The Treaty of Schönbrunn (or Convention of Schönbrunn) was a treaty of friendship signed between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace (Austrian German, German: Schloss Schönbrunn ) was the main summer residence of the House of Habsburg, Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning "beautiful spring") ha ...

in Vienna on 15 December 1805, during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. The terms were negotiated by

Géraud Duroc Géraud Christophe Michel Duroc (; born du Roc; 25 October 1772 – 23 May 1813), Duke of Frioul, was a French people, French general and diplomat who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his friendshi ...

, who signed for France, and Christian Graf von Haugwitz, who signed for Prussia. The convention was superseded by the Treaty of Paris of 15 February 1806, which incorporated its main terms.J. Rickard (2 October 2012)
"Convention of Schönbrünn or Vienna, 15 December 1805"
''History of War''.

Background

On 3 November, Prussia had signed the

Treaty of Potsdam The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, thereby committing to join the

Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition () was a European conflict lasting from 1805 to 1806 and was the first conflict of the Napoleonic Wars. During the war, France and its client states under Napoleon I and its ally Spain opposed an alliance, the Th ...

against France if

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

rejected peace terms. French forces had already violated Prussian territory by marching across the Margraviate of Ansbach in September. In response, Prussia had occupied the

Electorate of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover ( or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an Prince-elector, electorate of the Holy Roman Empire located in northwestern Germany that arose from the Principality of Calenberg. Although formally known as the Electorate of Brun ...

, which, although it belonged King

George III of Great Britain George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great ...

, had been occupied by the French and only vacated by them during the course of the war.Joachim Whaley. ''Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, Volume II: The Peace of Westphalia to the Dissolution of the Reich, 1648–1806'' (Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 634–35. Napoleon's victory at the

battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...

on 2 December destroyed the Third Coalition, rendering the Treaty of Potsdam moot. Haugwitz went to Vienna, where Napoleon was staying, to negotiate a treaty of friendship with France.

Terms

By the terms of the convention, Prussia was permitted to annex Hanover, but had to cede Ansbach, the

Duchy of Cleves The Duchy of Cleves (; ) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged from the medieval . It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the towns of Wesel, Kalkar, Xanten, Emme ...

and the

Principality of Neuchâtel A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchical state or feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "principality" is often ...

. Ansbach went to

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, which was forced to give up the

Duchy of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a member state of the Holy Roman Emp ...

to France. Berg was then joined with Cleves to form the Grand Duchy of Berg and Cleves for General

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...

. Neuchâtel was given by Napoleon to Marshal

Louis-Alexandre Berthier Louis-Alexandre Berthier, prince de Neuchâtel et Valangin, prince de Wagram (; 20 November 1753 – 1 June 1815) was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was twice Minister of Wa ...

. Prussia also agreed to accept the terms of the Treaty of Pressburg between France and the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, which had not yet been finalized. It was only signed on 26 December. The Convention of Schönbrunn did not contain the customary clause affirming previous treaties. Contemporaries saw it, together with Austerlitz and Pressburg, as an epochal event, marking the end of an era, since Napoleon had demonstrated no interest in maintaining the Holy Roman Empire in anything like its old form. The annexation of Hanover incensed Britain and

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

lambasted Prussia's behaviour as "a compound of everything that is contemptible in servility with everything that is odious in rapacity."Klaus Epstein, ''The Genesis of German Conservatism'' (Princeton University Press, 1966), p. 663. The annexation ultimately led to war with Britain.

References

{{reflist Schoenbrunn 1805 in France 1805 in the Holy Roman Empire 1805 in Prussia Schoenbrunn 1805 treaties Schoenbrunn France–Prussia relations December 1805