Alexander I- the Tsar Who Defeated Napoleon

by Marie-Pierre Rey

  2. In these early letters, there are no syntax mistakes; words are well formed and lines are very regular. In the letters written after 1792, this will no longer be the case!

  3. This expression, often used by Catherine in correspondence with Grimm, first appears in her letter of March 28, 1779.

  4. For example, in her letter n.92, February 2, 1780, she asks her agent to provide her with a new edition of Rousseau’s Emile, underlining that “this is an excellent book.”

  5. Catherine to Grimm, letter n.96, May 24, 1781.

  6. Catherine to Grimm, letter n.79, May 30, 1779.

  7. Catherine to Grimm, letter n.82, July 5, 1779.

  8. A quite surprising assertion from an autocratic empress!

  9. These maxims were all collected and published together in 1781 in St. Petersburg, under the title “Rossijskaja azbuka dlja obuchenija junoshestva.”

  10. Catherine to Grimm, letter n.93, end of May 1780 (no more precise date).

  11. See, for example, Catherine’s letter to Grimm, n.116, June 3, 1783.

  12. Maria Feodorovna gave birth to six girls: Alexandra (on July 29, 1783); Helen (on December 13, 1784); Marie (on February 4, 1786); Catherine (on May 10, 1788); then came Olga (on July 11, 1792) but she died on January 15, 1795; and finally Anne (on January 7, 1795).

  13. Catherine to Grimm, letter n.117, August 16, 1783.

  14. As reported in a letter to Grimm written on March 28, 1784.

  15. “Instructions composées pour la gouverne de Nicolas Saltykov,” text written in French by Catherine. The document is quoted in extenso in Laharpe, Le gouverneur d’un prince, 269–92. This book, published with no signature, is based on Russian documents and on Laharpe’s private manuscripts that he donated after his death to the Lausanne Public Library.

  16. Catherine to Grimm, letter n.122, March 28, 1784.

  17. Later he would be the father and the uncle of three Decembrists (see chapter 15).

  18. Masson, Mémoires secrets, 2: 157.

  19. In order to prevent the boys’ suffering from constipation! Masson, Mémoires secrets, 2: 163.

  20. She will become later a very close friend of Empress Elizabeth.

  21. Golovine, Souvenirs, 44.

  22. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires 1: 118.

  23. Masson, Mémoires secrets, 2: 163–64.

  24. Ibid., 165.

  25. This confession from Alexander I was collected and reported in Schnitzler, Etudes sur l’empire, 461–62.

  26. Masson, Mémoires secrets, 2: 165.

  27. Ibid., 166.

  28. His name has been spelled La Harpe, Laharpe, and even LaHarpe. We chose here the spelling used by Catherine and Alexander and the one mentioned in the 1902 collection of manuscripts. This spelling is also the one used by his descendants today.

  29. Alexander to his mother-in-law, the Princess of Baden, May 9, 1797, in collection n.658, (Imperatrica Elizaveta Alekseevna collection), GARF, delo 109.

  30. Quoted by Brian-Chaninov in Alexandre Ier, 42–43.

  31. Laharpe wrote a short autobiographical essay entitled Mémoires de Frédéric-César Laharpe, concernant sa conduite comme directeur de la République Helvétique. This biography is mostly based on this text.

  32. Laharpe, Mémoires, 67.

  33. Ibid., 73.

  34. Catherine to Grimm, letter n.107, February 25, 1782.

  35. Quoted in Laharpe, Le gouverneur d’un prince, 11.

  36. Laharpe, Mémoires, 75–76.

  37. Ibid., 82.

  38. Including the Count of Artois, who settled in St. Petersburg in 1793.

  39. Quoted in Masson, Mémoires secrets, 2: 159.

  40. Letter to Stapfer, February 17, 1810, in Laharpe, Le Gouverneur d’un Prince, 19.

  41. This document is reproduced in ibid., 23.

  42. Letter to Favre, August 8, 1785, quoted in ibid., 16–17.

  43. Ibid., 26.

  44. Laharpe’s course, in ibid., 116.

  45. Ibid., 33.

  46. Ibid.

  47. As mentioned in the report he sent to Count Saltykov in December 1790. This report is reproduced in Russkaja Starina, 2: 256–57.

