War of the Sixth Coalition

War of the Sixth Coalition
Part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars
Each image links to a battle. Left to right, top to bottom: Battles of Lutzen, Katzbach, Dresden, Kulm, Leipzig, Hanau, Rothière, Laubressel, Laon, Arcis, Champenoise, Paris
Date 24 December 1812 – 30 May 1814 (1 year, 5 months and 6 days) Location Central and Eastern Europe, the Low Countries, France Result Coalition victory
Belligerents
Original coalition  Russia  Prussia Spain  United Kingdom  Hanover Mecklenburg-Schwerin  Portugal Sardinia  Sicily  Sweden After the Armistice of Pläswitz  Austria  Bavaria After the Battle of Leipzig Baden  Liechtenstein  Saxony  Württemberg After 20 November 1813 Netherlands After January 1814 Denmark	France Duchy of Warsaw[note 1]  Italy Naples Until January 1814 Confederation of the Rhine (many member states defected after Battle of Leipzig) Denmark–Norway (1813–1814)
Commanders and leaders
Alexander I Frederick William III Francis I Maximilian I Joseph Frederick Francis I Frederick Augustus Frederick I William I of Orange-Nassau Crown Prince Charles John Ferdinand VII George III Robert Jenkinson Arthur Wellesley	Napoleon I Joachim Murat Eugène de Beauharnais Józef Poniatowski †
Strength
1813: 1,070,000	1813: 850,000
Casualties and losses
526,000 German campaign: 360,000[1] French campaign: 166,000[2]	610,000 German campaign: 460,000[1] French campaign: 150,000[2]

Napoleonic Wars

1000km
620miles

Waterloo

9

France

8

7

Russia

6

Austria

5

Spain

4

Portugal

3

Prussia

2

Germany

1

  

Key:

1

Third Coalition: Germany 1803:...Austerlitz...

2

Fourth Coalition: Prussia 1806:...Jena...

3

Peninsular War: Portugal 1807...Torres Vedras...

4

Peninsular War: Spain 1808...Vitoria...

5

Fifth Coalition: Austria 1809:...Wagram...

6

French invasion of Russia 1812:...Moscow...

7

Sixth Coalition: Germany 1813:...Leipzig...

8

Sixth Coalition: France 1814:...Paris...

9

Hundred Days 1815:...Waterloo...

In the War of the Sixth Coalition (French: Guerre de la Sixième Coalition) (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (German: Befreiungskriege), a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Great Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Sardinia, and a number of German States defeated France and drove Napoleon into exile on Elba. After the disastrous French invasion of Russia of 1812 in which they had been forced to support France, Prussia and Austria joined Russia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Portugal, and the rebels in Spain who were already at war with France.

The War of the Sixth Coalition saw battles at Lützen, Bautzen, and Dresden. The even larger Battle of Leipzig (also known as the Battle of Nations) was the largest battle in European history before World War I. Ultimately, Napoleon's earlier setbacks in Spain, Portugal and Russia proved to be the seeds of his undoing. With their armies reorganized, the allies drove Napoleon out of Germany in 1813 and invaded France in 1814. The Allies defeated the remaining French armies, occupied Paris, and forced Napoleon to abdicate and go into exile. The French monarchy was revived by the allies, who handed rule to the heir of the House of Bourbon in the Bourbon Restoration.

The "Hundred Days" War of the Seventh Coalition was triggered in 1815 when Napoleon escaped from his captivity on Elba and returned to power in France. He was defeated again for the final time at Waterloo, ending the Napoleonic Wars.

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