View source for War of the Fourth Coalition

{{Short description|1806–1807 conflict of the Napoleonic Wars}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{more footnotes|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = War of the Fourth Coalition
| partof            = the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the [[Coalition Wars]]
| image             = <div style="display:inline-block;">
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<imagemap>
File:War of the 4th Coalition.jpg|300px|War of the 4th Coalition
rect   0     0 1919 1439 [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt]]
rect 1920    0 3839 1439 [[Fall of Berlin (1806)]]
rect   0  1440 1919 2879 [[Battle of Eylau]]
rect 1920 1440 3839 2879 [[Battle of Friedland]]
desc top-left
</imagemap>
</div>
| caption           = Click an image to load the appropriate article.<br/>Left to right, top to bottom:<br/>[[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt]], [[Fall of Berlin (1806)|Fall of Berlin]], [[Battle of Eylau]] and [[Battle of Friedland]]
| date              = 9 October 1806 – 9 July 1807<br/>({{Age in months, weeks and days|month1=10|day1=9|year1=1806|month2=7|day2=9|year2=1807}})
| place             = {{ublist|class=nowrap |{{hlist|[[Central Europe]]}}}}
| result            = French victory
| combatant1        = '''Fourth Coalition:'''
{{Tree list}}
** {{flagicon|Prussia|1803}} [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]
** {{flag|Russian Empire|name=Russia}}
** {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
** {{flagdeco|Electorate of Saxony}} [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]]<br/>{{small|(until 11 Dec 1806)}}
** {{flagicon|Sweden|naval}} [[Gustavian era|Sweden]]
** {{flagdeco|Kingdom of Sicily}} [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]]
** {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Septinsular Republic.svg}} [[Septinsular Republic]]<br/>{{small|(from 17th June 1807)}}
{{tree list/end}}
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|First French Empire}} '''[[First French Empire|France]]'''
{{Tree list}}
** [[Confederation of the Rhine]]
** {{flagicon|Kingdom of Etruria}} [[Kingdom of Etruria|Etruria]]
** {{flagdeco|Holland}} [[Kingdom of Holland|Holland]]
** {{flagicon|Napoleonic Italy}} [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Italy]]
** {{flagicon|Kingdom of Naples|1806}} [[Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic)|Naples]]
** {{flagicon|Kingdom of Saxony|1806}} [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]]<br/>{{small|(from 11 Dec 1806)}}
** {{flagicon|Duchy of Warsaw}} [[Polish Legions (Napoleonic period)|Polish Legions]]
** {{flagicon|Old Swiss Confederacy}} [[Switzerland in the Napoleonic era#Act of Mediation|Swiss Confederation]]
{{flagdeco|Spain|1785}} [[History of Spain (1700–1810)|Spain]]
----
{{flagicon|Duchy of Warsaw}} [[Greater Poland uprising (1806)|Polish rebels]]
{{tree list/end}}
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William III]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick|Charles William]]{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1772-1806)|Prince Louis Ferdinand]]{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württemberg|Eugene Fredrick]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth|Count Kalckreuth]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen|Fredrick Louis]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Ernst von Rüchel]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien|Count Tauentzien]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg|Ludwig Yorck]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Levin August von Bennigsen]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Mikhail Kamensky]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Pyotr Bagration]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Dmitry Golitsyn]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire|navy}} [[Dmitry Senyavin]]
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} [[William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville|William Grenville]]
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|William Cavendish-Bentinck]]
* {{flagicon|Sweden|naval}} [[Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden|Gustav IV Adolf]]
* {{flagicon|Sweden|naval}} [[Hans Henric von Essen]]
}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon I]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Pierre Augereau]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Charles XIV John of Sweden|Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Jean-Baptiste Bessières]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Jérôme Bonaparte]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Louis-Nicolas Davout]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Jean Lannes]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[François Joseph Lefebvre]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[André Masséna]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Édouard Mortier]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Joachim Murat]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Michel Ney]]
* {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Jean-de-Dieu Soult]]
* {{flagdeco|Holland}} [[Louis Bonaparte|Louis I]]
* {{flagicon|Napoleonic Italy}} [[Eugène de Beauharnais]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Naples|1806}} [[Joseph Bonaparte|Joseph I]]
* {{flagicon|Duchy of Warsaw}} [[Jan Henryk Dąbrowski]]
* {{flagicon|Duchy of Warsaw}} [[Józef Poniatowski]]
}}
| strength1         = '''Total engaged:'''<br/>422,000<hr/>'''Prussia:'''<br/>254,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=150}}<br/>'''Russia:'''<br/>135,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|pp=150–151}}<br/>'''Saxony:'''<br/>18,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=150}}<br/>'''Sweden:'''<br/>15,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=151}}
| strength2         = '''Total engaged:'''<br/>237,500<hr/>'''French in Germany:'''<br/>192,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=150}}<br/>'''Confederation of Rhine:'''<br/>27,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=150}}<br/>'''Poland:'''<br/>18,500{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=151}}<br/>'''French in Italy:'''<br/>40,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=150}} (not engaged)<br/>'''French in Naples:'''<br/>40,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=150}} (not engaged)<br/>'''French in Holland:'''<br/>18,000{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=150}} (not engaged)
| territory         = [[Treaties of Tilsit]]<br/>[[Treaty of Posen]]<br/>Prussia loses over half of its territory<br/>Creation of the [[Duchy of Warsaw]] and the [[Kingdom of Westphalia]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Fourth Coalition}}{{Campaignbox German–Polish Wars}}{{OSM Location map
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The '''War of the Fourth Coalition''' ({{langx|fr|Guerre de la Quatrième Coalition}}) was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against [[Napoleon]]'s [[First French Empire|French Empire]], subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] and [[Russian Empire|Russia]] with [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]], [[Franco-Swedish War|Sweden]], and [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] also contributing. Excluding Prussia, some members of the coalition had previously been fighting France as part of the [[War of the Third Coalition|Third Coalition]], and there was no intervening period of general peace. On 9 October 1806, Prussia declared war on France and joined a renewed coalition, fearing the rise in French power after the defeat of [[Austrian Empire|Austria]] and establishment of the French-sponsored [[Confederation of the Rhine]] in addition to having learned of French plans to cede Prussian-desired [[Electorate of Hanover|Hanover]] to Britain in exchange for peace. Prussia and Russia mobilized for a fresh campaign with France, massing troops in Saxony.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Driault |first=Edouard |date=July 1919 |title=The Coalition of Europe Against Napoleon |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=603–624 |doi=10.2307/1835810|jstor=1835810}}</ref>

