German campaign of 1813

Battle context

The German campaign of 1813 was the central military contest of the War of the Sixth Coalition, pitting Napoleon and his marshals, supported by the Confederation of the Rhine states, against a coalition that included Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden. Fought across a series of engagements on German soil, the campaign ended French imperial dominance over the German states. The defeat of Napoleon's forces and the collapse of the Confederation of the Rhine alliance broke the structure through which France had exercised control over much of continental Europe. Combined casualties across both sides totaled over 820,000, reflecting the scale and intensity of the sustained fighting that decided the campaign's outcome.