The armistice was merely the pause that would be followed by a fiercer onset, unless the allies and Austria bent before his will.

Of this they gave no sign even after the blow of Bautzen.

In the negotiations concerning the armistice they showed no timidity; and when, on June 4th, it was signed at Poischwitz up to July 20th, Napoleon felt some doubts whether he had not shown too much complaisance.
It was so: in granting a suspension of arms he had signed his own death warrant.
The news that reached him at Dresden in the month of June helped to stiffen his resolve once more.

Davoust and Vandamme had succeeded in dispersing the raw levies of North Germany and in restoring Napoleon's authority at the mouths of the Elbe and Weser; and in this they now had the help of the Danes.
For some time the allies had been seeking to win over Denmark.

But there was one insurmountable barrier in the way, the ambition of Bernadotte.