  48. This document is preserved in the collection “Katalog sobranija rukopisej hranjashhihsja v biblioteke Zimnego Dvorca,” collection n.728, delo 306, in GARF.

  49. Ibid.

  50. Ibid.

  51. Catherine’s letter to Grimm, September 18, 1790.

  52. The two extracts are from Laharpe, Le Gouverneur d’un Prince, 46–48.

  53. See Amacher, “Alexandre Ier,” 46.

  54. Waliszewski, La Russie, 8–9.

  Notes to Chapter 3

  1. Masson, Mémoires secrets, 2: 169.

  2. On May 24, 1783, a discussion between Catherine and her son attests to differences in their viewpoints on this question, see Sorotkin, Paul Ier, 189.

  3. Quoted in ibid., 193.

  4. Masson, Mémoires secrets, 1: 308.

  5. Quoted by M. Martin, Maria Feodorovna, 92.

  6. Arkhanguelski, Alexandre Ier, 29.

  7. He was born in October 1769, i.e., eight years before Alexander.

  8. See Jenkins, Arakcheev.

  9. Ibid., 43.

  10. Sakharov, Aleksandr I, 50.

  11. The grand dukes used to arrive at Gatchina on Friday to participate in maneuvers on Saturday and to get back to St. Petersburg on Sunday.

  12. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 107–8.

  13. See Shilder, Imperator Aleksandr I, 1: 233.

  14. Ibid., 235.

  15. As Alexander explained it in a letter to Laharpe, March 12 (O.S.), 1796. Quoted in La Harpe, Correspondance, 1: 160.

  16. Czartorsyki, Mémoires, 1: 108.

  17. Quoted in Jenkins, Arakcheev, 51.

  18. Quoted in Shilder, Imperator Aleksandr I, 1: 249.

  19. They are preserved at GARF (Archives of the Russian Federation) fd n.728.

  20. For example, Waliszewski in La Russie, 1: 18.

  21. She was born in Karlsruhe on January 24, 1779.

  22. Catherine to Grimm, October 31 (O.S.), 1792, letter n.214.

  23. O.S.

  24. Golovkine, La Cour et le Règne, 276–77.

  25. Quoted in Heller, Histoire de la Russie, 626.

  26. The expression is Catherine’s. See ibid.

  27. She wrote French with no mistakes and elegantly, while her written German was more awkward.

  28. Quoted by Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich in Romanov, Imperatrica Elizaveta Alekseevna, 1: 85.

  29. Elizabeth to her mother, January 18 (O.S.), 1793; Romanov, Imperatrica Elizaveta Alekseevna, 1: 85.

  30. GARF, fd n.728, opis’ 1, delo 357, 1, 122.

  31. Elizabeth to Alexander, August 27 (O.S.), 1793, GARF, fd 658, opis’ 1, delo 48.

  32. GARF, fd 658.

  33. Alexander to Maria Feodorovna, probably at the end of 1792, no precise date. GARF, fd 728, opis’1, delo 357, 1, 104.

  34. Alexander to Maria Feodorovna, fall 1793, undated, GARF, fd 728, opis’ 1, delo 357, 2, 70.

  35. Alexander to Maria Feodorovna, beginning of 1794, undated, GARF, fd 728, opis’ 1, delo 357, 2, 52.

  36. Alexander to Maria Feodorovna, fall 1794, undated, GARF, fd 728, delo 357, 118–19.

  37. The precise date is not mentioned in the letter.

  38. Alexander to Maria Feodorovna, end of 1793 or beginning of 1794, GARF, fd 728, opis’ 1, delo 357, 1, 131.

  39. Protasov to Count Vorontsov, May 1794 (undated), GARF, 658, delo 109.

  40. Ibid.

  41. I.e., Alexander. The passages in italics are underlined in the original letter.

  42. This will lead some historians to assert that Alexander was a complacent husband. Elizabeth to Countess Golovina, December 12, 1794, in GARF, fd 658, opis’ 1, delo 48.

