e object of the War is the object aimed at by
all the Armies simultaneously, and it is therefore necessary that the
consideration should embrace all that each has done or could have done.

It is obvious that this may sometimes lead to a wide field of inquiry,
in which it is easy to wander and lose the way, and in which this
difficulty prevails--that a number of assumptions or suppositions must
be made about a variety of things which do not actually appear, but
which in all probability did take place, and therefore cannot possibly
be left out of consideration.

When Buonaparte, in 1797,(*) at the head of the Army of Italy, advanced
from the Tagliamento against the Archduke Charles, he did so with a view
to force that General to a decisive action before the reinforcements
expected from the Rhine had reached him. If we look, only at the
immediate object, the means were well chosen and justified by the
result, for the Archduke was so inferior in numbers that he only made a
show of resistance on the Tagliamento, and when he saw his adversary so
strong and resolute, yielded ground, and left open the passages, of
the Norican Alps. Now to what use could Buonaparte turn this fortunate
event? To penetrate into the heart of the Austrian empire itself, to
facilitate the advance of the Rhine Armies under Moreau and Hoche, and
open communication with them? This was the view taken by Buonaparte,
and from this point of view he was right. But now, if criticism places
itself at a higher point of view--namely, that of the French Directory,
which body could see and know that the Armies on the Rhine could not
commence the campaign for six weeks, then the advance of Buonaparte over
the Norican Alps can only be regarded as an extremely hazardous
measure; for if the Austrians had drawn largely on their Rhine Armies
to reinforce their Army in Styria, so as to enable the Archduke to fall
upon the Army of Italy, not only would that Army have been routed, but
the whole campaign lost. This consideration, which attracted the serious
attention of Buonaparte at Villach, no doubt induced him to sign the
armistice of Leoben with so much readiness.

(*) Compare Hinterlassene Werke, 2nd edition, vol. iv. p.
276 et seq.

If criticism takes a still higher position, and if it knows that the
Austrians had no reserves between the Army of the Archduke Charles and
Vienna, then we see that Vienna became threatened by the advance of the
Army of Italy