Seven Years' War (Principia Moderni IV Map Game)

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Seven Years' War Principia Moderni IV
Clockwise from top left: The Battle of Quiberon Bay ended French plans for an invasion of Britain; Italian-Burgundian forces at the Battle of Auxerre; Burgundian forces would relieve the city of Dijon at the Battle of Montbard; Napoleon Bonaparte leads Italian forces in a charge at Sion.
Date 24 March 1760 - 3 December 1767 Location Europe (Italian Peninsula, Rhineland, France, English Channel), Arcadia, Laurentia, Asia Result Italian-Burgundian-British Coalition Victory Treaty of Paris (1766) Treaty of Jerba (1766) Treaty of Trento (1767) Territorial changes Independence or creation of Italian states (Savoy, Corsica, and Lombardy); Burgundy retakes Calais, Picardy, and West Flanders; Britain takes Le Havre; Loss of French colonies in Arcadia, Laurentia, and the East Indies; (see more)
Belligerents
Italian League Sicily Burgundy Great Britain Iberia	France Genoa East Indies Savoy Sardinia Valais Alsace Scandinavia Sicily (1762) Maghreb Papal States Augsburg Corsica Iroquois
Commanders and leaders
Carlo Bonaparte Urbano Beccaris Napoleon Bonaparte † Paolo Galasso Giovanni Lancini Luigi Cadorna Gennaro Carlo Orsini Frederik I Willem van Roosevelt Rogier van der Weyden Edward VII Henry I	Francis I Duc de Broglie Édouard Mortier Louis Schérer Pierre Durutte † Charles de Soubise Jean Larrey Ferrand II Guillaume René Dufour Giuseppe Molinari † Eric VII
Strength
Unknown	Unknown

The Seven Years' War was a global conflict beginning in 1760, involving many of the great powers of Europe, and their colonial empires abroad. The war began as a regional conflict between the Italian League and the Grand Duchy of Savoy, a vassal of the Kingdom of France, to determine the fate of France's possessions and influence in the Italian peninsula, and the League would later be joined by several of its allies, including the Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Burgundy, the latter seeking to expand into its western adversary.

The Seven Years' War is largely a part of the revolutionary wars that had broken out across Europe in the decades proceeding the conflict. The Italian League had transitioned into a republic under the authority of Carlo Bonaparte only fourteen years earlier, while the Belkan Civil War had only just begun ending in the east. Both nations saw the conflict with France as an opportunity to export their revolutionary ideas, while also solidifying national unity within their respective nations. The conflict would run concurrent to, and often overlap, with the conflicts of the Belkan Federation.

The war would greatly shift the balance of power in Europe. The war would see the weakening of the Kingdom of France through the Treaty of Paris, which allowed Burgundy to reclaim lost territory in northern France, and also effectively end France's encroaching influence in the Italian peninsula. The nations of Genoa and Sardinia would be formally recognized as part of the Italian League's sphere, while Savoy and Corsica would be granted independence. The peace with France in 1765 would not last however, as France joined the Papal States when it formally declared war later that year. The 1767 Treaty of Trento would end the second phase of the war, which saw further Italian gains, namely the creation of the Duchy of Lombardy.

Background

Savoyard Rebellion

The Battle of San Remo, a decisive Savoyard victory in their war against France.

The Savoyard Rebellion (1693 - 1706) would mark the beginning of Italian interests interfering with France's sphere of influence in the Italian peninsula. Beginning as a rebellion calling for Savoy's independence or autonomy within the empire, the rebellion quickly spread to most of France's possessions in and around the Italian peninsula, culminating in an assault on Genoa, one of France's most important strongholds in the region.

France would ultimately create the Grand Duchy of Savoy as a highly autonomous vassal state, which also indirectly ruled over Sardinia and Valais. While the rebellion failed to establish a fully independent state, the war did lay the foundation for Savoy's continued growth into the eighteenth century, at the expense of their French overlords, while also indirectly inspiring later movements in the Italian peninsula.

The Grand Duchy of Savoy would remain largely neutral in the affairs of the other Italian states after its rebellion, although the Grand Duke Michel I was briefly elected King of Sicily in 1751, although died before he ever traveled to the kingdom. During the growth of republicanism in the Italian League many authors would reference the Savoyard Rebellion as an important moment in Italian history, and an example of early Italian patriotism, which would later become a tenet of Nascianism decades later.

