In the summer of 1805, the luck of the French Empire seemed to have run short. Napoleon's bold plan to leapfrog the channel and invade England had collapsed, and his legions sat idly opposite England. To the east, Russia and Austria had unified against France and appeared ready to crush the young Emperor. Prussia stood by, refusing alliance with the Russians and Austrians but eager to join in the post-war autopsy once the French had received a death blow. Within a few months, Napoleon had smashed the combined Russian and Austrian armies, demanded and received a military alliance with Prussia, and once again dominated the European balance of power. The way in which Napoleon achieved this dramatic turn of events says a great deal about the nature, and inherent risks and opportunities, of a revolution in military affairs. Seeing that his English adventure was checked, Napoleon wheeled his army and drove it rapidly to the east, covering 15 miles or more a day. His goal: to destroy the Russian and Austrian armies before Prussia had become engaged. In this grand strategic maneuver, Napoleon took full advantage of the evolving revolution in military affairs. He employed a massive army produced by universal conscription and the advent of a truly citizen-based military force. He pushed this force along using the most advanced logistics planning of his day. And he operated based on a decisive notion of strategic action that would lay the groundwork for fundamental military tenets that survive to this day. Once engaged in battle, in this case at Austerlitz, Napoleon employed operational tactics as bold and decisive as his strategic vision. His combined-arms formations maximized the fighting power of his army, and he used some of the most sophisticated battlefield communication techniques of the time. Napoleon emerged during the infancy of a profound revolution in military affairs. This revolution, incorporating such new features as citizen armies, long-range rifles and artillery, and mechanization, would transform the nature of warfare during the 19th century and much of the 20th. Napoleon's operations were a preview of a new era of warfare-warfare of the industrial age-that would come to full flower in the two World Wars of the 20 century. Through his foresight and genius, Napoleon made himself the beneficiary, rather than the victim, of these events. His brilliant maneuver in the fall and winter of 1805 ensured his rule for another decade. Back to Table of Contents Revolution in Military Affairs Back to SSI List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by US Army War College. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com