Napoleon decisively defeated the Prussians in an expeditious campaign that culminated at the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt]] on 14 October 1806.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meeks |first=Joshua |title=Napoléon Bonaparte: a reference guide to his life and works |date=2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-1350-9 |series=Significant figures in world history |location=Lanham, Maryland |pages=74}}</ref> French forces under Napoleon occupied Prussia, pursued the remnants of the shattered [[Prussian Army]], and [[Fall of Berlin (1806)|captured Berlin]]. They then advanced all the way to [[East Prussia]], Poland and the Russian frontier, where they fought an inconclusive battle against the Russians at the [[Battle of Eylau]] on 7–8 February 1807. Napoleon's advance on the Russian frontier was briefly checked during the spring as he revitalized his army with fresh supplies. Russian forces were finally crushed by the French at the [[Battle of Friedland]] on 14 June 1807, and three days later Russia asked for a truce.{{Sfn|Chandler|1993}}

Through the [[Treaties of Tilsit]] in July 1807, France made peace with Russia, which agreed to join the [[Continental System]]. The treaty was particularly harsh on Prussia, however, as Napoleon demanded much of the Prussian territory along the lower [[Rhine]] west of the [[Elbe]] and in what was part of the former [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. Respectively, these acquisitions were incorporated into the new [[Kingdom of Westphalia]], led by his brother [[Jérôme Bonaparte]] and into the new [[Duchy of Warsaw]], a Polish [[client state]], ruled by his new ally the [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|king of Saxony]]. At the end of the war, there was peace on Continental Europe with Napoleon as master of almost all of western and central continental Europe, except for [[History of Spain (1700-1808)|Spain]], [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], Austria and several other smaller states.

