On November 14, Napoleon led his soldiers into Vienna, the capital of the ancient Austrian Empire. The Emperor Francis I had fled, leaving his palaces and gardens to the enemy. Bonaparte ...

the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had achieved a stunning victory, a victory so decisive that it would set the course of European history for a decade. It was the Battle of Austerlitz.

"A battle was fought today," Francis wrote his wife, "which did not turn out very well." Austerlitz had raised Napoleon’s star to new heights. He had won his greatest victory, the victory of ...