  43. We cannot be more precise for the date of the document, but in any case the letter was written after May 30, 1795.

  44. Elizabeth to Countess Golovina, spring 1795, GARF, fd 658,
opis’ 1, delo 48.

  45. Golovine, Souvenirs.

  46. See Krylov “Prelestnaja Elizaveta.”

  47. Laharpe, Le Gouverneur d’un Prince, 48.

  48. Protasov to Count Vorontsov, May 18 (O.S.), 1794, GARF, fd 658, opis’ 1, delo 109.

  49. As mentioned by Alexander himself in a letter to his mother, fall 1794, GARF, fd 728, opis’ 1, delo 357, 2, 119.

  50. Ibid.

  51. Laharpe’s instructions to Alexander, April 1795, in Laharpe, Le Gouverneur d’un Prince, 316–27.

  52. Ibid.

  53. The letter is quoted in ibid., 49.

  54. Masson, Mémoires secrets, 1: 182–83.

  55. Alexander to Laharpe, February 26, 1796, in La Harpe, Correspondance, 1: 159–60.

  56. As early as 1793, a 74-page catalog listing all his paintings was published under the title Catalogue raisonné des tableaux qui composent la collection du comte Stroganoff.

  57. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 979.

  58. That represented 3 million people and 250,000 square kilometers.

  59. That represented 1.5 million people and 120,000 square kilometers.

  60. Alexander to Maria Feodorovna, beginning of 1795, GARF, fd 728, opis’ 1, delo 357, 2, 52.

  61. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 978–79.

  62. Alexander to Kochubey, May 10 (O.S.), 1796, quoted in Laharpe, Le gouverneur Gouverneur d’un Prince, 336–37.

  63. On October 30, 1793.

  64. Quoted in Laharpe, Le Gouverneur d’un Prince, 50.

  65. Tsar Nicholas I.

  66. Quoted in M. Martin, Maria Feodorovna, 104.

  67. This document was found after Catherine’s death among Platon Zubov’s personal papers. Quoted in Shilder, Imperator Aleksandr I, 1: 279.

  68. Alexander to La Harpe, February 21, 1796. In La Harpe, Correspondance, 1: 157.

  69. Alexander to Kochubey, May 10, 1796, quoted in LaHarpe, Le Gouverneur d’un Prince, 336–37.

  70. Ibid.

  Notes to Chapter 4

  1. Among the few academic books on Paul, see Ragsdale, Paul I and his fascinating essay Tsar Paul. See also McGrew, Paul I of Russia.

  2. He is, in fact, the hero of the short story written by Iuri Tynianov, Podporuchik Kizhe.

  3. In particular, see Peskov, Pavel I and Obolenskii, Imperator Pavel I.

  4. As Paul expressed it in conversation with the Count of Ségur in 1784.

  5. Golovkine, La Cour et le Règne, 131.

  6. These examples and the quotation come from Arkhanguelski, Alexandre Ier, 89–90.

  7. Heller, Histoire de la Russie, 606.

  8. This expression is Paul’s and refers to his father’s assassination.

  9. Heller, Histoire de la Russie, 697.

  10. Quoted by Andolenko, L’armée russe, 138–39.

  11. Jenkins, Arakcheev, 60.

  12. Andolenko, L’armée russe, 136.

  13. As asserted by Suvorov, see ibid., 138.

  14. In four and a half years, 2,600 officers suffered disciplinary punishment.

  15. Sakharov, Aleksandr I, 79.

  16. Ibid., 77.

  17. On this question, the tsar issued not a ukase, but a recommendation that meant the owners were free to adopt it or not.

