The austrian army is a coalition expansion for commands amp colors napoleonics prior to the napoleon wars the austrian empire stretched from italy to the netherlands and from poland to the balkans its position in the center of europe however made it the perfect target for revolutionary france and in april 1792 france declared war on austria the first war lasted for 5 years austria renewed the war against france in 1799 and again in 1805 but in both cases was swiftly defeated in april 1809 judg