Diplomatic Revolution

During the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century the system of alliances within the European continent shifted heavily, in what is referred to as the "Diplomatic Revolution". The shift was triggered by the separation of interests between several of Europe's tradition alliances, as well as the rise of republicanism and other threats to the balance of power in southern and eastern Europe.

The Raid on the Medway during the First Anglo-Burgundian War. The rivalry between the two nations would directly lead to the development of ships-of-the-line across Europe.

Whereas traditionally the British and Burgundian empires had been largely at odds, as seen in the many Anglo Burgundian Wars, both nations instead found common ground against the growing Kingdom of France, which had begun to threaten both nations in the New World and elsewhere. In 1739 a joint British-Burgundian effort was launched against France, leading to the seizure of the Philippines (Bahamas) and parts of French Brazil, particularly near Fortaleza. The British-Burgundian alliance, although largely informal, would also cooperate again in the 1750's against the Iroquois.

No longer able to count on the British and Burgundians counteracting each other, in 1740 France formed a formal alliance with the Archduchy of Austria, which was capable of contesting Burgundy in the event of a joint British-Burgundian war against France. Unknown to France, however, the spread of republicanism in southern Europe would eventually reach Austria, with the Austrian civil war leaving the nation severally weakened. By 1760 France's main ally on the continent was now deteriorated, leaving France in a vulnerable position.

In southern Europe the century long conflict for influence on the Italian peninsula, fought between Belka through its ally the Italian League, and Iberia, through its ally Sicily, and occasionally France as well, had culminated in the Second Sicilian-Italian War. The subsequent Treaty of Naples established the Kingdom of Sicily as a vassal of the Italian League, changing the balance of power drastically. Again France could no longer count on Iberia and Belka being distracted by interests in Italy, and also now had to account for the rise of the Italian League.

The diplomat most associated with the Diplomatic Revolution is Pietro Pella, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian League for over twenty years, and was later consul from 1748 to 1754. Pella would first successfully negotiate the alliance between the Italian League and Great Britain, via the sale of the League's colonial possessions. The alliance would later be solidified through a trade war against the Sultanate of Maghreb.

Additionally the alliance between Burgundy and the Italian League would be brokered after the Austrian Civil War, under the guise that both nations stood threatened by the nation in between them; Austria, and that action might deem itself necessary to ensure order in Germany. Nonetheless no such action would be carried out against Austria prior to the outbreak of war. Both diplomatic actions were carried out by Pella in the absence of a Belkan alliance, as when the nation's most trusted ally fell into disarray, new alliances had to be created in order to ensure the League's security. Namely, the Belkan Civil War had toppled the reigning government, and with it the formal alliance existing since the Treaty of Naples. The Italian League did support the republican movement in Belka, in an effort to eventually recreate their alliance, although the Italian League never did directly intervene in the civil war.

In 1750 an Italian delegation was sent to the Empire of Belka to treat with the new government, however, a scandal broke out when agents attempted to bribe the delegates, leading to temporary hostility between the two states. An undeclared conflict dubbed the Quasi War ensued, as for the next six years the Italian navy engaged in a number of skirmishes with Belkan forces, although primarily factions deemed in opposition to the new Belkan government. The Quasi War would not be formally ended until 1756, when a new alliance was brokered by Lorenzo Saracco, a Republican-led consulship in the Italian League. Although Pella did not originally count on Belka, by 1760 relations had been temporarily repaired.

Rise of Republicanism

Carlo Bonaparte (center), being selected as First Consul of the Triumvirate in 1734.

The Italian League is considered the birth place of modern republicanism in Europe, having been founded in 1651 as a form of republic, not dissimilar to the Republic of Venice and other similar governments it replaced. Although numerous merchant republics, communes, and other forms of democratic or republican city states had existed across the Italian peninsula and in parts of Germany for much of the middle ages, the Italian League would be the first nation to incorporate republican ideals on a large scale.

For the first two decades of its existence, commonly nicknamed the "Old Republic", the Italian League was only nominally a republic, with little to no democratic or representative elements. Although there was a parliamentary system in place meant to represent the interests of the cities within the League, the elected head of the League, known as the consul, was essentially entrusted with absolute monarchical power. Over the course of the next several decades numerous reforms would transition the nation into a more democratic one; in 1672, for example, term limits would be introduced to the position of consul, after the attempted dictatorship of Gian Miossi.