Despite the end of the Fourth Coalition, Britain remained at war with France. War would return to Continental Europe later in 1807, when Napoleon decided to invade Portugal in order to compel Portugal to join the [[Continental System]]. A joint Franco-Spanish force invaded Britain's ally Portugal, beginning the [[Peninsular War]] where Napoleon would also invade Spain as well. A further [[Fifth Coalition]] would be assembled when Austria re-joined the conflict in 1809.

==Origins==
The Fourth Coalition (1806–1807) of Great Britain,  Prussia, Russia, Saxony, and  Sweden formed against France within months of the collapse of the previous coalition. Following his triumph at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] and the subsequent demise of the [[War of the Third Coalition|Third Coalition]], Napoleon looked forward to achieving a general peace in Europe, especially with his two main remaining antagonists, Britain and Russia. Meanwhile, he sought to isolate Prussia from the influence of these two powers by offering a tentative alliance, while also seeking to curb Prussia's political and military influence among the German states.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Despite the death of [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]] in January 1806, Britain and the new Whig administration remained committed to checking the growing power of France. Peace overtures between the two nations early in the new year proved ineffectual due to the still unresolved issues that had led to the breakdown of the [[Treaty of Amiens|Peace of Amiens]]. One point of contention was the fate of [[Electorate of Hanover|Hanover]], a German state in personal union with the British monarchy that had been occupied by France since 1803. Dispute over this state would eventually become a ''[[casus belli]]'' for both Britain and Prussia against France. This issue also dragged Sweden into the war, whose forces had been deployed there as part of the effort to liberate Hanover during the war of the previous coalition. The path to war seemed inevitable after French forces ejected the Swedish troops in April 1806.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

[[File:Myrbach-Prussian Garde du Corps.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Officers of the élite [[Gardes du Corps (Prussia)|Prussian Gardes du Corps]], wishing to provoke war, ostentatiously sharpen their swords on the steps of the [[Embassy of France, Berlin|French embassy in Berlin]] in the autumn of 1806 ''(drawing by [[Felician Myrbach]])'']]

Apart from some [[Battle of San Domingo|naval clashes]] and the peripheral [[Battle of Maida]] in [[Kingdom of Naples|southern Italy]] in July 1806 (though these actions are considered part of the tail end of the War of the Third Coalition), the main conflicts between Britain and France during the Fourth Coalition would involve no direct general military confrontation. Rather, there was an escalation in the ongoing economic warfare between the two powers. With Britain still retaining its dominance of the seas, Napoleon looked to break this dominance (after his defeat of Prussia) with his issuance of the [[Berlin Decree]] and the beginnings of his [[Continental System]]. Britain retaliated with its [[Orders in Council (1807)|Orders in Council]] several months later.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sloane |first=William M. |date=1898-06-01 |title=The Continental System of Napoleon |journal=Political Science Quarterly |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=213–231 |doi=10.2307/2140167 |jstor=2140167 |issn=0032-3195}}</ref>

In the meantime, Russia spent most of 1806 recovering from defeats from the previous year's campaign. Napoleon had hoped to establish peace with Russia and a tentative peace treaty was signed in July 1806, but this was vetoed by Tsar [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] and the two powers remained at war. Though nominally an ally in the coalition, Russia remained a dormant entity for much of the year (giving virtually no military aid to Prussia in the main battles that October, as Russian armies were still mobilising). Russian forces would not fully come into play in the war until late 1806 when Napoleon entered Poland.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

[[File:Napoleonic Wars War of the Fourth Coalition.png|thumb|300px|The participants of the War of the Fourth Coalition. <span style="color:Blue;">Blue</span>: The Coalition and their colonies and allies. <span style="color:Green;">Green</span>: The [[First French Empire]], its protectorates, colonies and allies.]]

