In May of 1804, Napoleon assumed the imperial title.  Alexander, denying the right of the people to elect their own sovereign, refused to recognize the empire.  Hence increasing irritation arose.  England, trembling in view of the camp at Boulogne, roused all her energies to rally Europe to strike France in the rear.  In this effort she was signally successful.  Russia, Sweden, Austria, Turkey and Rome, were engaged in vigorous cooeperation with England against France.  Holland, Switzerland and Bavaria ranged themselves on the side of Napoleon.

On the 8th of September, 1805, the armies of Austria and Russia were on the march for France, and the Austrian troops, in overwhelming numbers, invaded Bavaria.  Napoleon was prepared for the blow.  The camp at Boulogne was broken up, and his troops were instantly on the march towards the Rhine.  In the marvelous campaign of Ulm the Austrian army was crushed, almost annihilated, and the victorious battalions of Napoleon marched resistlessly to Vienna.  Alexander, with a vast army, was hurrying forward, by forced marches, to assist his Austrian ally.  At Olmutz he met the Emperor of Austria on the retreat with thirty thousand men, the wreck of that magnificent army with which he had commenced his march upon France.  Here the two armies formed a junction—­seventy thousand Russians receiving into their ranks thirty thousand Austrians.  The two emperors, Alexander and Francis, rode at the head of this formidable force.

On the 1st of December, Napoleon, leading an army of seventy thousand men, encountered these, his combined foes, on the plains of Austerlitz.  “To-morrow,” said he, “before nightfall, that army shall be mine!” A day of carnage, such as war has seldom seen, ensued.  From an eminence the Emperors of Russia and Austria witnessed the destruction of their hosts.  No language can describe the tumult which pervaded the ranks of the retreating foe.  The Russians, wild with dismay, rent the skies with their barbaric shouts, and wreaked their vengeance upon all the helpless villages they encountered in their path.

Francis, the Emperor of Austria, utterly ruined, sought an interview with his conqueror, and implored peace.  Napoleon, as ever, was magnanimous, and was eager to sheathe the sword which he had only drawn in self-defense.  Francis endeavored to throw the blame of the war upon England.

“The English,” said he, “are a nation of merchants.  To secure for themselves the commerce of the world they are willing to set the continent in flames!”

The Austrian monarch, having obtained very favorable terms for himself, interceded for Alexander.  “The Russian army,” Napoleon replied, “is surrounded.  Not a man can escape me.  If, however, your majesty will promise me that Alexander shall immediately return to Russia, I will stop the advance of my columns.”

The pledge was given, and Napoleon then sent General Savary to the head-quarters of Alexander, to inquire if he would ratify the armistice.