The Interregnum of 1728 is considered to be the beginning of the nation's reformation into a republic, and is considered by the Italian Republican Calender to be Year I. When the election of the next consul was delayed, liberal elements within the government, backed by the support of the lower and middle classes, managed to forcefully transition most of the nation's many electorates into elected positions themselves, institute a democratic process in the major cities, and forming a major legislative body; the Senate, which would ultimately have power within the nation. After the diplomatic resolution at San Marino the consul election that year took place in September, with Vincenzo Mazzini being elected.

Although Mazzini was initially popular as a consul, being elected for a second term in 1732, he slowly began to erode the power of the Senate and expand his own reach, justifying the need for fewer civil liberties and military buildup due to the threat of war with the Kingdom of Sicily. During this time the spread of enlightenment ideas and liberalism across the nation, spearheaded by figures such as Giovanni Facta and Carlo Bonaparte, one of the nation's leading generals, would turn public opinion against Mazzini.

With liberalism and general dissidence spreading across the north of the country, Mazzini began a crackdown of brutal reprisals, increasing the number of arrests and executions dramatically, and leading to the nicknamed "Reign of Terror" across parts of the country. During this time the writings of Facta and other philosophers and politicians began shifting toward appeals to Italian patriotism, pride, and identity, a concept which would later be cemented by Niccolò Nasci, a political scientist and historian. Nasci, having studied the history of the Italian peninsula, the writings of its philosophers and humanists, and the politics of the age, compiled The Consul, a book outlining the effective ways to consolidate power, rule a state, and other theories. The term Nascianism was coined as the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct, based on some of the more ruthless tactics described by Nasci. This rhetoric would be used by both sides during the later period of Mazzini's reign, with Mazzini using the doctrine to justify some of his more cruel attempts to consolidate power, while Facta focused on patriotism as a means to rally the people of the League.

Giovanni Facta delivering a speech to the Senate, advocating for a declaration of war against Savoy.

A new government would be formed in 1734, known as the Triumvirate System, spearheaded by First Consul Carlo Bonaparte. During this time the Italian League underwent numerous reforms, essentially transitioning fully into a "revolutionary republic". The triumvirate government would fight numerous wars in defense of the republic, or in an effort to assert Italian influence to its neighbors, first with the Italian-Cypriot War of 1734, and later the Second Sicilian-Italian War in 1739. The Constitution of the Year XVIII would formally appoint Carlo Bonaparte to a hereditary position within the government, in addition to being "First Consul for Life", in an effort to preserve the unity of the growing republic.

With the Italian League's republic having managed to weather the immediate fallout of the revolution, the ideals of republicanism began to spread to many of the Italian League's neighbors, most notably the Belkan Empire, which fell into civil war in the 1750's, leading to the formation of the Belkan Federation. A similar civil war would also break out in the Archduchy of Austria. The turmoil of the late 1750's would lead figures such as Giovanni Facta, one of the League's "founding fathers", to advocate for the "exporting of the revolution", or an expansion into the rest of the Italian peninsula and beyond, to ensure the security of the republic, and also place Italy into the hands of Italian and republican governments.

Overview

Allied Campaigns of 1760-1761

Savoy and Ligura Campaigns

Italian First Consul Carlo Bonaparte during the Invasion of Savoy, 1760.

By early 1760 the Italian League had partially mobilized its nation's reserves, and the reserves of the Kingdom of Sicily, beginning rapid training of a conscript army, as per the 1747 Prelievo di Massa Decree, which allowed the republic to mobilize large portions of its population to a war effort, and the 1741 Treaty of Naples, which allowed the League to command Sicilian forces in a joint war effort. These forces were largely concentrated in the north of the Italian League, where the government was able to avoid suspicion by claiming to be preparing for a defense against Austria, if their civil war should threaten the League. At the same time, however, forces were also being gathered in Naples and other ports on the western coast, in preparation to aid the main invasion.

In March 1760 the Italian League formally declared war on the Grand Duchy of Savoy, claiming to be exporting the revolution, and also removing French influence from the Italian peninsula. The bulk of the Italian-Sicilian army marched west across the neutral Papal States, after the government claimed that the mutual cooperation clause of the Treaty of Naples, in addition to the government's attempts to formally request military access, justified their movement through Papal territory.

