The beginning of the 19th century was borne in the sign of the Napoleonic wars. After the battle at Austerlitz in 1805, the so-called Peace of Pressburg was concluded between France and Austria in the Mirror hall of the Primacial palace . Nevertheless, the peace did not last for long and, as soon as 1809, Napoleon’s army damaged the town with shellfire from the right bank of the Danube.
From the 1830s, a rapid upswing of industry began in the city, supported by the introduction of state-of-the-art transportation. To a great extent, fast transport was only enabled on the Danube by steamboats, capable of also sailing upstream. Steam trains started running from 1848 .
The last big political event in the city of Hungarian times was a session of the Hungarian assembly of estates during 1847-1848 . In March 1848, the assembly voted for the abolition of serfdom. Emperor Ferdinand V subsequently visited Bratislava, signing and declaring the so-called Acts of March in the Mirror hall of the Primacial palace on 11 April 1848 . After the dissolution of the last Hungarian assembly, and the moving of the political seat of Hungary to Pest, Bratislava becomes a politically less significant centre.