Historical Dictionary of the Napoleonic Era

by George F Nafziger

  Not to be outdone, Stanislaw Szczeny Potocki, Seweryn Rzewuski and Franciszck Ksawery Branicki, the three chief opponents of the new constitution, went to Russia. Here they arranged with Catherine II to undertake a restoration of the old system by force of arms. On 14 May 1792 some Polish troops accompanied the three conspirators into the town of Targowica in the Ukraine and declared an end to the new constitution. Four days later the Russian minister in Warsaw presented a formal declaration of war to the Polish government. Prussia abandoned the Poles, leaving Prince Jozef Anton Poniatowski, nephew of King Stanislaw II, and Tadeusz Kosciuszko to lead their 46,000-man army to the east. After winning three pitched battles against the Russians they were obliged to withdraw to Warsaw by Russia’s overwhelming numbers.

  The king, in a moment of weakness, conceded to the Russian demands and hostilities were suspended. The Polish army disintegrated in disgust and the new constitution was abandoned. The old system was restored and the Russians occupied all of eastern Poland. The Prussians, alarmed at this turn of events, took action of their own.

  After every possible means of coercion was applied to the Poles, the second treaty of partition was signed on 23 September 1793. Russia got all of Poland’s eastern provinces between Livonia and Moldavia. Prussia got Dobrzyn, Kujavia, Great Poland, Torun and Danzig. Poland now had only 83,012 square miles of territory and a population of about 4,000,000 inhabitants. Austria did not take part in the second partition.

  In an effort to stop the destruction of Poland, if not restore her lost territories, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Hugo Kollataj and Ignacy Potocki, among others, began anew to work for Poland. Kosciuszko went to revolutionary France to propose a league of republics to oppose the league of sovereigns. Jacobin France, operating for its own benefit, gave him an evasive reply. When he returned empty handed he found that Polish officers had started a revolt against the imposed limit on the army of 15,000 men. His hand forced, Kosciuszko declared a dictatorship on 23 March 1794 in Krakow. He reinstated much of the 1791 constitution and called the peasants to arms. At first Kosciuszko’s army was successful and the Russians were repeatedly defeated. Not only was much of the lost territory recovered from Russia, but Warsaw and Wilno were liberated by popular uprisings.

  However, the overwhelming masses of Prussian and Russian troops were to prove too much for Kosciuszko’s Poland and his army was destroyed on the battlefield at Maciejowice. Kosciuszko was wounded and taken prisoner. Warsaw was stormed and captured by Suvarov. A massacre occurred in the Praga suburb.

  The remains of Poland were then divided by the three powers in 1795. Austria received Lublin, Siedlce, Radom, Cracow and Kielce, Prussia took Suwalki, Bialystok, Lomza and Warsaw. Russia annexed all the rest.

  Poland was reborn briefly as part of the Treaty of Tilsit, which stripped Prussia of those territories it had taken in the final partitioning of Poland in 1795. This new state, established in 1807, was called the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and its king was Friedrich August, King of Saxony. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw provided a very large contingent for the Grande Armée in 1812 and was briefly expanded by the annexation of the Polish portions of Lithuania. Unfortunately for the Poles, as the Grande Armée withdrew from its Russian adventure, it fell back into Germany and abandoned the Poles to the Russians. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw vanished as it was overrun by the advancing Russians in January 1813.

  PONIATOWSKI, PRINCE JOSEF ANTON, MARÉCHAL D’EMPIRE (1763–1813). Poniatowski was born in Warsaw on 7 May 1763, the son of Andrew Poniatowski and Countess Theresa Kinsky. He joined the Austrian army in 1778 as a lieutenant, rising to colonel of the Kaiser Dragoon Regiment and aide-de-camp to Joseph II in 1788. That same year Poniatowski served with distinction against the Turks in 1788. After service with Austria, in 1789 he returned to Polish service where he quickly became a major general in the Polish army, serving under his uncle, King Stanislaus. In 1789 Poniatowski commanded the Ukrainian Division and became commander in chief of the Polish army upon the declaration of the Polish Constitution on 3 May 1791. Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko conducted operations against the invading Russian forces, but when the king accepted the Confederation of Targowica he resigned his commission and emigrated. Poniatowski returned during the Kosciuszko uprising, but when it failed, he retired to his estates. However, in November 1806 the King of Prussia made him governor of Warsaw.

