War of the Fourth Coalition

The Fourth Coalition fought in a war against Napoleon's French Empire from 1806–1807. The coalition was defeated.

War of the Fourth Coalition
Part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars

The French Army marches through Berlin in 1806.
DateOctober 1806 – July 1807
Location
Result Decisive French victory:
Belligerents

Fourth Coalition:

 France

Commanders and leaders

Frederick William III
Duke of Brunswick 
Fredrick Louis
Prince Ferdinand 
Eugene Fredrick
Ernst von Rüchel
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Count Tauentzien
Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg
Count Kalckreuth
Anton Wilhelm
Alexander I
Levin August, Count von Bennigsen
Dmitry Golitsyn
Mikhail Kutuzov
Pyotr Bagration
Gustav IV Adolf
Hans von Essen
Lord Grenville

Duke of Portland
Napoleon I
Louis-Alexandre Berthier
Louis-Nicolas Davout
Jean Lannes
Joachim Murat
Jean-de-Dieu Soult
Michel Ney
Pierre Augereau
Édouard Mortier
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
Louis Bonaparte
Beauharnais
Józef Poniatowski
Jan Henryk Dąbrowski
Strength

200,000
140,000
20,000
20,000
10,000


Total: 390,000

200,000
24,000
10,000
6,000
30,000
12,000–20,000
20,000–40,000
6,000


Total: 310,000
Casualties and losses
700,000 dead[1]

Countries in the Coalition included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain. Several members of the coalition had previously been fighting France in the Third Coalition, and there wasn't any peace in between wars. On October 9, 1806, Prussia joined a new coalition, fearing that France was becoming more powerful after it defeated Austria and established the Confederation of the Rhine. Prussia and Russia prepared for a new campaign. Prussian troops moved to Saxony.

On 14 October 1806, the French defeated the Prussian army at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. Then French forces occupied Prussia and captured Berlin. Later they advanced towards Poland and Russia. On 7-8 February 1807, the French and Russian armies fought the Battle of Eylau. There was no clear winner. On 14 June 1807, the French defeated the Russians at the Battle of Friedland. In July 1807, France made peace with Russia, ending the war. This left Napoleon as ruler of most of western and central Europe. The exceptions were Spain, Portugal, Austria, and a few smaller states. These were able to remain independent.

Even though the Fourth Coalition came to an end, Britain remained at war with France. Later that year, the Peninsular War started.

The participants of the War of the Fourth Coalition. Blue: The Coalition and their colonies and allies. Green: The First French Empire, its protectorates, colonies and allies.

References

  1. Clodfelter, M. (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015 (4th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0786474707.
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