Concurrent to the invasion of Savoy by land, the Italian-Sicilian navy would also be tasked with supporting the invasion by sea, ultimately intending to launch an amphibious landing near Genoa and take the city. The first military engagement of the war would come on 7 April, with the naval Battle of Ghisonaccia. The heavily outnumbered fleet of Sardinia and Corsica, which had been loosely cooperating in the defense of both islands, was decisively defeated by the Italian navy, leading to landings on both islands soon after. Savoy, which de jure ruled the island of Sardinia as a vassal state, possessed a relatively small military for the time period, and had an even smaller garrison on the island of Sardinia. In total only about 50,000 Savoyard soldiers would formally serve in the war on France's side, of which about 5,000, primarily militia, would defend the island of Sardinia.

Following Ghisonaccia the Sardinian-Corsican navy retreated north hoping to rendezvous with a proper French fleet from southern France, and on 20 April Italian amphibious landings would be carried out at Olbia and Cagliari, seizing both cities with relatively little incident. The government of Sardinia would formally surrender on 13 May, although fighting across the island would continue for several months after, as Italian forces secured the rest of the island's major population centers. Corsica would be subject to an invasion of 19 May, with the siege of Ajaccio, and a second landing south of Borgo on 25 May. Corsica would likewise be captured on 20 June, allowing the Italian League to focus all naval efforts on the Ligura invasion.

While Corsica and Sardinia were still under siege, 10,000 Italian marines would land near La Spezia on 6 April, putting the city to siege. They were later joined by reinforcements arriving by land, and on 29 May the city and surrounding area were captured. With the arrival of the main Italian army the front was divided among three commanders; the northern advance guarded by Carlo Bonaparte's son Napoleon and Field Marshal Paolo Galasso, the south commanded by Field Marshal Giovanni Lancini, and the center commanded by the first consul personally. Lancini and the marines landed at La Spezia would put the city of Genoa to siege on 3 June, while Carlo Bonaparte would first encounter the Savoyard army east of Alessandria, under the command of Grand Duke Ferrand II.

The Grand Duke commanded approximately 30,000 Savoyard soldiers, the majority of the Grand Duchy's raised, professional army, as well as 20,000 French soldiers, which had been rushed east from neighboring parts of France. Bonaparte would manage to cut off the Grand Duke's army from reinforcements stationed near Novara, leading to a decisive victory against the outnumbered Savoyard army. The battle's distraction would also allow the northern army under Napoleon and Galasso to take Novara, forcing both armies to retreat toward Turin.

Napoleon Bonaparte leading a charge during the Battle of Sion.

Although the French army had been unprepared and caught off guard by the Italian invasion, the Kingdom of France quickly began mobilizing men to send into Savoy. The Italian strategy in the initial invasion was to quickly seize most if not all of the strategic locations of the Grand Duchy of Savoy, forcing its surrender, and then simply defending against French counterattacks. To this end Bonaparte quickly followed the retreating Savoyard army toward Turin, while Galasso secured his northern flank, and the city of Ivrea after a brief battle.

Napoleon Bonaparte broke off from Galasso and took half of the northern army north, intercepting a Savoyard army planning to attack the besiegers of Ivrea at the Battle of Biella on 15 June. Instead of advancing alongside the rest of the army toward Aosta, Napoleon returned north and invaded Savoyard Valais, where a a large Swiss-French army under the command of Swiss general Guillaume René Dufour was gathering. Dufour had been planning to intercept the French while they advanced on Aosta, allowing them to be surrounded on at least two sides. Napoleon's fast moving invasion, however, caught Dufour off guard, and the Swiss were defeated at the Battle of Sion on 1 July, essentially capturing the state of Valais. A small Burgundian force would later enter Valais about a month later, only to find Valais having been occupied, and joined Napoleon further south.

Giovanni Lancini, the Italian commander in charge of the Siege of Genoa.