  When the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was created by Napoleon, Poniatowski became minister of war and was given the rank of général de division on 18 December 1806. He led the Polish forces when Austria invaded the duchy in 1809. During the French invasion of Russia, he commanded the V Corps of the Grande Armée and fought at Borodino, Tscherikov, Vinkovo, Malo-Jaroslavetz and was wounded during the Berezina crossings. Poniatowski supported Napoleon during the 1813 campaign, pushing into Bohemia in August; he was defeated at Löbau, victorious at Altenburg, victorious at Chemnitz, victorious at Penig, wounded in a skirmish at Rotha and served on the French right at Leipzig.

  As a reward for his brilliant services at Leipzig he was promoted to maréchal d’Empire on 16 October 1813. Poniatowski died hours after receiving his marshal’s baton, drowning as he attempted to cross the Elster with four wounds received earlier in the battle at Leipzig. His remains were taken to Poland and buried in the Cracow Cathedral, where he lay beside Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Jan Sobieski.

  POPE. Pope Pius VI (born Giovanni Angelo Braschi) reigned from 1775 to 1799. He was born on 27 December 1717 in Cesena, Italy. He studied law and became the secretary of Cardinal Ruffo serving there until 1753. In 1758 he was raised to the prelature, in 1776 to the treasurership of the apostolic chamber by Clement XIII, and in 1773 he became cardinal priest of San Onofrio. He was elected to the Papal See on 15 February 1775.

  As pope, Pius VI was a pious, gentle and highly cultivated man and a strong, but secret supporter of the Jesuits. He was responsible for the draining of the Pontine marshes and improved the harbor of Ancona. Under the French Revolution he suffered the massive secularization of church property throughout Europe. He struggled against the Terror and in 1796 found the Papal States invaded by Napoleon. He purchased a temporary respite with immense sacrifices by the Truce of Bologna (1796) and the Peace of Tolentino (1797). The price was numerous works of art and historical documents that were taken from Rome to Paris. In 1798 French general Duphot was shot in the course of a riot in Rome and became the pretext for the declaration of a republic in the Papal States. A statue of the Goddess of Liberty, trampling the tiara, was set up outside the Castel San Angelo to symbolize the end of the pope’s secular rule. Pius VI, though ill, refused to give up his rights and was taken as a prisoner to Valence, where he died in 1799.

  Pius VI was replaced by his relative Pius VII (born Gregorio Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti) in a conclave held in Venice under the protection of Austria. He was born in Cesena on 14 August 1740, the son of Count Scipione Chiaramonti and Countess Ghini. He entered the Benedictine monastery of St. Mary, becoming Bishop of Tivoli in 1782, and cardinal for Imola in 1785.

  In 1799, after Napoleon had become First Consul, he realized that he needed the support of the church and allowed the restoration of the church in France and affected a reconciliation with the Holy See. He also needed a compliant pope if he was to become Emperor. A Concordat was negotiated in 1801 that kept the French clergy entirely dependent upon the French government, but reestablished the Catholic Church in France. Napoleon arbitrarily added some “Organic Articles” and the pope protested, but to no avail. However, in his hope to gain further support for the Catholic Church he went to Paris in 1804 and anointed Napoleon I as hereditary Emperor of France.

  Pius VII would soon find that he had been taken advantage of and in 1808 French armies occupied Rome. Shortly afterward, in 1809, those lands were declared by Napoleon to be subject to Napoleon, not the pope. Pius VIII responded by excommunicating Napoleon and was taken prisoner first to Savona and then to Fontainebleau. In 1811 a national council was convened with the idea of
intimidating Pius VII and establishing some legality to Napoleon’s ecclesiastical policies. As Napoleon’s star dipped with the 1812 and 1813 campaigns, he began negotiating with the pope, but not honestly. Pius VII saw through the trickery and revoked his earlier concessions. He was released in 1814 and returned to Rome on 24 May 1814. During the Hundred Days, Murat’s actions forced the pope to flee. At the Congress of Vienna the pope recovered his former possessions with the exception of Avignon and Venaissin, which remained in French hands, and a portion of land on the left bank of the Po, which went to Austria.

