A series of military defeats at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte had inflicted a heavy human toll on Austria and led Francis to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire.

The end of the War of the Fifth Coalition resulted in the marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise in 1810, which ushered in a brief period of peace and friendship between Austria and the French Empire.

The European powers, including Austria, resumed hostilities towards France in the War of the Sixth Coalition, which ended with the abdication of Napoleon and his exile to Elba.

Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria (who was given the Latin baptismal name of Maria Ludovica Leopoldina Francisca Theresa Josepha Lucia) was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna on 12 December 1791 to Archduke Francis of Austria and his second wife, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily.

[2] Maria Carolina's Kingdom of Naples had also come into direct conflict with French forces led by Napoleon Bonaparte.

[2] The War of the Third Coalition brought Austria to the brink of ruin, which increased Marie Louise's resentment towards Napoleon.

[9] After escaping an assassination attempt in Vienna, while negotiating the Treaty of Schönbrunn on 12 October 1809, Emperor Napoleon decided that he needed an heir to cement his relatively young Empire.

[11] At the persuasion of Prince Metternich, a marriage between Napoleon and Marie Louise was suggested by Emperor Francis to the Count of Narbonne[12][13] but no official overture was made by the Austrians.

[20] According to the French ambassador, the marriage "was celebrated with a magnificence that it would be hard to surpass, by the side of which even the brilliant festivities that have preceded it are not to be mentioned".

[26] The procession arrived at the Tuileries Palace,[27] and the Imperial couple made their way to the Salon Carré chapel (in the Louvre) for the religious wedding ceremony.

The excitement surrounding the wedding ushered in a period of peace and friendship between France and Austria, who had been largely at war for the last two decades.

[36] Flattering letters were sent between Napoleon and Emperor Francis, Empress Maria Ludovika Beatrix and Archduke Charles during the wedding festivities.

[41] Napoleon arranged for Marie Louise to participate in some carefully selected charity assignments, most notably the Société de Charité Maternelle, for which he made her Honorary President.

[45] In May 1812, a month before the French invasion of Russia, Marie Louise accompanied Napoleon to Dresden, where she met her father and stepmother.

[46] Emperor Francis told Napoleon he could count on Austria for the "triumph of the common cause", a reference to the impending war.

[46] A minor rivalry began to develop between Marie Louise and the Empress of Austria, who was jealous at being upstaged in appearance by her stepdaughter.

[49] Marie Louise then travelled to Prague, where she spent a few weeks with the Austrian Imperial family, before returning to Saint Cloud on 18 July.

After the failed Malet coup of October 1812, Napoleon hastened his return to France and reunited with his wife on the night of 18 December.

[54] The regency was only de jure, as all decisions were still taken by Napoleon and implemented by his most senior officials, including Lebrun, Joseph Bonaparte, Talleyrand and Savary.

[61] Marie Louise was finally persuaded to leave by Henri Clarke, who received the order from Napoleon: "I would prefer to know that they [the Empress and the King of Rome] are both at the bottom of the Seine rather than in the hands of the foreigners.

[67] The Treaty of Fontainebleau exiled him to Elba, allowed Marie Louise to retain her imperial rank and style and made her ruler of the duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, with her son as heir.

[69] Marie Louise was strongly dissuaded from rejoining her husband by her advisors, who fed her accounts that Napoleon was distraught with grief over the death of Joséphine.

[74][75] Distressed at being seen as a heartless wife and indifferent mother, she wrote on 9 August 1814: "I am in a very unhappy and critical position; I must be very prudent in my conduct.

"[76] In the summer of 1814, Emperor Francis sent Count Adam Albert von Neipperg to accompany Marie Louise to the spa town of Aix-les-Bains to prevent her from joining Napoleon on Elba.

Marie Louise was asked by her stepmother to join in the processions to pray for the success of the Austrian armies but rejected the insulting invitation.

[79] She passed a message to Napoleon's private secretary, Claude-François de Méneval, who was about to return to France: "I hope he will understand the misery of my position ...

The Congress of Vienna recognised Marie Louise as ruler of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, but prevented her from bringing her son to Italy.

Franz grew resentful at his Austrian relatives and his mother for their lack of support, and began identifying as Napoleon II and surrounding himself with French courtiers.

[88] She managed to leave Parma between 14 and 15 February, and the rebels formed a provisional government, led by Count Filippo Luigi Linati.

[91] To replace Werklein, in 1833, Metternich sent Charles-René de Bombelles, a French émigré nobleman who had served in the Austrian army against Napoleon.