Editing History of Austria (section)

==== War of the First Coalition (1792–1797) ====
{{Main|War of the First Coalition}}
France declared war on Austria on 20 April 1792. The increasing radicalization of the French Revolution (including the execution of the king on 21 January 1793), as well as the French occupation of the Low Countries, brought Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Spain into the war, which became known as the [[War of the First Coalition]]. This first war with France, which lasted until 1797, proved unsuccessful for Austria. After some brief successes against the utterly disorganized French armies in early 1792, the tide turned, and the French overran the [[Austrian Netherlands]] in the last months of 1792. By the [[Battle of Valmy]] in September it was evident to Austria and their Prussian allies that victory against France would elude them, and Austria suffered a further defeat in November at [[Battle of Jemappes|Jemappes]], losing the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium). While the Austrians were so occupied, their erstwhile Prussian allies stabbed them in the back with the 1793 [[Second Partition of Poland]], from which Austria was entirely excluded. This led to the dismissal of Francis's chief minister, [[Philipp von Cobenzl]], and his replacement with [[Franz Maria Thugut]] in March 1793.{{Sfn|Ingrao|2000|loc=ch. 7}}

Once again, there were initial successes against the disorganized armies of the French Republic in 1793, and the Netherlands were recovered. But in 1794 the tide turned once more, and Austrian forces were driven out of the Netherlands again—this time for good. Meanwhile, the Polish Crisis again became critical, resulting in a [[Third Partition of Poland|Third Partition]] (1795), in which Austria managed to secure important gains. The war in the west continued to go badly, as most of the coalition made peace, leaving Austria with only Britain and [[Kingdom of Sardinia|Piedmont-Sardinia]] as allies. In 1796, the [[French Directory]] planned a two-pronged campaign in Germany to force the Austrians to make peace, with a secondary thrust planned into Italy. French forces entered [[Bavaria]] and the edge of the Tyrol, before encountering Austrian forces under [[Archduke Charles of Austria|Archduke Charles]], the Emperor's brother, at [[Battle of Amberg|Amberg]] (24 August 1796) who was successful in driving the French back in Germany. Meanwhile, the [[French Army of Italy]], under the command of the young Corsican General [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]], was brilliantly successful, forcing Piedmont out of the war, driving the Austrians out of [[Lombardy]] and besieging [[Mantua]]. Following the capture of Mantua in early 1797, Bonaparte advanced north through the Alps against Vienna, while new French armies moved again into Germany. Austria sued for peace. By the terms of the [[Treaty of Campo Formio]] of 1797, Austria renounced its claims to the Netherlands and Lombardy, in exchange for which it was granted the territories of the [[Republic of Venice]] with the French. The Austrians also provisionally recognized the French annexation of the Left Bank of the Rhine, and agreed in principle that the German princes of the region should be compensated with ecclesiastical lands on the other side of the Rhine.