sk sk

200th anniversary of the signing of the Peace of Pressburg

200 Sk commemorative silver coin

The obverse of the coin
The reverse of the coin

The wars led by Napoleon Bonaparte from 1796 to 1815, also affected the western part of the Slovak territory, which was at that time a part of the Habsburg Monarchy. Napoleon’s army marched to Slovakia for the first time in the lead up to the battle known as The Battle of the Three Emperors, which took place on December 2, 1805 at Austerlitz (Slavkov). Napoleon’s army defeated the armies of Francis I, the Austrian emperor and Alexander I, the Russian tsar. The allies suffered huge losses and Austria was forced to capitulate.

The final negotiations between Austrian and French diplomats took place at the end of December 1805 in Bratislava (Pressburg at that time). The peace treaty was signed on December 26, 1805 at the Classicistic residence of Estergom’s archbishop, which is nowadays known as the Primate’s Palace. The treaty contained harsh conditions for Austria and resulted in a new division of Europe. Austria lost its influence in Germany, was stripped of all its territories in Italy and lost Dalmatia, Tirol and Vorarlberg.