Napoleon offered Hungary freedom, but they fought against him instead – why?
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Bonaparte Napoleon was born 250 years ago to the house of a lawyer in Corsica but became the emperor of France and conquered every country between Great-Britain and Russia. In 1809, he offered freedom for Hungary, but instead of accepting it, the Hungarian nobles decided to fight for their Habsburg king, Francis I. Answer on the why question below.
Because the decision is rather strange, taking into consideration the fact that, by then, the Hungarians already fought two bloody wars for their freedom against their Habsburg rulers. István Bocskai took up arms to protect the freedom of religion in 1604 while Francis II Rákóczi fought between 1703 and 1711 for the freedom of Hungary.
In 1740, the Prussian king, Frederick the Great offered alliance for the Hungarian nobles when he attacked Silesia, but they refused to accept it and chose to fight for Maria Theresa instead, saving the throne of the Habsburgs.
In May 1809,
Napoleon was preparing to fight the deciding battle against the Fifth Coalition
against France, after he captured Vienna. Napoleon issued an announcement from the Palace of Schönbrunn in which he offered independence for Hungary and the freedom to choose a new ruler instead of having one from the Habsburg family. The French emperor was thinking about destroying and dividing the Habsburg Empire even though Talleyrand warned him that the balance of power requires it because of the growing influence of Russia in the region.
The Hungarian nobles received the message, but instead of accepting it they decided to go to war against France and announced the so-called insurrection. This was an ancient element of the Hungarian feudal (legal) system in which
all nobles had to take up arms
if the country was in danger in return for tax exemption. Since the French troops were approaching the borders, it was time.
Such forces along with the regular Hungarian and Austrian troops were placed under the command of Archduke John who intended to cross to the north bank of the Danube and move northwest through Bratislava (Pozsony) to unite with the main army commanded by his brother, Archduke Charles, Generalissimo of the Austrian armies. Napoleon ordered Eugène de Beauharnais, his stepson, to pursue and destroy John’s army. The Franco-Italian troops caught up with John’s forces in mid-June and forced him to give battle near Győr (Raab).