Triumph: the Italian campaign, 1796-97

In a lightning-quick campaign, Napoleon swept aside an alliance that had stood against the French since 1792. Despite finding his soldiers poorly equipped and outnumbered when he arrived in Italy in March 1796, he went on the attack, splitting the Austrian and Sardinian armies in his first battle and knocking out the forces of Piedmont by the end of April. Napoleon maintained the offensive with an unbroken string of victories, including the decisive Battle of Rivoli in January 1797 (pictured above), where the Austrians lost 14,000 men to France’s 5,000.

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The Austrians gave up as Napoleon marched on Vienna, with the resulting Treaty of Campo Formio securing significant territorial gains in northern Italy. Napoleon returned to Paris both an undisputed national hero and an unmatched military tactician.

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