Finally, Prussia had remained at peace with France the previous year, though it did come close to joining the Allies in the Third Coalition. A French corps led by Marshal [[Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte|Bernadotte]] had illegally violated the neutrality of [[Ansbach]] in Prussian territory on their march to face the Austrians and Russians. Anger by Prussia at this trespass was quickly tempered by the results of Austerlitz, and a convention of continued peace with France was signed two weeks after that battle at [[Schönbrunn Palace|Schönbrunn]]. This convention was modified in a formal treaty two months later, with one clause in effect promising to give Hanover to Prussia in exchange for Ansbach's being awarded to France's ally [[Electorate of Bavaria|Bavaria]]. In addition, on 15 March 1806 Napoleon elevated his brother-in-law Marshal [[Joachim Murat]] to become ruler of the [[Grand Duchy of Berg]] and [[Duchy of Cleves]] (acquired from Bavaria in return for its receiving Ansbach). Murat exacerbated Prussian enmity by tactlessly ejecting a Prussian garrison that was stationed in his newly acquired realm, prompting a stern rebuke from Napoleon. Relations between France and Prussia quickly soured when Prussia eventually discovered that Napoleon had secretly promised to return sovereignty of Hanover back to Britain during his abortive peace negotiations with the British. This duplicity by the French would be one of the main causes for Prussia declaring war that autumn.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Michael Adams |title=Napoleon and Russia |date=2014 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=9780826442123 |page=124}}</ref>

Another cause was Napoleon's formation in July 1806 of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]] out of the various German states which constituted the [[Rhineland]] and other parts of western Germany. A virtual satellite of the French Empire with Napoleon as its "Protector", the Confederation was intended to act as a buffer state from any future aggressions from Austria, Russia or Prussia against France (a policy that was an heir of the [[French Revolution|French revolutionary]] doctrine of maintaining France's "natural frontiers"). The formation of the Confederation was the final nail in the coffin of the moribund [[Holy Roman Empire]] and subsequently its last [[Habsburg]] emperor, [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]], formally abolished the empire. Napoleon [[German mediatisation|consolidated]] the various smaller states of the former Holy Roman Empire which had allied with France into larger electorates, duchies and kingdoms to make the governance of non-Prussian and Austrian Germany more efficient. He also elevated the electors of the two largest Confederation states, his allies [[Kingdom of Württemberg|Württemberg]] and [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]], to the status of kings.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The Confederation was above all a military alliance: in return for continued French protection, member states were compelled to supply France with large numbers of their own military personnel (mainly to serve as auxiliaries to the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Armée]]}}), as well as contribute much of the resources needed to support the French armies still occupying western and southern Germany. Prussia was indignant at this increasing French meddling in the affairs of Germany (without its involvement or even consultation) and viewed it as a threat. Napoleon had previously attempted to ameliorate Prussian anxieties by assuring Prussia he was not averse to its heading a [[North German Confederation]], but his duplicity regarding Hanover dashed this. A final spark leading to war was the summary arrest and execution of German nationalist [[Johann Philipp Palm]] in August 1806 for publishing a pamphlet which strongly attacked Napoleon and the conduct of his army occupying Germany. After giving Napoleon an ultimatum on 1 October 1806, Prussia (supported by Saxony) finally decided to contend militarily with the French Emperor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Petre |first=Francis Loraine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZttnAAAAMAAJ |title=Napoleon's Conquest of Prussia – 1806 |date=1914 |publisher=John Lane |pages=v–vii |language=en}}</ref>

