15. Russias foreign policy + Napoleonic wars 1789-1815

How did the French Revolution affect Russia?

• Initial phase: moderate reform (lawyers), Fall of Bastille (1789) → influenced Catherine II to consider liberal reforms.

• Radicalisation: execution of Louis XVI (1793) → frightened monarchies; Catherine became hostile to revolutionary ideas.

• Paul I (1796–1801):

  • Opposed his mother’s liberal policies.

  • Believed French revolution threatened monarchies and European order.

  • Supported Northern League/armed neutrality to restrain aggressive states.

Paul I and the second coalition

• France conquered Belgium, Rhineland, Italy during radical revolutionary phase.

• Paul’s policies: peace, order, domestic consolidation.

• Second Coalition (1796–1801): Britain, Austria, Russia vs France.

  • General Suvorov led Austro-Russian army in Italy; trapped in Switzerland → heroic Alpine retreat (“Russian Hannibal”).

• Outcome: Paul blamed Austria, withdrew Russia.

• Replaced aggression with armed neutrality, attempted alliance with Napoleon.

Napoleon Bonaparte early expansion

• By Paul’s reign, Napoleon:

  • Defeated Austria + Italy, captured Malta (1798).

  • Declared First Consul for life (1802), Emperor (1804).

  • Annexed Piedmont, Netherlands, Switzerland; interfered in Holy Roman Empire.

  • Executed Duke of Enghien (1804) → enraged Paul, strengthened hostility.

Alexander I and Russian diplomacy

• Paul assassinated (1801); Alexander I avoids anti-British alliance.

• Maintains neutrality, acts as mediator between France and Britain.

• Advisor: Adam Jerzy Czartoryski

  • Promoted Polish integration under Russia, security of continent.

• Russia joins coalition vs Napoleon in 1805 after his expansion into Austria, Italy, and Prussia.

key battles vs Napoleon 1805-7

• Austerlitz (1805): decisive French victory; Russia and Austria defeated.

• Jena (1806): Prussia defeated.

• Friedland (1807): Russia defeated → led to Tilsit Peace (July 1807).

Tilsit Peace 1807

• Russia recognizes Napoleonic European order:

  • Bonaparte dynasty in Naples, Netherlands, Westphalia.

  • Creation of Grand Duchy of Warsaw.

  • Prussia dismantled; Confederation of the Rhine created.

• Russia mediates France–Britain and France–Turkey conflicts.

• Joins Continental System → restricts British trade (not fully enforced by Alexander).

• Consequences:

  • Swedish war; conquest of Finland.

  • Russian nobility & Orthodox Church opposed treaty.

Napoleon invasion of Russia 1812

• Motivation: Russia refused Continental System (trying to destroy Britains economy however it largely failed) → punitive expedition.

• Napoleon massed ~400,000 troops (France + allies), Russia had half that effectively.

• Russian strategy (Barclay de Tolly + Kutuzov):

  • Avoid decisive border battle.

  • Draw French eastward, stretching supply lines.

  • Use mobility, light infantry, Cossacks to harass enemy.

battle of Borodino + Moscow

• Borodino (7 Sept 1812): ~100,000 casualties, bloodiest single day in 19th-century Europe.

• Russian army preserved; retreated east to Moscow.

• Napoleon entered burned, abandoned Moscow → supply crisis.

• Retreat: French army decimated by winter, Cossacks, guerrilla harassment.

consequences of Napoleon defeat in Russia

• Allies desert Napoleon → Russia, Prussia, Austria, Britain unite.

• Russian army advances west: Leipzig (1813), France (1814).

• Congress system (1813–1815):

  • Treaties of Kalisch, Toeplitz, Reichenbach, Chaumont → restore territories & balance.

  • Congress of Vienna (1815): Alexander I secures Kingdom of Poland under Russian rule, promotes constitutional monarchy in France.

Russia vs France - why did Napoleon lose

French weaknesses:

• Multi-ethnic, conscripted army → low loyalty to Napoleon’s political ideals.

• Dependent on densely populated Western Europe.

• Logistics failed in Russian periphery.

Russian strengths:

• Professional army; modern reforms (1807–1812).

• Effective grand strategy: avoid decisive battle, attrition warfare.

• Strong cavalry & Cossack units, Orthodox-regimental loyalty.

• Leadership of Alexander I, Barclay de Tolly, Kutuzov.

• Patriotic/national motivation (Tolstoy: moral + historical consciousness).

Dominic Lieven, Russia and the Defeat of Napoleon, 1813–1814

• Main argument: Western and Russian historians have undervalued Russia’s role in defeating Napoleon; Russia’s military and diplomatic contribution was crucial to European stability.

• Key points:

  • Russian archives underused in Western scholarship → distorted understanding.

  • French sources blame weather, lack of cavalry, assume civilisational superiority, ignore Russian skill.

  • Prussian historians underplayed Russia in 1813 for nationalist mythmaking.

  • Russian success due to: strategic knowledge of French limitations, coordination of cavalry, artillery, Cossacks, and promotion of young capable commanders.

  • “Tsarist myth”: Russian people united under the throne to defend sacred soil, but Alexander’s foreign policy also reflected strategic national interests (Poland, balance of power).

Taki, Forum – 1812: The War in Words

• Main argument: Russian military culture combined European sophistication with traditional discipline to channel violence, limit civilian harm, and present Russia as civilized.

• Key points:

  • Russian officers adopted codes of conduct and minimized destructive warfare.

  • Education & experience from Seven Years’ War → improved officer corps, reduced elite/line regiment gap.

  • Officers condemned extreme violence by troops (including Cossacks) → sophisticated maneuvering.

  • Civilizing process recognized by Ottomans; memoirs show awareness of barbarity but attempt to frame violence as moral or justified.

  • War aesthetics: some Russians “sublimated” suffering, emphasizing heroic or sublime qualities of battle.

Martin, The Last War in Lace

• Main argument: Wars like 1812 and WW1 reflect continuity in European martial culture, where war is both a personal, spiritual, and civilizational experience.

• Key points:

  • Russian officers aestheticized battle and death → reinforced Europe’s perception of Russia as civilised.

  • Comparison to WW1: Western observers judged Russians using older stereotypes of barbarism, reinforced by foreign perception of Russian irregulars and extreme winter conditions.

  • Alexander I sought to create a Christian-based order (Holy Alliance), paralleling individual/spiritual experiences of soldiers with state aims.

  • Russian victories in 1812 combined civilising practices (officer control of troops, limiting atrocities) with effective use of harsh terrain and climate.