The story of liberated Hamburg in the spring of 1814

Abstract

This article examines the history of the liberation of General L. L. Bennigsen in the spring of 1814 the city-state of Hamburg from soldiers of the Great Army of Napoleon. After a grueling, almost year-long occupation of a crowded city that has survived the destruction of entire districts, the looting of a local bank, the expulsion of part of the local population from the city, an epidemic of typhus, which claimed the lives of several thousand people, the citizens welcomed the Allied Coalition Forces in the vicinity of their city again. In contrast to the first liberation of the city from the French in the spring of 1813 local authorities now prepared for official celebrations more thoroughly. A special regulation was drawn up and the rules of conduct for the entry of Allied troops into the city were communicated to the citizens through the press. The main imperative of both the city and the Allied military command is to avoid revenge excesses. Also, the article, based on the analysis of sources of personal origin and the press of that time, reveals the perception of occupation by the allied troops of the city as a local population and Russian officers.

Keywords

• the history of germany
• the napoleonic wars
• the campaign of 1814
• hamburg
• davout
• bennigsen