War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition ( 1798 – 1802 ) was the second attempt by European monarchs , led by the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria and the Russian Empire , to contain or eliminate Revolutionary France . They formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back France ' s previous military conquests . Austria and Russia raised fresh armies for campaigns in Germany and Italy in 1799 . In the summer of 1798 , Napoleon Bonaparte led an expedition to Egypt . Meanwhile , during his absence from Europe , the outbreak of violence in Switzerland drew French support against the old Swiss Confederation . When revolutionaries overthrew the cantonal government in Bern , the French Army of the Alps invaded , ostensibly to support the Swiss Republicans . In northern Italy , Russian general Aleksandr Suvorov won a string of victories , driving the French under Moreau out of the Po Valley , forcing them back on the French Alps and the coast around Genoa . However , the Russian armies in the Helvetic Republic ( " Switzerland " ) were defeated by French commander André Masséna , and Suvorov eventually withdrew . Ultimately the Russians left the Coalition when Great Britain insisted on the right to search all vessels it stopped at sea . In Germany , Archduke Charles of Austria drove the French under Jean - Baptiste Jourdan back across the Rhine and won several victories in Switzerland . Jourdan was replaced by Massena , who then combined the Armies of the Danube and Helvetia . Background . Initially , such rulers of Europe as Joseph II , Holy Roman Emperor , viewed the revolution in France as an event between the French king and his subjects , and not something in which they should interfere . As the rhetoric grew more strident , the monarchies started to view events with distrust . Leopold , who had succeeded Joseph as Emperor in 1790 , saw the situation surrounding his sister , Marie Antoinette , and her children , with greater and greater alarm . As the revolution grew more and more radical , he still sought to avoid war , but in the late summer , he , in consultation with French émigré nobles and Frederick William II of Prussia , issued the Declaration of Pilnitz , in which they declared the interest of the monarchs of Europe as one with the interests of Louis and his family . They threatened vague , but serious , consequences if anything should happen to the royal family . By 1792 , the French republican position had become increasingly difficult . Compounding internal economic and social problems , French émigrés agitated abroad for support of a counter - revolution in France that would restore an absolute monarchy . Chief among them were the Prince of Condé ( cousin of Louis XVI ) , Condé ' s son , the Duke of Bourbon , and Condé ' s grandson , the Duke d ' Enghien . From their base in Koblenz , immediately over the French border , they sought direct support for military intervention from the royal houses of Europe , and themselves raised a small army . The ascension of young and uncompromising Francis as Holy Roman Emperor - elect on the death of his father in July 1792 also contributed to their unease . War of the First Coalition . On 20 April 1792 , the French National Convention declared war on Austria . In this War of the First Coalition ( 1792 – 98 ) , France ranged itself against most of the European states sharing land or water borders with her , plus Portugal and the Ottoman Empire . Although the Coalition forces achieved several victories at the outset of the war , they were ultimately repulsed from French territory and then lost significant territories to the French , who began to set up client republic s in their occupied territories . The efforts of Napoleon Bonaparte in northern Italy pushed Austrian forces back and resulted in the negotiation of the Peace of Leoben ( 17 April 1797 ) and the subsequent Treaty of Campo Formio ( October 1797 ) . Peace interrupted . From October 1797 until March 1799 , the signatories of the Treaty of Campo Formio avoided armed conflict . Despite their agreement at Campo Formio , two primary combatants , France and Austria , remained suspicious of each other and several diplomatic incidents undermined the agreement . The French demanded additional territory not mentioned in the Treaty . The Habsburgs were reluctant to hand over designated territories , much less additional ones . The Congress at Rastatt proved inept at orchestrating the transfer of territories to compensate the German princes for their losses . Ferdinand of Naples refused to pay tribute to France , followed by the Neapolitan rebellion and the subsequent establishment of the Parthenopaean Republic . Republicans in the Swiss cantons , supported by the French army , overthrew the central government in Bern and established the Helvetic Republic . Other factors contributed to the rising tensions . On his way to Egypt , Napoleon had stopped at the heavily fortified port city of Valletta . The governor of Malta would only allow two ships at a time into the harbor , in accordance with the island ' s neutrality . Bonaparte immediately ordered the bombardment of Valletta and on 11 June , General Louis Baraguey d ' Hilliers directed a landing of several thousand French troops at strategic locations around the island . The French Knights of the order deserted , and the remaining Knights failed to mount a successful resistance . Bonaparte forcibly removed the Hospitallers from their possessions , angering Paul , Tsar of Russia , who was the honorary head of the Order . The French Directory , furthermore , was convinced that the Austrians were conniving to start another war . Indeed , the weaker the French Republic seemed , the more seriously the Austrians , the Neapolitans , the Russians and the British actually discussed this possibility . Preliminaries to war against Austria . Military planners in Paris understood that the northern Rhine Valley , the south - western German territories , and Switzerland were strategically important for the defense of the Republic . The Swiss passes commanded access to northern Italy ; consequently , the army that held those passes could move troops to and from northern and southern theaters quickly . Toward this end , in the early November 1798 , Jourdan arrived in Hüningen to take command of the French forces there , the so - called Army of Observation because its function was to " observe " the security of the French border on the Rhine . Once there , he assessed the quality and disposition of the forces and identified needed supplies and manpower . He found the army woefully inadequate for its assignment . The Army of the Danube , and its two flanking armies , the Army of Helvetia and the Army of Mayence , or Mainz , were equally short of manpower , supplies , ammunition , and training ; most resources were already directed to the Army in Northern Italy , and Army of Britain , and the Egyptian expedition . Jourdan documented assiduously these shortages , pointing out in lengthy correspondence to the Directory the consequences of an under - manned and under - supplied army ; his petitions seemed to have little effect on the Directory , which sent neither significant additional manpower nor supplies . Jourdan ' s orders were to take the army into Germany and secure strategic positions , particularly on the south - west roads through Stockach and Schaffhausen , at the western - most border of Lake Constance . Similarly , as commander of the Army of Helvetia ( Switzerland ) , Andre Massena would acquire strategic positions in Switzerland , in particular the St . Gotthard Pass , the passes above Feldkirch , particularly Maienfeld ( St . Luciensteig ) , and hold the central plateau in and around Zürich and Winterthur . These positions would prevent the Allies of the Second Coalition from moving troops back and forth between the northern Italian and German theaters , but would allow French access to these strategic passes . Ultimately , this positioning would allow the French to control all western roads leading to and from Vienna . Finally , the army of Mayence would sweep through the north , blocking further access to and from Vienna from any of the northern Provinces , or from Britain . War between France and the Habsburgs . Disruption in France . By the end of 1799 , Napoleon had returned from Egypt , leaving his army behind . He reorganized the French armies and command for the next year ' s campaign . In 1800 , Napoleon took personal command of the army in Italy , and eventually won a victory at the Battle of Marengo against the Austrian general Michael Melas , driving the Austrians back toward the Alps . In Germany , General Moreau defeated Archduke Johann at the Battle of Hohenlinden , forcing him to sign an armistice . In February 1801 the Austrians signed the Treaty of Lunéville , accepting French control up to the Rhine and the French client republic s in Italy and the Netherlands . On 2 April 1801 , the British navy defeated the Danish fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen . The Treaty of Amiens between France and Britain began the longest break in the war between the two during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods . French Revolutionary Wars :