SITE OF THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ (PRACKÝ KOPEC)

After the failure of English Prime Minister William Pitt to respect the Amiens Treaty, which ended the Second Coalition War, Napoleon decided to mobilize his troops again in order to invade England. The latter then created a coalition to defeat the French army. England financed the coalition, Russia and Austria provided the men.

On the morning of December 2, 1805, Russian and Austrian troops, far outnumbering the soldiers of the Grand Army, had gathered in their coalition against Napoleon Bonaparte. But the French emperor had surveyed the territory well: he used the morning fog to fool the coalition troops - who then rushed into the scheme and were surrounded by the French army. The French army lost 1,537 men, but the battle was particularly bloody for the Allies: 16,000 dead.

Peace Monument (Mohyla míru). Today, the site is marked by the "Peace Column", built in 1912 by the three countries that had been involved in the battle (and that would again wage war two years later...). A small museum displays the history of the battle.

Other sites of the battle: the village of Sokolnice, the church of Zbýšov - still riddled with cannonball impacts -, the Santon hill - where the Napoleonic army had installed its artillery - and Stará Pošta, where Napoleon spent the night, then met the Austrians to prepare the armistice.