Battle of Leipzig (Battle of the Nations)
- Date
- 16–19 October 1813
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- Saxony (Leipzig)
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
Fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 around Leipzig in Saxony, the Battle of the Nations was the largest engagement of the Napoleonic Wars and one of the largest in European history before the twentieth century, involving more than half a million soldiers.
The Sixth Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Sweden, commanded by leaders including Schwarzenberg, Blücher and the Russian tsar, converged on Napoleon's outnumbered French and allied forces. Over four days of grinding combat that produced around 130,000 casualties, the Coalition decisively defeated Napoleon, marking the first time he was beaten in a major set-piece battle. The result broke French control over Germany, dissolved the Confederation of the Rhine, and drove Napoleon's shattered army back across the Rhine into France. Leipzig opened the road to the invasion of France and Napoleon's first abdication the following spring, making it arguably the decisive battle of the war.
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Empires active in 16–19 October 1813
- Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Qing Dynasty1636 CE – 1912 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Mughal Empire1526 CE – 1857 CE
Related military & conflict events
- Napoleon's invasion of RussiaJune–December 1812
- Battle of Waterloo18 June 1815
- Haiti declares independence after a successful slave revolution1 January 1804
- First Opium War and the Treaty of Nanking1839–1842 (Treaty of Nanking, 29 August 1842)
- The Taiping Rebellion1850–1864
- American Civil War and the abolition of slavery1861–1865 (Emancipation Proclamation 1 January 1863; 13th Amendment ratified 6 December 1865)
Further reading
The wider story
Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
Fast-paced narrative of Portugal's seaborne empire.
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