  18. See Sorotkin, “Paul I,” 204.

  19. GARF, fd 728, opis’ 1, delo 357, 2.

  20. Sakharov, Aleksandr I, 80.

  21. Golovkine, La Cour et le Règne, 124.

  22. Eidel’man, Gran Vekov, 90–113.

  23. Sorotkin, “Paul I,” 209.

  24. Golovkine, La Cour et le Règne, 152.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Jenkins, Arakcheev, 61–62.

  27. See A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 144–45.

  28. Quoted by Brian-Chaninov, Alexandre Ier, 13.

  29. He was on his way to England.

  30. Alexander to Laharpe, September 27 (O.S.), 1797, in La Harpe, Correspondance, 1: 214–17.

  31. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 156–58.

  32. Alexander to Laharpe, September 27 (O.S.), 1797, in La Harpe, Correspondance, 1: 214–17.

  33. Actually “Istanbul,” but since the Russian elites always referred to Constantinople, this name is deliberately kept.

  34. As shown by the letter she sent to her mother on the same day.

  35. Quoted by Arkhanguelski, Alexandre Ier, 84–85.

  36. As convincingly demonstrated by Ragsdale in his essay Tsar Paul.

  37. Masson, Mémoires secrets, 1: 348.

  38. Several contemporary diplomatic sources and rumors mentioned this project, but we lack evidence to be sure about it.

  39. See Ratchinski, Napoléon et Alexandre Ier, 23.

  40. On the activity of the Jesuits in Russia, see the Jesuit archives in Rome, fd Russia, n.1005, 1805–1814.

  41. Paul’s expression is mentioned in Ratchinski, Napoléon et Alexandre Ier, 26.

  42. Ibid., 26–27.

  43. Ibid., 28.

  44. Quoted by Grunwald in Trois siècles, 137.

  45. Andolenko, L’armée russe, 146–47.

  46. Quoted in Heller, Histoire de la Russie, 615.

  47. Russkij Arhiv, 1878, vol 1. Quoted in Grunwald, Trois siècles,140.

  Notes to Chapter 5

  1. Quoted in Heller, Histoire de la Russie, 623.

  2. Edling, Mémoires.

  3. Quoted in Heller, Histoire de la Russie, 616.

  4. Golovkine, La Cour et le Règne, 376.

  5. Rey, Le dilemme russe, chap. 4, passim.

  6. Hartley, Social History, 2.

  7. See Coquin, Des pères du peuple, 1–24.

  8. Hartley, Social History, 9.

  9. “Soslovie” in Russian.

  10. Troitskij in Rossija v XIX veke, writes that at the end of the eighteenth century there were 225,000 nobles in the Russian Empire, (i.e., less than 1 percent of the total population), whereas Arkhanguelski asserts that there were 726,000. See Arkhanguelski, Alexandre Ier, 101.

  11. The serfs represented 55 percent of all peasants.

  12. It was indeed a recommendation, not a compulsory ukase.

  13. Troitskij, Rossija, 9.

  14. Hartley, Social History, 40.

  15. Raeff, Comprendre l’Ancien Régime, 109.

  16. By contrast, the Charter of the State Peasants would not be promulgated, see Raeff, ibid., 108.

  17. Rey, De la Russie.

  18. At that time, they were called Bolgari or Volga Bulgarians.

  19. Called Cheremissians by the Russians.

  20. The other Armenians remained within the Ottoman Empire.

  21. Troitskij, Rossija, 10.

  22. Savary, Duc de Rovigo.

  23. M. Martin, Maria Feodorovna, 154–55.

  24. Ibid., 156.

  25. Quoted in Arkhanguelski, Alexandre Ier, 127–28.

  26. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 290–92.

