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War of the Fourth Coalition

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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

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

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Duke of Portland
First French Empire Napoleon I
First French Empire Louis-Alexandre Berthier
First French Empire Louis-Nicolas Davout
First French Empire Jean Lannes
First French Empire Joachim Murat
First French Empire Jean-de-Dieu Soult
First French Empire Michel Ney
First French Empire Pierre Augereau
First French Empire Édouard Mortier
First French Empire Jérôme Bonaparte
First French Empire Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
Netherlands Louis Bonaparte
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Beauharnais
Poland Józef Poniatowski
Poland Jan Henryk Dąbrowski
Strength

Kingdom of Prussia 200,000
Russian Empire140,000
Saxony 20,000
Sweden 20,000
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 10,000


Total: 390,000

First French Empire 200,000
Bavaria 24,000
Kingdom of Württemberg 10,000
Saxony 6,000
Poland 30,000
Netherlands 12,000–20,000
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 20,000–40,000
Spain 6,000


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

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

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

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  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.