The Battle of Marengo saved Napoleon's revolutionary regime in France.

The Battle of Marengo was a battle between France and the Austrian Empire during the Second Anti-French Alliance, when Napoleon was the first ruler of France. France won an all-round victory under Napoleon's command, and this battle was the most proud of all the battles Napoleon experienced in his life, because he kept the revolutionary regime in France. So what is the background of the Battle of Marengo?

Portrait of Napoleon

The background of the Battle of Marengo began with the successive defeats of the French army in Italy and the Rhine in 1799. The defeat on the battlefield forced the French high-level officials to re-select people with military ability to lead the French army, so Napoleon gained the power to rule the French army and became the first ruler during the French Revolution. After Napoleon became the first ruler, he began a new military deployment to prepare for defeating other countries.

1800 In May, Napoleon led his troops over the Alps and entered northern Italy, supporting the French army besieged by the Austrian army at that time and waging a frontal war with the Austrian army. On June 9, the French army successfully defeated the Austrian army. At that time, the Austrian supreme general was worried that Napoleon would cut off his arms supply line, so he did not immediately attack the French army, but re-rested his troops.

It is precisely because of this move that Napoleon made a mistake in predicting the next strategic deployment of the Austrian army, so he chose to divide his forces and encircle the Austrian army. The irrational Austrian army attacked the French army after Napoleon split his troops. The sudden Austrian invasion caught Napoleon off guard and made the Battle of Marengo appear. This is the background of the Battle of Marengo.

Battle of Marengo

The battle of Marengo can be divided into three stages, namely, the eve of the war, the confrontation between the two armies and turning defeat into victory. On the eve of the Battle of Marengo, the French left-wing vanguard troops met the Austrian army near marengo, and a fierce war broke out. In this battle, the French army defeated the Austrian army, but due to time, the French army did not pursue it. This made both sides not sure about the enemy's movements, so Napoleon mistakenly thought that the Austrian generals had led their own troops to leave, and then sent his men to convey orders to continue westward to find out the movement of the Austrian army, but the Austrian army did not retreat, which led to the Battle of Marengo.

Portrait of the Battle of Marengo

On June 14, all Austrian troops stationed in Alexandria were dispatched, aiming at the French troops. Because it was a surprise attack, the French army was quickly forced to retreat to Malenge. French reinforcements tried to reinforce, but they could not be stopped because of the strong offensive of the Austrian army. Finally, the two armies launched a battle formation in marengo. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and the all-round attack of the Austrian army soon made the French army lose a lot of positions, including marengo. This is part of the battle of Marengo.

The rout of the French army indicates that the victory of the Battle of Marengo will come to Austria, but with the arrival of French reinforcements, the French army has been reborn. After careful consideration, Napoleon adopted the suggestion of Desai, the general of reinforcements, and concentrated his artillery fire on the Austrian army in all directions. As a result, the French counterattack began and finally won the battle of Mullen, but the price of such victory was too high. Napoleon's right-hand general Desai was killed in the battle, and the French army suffered heavy casualties. This is the process of the battle of Marengo.

The result of the battle of Marengo

The result of the Battle of Marengo, to a certain extent, can be said that the French army under Napoleon won. From the beginning of the battle of Marengo to the morning of June 15, the outcome of both sides has been very clear. Austrian general meras sent representatives to make peace with Napoleon, and the two sides finally signed an armistice agreement, that is, the final result of the Battle of Marengo was that the Austrian army made peace and the two sides stopped fighting.

Old photos of meras

In the battle of marengo, although the Austrian army failed, it did not go to despair. The victory of the French army was hard-won, and the whole army was very tired and eager to rest. This is why Napoleon was willing to accept the armistice agreement between Austrian troops. After consulting with the Austrian emissary, Napoleon signed an agreement with the Austrian army on behalf of the French army, and the two sides reached an understanding to stop fighting in Italy. On June 26th of the same year, the Austrian army had retreated to the north of Po River and the east of Qiaoming River, but there were still troops stationed in Yela and mantua, Pacey. In other words, the Austrian army and the French army established a demilitarized zone west of the Qiaoming River to avoid conflicts between the two sides of the war.

The Austrian army won the battle of Marengo first, and then the French army arrived and turned the defeat into victory. This made the messenger of the Austrian generals return to Vienna, and the whole country knew the news of the victory of the Austrian army. At the moment of national celebration, the second messenger also returned to Austria to convey the news of defeat, so the result of the Battle of Mullen made a big joke in Austria. The results of the Battle of Marengo were also sent back to Paris on the sixth day after the war. On the afternoon of June 2 1, a salute roared in Paris, officially celebrating the victory of the French army in the Battle of Marengo.

Evaluation of the Battle of Marengo

If we want to evaluate the Battle of Marengo, we must first understand the two sides and commanders of the war. The Battle of Marengo was a battle between the French and Austrian empires. In this battle, Napoleon was the commander-in-chief of France, which was the first important battle that Napoleon commanded after he took office. Therefore, people's evaluation of the Battle of Marengo is to consolidate the French bourgeois regime and Napoleon's dominant position in France through the victory of this battle.

Portrait of Napoleon

As far as the Battle of Marengo is concerned, its position and role in military history are very important. Through this campaign, people have a certain understanding of Napoleon's command mode in the campaign. First of all, Napoleon can effectively create and make use of the enemy's misjudgment in the war situation, so as to really catch him by surprise. This is Napoleon's usual means in the war. As far as the battle of Mullen is concerned, according to the past practice, the Austrian army judged that the French army still entered Italy from Yaning Pingshan, while Napoleon was just the opposite. He opened up a new route into Italy, thus taking the lead in the war. This is part of the evaluation of the Battle of Marengo.

Secondly, Napoleon skillfully grasped the key to the victory and defeat of the whole campaign, and realized the pros and cons in a complicated form, which enabled him to successfully cut off the connection between the Austrian army and its native land when he entered northern Italy. Napoleon was able to proceed from the overall situation, assess the situation, weigh the pros and cons, and make a correct judgment when commanding a campaign. The above is the evaluation of the Battle of Marengo. In a word, from the perspective of strategic planning and operational command, this is a commendable battle.