very formal, became far more amicable, according as Spanish
affairs grew complicated. After the capitulation of Baylen
they became positively affectionate. The Czar was too
clear-sighted not to understand the meaning of this gradation.
He quickly understood that the more difficulties Napoleon
might create for himself in Spain, the more would he be forced
to make concessions to Russia. ... The Russian alliance, which
at Tilsit had only been an arrangement to flatter Napoleon's
ambition, had now become a necessity to him. Each side felt
this; hence the two sovereigns were equally impatient to meet
again; the one to strengthen an alliance so indispensable to
the success of his plans, the other to derive from it all the
promised advantages. It was settled, therefore, that the
desired interview should take place at Erfurt towards the end
of September, 1808. ... The two Emperors met on the 27th of
September, on the road between Weimar and Erfurt. They
embraced each other with that air of perfect cordiality of
which kings alone possess the secret, especially when their
intention is rather to stifle than to embrace. They made their
entry into the town on horseback together, amidst an immense
concourse of people. Napoleon had wished by its magnificence
to render the reception worthy of the illustrious guests who
had agreed to meet at Erfurt. He had sent thither from the
storehouses of the crown, bronzes, porcelain, the richest
hangings, and the most sumptuous furniture. He desired that
the Comédie-Française should heighten the brilliant effects of
these fêtes by performing the chief masterpieces of our stage,
from 'Cinna' down to 'La Mort de César,' before this royal
audience. ... All the natural adherents of Napoleon hastened
to answer his appeal by flocking to Erfurt, for he did not
lose sight of his principal object, and his desire was to
appear before Europe surrounded by a court composed of kings.
In this cortege were to be seen those of Bavaria, of
Wurtemburg, of Saxony, of Westphalia, and Prince William of
Prussia; and beside these stars of first magnitude twinkled
the obscure Pleiades of the Rhenish Confederation. The
reunion, almost exclusively German, was meant to prove to
German idealists the vanity of their dreams. Were not all
present who had any weight in Germany from their power, rank,
or riches? Was it not even hinted that the Emperor of Austria
had implored the favour, without being able to obtain it, of
admission to the conferences of Erfurt? This report was most
improbable. ... The kings of intellect came in their turn to
bow down before Cæsar. Goethe and Wieland were presented to
Napoleon; they appeared at his court, and by their glory
adorned his triumph. German patriotism was severely tried at
Erfurt; but it may be said that of all its humiliations the
one which the Germans most deeply resented was that of
beholding their greatest literary genius decking himself out
with Napoleon's favours [the decoration of the Legion of
Honour, which Goethe accepted]. ... The theatrical effect
which Napoleon had in view in this solemn show at Erfurt
having once been produced, his principal object was attained,
for the political questions which remained for settlement with
Alexander could not raise any serious difficulty. In view of
the immediate and certain session of two such important
provinces as those of Wallachia and Moldavia, the Czar,
without much trouble, renounced that division of the Ottoman
Empire with which he had been tantalised for more than a year.
... He bound himself ... by the Treaty of Erfurt to continue his
co-operation with Napoleon in the war against England (Article
2), and, should it so befall, also against Austria (Article
10); but the affairs in Spain threw every attack upon England
into the background. ... The only very distinct engagement
which the treaty imposed on Alexander was the recognition of
the new order of things established by France in Spain.'"
_P. Lanfrey,
History of Napoleon,
volume 3, chapter 10._
ALSO IN:
_Prince Talleyrand,
Memoirs,
volume 1._
FRANCE: A. D. 1808-1809.
Reverses in Portugal.
Napoleon in the field.
French victories resumed.
The check at Corunna.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1808-1809 (AUGUST-JANUARY).
FRANCE: A. D. 1809 (January-September).
Reopened war with Austria.
Napoleon's advance to Vienna.
His defeat at Aspern and victory at Wagram.
The Peace of Schönbrunn.
Fresh acquisitions of territory.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1809 (JANUARY-JUNE),
and (JULY-SEPTEMBER).
FRANCE: A. D. 1809 (February-July).
Wellington's check to the French in Spain and Portugal.
His passage of the Douro.
Battle of Talavera.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1809 (FEBRUARY-JULY).
FRANCE: A. D. 1809 (May).
Annexation of the States of the Church.
Removal of the Pope to Savona.
See PAPACY: A. D. 1808-1814.
FRANCE: A. D. 1809 (December).
Withdrawal of the English from Spain into Portugal.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1809 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).
{1352}
FRANCE: A. D. 1810 (February-December).
Annexations of territory to the empire.
Holland, the Hanse Towns, and the Valais in Switzerland.
Other reconstructions of the map of Germany.