  27. My emphasis.

  28. Laharpe to Alexandre, August 30, 1801, in La Harpe, Correspondance, 1: 243.

  29. Maria Feodorovna to Alexander, April 18, 1806, in Russkij Arhiv, n.1, 1911, 140–42.

  30. J. de Maistre, Mémoires politiques, 77.

  31. Joseph de Maistre’s letter of July 17, 1803. Ibid., 97.

  32. The quai along the front of the Winter Palace.

  33. Nicholas Mikhailovich, Alexandre Ier, 40.

  34. Quoted by Troyat, Alexandre Ier, 157.

  35. Panin, Materialy, vols. 6, 7–8.

  36. The words in italics were in Russian in a letter written mainly in French. In Alexander, Perepiska, 3.

  37. Ibid.

  38. Ibid. The italics indicate that this part of the letter was in Russian.

  39. L’Hermite en Russie, 2: 228.

  40. Karlinsky, Russian Drama.

  41. Quoted in Troyat, Alexandre Ier, 88.

  42. Quoted in Arkhanguelski, Alexandre Ier, 108.

  43. Ibid., 110.

  44. As shown by Laharpe’s law course of 1786, in GARF, fd 718, delo 306.<
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  45. His interesting digression is quoted in Laharpe, Le Gouverneur d’un Prince, 116.

  46. Hartley, Social History, 57.

  47. The document was published by V. P. Semennikov in Radishshev, ocherki i issledovanija (Moskva: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo, 1923), 180–84. For an analysis, see Sakharov and Bertolissi, Konstitucionnye proekty, 312–32.

  48. Simon was the Russian ambassador to Great Britain from 1784 to 1806.

  49. See Grunwald, Alexandre Ier, 92.

  50. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 292–93.

  51. This gave the senate some limited legislative power.

  52. See Mironenko, Samoderzhavie i reformy, passim, and Mironenko, Stranicy tajnoj, passim.

  53. McConnell, “Hundred Days,” 373–93.

  54. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 248.

  55. Duroc to Bonaparte, May 26, 1801, in Sbornik, 70.

  56. Simon Vorontsov to Novosiltsev, May 18, 1801, in Vorontsov, Arhiv, 11: 391.

  57. Sakharov, Aleksandr I, 127. Again Maria Feodorovna played a key role at a decisive moment in her son’s life.

  58. Viktor Kochubey to Simon Vorontsov, Dresden, April 8, 1801. In Vorontsov, Arhiv, 18: 236.

  59. “Result of a conversation with the Emperor, April 23, 1801,” notes by P. Stroganov, quoted by Romanov in Stroganov, 2: 1–3.

  60. “Neglasnyj komitet” in Russian.

  61. Mironenko, Samoderzhavie i reformy, 67.

  62. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 266.

  63. Quoted in Shilder, Imperator Aleksandr I, 2: 335–36.

  64. A. Czartoryski, Mémoires, 1: 269.

  65. The reports on the committee sessions were written by Paul Stroganov and became part of the archives of the Stroganov family. They were used by Nicholas Mikhailovich Romanov in writing his biography of Count Stroganov and were partially published as an appendix to it.

  66. Quoted by Romanov in Stroganov, 2: 61–62.

  67. Ibid., 202–3.

  68. Ibid.

  69. McConnell, “Hundred Days,” 386.

  70. The report of the August 5 (17), 1801, session of the committee is quoted by Nicholas Mikhailovich in Romanov, Stroganov, 2: 85.

  71. Alexander to Laharpe, 21 May 1801, in La Harpe, Correspondance de Frédéric-César de La Harpe, 1: 240–41.

  72. As asserted by Alexander to Kochubey in August. See Kochubey to Vorontsov, August 6 (18), 1801, in Vorontsov, Arhiv, 14: 154.

  73. Count Panin’s expression was used in a letter to Simon Vorontsov, then repeated in a letter to Viktor Kochubey written in London on January 3, 1802, now located in Vorontsov, Arhiv, 11: 359.