Description: " By his victory at Austerlitz and his treaty with Prussia, Napoleon became absolute arbiter of matters affecting Italy and Central Europe. Austria was prostrate; Russia was defeated and distant; Great Britain was impotent on land; and Prussia has become an accomplice. His first move was against Naples. Upon the vary date of the treaty of Pressburg, he announced his intention of ‘ hurling that guilty woman ’ (Queen Caroline of Naples) from her throne. The small expeditionary forces of Russians and British in Naples were no match for the troops Napoleon could direct against them. In the face of NapoleonŐs threat, they embarked about the middle of January, 1806, the Russians for Corfu and the British for Messina (Sicily). The King and Queen of Naples fled to Palermo (Sicily) and established their court there. French troops entered Naples February 15, 1806, after slight resistance, and soon occupied the remainder of the peninsula. At the end of March, Joseph, NapoleonŐs brother, was proclaimed King of the Two Sicilies. " — Holt, 1920
Source: Lucius Hudson Holt, A Brief History of Europe From 1789 to 1815 (New York, NY: The MacMillan Company, 1920) 224
Map Credit: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman. |
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