In the south of Savoy the Italian advance had been less speedy, after a French army had advanced along the coast in an effort to relieve the Siege of Genoa. On 13 June the Battle of Varazze would result in a narrow Italian victory, after reinforcements arrived from Alessandria. After the battle Genoa would be further ensnared both on land and sea, and on 1 August the city fell to Giovanni Lancini. The marshal then moved on toward Savona, in command of 100,000 men. The Siege of Turin in the center began on 16 June, while Galasso laid siege to Aosta on 14 June. Napoleon Bonaparte, in possession of the smallest of the four armies, quickly marched on Annecy. Another 50,000 men were to be transported under the command of Luigi Cadorna to the city of Nice, in an effort to surround the French army, now under the command of François-Marie, 1st Duc de Broglie, and numbering about 100,000.

The Duc de Broglie fortified Cuneo, while waiting for another 90,000 men to arrive from southern France under the command of Pierre Durutte. The siege of Nice caught the French off guard, and the Duc de Broglie left Cuneo to attack Cadorna's men. At the Battle of Contes north of the city Cadorna suffered about 16,000 casualties and was forced to lift his siege of Nice, retreating toward San Remo to the east. The actions near Nice did however distract the French forces, and Lancini would take Savona and lay siege to Cuneo on 15 August.

Cadorna's army would retreat to the city of Albenga, where his remaining 34,000 men came under attack by approximately 90,000 French soldiers under the Duc de Broglie. By this time Turin had surrendered, and Italian reinforcements had been ordered to march south from the city. Surrounded by three encroaching armies, the Duc de Broglie retreated back to Nice, having lost 20,000 men in the ensuing campaign to Albenga and back. Durutte's army arrived in the region on 5 August, and was ordered to occupy the city of Susa, which guarded the central pass out of Savoy into France. The combined forces of Galasso and Napoleon had already taken both Aosta and Annecy, and in early August had already surrounded Chambery. They were matched by 100,000 French soldiers who had recently arrived in Lyon, another 50,000 at Grenoble, and 70,000 further to the northwest, en route to the front in the south.

Napoleon took over the siege of Annecy and captured the city on 14 August, while Galasso attacked Grenoble directly on 7 August, initially being defeated by a French army under the command of Louis Schérer. Instead of pursuing north, Schérer marched into Savoy to reinforce the position at Susa, however, the combined forces of Schérer and Durutte would be defeated by Carlo Bonaparte on 20 August, leading to the capture of Susa.

Provence Campaign

By the end of August all of Savoy was occupied by the Italian League, and on 28 August Galasso would march into Burgundy with 100,000 men to help defend the nation's allies, leaving Napoleon in command of the northern army in Savoy. Napoleon left 20,000 men in both Annecy and Chambery, and marched with about 80,000 men on Grenoble, taking the city after a costly battle with its garrison, which saw 10,000 French casualties and 8,000 Italian. Napoleon fortified the city, although he knew that approximately 70,000 men under Durutte still operated to the northeast of his position, just east of Chambery.

Carlo Bonaparte had departed from Susa with another 100,000 men, although Napoleon was unsure of his father's movements. The Army of Lyon, under Édouard Mortier, attacked Chambery and Annecy from the west, with 50,000 men each, prompting the surrounded Durutte to also attempt to siege the city, hoping to break out of his encirclement. Napoleon quickly marched with 60,000 men to attack the besiegers from the south. By the morning of 5 September approximately half of the 20,000 man garrison, 10,000 of Napoleon's relief army, and 25,000 Frenchmen from both combined armies (of which 20,000 had been lost in Durutte's attack), had been killed or wounded.

The following day Napoleon would face Édouard Mortier at Chambery, successfully relieving the siege and pushing back the French. Carlo Bonaparte's army, receiving word of the attack, dispatched 50,000 men to Grenoble to support the heavily outnumbered garrison, while Bonaparte personally marched with the remaining 50,000 men north after Durutte. The combined armies of Bonaparte and two reserve armies of 50,000 men each, from Sion and Aosta, managed to surround Durutte at the Battle of Sallanches, causing the death of the French general and the capture of his remaining army on 11 September. At Annecy, the 50,000 men outside the city would lift their siege, retreating back to Lyon.

Schérer, who had managed to rally some of the forces at Susa and Grenoble and escape south, fortified the town of Gap with the remaining 40,000 men from the campaigns to the north and immediately requested reinforcements. The relief would come with the arrival of Jean Larrey's army of 50,000 in Nimes to the southwest. Having taken time to consolidate his forces Giovanni Lancini would launch a major Italian offensive against Nice on 2 September, defeating the Duc de Broglie, but also losing some 20,000 men to the Duc de Broglie's 15,000 loses. The French would achieve a victory under Larrey's command on 15 September, when 80,000 Italian soldiers were repulsed south of Gap by Larrey and Schérer's two contingents.

