Treaty of Campo Formio

The Treaty of Campo Formio, signed in October 1797 between France and Austria, brought an end to the War of the First Coalition, the first major conflict pitting revolutionary France against a coalition of European monarchies. The treaty followed the brilliant Italian campaign of General Napoleon Bonaparte, whose victories over Austrian armies had driven Austria to seek peace.

Under the agreement Austria ceded to France the Austrian Netherlands, comprising present-day Belgium and Luxembourg, and recognized French control there. The ancient Republic of Venice, which Bonaparte had occupied, was extinguished and partitioned: Austria received Venice itself along with Istria and Dalmatia, while France retained other territories, and the treaty acknowledged the French-sponsored Cisalpine Republic in northern Italy.

Campo Formio confirmed France's dominance in much of western Europe and northern Italy and marked the collapse of the first coalition against the Revolution. It greatly enhanced the personal prestige of Bonaparte, who had negotiated much of it on his own authority. The peace proved short-lived, however; lingering tensions and continued French expansion soon led to the formation of a new alliance and the outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition.