the French Revolutionary Wars. In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 – 7 June 1799, French general André Masséna was forced to yield the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles and retreat beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his positions, resulting in a stalemate.

During the summer, Russian troops under general Korsakov replaced the Austrian troops, and in the Second Battle of Zurich, the French regained control of the city, along with the rest of Switzerland.

Initially, the rulers of Europe viewed the revolution in France as an event between the French king and his subjects, and not something in which they should interfere. As revolutionary rhetoric grew more strident, they declared the interest of the monarchs of Europe as one with the interests of Louis and his family; this Declaration of Pilnitz threatened ambiguous, but quite serious, consequences if anything should happen to the royal family. The French position became increasingly difficult. Compounding problems in international relations, French émigrés continued to agitate for support of a counter-revolution. On 20 April 1792, the French National Convention declared war on Austria. In this War of the First Coalition (1792–1798), France ranged itself against most of the European states sharing land or water borders with her, plus Portugal and the Ottoman Empire. Although the Coalition forces achieved several victories at Verdun, Kaiserslautern, Neerwinden, Mainz, Amberg and Würzburg, the efforts of Napoleon Bonaparte in northern Italy pushed Austrian forces back and resulted in the negotiation of the Peace of Leoben (17 April 1797) and the subsequent Treaty of Campo Formio (17 October 1797).

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