Napoleon secured Northern Italy in 1797 after a grueling eight-month fortress siege
Napoleon Bonaparte's genius was cemented in 1797 when the fall of the strategic fortress of Mantua effectively shattered Austrian power in Northern Italy and changed the course of European history.
After a grueling eight-month siege, the surrender of Mantua on February 2, 1797, signaled the end of Austrian resistance in Italy. Count Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser was forced to hand over the keys to the 'impregnable' fortress to a young Napoleon Bonaparte, who had outmaneuvered several relief armies.
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