Larrey's army would continue past the city of Gap, marching as far north as Susa. At the Battle of Briançon he would would defeat a slightly larger Italian army, which fell back to Susa, but rather than continue to the city, Larrey would turn west. The French now had the Italian army at Grenoble surrounded on two sides, and Larrey hoped to quickly take the city with a decisive battle. Instead Napoleon would return from Chambery and defeat Larrey at the Battle of Theys, forcing him to retreat back south. With Schérer now exposed at Gap the Italian besieged the city on 1 October.

Defeats at Digne on 10 October, against Lancini, and at Gap, which fell on 25 October, severally weakened the French position in the south. At Gap 20,000 French soldiers would be killed in a last ditch effort to break the siege, while 20,000 would be captured. Meanwhile Larrey had fallen back to the southwest with only 30,000 of his original force. In the north Carlo Bonaparte would secure a major victory east of Lyon on 15 October, managing to drive back the French under Édouard Mortier, before laying the city itself to siege. Additionally by this time a joint Burgundian-Italian excursion led by Galasso and Rogier van der Weyden would win the Battle of Beaune, further strengthening the southern front.

On 11 November Giovanni Lancini would win the Battle of Fréjus and lay seize to Toulon soon after, while Larrey would be defeated decisively outside Nîmes, leaving Provence more or less captured. The siege of Toulon would end on 1 February, while Marseille would fall on 10 January.

Channel Campaign

The nation of Great Britain had been reluctant to commit troops to a land war in France proper initially, having declared war in August 1760. Initially the British contributed through a blockade of the Channel coast, as well as offering financial aid in the form of subsidies to its allies. The French began planning a potential invasion of the British Isles to take place early the following year, and began amassing an army in the north of France, as well as consolidating its fleets in Brittany.

The French would be thwarted, however, by a series of decisive naval engagements, which ultimately forced them to abandon their plans. The first came on 1 September, when France's Mediterranean Fleet was ordered to travel around Iberia to the northern coast of France, in preparation for the invasion. A British fleet of approximately forty ships, which had been dispatched to blockade the southern coast of France and aid the Italian operations in the region, intercepted the French fleet, numbering thirty ships, off the coast of Portugal. In the ensuing Battle of Sagres four French ships-of-the-line, and three others, would be destroyed, while two ships would be captured. A second decisive naval engagement would come on 13 October, when the French fleet guarding France's western coast was defeated by the British at the Battle of Quiberon Bay.

With the British having established dominance on the seas they began preparing for their own strike against the French coast. Numerous raids would be carried out on northern French ports, inflicting damage and weakening France's ability to rebuild its fleet after the two major naval engagements. On 3 November the British would launch an amphibious assault on the city of Le Havre, managing to seize the city. By this time the Burgundian invasion of France in the east was well underway, and the British were supported from the rear.

Burgundian Invasion of France

On 1 July the Kingdom of Burgundy formally declared war on France, having taken time to mobilize its forces and position them along the border with France. The first Burgundian engagement of the war would come with an invasion of French Picardy. The Burgundian High Seas Fleet was dispatched to blockade the French coast, particularly around Calais, in preparation for a ground army of about 100,000 soldiers to move into the region, laying siege to the city. On 29 July the city fell into Burgundian hands.

Although the majority of French forces had already been moved toward the Italian peninsula, an army had been kept in reserve at Paris, which was quickly expanded to 100,000 men. The Burgundians, having already committed about forty percent of their available manpower to the invasion of Picardy, mobilized the rest of their forces; approximately 100,000 more men were raised and stationed near Nancy under Rogier van der Weyden, while another 50,000 men garrisoned Dijon. The main Burgundian army, which had garrisoned Calais, had moved south to lay siege to Amiens on 15 August.

