Which battle is known as the 'Battle of the Three Emperors'?

The Battle of Austerlitz is known as the Battle of the Three Emperors. Fought on 2 December 1805, it brought Napoleon’s French army into conflict with the forces of Emperor Alexander I of Russia and Emperor Francis I of Austria.

The battle took place near Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire, in territory now called Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic. Napoleon deliberately encouraged the allied commanders to believe that his army was vulnerable. When they weakened their centre to attack the French right, he launched a powerful assault against the exposed allied position.

The resulting French victory is widely regarded as one of Napoleon’s greatest tactical achievements. It shattered the Third Coalition and led to the Peace of Pressburg later that month. Austria withdrew from the war, while Napoleon’s influence over central Europe expanded.

The nickname can be slightly misleading: although Francis was the Austrian emperor, he was not personally present on the battlefield. The title refers to the three emperors involved in the conflict, not to three rulers physically commanding troops at the same location.