The Napoleonic Wars and the Russian Empire
The Napoleonic Wars and the Russian Empire were closely intertwined in the early nineteenth century. Russia played a central role in the defeat of Napoleon, first by surviving the catastrophic French invasion of 1812 and then by participating in the European campaigns of 1813-1814 that led to the occupation of Paris and the abdication of the French emperor. The defeat of Napoleon established Russia as one of the leading European powers and gave Tsar Alexander I a decisive role in shaping the post-war European order.
The Napoleonic Wars had a profound impact on the Russian Empire, both internally and externally. The wars exposed the strengths and weaknesses of the Russian military, the importance of strategic retreat and the scorched-earth policy, and the need for further military reform. The wars also contributed to the development of Russian national consciousness, the emergence of a generation of military heroes, and the spread of liberal and nationalist ideas that would later shape the Russian opposition movement.
Russia and the French Revolution
The French Revolution of 1789 and its aftermath created a profound dilemma for the European powers, including Russia. The revolution challenged the foundations of the Old Regime, including the principle of monarchy, the established church, and the social hierarchy. The Russian government, under Catherine the Great, was deeply hostile to the revolution, and Catherine, who had previously flirted with Enlightenment ideas, became a fierce opponent of revolutionary change.
Catherine’s son, Paul I, who ruled from 1796 to 1801, was equally hostile to the French Revolution, although for different reasons. Paul pursued an erratic foreign policy, at times allying with France and at times opposing it, and he was eventually assassinated in a palace coup in March 1801. His son, Alexander I, came to the throne at a moment when the international situation was changing rapidly.
The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte to power in France in 1799 and his proclamation as Emperor in 1804 fundamentally changed the international situation. Napoleon was determined to dominate the European continent, and he fought a series of wars with European powers, including Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Russia joined the Third Coalition against France in 1805, and the Russian army suffered a series of defeats in the campaigns of 1805-1807, including the catastrophic defeat at Austerlitz in December 1805.
The Treaties of Tilsit
The Treaties of Tilsit of 1807 marked a temporary reconciliation between Russia and France. The two emperors, Alexander I and Napoleon, met on a raft in the middle of the Neman River and agreed to divide Europe between them. Russia agreed to join the Continental System, Napoleon’s economic blockade of Britain, and to accept French influence in western and central Europe. In return, Russia was given a free hand in Finland and the Ottoman Empire, and the two powers agreed to cooperate in the future.
The Tilsit period was a difficult one for Russia. The Continental System hurt the Russian economy, since the country was an exporter of agricultural products to Britain, and the Russian nobility and merchants complained about the loss of trade. The alliance with France was also unpopular, especially after Napoleon began to make moves against the Russian sphere of influence, including the annexation of the Duchy of Oldenburg, which was ruled by a relative of the Russian imperial family.
The alliance with Napoleon broke down completely in 1812. Napoleon was determined to punish Alexander for his increasingly obvious resistance to the Continental System, and he also wanted to force Russia to accept his terms. In the spring of 1812, Napoleon assembled the largest army ever seen in Europe, the Grande Armée, for the invasion of Russia.
The invasion of Russia in 1812
The French invasion of Russia in 1812 was one of the most dramatic campaigns in military history. Napoleon crossed the Neman River on 24 June 1812 with an army of more than 600,000 men, the largest European army ever assembled. The Grande Armée was a multinational force, including not only French soldiers but also Poles, Germans, Italians, Austrians, and others, drawn from across Napoleon’s European empire.
The Russian strategy, developed by the commanders Michael Barclay de Tolly and Pyotr Bagration, was a strategy of strategic retreat. The Russian army avoided giving Napoleon a decisive battle, while constantly falling back and drawing the Grande Armée deeper into Russian territory. The Russian strategy was also accompanied by a scorched-earth policy, with the Russian army and the civilian population destroying crops, supplies, and shelter to deny them to the advancing French.
The strategy was controversial at the time, and Barclay de Tolly was widely criticized for retreating without fighting. In August 1812, the Russian command was reorganized, with Mikhail Kutuzov appointed as commander-in-chief. Kutuzov continued the strategy of retreat, but he was also under pressure to give Napoleon a major battle to satisfy Russian public opinion and the army’s desire to fight.
The result was the Battle of Borodino on 7 September 1812, fought near the town of Borodino about 125 km west of Moscow. The battle was one of the bloodiest of the Napoleonic Wars, with both sides suffering massive casualties. Estimates of total casualties range from 60,000 to 80,000, and the battle is sometimes called the “battle of the giants.” The battle did not produce a clear winner, but it had the strategic effect of confirming Napoleon’s inability to force a decisive engagement with the Russian army.
