The previous re-enactment of the battle in 2019 attracted some 12,000 spectators. Photo credit: Lukáš Kaboň, via. FaceBook.
Tvarozna, South Moravia, Dec 5 (CTK) – Up to 10,000 people watched Saturday’s re-enactment of the Battle at Austerlitz, Miroslav Jandora, one of the organisers, told CTK. The commemorative event of the historic battle in Slavkov, South Moravia, where the Napoleonic army scored a victory in 1805, was staged on Saturday after two years when the event was scrapped due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The previous re-enactment of the battle in 2019 attracted some 12,000 spectators.
More than 1,000 history enthusiasts in period uniforms from 14 countries, along with 50 horses and 12 cannons, staged the reconstruction of Napoleon’s famous manoeuvre called the Lion’s jump.
“We had already planned this scenario for 2020. We had to cancel it twice due to the anti-epidemic measures. We have finally managed to make it happen, and everything turned out well as planned,” said Jandora, adding that they had to give thanks above all to the South Moravia Region for its support.
The Lion’s jump manoeuvre was based on the direct attack of the Napoleonic units on the main command of the Russian-Austrian forces.
In the Battle at Slavkov on 2 December 1805, Napoleon’s French army defeated the armies of Emperor Franz I and Russian Tsar Alexander I. It was the largest battle in Central Europe of the early 19th century. A total of 20,000 soldiers perished on the battlefield. Historians estimate that twice as many inhabitants of Moravia died as a consequence of the battle.
The Napoleonic troops marched into Brno on 19 November 1805, and a few days later the first confrontation between the armies took place in Vyskov.
Mark Schneider, of Virginia, USA, appeared in the role of Napoleon again this year, as he has done since 2005.
The French ambassador to the Czech Republic, as well as cadets from the Saint Cyr military academy, watched the re-enactment on Saturday in very cold conditions.
The organisers note that the annual event should not be a celebration of war or Napoleon but merely a remembrance of historical events. The programs marking the anniversary of the battle traditionally culminate with a commemorative meeting at the Cairn of Peace on Sunday.