On 20 August an army of 70,000 men under the command of Charles de Soubise defeated the Army of Dijon and laid siege to the Burgundian capital, but ultimately lifted the siege two weeks later when Van der Weyden won a decisive victory at the Battle of Montbard. The initial attack on the Burgundian capital had been repulsed, but it was clear that when France was fully mobilized the Burgundians would be heavily outnumbered, and on 28 August Italian marshal Paolo Galasso would break off 100,000 men from Annecy and march toward Dijon to reinforce his allies.

In late October Galasso and Rogier van der Weyden would win the Battle of Beaune, further strengthening the southern front, and pushing the French away from Dijon. The reserve force of 100,000 men was order to move toward Reims in early November, as the the French began amassing forces in the north around Paris to possibly repulse the Burgundian advance from Calais. After the planned invasion of Britain was canceled an army of 100,000 Frenchmen was immediately moved from the staging area to the north, while an additional 100,000 men was receiving training in central France, before being moved to Orléans by the end of the year.

Forces from the southern front were rushed into Burgundy in late November, with another 100,000 fresh conscripts, and the entire army under Napoleon Bonaparte's control arriving in Dijon by December, while 50,000 men from Italy arrived to replace Napoleon's presence in northwest Savoy. On 1 November the city of Amiens had fallen to Burgundian forces, however, they were hesitant to assault Paris before reinforcements could arrive. Galasso would follow up the victory at Beaune with a narrow victory at Tournus, which helped to buy time for Napoleon's arrival.

On 11 March hostilities would renew again with the Battle of Auxerre, in which an army of Burgundians and Italians under the command of Napoleon would secure a major victory. The French fell back to Sens, guarding the southern approach into Paris with 115,000 total soldiers, compared to the 110,000 under the command of Napoleon and the Burgundians. Rogier van der Weyden, advancing with an additional 95,000 men, would be stopped at the Battle of Moulins by an army of 80,000, losing a close defeat, although doing little to advance France's position. Carlo Bonaparte, from Lyon, would manage to defeat the slightly larger French army at the Battle of Roanne.

A stalemate ensued between Carlo Bonaparte and Édouard Mortier, whose armies were now roughly equal in size. This would allow the 75,000 French soldiers at Moulins to march north, attempting to surround Napoleon near Auxerre. Instead Napoleon launched an attack on Sens on 1 April, and was eventually supported by the Burgudian army held in reserve to the north. This allowed for a relatively easy victory, but not without leaving the army at Amiens exposed, leading to a French siege on 4 April. Additionally another 75,000 French recruits were believed to be at Orléans, leaving Napoleon outnumbered by all counts. Despite Paris being within his grasp, Napoleon instead marched north and relieved the siege at Amiens on 20 April. By early May Sens and Auxerre were recaptured by the 75,000 man army.

The rapid success of the southern front would force away the attention of French reinforcements. Lancini's forces would take the city of Arles on 1 May, before rapidly advancing north to aid Carlo Bonaparte near Lyon. With this distraction in the south drawing away French manpower, Napoleon's forces laid siege to the city of Paris. The decisive Battle of Pontoise would prevent the French from reinforcing the city or relieving the siege, and on 2 September the city fell to Italian-Burgundian forces. During this time Carlo Bonaparte had managed to hold his position at Lyon, although his absence in Italy had led to discontent within the government, and toward the war. The First Consul would meet these criticisms by resigning the consulship so that new elections could take place.

Napoleon Bonaparte would be hastily elected First Consul after the abdication of his father.

Partially due to his father's continued popularity, and partially due to suffrage being extended to the military, Carlo's son Napoleon was elected First Consul while he was still at Paris. The young general intended to continue leading from the front lines regardless. For the rest of the year Italian and Burgundian forces would hold their positions in France, fortifying at Paris, Lyon, and other major cities, while also focusing on other fronts, such as North Africa, for the first time.

In January 1762 the French would launch their first counterattack, intending to draw away forces from Paris, so that the city could be seized. At the Second Battle of Auxerre on 13 January Napoleon would lead a portion of the Parisian garrison in an attempt to encircle a French army to the south. He would be successful in retaking Auxerre and repulsing the French, although would be killed in battle later that day. The temporary loss in leadership caused a stall amount the allied forces, while in Italy Napoleon's brother, Giuseppe would be elected First Consul. For the rest of the war in France the allied nations would largely be on the defense.

Treaty of Paris Phase

Papal-Italian War

Carlo Bonaparte accepts the surrender of the Papal States' forces at Florence.