The fall of Moscow, which the Russian army abandoned after the battle, was an important political event, but it was not the decisive moment of the campaign. Napoleon entered Moscow on 14 September 1812, expecting Alexander to sue for peace, but the Russian emperor refused to negotiate. The fires that broke out in Moscow shortly after the French occupation, possibly set by Russian saboteurs, destroyed much of the city and further undermined French morale.
The retreat and the destruction of the Grande Armée
The retreat from Moscow, which began in October 1812, was one of the greatest military disasters in history. The Grande Armée, which had numbered more than 600,000 men at the start of the invasion, was reduced to a fraction of that number by the time it crossed back over the Neman River in December 1812. The retreat was marked by bitter cold, starvation, disease, and constant harassment by Russian forces, including the Cossacks and the peasant militia.
The destruction of the Grande Armée was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon had lost his main field army, and although he was able to raise new forces, he was never again able to assemble an army of the size and quality of the Grande Armée of 1812. The Russian victory at the 1812 campaign also encouraged the other European powers, including Prussia and Austria, to rejoin the coalition against France.
The European campaigns of 1813-1814
The European campaigns of 1813-1814 were the final phase of the Napoleonic Wars. Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Britain joined forces against Napoleon, and the allied armies gradually pushed the French back toward Paris. The Russian army, commanded after Kutuzov’s death in April 1813 by generals including Peter Wittgenstein and Michael Barclay de Tolly, played a central role in the campaign.
The Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, was a decisive allied victory. The French army was decisively defeated, and the German states switched sides. The allies then invaded France, and the Russian army entered Paris on 31 March 1814. Napoleon abdicated in April 1814 and was exiled to the island of Elba.
The allies restored the Bourbon monarchy in France in the person of Louis XVIII, and the Congress of Vienna, which had been in progress since September 1814, redrew the map of Europe. Alexander I played a central role in the Congress, advocating for a relatively lenient treatment of France and for the creation of a new European order based on the principles of legitimacy and balance of power.
The Hundred Days and the Congress of Vienna
The Hundred Days of Napoleon’s return to power in 1815, from his escape from Elba in March 1815 to his final defeat at Waterloo in June 1815, was the last act of the Napoleonic Wars. The allies, including Russia, declared war on Napoleon and assembled armies to oppose him. The Russian army began the long march westward to join the campaign, but Napoleon was defeated before it could arrive, and the Russian troops reached France only after Waterloo.
The final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo on 18 June 1815 ended the Napoleonic Wars and the period of revolution and war that had begun in 1789. The Congress of Vienna, which had been interrupted by the Hundred Days, was now able to complete its work. The resulting European order, often called the “Concert of Europe” or the “Vienna System,” was a complex system of alliances and understandings that would shape European politics for the next several decades.
Russia emerged from the Napoleonic Wars as one of the leading European powers, with enormous prestige and a decisive role in the new European order. Alexander I was hailed as the savior of Europe, and the Holy Alliance, an organization of conservative European powers that he proposed, became one of the major instruments of European politics in the post-war period. The Russian army, which had proven itself capable of defeating the greatest military force of the age, was an important source of national pride, and the military heroes of the war, including Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly, and Bagration, became central figures in Russian national memory.
Legacy of the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars had a profound impact on the Russian Empire. The wars demonstrated the importance of the military in Russian life, and the military successes of 1812-1814 became a central part of Russian national identity. The wars also contributed to the development of Russian military thought, with the experience of 1812 leading to new ideas about strategy, tactics, and the role of the army in society.
The wars also had important internal consequences. The experience of foreign occupation and the suffering of the civilian population contributed to a sense of national identity and a new appreciation for the Russian people. The wars also led to important social and political changes, including the development of a generation of reform-minded officers and the emergence of new ideas about the role of the state and the rights of citizens.
The post-war period, however, was also marked by a return to conservatism. The “military settlements” established by Alexander I, in which military units were given land to settle and farm, were an attempt to combine military service with agriculture, but they were widely resented and were eventually abolished. The period also saw the development of the secret societies of officers and nobles who had been influenced by the liberal and nationalist ideas they had encountered in Europe, and these societies would eventually produce the Decembrist revolt of 1825.
The Napoleonic Wars thus ended with a complex legacy. The wars had demonstrated the strength of the Russian military and the resilience of the Russian state, and they had given Russia a central position in the European system. At the same time, however, the wars had exposed the limitations of the Russian autocratic system, and they had planted the seeds of the reform and revolutionary movements that would eventually bring the empire down.