==Prussian campaign==
{{See also|List of battles of the War of the Fourth Coalition}}
[[File:Grassi, Josef Mathias - Luise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz.jpg|thumb|150px|alt=The beautiful Queen Louise belonged to the pro-war faction.|Queen Louise]]
In August 1806, the Prussian king [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William III]] made the decision to go to war independently of any other great power, save the distant Russia, influenced by his wife Queen [[Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Louise]] and the war party in [[Berlin]].{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}  Another course of action might have involved openly declaring war the previous year and joining Austria and Russia in the Third Coalition. In fact, the Tsar had visited the Prussian king and queen at the tomb of [[Frederick the Great]] in [[Potsdam]] that very autumn, and the monarchs secretly swore to make common cause against Napoleon. Had Prussian forces been engaged against the French in 1805, this might have contained Napoleon and prevented the eventual Allied disaster at [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]]. In any event, Prussia vacillated in the face of the swift French invasion of Austria and then hastily professed neutrality once the [[Third Coalition]] was crushed. When Prussia did declare war against France in 1806, its main ally the Russians still remained far away remobilising. The [[Electorate of Saxony]] would be Prussia's sole German ally. Napoleon could scarcely believe Prussia would be so foolish to take him on in a straight fight with hardly any allies at hand on its side, especially since most of his {{lang|fr|Grande Armée}} was still in the heart of Germany close to the Prussian border. He drummed up support from his soldiers by declaring that Prussia's bellicose actions had delayed their phased withdrawal back home to France to enjoy praise for the previous year's victories.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The initial military manoeuvres began in September 1806. In a letter to [[Jean-de-Dieu Soult|Marshal Soult]] detailing the plan for the campaign, Napoleon described the essential features of Napoleonic warfare and introduced the phrase ''le bataillon-carré'' ("square battalion").<ref name="Chandler 1966, p. 467-8">Chandler 1966, pp. 467–468</ref> In the ''bataillon-carré'' system, the various corps of the {{lang|fr|Grande Armée}} would march uniformly together in close supporting distance.<ref name="Chandler 1966, p. 467-8" /> If any single corps was attacked, the others could quickly spring into action and arrive to help.<ref name="auto2">Brooks 2000, p. 110</ref>  Napoleon unleashed all French forces east of the [[Rhine]], deploying the corps of the {{lang|fr|Grande Armée}} along the frontier of southern Saxony. In a preemptive strike to catch the Prussians unaware, the Emperor had the {{lang|fr|Grande Armée}} march as a massive {{lang|fr|bataillon carré}} (battalion square) in three parallel columns through the [[Franconian Forest]] in southern [[Thuringia]]. Each corps would be in mutual supporting distance of each other, both within the column and laterally to the other columns (once through the difficult passage of the forest), thus allowing the {{lang|fr|Grande Armée}} to meet the enemy at any contingency. This strategy was adopted due to Napoleon's lack of intelligence regarding the Prussian main army's whereabouts and uncertainty over his enemy's puzzling manoeuvres in their march to face him. The reason for the Prussian scheme of manoeuvre stemmed mainly from the mutual mistrust within the Prussian high command. This had resulted in division among the Prussian commanders over which plan of action for the war would be adopted. Despite the deficiency in pinpointing the main Prussian army's exact position, Napoleon correctly surmised their probable concentration in the vicinity of [[Erfurt]]-[[Weimar]] and formulated a general plan of a thrust down the [[Saale]] valley towards [[Gera]] and [[Leipzig]],  then wheeling westward in order to envelop the left flank of where he believed the Prussians were located, thus cutting off their communications and line of retreat to Berlin.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}[[File:Jena-Auerstedt 1806 Campaign Map.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Jena-Auerstedt Campaign, October 1806]]
On 8 October 1806, after a cavalry skirmish at [[Saalburg-Ebersdorf|Saalburg]], a Prussian division was brushed aside in the [[Battle of Schleiz]] on 9 October. The following day, Marshal [[Jean Lannes|Lannes]], debouching from the passage of the forest, crushed a Prussian division at [[Battle of Saalfeld]], where the popular Prince [[Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1772-1806)|Louis Ferdinand]] was killed.

