On 20 April 1792, the French Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria. In the War of the First Coalition (1792–97), France fought against most of the states with which it shared a border, as well as Great Britain, … See more

From October 1797 until March 1799 France and Austria, the signatories of the Treaty of Campo Formio, avoided armed conflict but remained suspicious of each other and several diplomatic incidents undermined the agreement. The French demanded … See more

The Second Coalition took several months to form, starting with Naples allying itself with Austria (19 May 1798) and Russia (29 November), after … See more

On 25 March 1802, Britain and France signed the Treaty of Amiens, ending the British involvement in the war. After a preliminary treaty signed at Paris on 9 October 1801, the See more

Military planners in Paris understood that the Upper Rhine Valley, the south-western German territories, and Switzerland were strategically important for the defence of the Republic. The … See more

1799
In Europe, the allies mounted several invasions, including campaigns in Italy and Switzerland and … See more

American historian Paul W. Schroeder (1987) claimed that, at the time of his writing, most historians – exemplified by Piers Mackesy (1984) – had all too simplistically put the blame of the Second Coalition's failure on the '[requirement of] Britain and Russia … See more