| Siege of Mainz | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFrench Revolutionary War | |||||||
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ignace d'Oyré[1]Alexandre de Beauharnais |   Duke of Brunswick[1]Field Marshal von Kalckreuth[2] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 22,000[1]–23,000 men, 184 cannons | 36,000–43,000[1] men, 207 cannons | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 4,000 killed or wounded[1] 18,000[1]–19,000 captured (released after the battle) | 3,000 killed or wounded[1] | ||||||
  Location within Europe | |||||||
In thesiege of Mainz (German:Belagerung von Mainz), from 14 April to 23 July 1793, a coalition ofPrussia,Austria, and otherGerman states led by theHoly Roman Empire besieged and capturedMainz fromrevolutionary French forces. The allies, especially the Prussians, first tried negotiations, but this failed, and the bombardment of the city began on the night of 17 June.[3]
Within the town the siege and bombardment led to stress between citizens, municipality and the French war council, governing since 2 April. The city administration was displaced on 13 July; this increased the stubbornness of the remaining population. Since a relief army was missing, the war council was forced to take up negotiations with the allied forces on 17 July; the remaining soldiers capitulated on 23 July.[3]
Nearly 19,000 French troops surrendered at the end of the siege, but were allowed to return to France if they promised not to fight against the allies for one year. Consequently, they were used to fight French royalists in theVendée region of France. They left the town singingLa Marseillaise (also known as theChant de guerre de l'Armée du Rhin).[3]
TheRepublic of Mainz, the firstdemocratic state on the later onGerman territory, was subsequently dissolved. Mainz received a Prussian commander to administer the city. The bombardment had left devastating traces in the townscape: some civil buildings and aristocratic palaces like thecomedy house, the electoral pleasure palaceFavorite, the House of the CathedralProvost, Liebfrauen- and the church ofSociety of Jesus had been destroyed, as well as St. Crucis, the Benedictine abbey St. Jacob on thecitadel and the remains ofSt. Alban's Abbey. Thecathedral had been heavily damaged.[3]
The biggest impact of the occupation and siege was that the city's part in the old imperialelectoral structure finally came to an end. Thus the events of the year 1793 also marked the end ofAurea Moguntia, the Latin nickname for the city: "Golden Mainz". The city lost its status as the electoral residence.
The shelling of Mainz was widely discussed in Europe. Many people gathered round the town in order to view the siege.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe assisted DukeCarl August ofSaxe-Weimar during the siege and wrote a famous book about the siege.[4]
Media related toSiege of Mainz (1793) at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Battle of Kaiserslautern | French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Siege of Mainz (1793) | Succeeded by Battle of Wattignies |