At the double [[Battle of Jena-Auerstedt]] on 14 October, Napoleon smashed a Prussian army led by [[Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen]] and [[Ernst von Rüchel]] at [[Jena]], while his Marshal [[Louis-Nicolas Davout]] routed [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick]]'s main army at [[Auerstedt]]. At Jena, Napoleon fought only a contingent of the Prussian army. At Auerstedt a single French corps defeated the bulk of the Prussian army, despite being heavily outnumbered. Victory at Auerstedt was all but secured once the [[Duchy of Brunswick|Duke of Brunswick]] (as well as fellow commander Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau) were both mortally wounded. Prussian command devolved to the less-able King Fredrick William, who believed he was facing Napoleon himself. Matters worsened once the vanquished remnants of the Prussian army from Jena stumbled onto the clash at Auerstedt, further plunging the Prussians' morale and triggering their precipitous retreat. For this conspicuous victory, Marshal Davout was later created the Duke of Auerstedt by Napoleon.

During the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt|Battle of Jena-Auerstedt]], Marshal [[Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte]] had marched from [[Naumburg]] to [[Dornburg]] and arrived at [[Apolda]] late in the day, due to the poor state of the roads. Apolda sits on strategically important heights between Auerstedt to the North and Jena to the South, and Napoleon had ordered Bernadotte to move to [[Dornburg]] and seize [[Apolda]]; upon establishing his artillery on the heights, Bernadotte compelled the Prussians to withdraw from Jena and Auerstedt.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} Napoleon, believing Bernadotte to be a coward due to his absence in either battle, nearly [[court-martial]]ed him. On 17 October, Bernadotte mauled [[Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württemberg]]'s previously untouched Reserve corps at the [[Battle of Halle]] and chased it across the [[Elbe]] river, this redeeming himself in Napoleon's eyes.

[[File:Siege of Danzig 1807.PNG|thumb|The Siege of Danzig, 1807]]
Some 160,000 French soldiers fought against Prussia, French numbers increasing as the campaign went on, with reinforcements arriving across the [[Wesel]] bridgehead from the peripheral theatre surrounding the recently formed [[Kingdom of Holland]].  Collectively, the French advanced with such speed that Napoleon was able to destroy as an effective military force almost the entire quarter of a million-strong Prussian army. The Prussians sustained 65,000 casualties, including the deaths of two members of the royal family.  They lost a further 150,000 prisoners, over 4,000 artillery pieces, and over 100,000 muskets stockpiled in Berlin. The French suffered around 15,000 casualties for the whole campaign. [[Fall of Berlin (1806)|Napoleon entered Berlin]] on 27 October 1806 and visited the tomb of Frederick the Great, telling his marshals to show their respect, saying, "If he were alive we wouldn't be here today".<ref>{{cite book|author=Rodney Castleden|title=Conflicts that Changed the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_4qDswACxQC&pg=PT264|publisher=Canary Press eBooks|page=264|isbn=978-1907795633|year=2008}}</ref>

In total, Napoleon and the {{lang|fr|Grande Armée}} had taken only 19 days from the commencement of the invasion until essentially knocking Prussia out of the war with the capture of Berlin, following the earlier destruction of its principal armies at Jena and Auerstedt. The majority of the remnants of the Prussian army and the displaced royal family escaped to refuge in [[East Prussia]], near [[Königsberg]], eventually linking up with the approaching Russians, thus allowing the remnants of the Prussian state to continue the fight into 1807. Meanwhile, on 11 December 1806, the [[Treaty of Posen]] elevated [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]] to a kingdom, upon it allying with France and joining the [[Confederation of the Rhine]], thereby leaving the Allied Coalition.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

On 21 November 1806, Napoleon issued the [[Berlin Decree]] to bring into effect the [[Continental System]]. This policy aimed to control the trade of all European countries without consulting their governments. The ostensible goal was to weaken the British economy by closing French-controlled territory to its trade, but British merchants smuggled in many goods and the [[Continental System]] proved ineffective as a weapon of economic war.{{Sfn|Schroeder|1994|pp=305–310}}

