The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

The French Revolution began in 1789. Emperor Francis II, alarmed for the safety of his sister, the French queen, and fearful that revolution might spread to Hapsburg territories, became involved in war with France in 1792. This conflict continued, with brief interludes of peace, until Napoleon's final defeat in 1815. In opposing Napoleon, Austria became allied with two of its former enemies—Great Britain and Prussia—and with Russia.

Meanwhile, in 1795 Austria received the remainder of Galicia in the Third Partition of Poland. By the Treaty of Campo Formio, signed by Austria and France in 1797, Austria surrendered Belgium but gained territory on the Adriatic Sea. As Napoleon extended French conquests, Francis began to fear that he might dissolve the Holy Roman Empire. To make sure that he would retain his status as an emperor, Francis took the title Emperor of Austria in 1804.

In 1805 Austria suffered two disastrous defeats, at Ulm and Austerlitz, and in December signed the Treaty of Pressburg, giving up a great deal of Austrian territory. In compensation, Napoleon allowed Austria to annex Salzburg, formerly an independent archbishopric. In 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was abolished.

After Napoleon's first abdication the leading nations of Europe met in 1814 at the Congress of Vienna to plan a permanent territorial settlement in Europe. They created the German Confederation, a loose union of 39 small German countries, with the presidency to be held permanently by Austrian representatives. Austria recovered most of the territory it had lost to Napoleon, and members of the Hapsburg family were seated on the thrones of Tuscany, Modena, and Parma. Austria joined with Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain in the Quadruple Alliance to preserve the settlements of the Congress of Vienna.