Austria Stops Napoleon: Aspern-Essling Shatters the Myth
Archduke Charles of Austria defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern-Essling on May 21-22, 1809, inflicting the first major battlefield defeat on the French emperor. Napoleon had attempted to cross the Danube River near Vienna, but the Austrians destroyed the bridges, isolating the French forces on the north bank. Marshal Jean Lannes, one of Napoleon's most trusted commanders, was mortally wounded by a cannonball. French casualties exceeded 20,000. Napoleon was forced to retreat to Lobau Island in the middle of the river. The victory electrified anti-French sentiment across Europe and proved that Napoleon was not invincible. He returned six weeks later and defeated Charles at Wagram, but the myth of his invulnerability had been permanently shattered.
May 21, 1809
217 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Napoleon
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French Army
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Battle of Aspern-Essling
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Austrian
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Danube
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Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
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Battle of Aspern–Essling
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Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
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Napoleon
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Danube
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Siege of Acre (1799)
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Ottoman Empire
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Acre, Israel
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Henry III of Castile
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Ruy González de Clavijo
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Timurid relations with Europe
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Battle of Bautzen (1813)
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Tártaros
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Timur
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Ottoman dynasty
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Grande Armée
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Russia
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Prussia
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Peter Wittgenstein
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1584
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Vologda
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Campagne d'Allemagne (1813)
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War of the Sixth Coalition
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History of France
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Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
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War of the Fifth Coalition
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French invasion of Egypt and Syria
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Assignat
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French Revolution
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Timurid
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Kingdom of Castile
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Russo-Circassian War
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أديغة
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الإبادة الجماعية للشركس
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