In early life Alexander had acquired a
pronounced taste for revolutionary philosophy and its liberal ideas,
and likewise a more or less theoretical love of humanity. Now, Pitt
persuaded him, with the assistance of English gold, that Napoleon was
the enemy both of true liberty and of humanity. So the tsar joined his
army with that of Austria, and in the autumn of 1805 the allies
advanced through southern Germany toward the Rhine.
Pitt had done his best to bring Prussia into the coalition, but the
Prussian king, Frederick William III (1797-1840), was timid and
irresolute, and, despite the protests of his people, was cajoled by
Napoleon's offer of Hanover into a declaration of neutrality. Bavaria
and Wuerttemberg, from fear of Austria, became open allies of the French
emperor.
[Sidenote: Napoleon vs. Austria]
Before the troops of the Third Coalition could threaten the eastern
frontier of France, Napoleon abandoned his military projects against
Great Britain, broke up his huge armaments along the Atlantic coast,
and, with his usual rapidity of march, hurled his finely trained army
upon the Austrians near the town of Ulm in Wuerttemberg.
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