Alexander I Alexander I Tsar of War and Peace Alan Palmer HA RP E R&R OW, PUBLISHERS New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London ALEXANDER I: TSAR OF WAR AND PEACE. Copyright © 1974 by Alan Palmer. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, N. Y. 10022. FIRST U.S. EDITION Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Palmer, Alan Warwick. Alexander I : Tsar of war and peace. Bibliography: p. 1. Alexander I, Emperor of Russia, 1777-1825. 2. Russia —History—Alexander I, 1801-1825. DK191.P348 947'.07'0924 [B] 74-1844 ISBN 0-06-013264-7 To Veronica Contents List of Illustrations and Maps xiii Author’s Note XV Preface xvii Chapter i The Crow in Peacock Feathers i The Bronze Horseman 1 Alexander’s Childhood 6 Betrothal and Marriage 13 The Last Years of Catherine 11 21 The Succession in Doubt 24 Chapter 2 Empire on Parade 27 The Grand Duke Comes to Town 27 Doubts of a Tsarevich 32 Suvorov in Italy and Switzerland 37 Mounting Tension in the Capital 39 Murder at the Mikhailovsky (March 1801) 42 Chapter 3 The Cracking of the Ice 47 A Promise of Reform 47 The Secret Committee and its Enemies 50 Alexander’s Coronation in Moscow (September 1801) 56 Chapter 4 ‘The Emperor wants it Thus’ 62 Foreign Affairs: Isolation or Alignment? 62 Vll CONTENTS Governmental Reform and the Primacy of Vorontsov 67 Alexander, Elizabeth and Maria Naryshkin 73 Chapter 5 Shadow of War 78 Alexander Disillusioned with the First Consul (1803 -4) 78 Czartoryski, Novosiltsov and the Grand Design of 1804 82 Military Plans and the Polish Question 87 Alexander at Pulawy and Berlin (October-November 1805) 91 Chapter 6 Austerlitz and After 95 Alexander and Kutuzov in Moravia 95 Peace Parleys 100 The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805) 103 Alexander Humiliated n o Chapter 7 Anathema 115 Inquest on Austerlitz 115 The End of Government by the Tsar’s Friends 117 Across the Bridge 120 Preparing for War on Two Fronts,1 806 122 Eylau and Friedland 127 C hapter 8 T ilsit 132 Alexander and Napoleon Meet in Midstream 132 The Fine Phras«s of Tilsit 136 The Tilsit Settlement (July 1807) 139 Chapter 9 As Destiny Demands 145 The Effects of Tilsit Abroad 145 Alexander’s Throne in Danger? 147 Caulaincourt arrives in St Petersburg (December 1807) 151 The Death of Lisinka (May 1808) 154 Erfurt 155 viii CONTENTS Chapter io The Primacy of Speransky 164 The Rise of Michael Speransky 164 The Reforms of 1808-9 and their Critics 168 The Council of State at Work 174 Chapter ii The Viceroy 177 Caulaincourt: The Prussian Royal Visit; and the Marriage of Catherine 177 Russia and Napoleon’s 1809 Campaign 182 A Russian Empress for the French? 185 Chapter 12 ‘Blood Must Flow Again’ 193 Alexander at Tver and Gruzino 193 Personal Sorrows, 1810 195 Alexander takes Russia out of the Continental System 197 The War Scare of 1811 199 Discomforted Diplomats 203 Portents and Military Plans 206 The Fall of Speransky and Alexander’s Departure for the Army 210 Chapter 13 Captain in the Field 216 The Pleasures of Vilna 216 The Eve of Invasion, 1812 219 Resolution and Retreat 224 From Vilna to Drissa 228 Chapter 14 The Razor-Edge of Fate 234 Alexander in Moscow (July 1812) 234 The Clamour for Kutuzov 237 Bemadotte; General Wilson; and Germaine de Staël 240 Borodino and its Consequences 244 Plain Speaking from a Sister 247 Alexander refuses to make Peace 250 ix CONTENTS C hapter 15 T sar w ith a M ission 257 Vilna Again (December 1812-January 1813) 257 The Liberation of Prussia 260 The Changing Fortunes of War (Spring 1813) 262 Diplomatic Interlude (June-August 1813) 267 The Battles of Dresden and Leipzig and the Race for Frankfurt 270 The Campaign in France, 1814 275 Alexander Enters Paris (31 March 1814) 280 C hapter 16 Paris and L ondon 282 The Tsar, Talleyrand and Caulaincourt (April 1814) 282 Peacemaking in Paris 286 Catherine Blazes an English Trail 291 Alexander in England (June 1814) 293 C hapter 17 T he Panoram a o f Europe 302 Preparing for the Vienna Congress in St Petersburg and at Pulawy 302 Alexander in Residence at the Hofburg 306 Congress Diplomacy (October 1814-February 1815) 310 Alexander’s Change of Heart 316 Napoleon’s Return from Elba and the Close of the Vienna Congress 319 C hapter 18 H o ly A llia n ce 325 The Heilbronn Prophetess 325 Peacemaking in Paris Once More 327 Julie von Kriidener at her Prime 330 The Treaty of the Holy Alliance, 26 September 1815 333 Disillusionment? 337 C hapter 19 C o n tra sts 339 Alexander in Congress Poland (November 1815) 339 St Petersburg Once More 342 The Arakcheev System and the Military Colonies 344 Imperial Weddings 348 Alexander continues his Spiritual Quest 351