==Polish, Russian and Swedish campaigns==
{{See also|List of battles of the War of the Fourth Coalition}}
[[File:Napoleon on the Battlefield of Eylau (Antoine-Jean Gros).jpg|thumb|200px|Aftermath of the Battle of Eylau]]
Towards the end of 1806, the French entered Poland and Napoleon created a new [[Duchy of Warsaw]], to be ruled by his new ally [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony]]. The area of the duchy had already been liberated by a [[Greater Poland Uprising (1806)|popular uprising]] that had escalated from anti-conscription rioting.  Napoleon then turned north to confront the approaching Russian armies<ref>[http://www.mipolonia.net/napoleon/  Maps of Napoleon's Campaign In Poland 1806–07].</ref> and to attempt to capture the temporary Prussian capital at [[Königsberg]]. In pursuit of this aim, twice his attempts to entrap and defeat [[Levin August von Bennigsen|Bennigsen]]'s Russian 1st Army at [[Battle of Pultusk|Pultusk]] and in the vicinity of [[Lidzbark Warminski|Heilsberg]] during the turn of the year were thwarted. A tactical and bloody draw at [[Battle of Eylau|Eylau]] (7–8 February) forced the Russians to withdraw further north. After spending much of the spring recuperating his forces, Napoleon finally routed the Russian army at [[Battle of Friedland|Friedland]] (14 June). Following this defeat, Alexander sued for peace with Napoleon at [[Treaty of Tilsit|Tilsit]] (7 July 1807).{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Meanwhile, Swedish involvement was primarily concerned with protecting [[Swedish Pomerania]]. Despite being defeated at [[Battle of Lübeck|Lübeck]], the Swedes successfully defended the fort of [[Stralsund]] and [[Great Sortie of Stralsund|pushed the French forces out of Swedish Pomerania]] in early April, 1807. On 18 April, France and Sweden agreed to a ceasefire. However, Swedish refusal to join the Continental System led to a second invasion of Swedish Pomerania led by Marshal [[Guillaume Marie Anne Brune|Brune]]. Stralsund fell on 24 August [[Siege of Stralsund (1807)|after a siege]] and the Swedish army abandoned [[Rügen]], thus leaving France in control over [[Swedish Pomerania]]; the resulting armistice, agreed by Marshal Brune and Swedish general [[Johan Christopher Toll]], had allowed the Swedish army to withdraw with all its munitions of war.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

==Results==
[[File:Preussen-1806.jpg|thumb|Prussia (orange) and its territories lost at [[Treaty of Tilsit|Tilsit]] (other colours)]]
Following the [[Treaties of Tilsit]], Britain and Sweden remained the only two major coalition members still at war with France. Russia soon declared [[Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812)|war against Britain]] and after a [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|British attack on Copenhagen]], [[Denmark–Norway]] joined the war on the side of Napoleon ([[Gunboat War]]), opening a second front against Sweden. A short British expedition under Sir [[John Moore (British Army officer)|John Moore]] was sent to Sweden (May 1808) to protect against any possible Franco-Danish invasion.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

At the [[Congress of Erfurt]] (September–October 1808) Napoleon and Alexander agreed that Russia should force Sweden to join the Continental System, which led to the [[Finnish War]] of 1808–1809 (meaning Sweden played no role in the next [[War of the Fifth Coalition|coalition against Napoleon]]) and to the division of Sweden into two parts separated by the [[Gulf of Bothnia]]. The eastern part became the Russian [[Grand Duchy of Finland]]. Due to the Continental System, Britain was yet again still at war with Napoleon and was not affected by the peace treaty.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

In negotiations with captured Swedes after the [[Battle of Lübeck]], Marshal Bernadotte first came to the attention of the Swedish authorities. This would set in motion a chain of events that eventually led to him being elected heir to the Swedish throne, and later King [[Charles XIV John of Sweden]].{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

As for the French, after the [[Treaties of Tilsit|Treaty of Tilsit]], the Empire was seemingly at its zenith. Flush with triumph and deeming France free from any immediate obligations in Central and Eastern Europe, Napoleon decided to capture the Iberian ports of Britain's long-time ally Portugal. His main aim was to close off another strip of the European coast and a major source for British trade.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

