French Campaign in Germany and Armistice of Steyr

Background. By early 1799 the French Directory had grown impatient with Austria's stalling tactics, and gains in Switzerland plus an uprising in Naples suggested favorable timing for a new campaign in northern Italy and southwestern Germany. At the beginning of 1800 the French and Austrian armies faced each other across the Rhine, with Moreau commanding a modestly equipped force of 137,000 men, of whom 108,000 were available for field operations.

Course of the Campaign. From April to July 1800 Moreau's army drove Feldzeugmeister Pál Kray's Austrians from the Rhine to the Inn River, winning at Stockach, Messkirch, and Höchstädt. Rather than assault a heavily fortified walled city, Moreau dislodged the forces defending the Danube passage further east. Napoleon Bonaparte had issued specific campaign instructions, all of which Moreau ignored, and he also resisted detaching Claude Lecourbe's corps to Italy. In mid-November the French ended the truce, setting the stage for the December battle.

Aftermath. After Hohenlinden, with French forces 80 km from Vienna, Archduke Charles requested an armistice, which Moreau granted on 25 December. The armistice applied only to Germany and lasted thirty days; in Italy, Heinrich von Bellegarde had to seek a separate armistice with Guillaume Brune. On 31 December Cobenzl informed the French he would sign a peace treaty without Britain, and the Treaty of Lunéville followed on 9 February 1801.