Peace of Pressburg

The Peace of Pressburg, signed on 26th December 1805, ended the War of the Third Coalition after Napoleon's crushing victory at Austerlitz. Austria paid dearly: it ceded Venice, Istria and Dalmatia to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, recognized Bavaria and Württemberg as kingdoms allied to France, and paid an indemnity of forty million francs. The treaty also confirmed French dominance in Germany and set the stage for the Confederation of the Rhine and the end of the Holy Roman Empire the following year. Russia, though defeated in the field, made a separate peace only later. For Napoleon, Pressburg was the diplomatic harvest of Austerlitz, converting a single day's battle into a wholesale reordering of central Europe. Its harsh terms fed Austrian resentment and guaranteed that Vienna would seek revenge in 1809. Napoleon celebrated by creating new kings and princes across his empire, distributing crowns to his brothers and marshals as if they were army commands.