On 27 October 1807, Spain's Prime Minister [[Manuel de Godoy]] signed the [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (October 1807)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]] with France, by which in return for the alliance and passage of French armies through its realm, Spain would receive Portuguese territory. In November 1807, after the refusal of Prince Regent [[John VI of Portugal|John of Portugal]] to join the Continental System, Napoleon sent an army into Spain under General [[Jean-Andoche Junot]] with the aim of invading Portugal (as well as the secret task of being the vanguard for the eventual French occupation of Spain). Napoleon soon embroiled himself and France in Spain's internal power struggles within its royal family, eventually leading to the Spanish populace turning on the French occupiers and the beginning of the [[Peninsular War]].{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

== See also ==
*[[Gunboat War]]
*[[List of battles of the War of the Fourth Coalition]]
*[[Napoleonic Wars]]
*[[Peninsular War]]
*[[War of the Fifth Coalition]]
*[[War of the Third Coalition]]
* [[Coalition forces of the Napoleonic Wars]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{Cite book |last=Chandler |first=David G. |title=Jena 1806: Napoleon destroys Prussia |publisher=Osprey |year=1993 |isbn=978-1-85532-285-1 |edition=Repr. |series=Osprey military campaign series |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |last=Clodfelter |first=Micheal |title=Warfare and armed conflicts: a statistical encyclopedia of casualty and other figures, 1492–2015 |publisher=McFarland & Co., Inc., Publishers |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-7864-7470-7 |edition=4th |location=Jefferson, North Carolina}}
*{{Cite book |last=Schroeder |first=Paul W. |url=https://archive.org/details/transformationeu00schr |title=The transformation of European politics, 1763–1848 |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-19-822119-7 |edition=Reprinted |series=Oxford history of modern Europe |location=Oxford |pages=[https://archive.org/details/transformationeu00schr/page/n311 287]–333 |url-access=limited}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{Cite book |last=Asprey |first=Robert B. |url=https://archive.org/details/reignofnapoleonb00aspr |title=The reign of Napoleon Bonaparte |publisher=Basic Books |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-465-00481-2 |location=New York |chapter=Chs. 1–8 |url-access=registration}} 
*{{Cite book |last1=Bodart |first1=Gaston |url=https://archive.org/details/lossesoflifeinmo00bodauoft |title=Losses of life in modern wars : Austria-Hungary : France |last2=Westergaard |first2=Harald |last3=Kellogg |first3=Vernon L. (Vernon Lyman) |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1916}}
*{{Cite book | last=Chandler |first=David G. |url=https://archive.org/details/campaignsofnapol00chan |title=The Campaigns of Napoleon |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-02-523660-8 |edition=2nd |location=New York |chapter=Chs. 39–54 |url-access=registration}} 
*{{Cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Vincent J. |title=A military history and atlas of the Napoleonic wars |last2=Elting |first2=John Robert |publisher=Greenhill Books; Stackpole Books |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-85367-346-7 |edition=Rev. |location=London, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania |pages=57–83}}
*{{Cite book |last=Horne |first=Alistair |title=Napoleon, master of Europe 1805–1807 |date=1979 |publisher=Morrow |isbn=978-0-688-03500-6 |location=New York}}
*{{Cite book |last=Kagan |first=Frederick W. |title=The end of the old order: Napoleon and Europe, 1801–1805 |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-306-81137-1 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=141ff |oclc=ocm70714210}}
*{{cite EB1911|last=Maude |first=Frederic Natusch |wstitle=Napoleonic Campaigns |volume=19|pages=212–236|short=x}}
{{Refend}}

{{Polish wars and conflicts}}
{{Napoleonic Wars}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourth Coalition}}
[[Category:War of the Fourth Coalition| ]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1806]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1807]]
[[Category:Napoleonic Wars|Coalition, 4th]]
[[Category:Wars involving Bavaria]]
[[Category:Wars involving France]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Kingdom of Naples]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Kingdom of Prussia]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Wars involving Saxony]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Kingdom of Sicily]]
[[Category:Wars involving Spain]]
[[Category:Wars involving Switzerland]]
[[Category:Wars involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Wars involving Württemberg]]
[[Category:1806 in France]]
[[Category:1807 in France]]
[[Category:Coalition Wars]]