  PORTLAND, WILLIAM HENRY CAVENDISH BENTINCK, 3RD DUKE OF (1738–1809). Portland was born on 14 April 1738, the son of William, the 2nd Duke, and grandson of the 1st Duke. He was educated at Oxford and served from July 1765 to December 1766 as lord chamberlain under the Marquess of Rockingham. When Rockingham returned to power in 1782, Portland became lord-lieutenant of Ireland. When Shelburne’s short ministry was over, Portland was used by Fox and North as a “convenient cipher” to become the head of the coalition ministry. This ministry did not have the strong support of the king and Portland had only grudgingly consented to its formation. From 5 April 1793 until 17 December Portland served as prime minister. Under Pitt, from 1794 to 1801, he served as secretary of state for the home department. From 1801 to 1805 Portland served as president of the Council. In 1807 he served a second time as prime minister and later as first lord of the treasury. Portland resigned in October 1809 for reasons of ill health and died on 30 October. Portland was not a powerful politician, but held office because he was a mild-mannered man with a reputation for personal integrity. See also BENTWICK, LORD WILLIAM.

  POSEN, TREATY OF. The Treaty of Posen was signed on 10 December 1806 by France and Saxony. By its terms the state of war between France and Saxony that existed ended, the Elector of Saxony was elevated to the dignity of king and Saxony joined the Confederation of the Rhine.

  POTOCKI, STANISLAW FELIX (1752–1805). Potocki was born in 1752 to Franciszek Salezy Potocki, Palatine of Kiev. He was a member of a very prominent Polish family and, because of family influence, at the age of 22 he became the grand standard-bearer of the crown. In 1782 Potocki became Palatine of Russia. In 1784, as a military officer, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and in 1789 he purchased the rank of general of artillery. Potocki was a professed patriot who identified the public welfare with the welfare of the magnates. He was elected to the Four Years’ Diet and schemed to divide Poland into an oligarchy of anonymous nobles that exercised supreme power in a rotation—perpetual interregnum. The election of Malachowski and Kazimierz Sapieha as marshals of the Diet, however, alienated him from the liberals and Potocki retired to Vienna where he carried on an active war of propaganda against the new ideas. Potocki opposed the constitution of 3 May 1791 and worked to get Emperor Leopold to intervene in Poland. In March 1792, in company of several friends, he provoked Empress Catherine to form the Confederation of Targowica (14 May 1792). Potocki was to become marshal, essentially dictator, directing its operations from his castle in Tulczyn. In March 1793, the end of the May Constitution, Potocki went to St. Petersburg on a diplomatic mission. He was obliged by trickery to withdraw from politics and retired to his castle in Tulczyn. Potocki spent his remaining years writing a number of political works and died in 1805.

  POTSDAM, TREATY OF. The Treaty of Potsdam was signed on 3 November 1805 and was a military alliance between Russia and Prussia against France. In order to obtain the treaty, Czar Alexander I went to Berlin with a Russian army standing at Pulawi, on the Silesian border, as a silent shadow over the resulting negotiations. Prussian honor had been affronted by the French march through the Prussian territory of Ansbach earlier in the year. Anti-French rhetoric ran extremely high in the court with the queen and the king’s brother, Ludwig, being among the loudest voices. Earlier Napoleon had dangled Hanover before Friedrich-Wilhelm as the reward for supporting French policies. Now Alexander dangled that same tasty tidbit. The diplomatic machination was too well planned for the unfortunate King of Prussia to escape from it.

  In the agreement Prussia agreed to propose, as conditions of peace, a new demarcation of the Austrian possessions in Lombardy extending from the Adige to the Mincio. This would require the dismemberment of the Kingdom of Northern Italy. Prussia would also request an indemnity for the King of Sardinia, the independence of Naples, Switzerland, and Holland. All this was a formal violation of the reciprocal guarantees that Prussia had made to France in exchange for the promised Hanover.

  Austria and Russia would have liked more out of these negotiations, but this was all that could be pried out of the King of Prussia. Irrespective of what Friedrich-Wilhelm signed, Prussia never acted upon the agreement and thus did not join the Third Coalition.

  POZZO DI BORGO, CARLO ANDREA, COUNT (1764–1842). Pozzo was born on 8 March 1764, in Alata, Corsica, of a noble Corsican family. He was educated in Pisa and because of his noble Corsican background became politically allied with Napoleon early in his life. Pozzo was one of the two Corsican delegates to the National Assembly and as such demanded the incorporation of Corsica into France. Pozzo sat with the Girondists until the events of August 1792. When he returned to Corsica he found himself alienated from the Bonapartes, who were in the process of joining the Jacobins. While in Corsica Pozzo became the procureur-général-syndic (chief of the civil government). He would shortly refuse to obey the summons to the bar of the Convention. Pozzo and Paoli (commander of the Corsican armed forces) found themselves allied with the English, who established a protectorate over Corsica from 1794 to 1796.

  When the French reoccupied Corsica, Pozzo di Borgo was exempted from the general amnesty and in 1804, with the assistance of Prince Adam Czartoryski, he entered Russian diplomatic service. In 1805 he served as the Russian commissioner with the Anglo-Neapolitan forces in Italy and in 1806 he served in a similar capacity with the Prussians. In 1807 Pozzo was sent on a mission to Constantinople. When Alexander I and Napoleon concluded an alliance via the Treaty of Tilsit, his diplomatic career in Russia ended, and he moved to Vienna. Napoleon demanded his extradition, but Metternich allowed him to leave for England. Pozzo di Borgo remained in England until 1812, when he was recalled to Russian service. Pozzo remained in Russian service and in 1814, when the Allies entered Paris, he served as commissary general to the provisional government.

  During the First Restoration Pozzo served as Russian ambassador to France and sought to arrange a marriage between the Duc de Berry and Grand Duchess Anna, Alexander’s sister. He was present at the Congress of Vienna and during the Hundred Days he went with Louis XVIII to Belgium. Pozzo soon found himself in an extremely awkward situation. In Russia he was viewed as being too close to the Bourbons and in France his slightly liberal attitudes alienated him from the Bourbons. The Russian perception was probably reinforced in 1818 when he was made a count and a peer of France.

  By the time Charles X ascended the throne Pozzo’s influence had greatly declined. In 1830, as Czar Nicholas I was reluctant to acknowledge Louis-Philippe, Pozzo mollified an otherwise difficult situation. In 1833 he was in London in discussions with Wellington and when Prince Lieven died in early 1835, Pozzo was suddenly made ambassador to Britain. His health declined in London and he retired in 1839, moving to Paris where he died on 15 February 1842.

  PRESSBURG, TREATY OF. The Treaty of Pressburg formalized the peace between France and Austria, the latter surrendering territory. It was signed on 26 December 1805, after Napoleon’s victories at Ulm and Austerlitz. The conditions that Napoleon established for Austria were extremely harsh. Austria was forced to give up all the Venetian territory it had received from the Treaty of Campo Formio to Napoleon’s Kingdom of Northern Italy. The Tyrol, Vorarlberg and several smaller territories went to Bavaria. The Habsburg territories in western Germany were transferred to Württemberg and Baden. Austria accepted the elevation of the electors of Bavaria and Württemberg to the dignity of kings. Austria also released Bavari
a, Württemberg and Baden from all feudal obligations to the Holy Roman Empire. In addition, Austria agreed to pay an indemnity of 40,000,000 gold francs to France. On the Italian frontier, France received Piedmont, Parma and Piacenza, and expelled all Austrian influence from Italy.

  In a small, magnanimous gesture, Napoleon allowed Austria to annex Salzburg, Berchtesgaden and the estates of the Teutonic Order.

  Overall, the treaty was to become an integral part of Napoleon’s policy, copied from Louis XV, to create a ring of French client states beyond the Rhine, the Alps and the Pyrenees.

  PRINA, GIUSEPPE (1768–1814). Prina was an Italian statesman and a supporter of Napoleon. When Eugène de Beauharnais was made viceroy of Italy Prina became minister of finance. He quickly displayed an enormous talent for creating new taxes to support the demands of the Empire and soon earned the reputation as the most hated man in Lombardy. When Napoleon abdicated in 1814 Prina and his supporters advocated that Beauharnais be made king of the Kingdom of Northern Italy. This provoked a riot during which Prina was dragged from the assembly hall and through the streets of Milan until, almost torn to pieces, he was beaten to death.

  PRUSSIA. Prussia was founded by Markgraf Albert the Bear (1134–1170) when he conquered Priegnitz and the Havelland and took the title Markgraf of Brandenburg. From this tiny beginning the state of Brandenburg began its steady growth by conquest and marriage that would lead to its eventual domination of all the German states not part of the Hapsburg Empire.

  In 1688 the House of Hollenzollern witnessed the birth of Friedrich Wilhelm I. On 18 January 1701 Friedrich took the title of King of Prussia. King Friedrich I of Prussia was not a soldier and avoided war whenever he could. Despite this, he loved to play soldier and had a regiment of giant grenadiers organized so that he could delight in drilling them. He also added to his coffers by regularly renting out portions of his army to various warring parties.