"It was not till December 10th 1810 [after the abdication of
King Louis--see NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1806-1810] that
Holland was united to France by a formal senatus-consulte. By
the first article of the same law, the Hanse Towns [Hamburg,
Bremen, and Lubeck], the Duchy of Lauenburg, and the countries
situated between the North Sea and a line drawn from the
confluence of the Lippe with the Rhine to Halteren, from
Halteren to the Ems above Telgte, from the Ems to the
confluence of the Werra with the Weser, and from Stolzenau on
that river to the Elbe, above the confluence of the Stecknitz,
were at the same time incorporated with the French Empire. ...
The line described would include the northern part of
Westphalia and Hanover, and the duchy of Oldenburg. ... The
Duke of Oldenburg having appealed to the Emperor of Russia,
the head of his house, against this spoliation, Napoleon
offered to compensate him with the town and territory of
Erfurt and the lordship of Blankenheim, which had remained
under French administration since the Peace of Tilsit. But
this offer was at once rejected, and Alexander reserved, by a
formal protest, the rights of his relative. This annexation
was only the complement of other incorporations with the
French Empire during the year 1810. Early in the year, the
Electorate of Hanover had been annexed to the Kingdom of
Westphalia. On February 16th Napoleon had erected the Grand
Duchy of Frankfort, and presented it to the Prince Primate of
the Confederation of the Rhine, with a reversal in favour of
Eugene Beauharnais. On November 12th the Valais in Switzerland
was also annexed to France, with the view of securing the road
over the Simplon. Of all these annexations, that of the Hanse
Towns and the districts on the North Sea was the most
important, and one of the principal causes of the war that
ensued between France and Russia. These annexations were made
without the slightest negociation with any European cabinet,
and it would be superfluous to add, without even a pretext of
right, though the necessity of them from the war with England
was alleged as the motive."
_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 7, chapter 15, with foot-note (volume 4)._
"'The English,' said Napoleon, 'have torn asunder the public
rights of Europe; a new order of things governs the universe.
Fresh guarantees having become necessary to me, the annexation
of the mouths of the Scheldt, of the Meuse, of the Rhine, of
the Ems, of the Weser, and of the Elbe to the Empire appears
to me to be the first and the most important. ... The
annexation of the Valais is the anticipated result of the
immense works that I have been making for the past ten years
in that part of the Alps.' And this was all. To justify such
violence he did not condescend to allege any pretext--to urge
forward opportunities that were too long in developing, or to
make trickery subserve the use of force--he consulted nothing
but his policy; in other words, his good pleasure. To take
possession of a country, it was sufficient that the country
suited him: he said so openly, as the simplest thing in the
world, and thought proper to add that these new usurpations
were but a beginning, the first, according to his own
expression, of those which seemed to him still necessary. And
it was Europe, discontented, humbled, driven wild by the
barbarous follies of the continental system, that he thus
defied, as though he wished at any cost to convince every one
that no amicable arrangement or conciliation was possible; and
that there was but one course for governments or men of spirit
to adopt, that of fighting unto death."
_P. Lanfrey,
History of Napoleon,
volume 4, chapter 2._
FRANCE: A. D. 1810-1812.
Continued hostile attitude towards
the United States of America.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1810-1812.
FRANCE: A. D. 1810-1812.
The War in the Peninsula.
Wellington's Lines of Torres Vedras.
French retreat from Portugal.
English advance into Spain.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1809-1810 (OCTOBER-SEPTEMBER),
and 1810-1812.
FRANCE: A. D. 1810-1812.
Napoleon's divorce from Josephine and marriage to
Marie-Louise of Austria.
His rupture with the Czar and
preparations for war with Russia.
"Napoleon now revived the idea which he had often entertained
before, of allying himself with one of the great ruling
families. A compliant senate and a packed ecclesiastical
council pronounced his separation from Josephine Beauharnais,
who retired with a magnificent pension to Malmaison, where she
died. As previous marriage proposals to the Russian court had
not been cordially received, Napoleon now turned to Austria.
The matter was speedily arranged with Metternich, and in
March, 1810, the archduchess Maria Louisa arrived in France as
the emperor's wife. The great importance of the marriage was
that it broke the last links which bound Russia to France, and
thus overthrew the alliance of Tilsit. Alexander had been
exasperated by the addition of Western Galicia to the
grand-duchy of Warsaw, which he regarded as a step towards the
restoration of Poland, and therefore as a breach of the
engagement made at Tilsit. The annexation of Oldenburg, whose
duke was a relative of the Czar, was a distinct personal
insult. Alexander showed his irritation by formally deserting
the continental system, which was more ruinous to Russia than
to almost any other country, and by throwing his ports open to
British commerce (December 1810). ... The chief grievance to
Russia was the apparent intention of Napoleon to do something
for the Poles. The increase of the grand-duchy of Warsaw by
the treaty of Vienna was so annoying to Alexander, that he
began to meditate on the possibility of restoring Poland
himself, and making it a dependent kingdom for the Czar, in
the same way as Napoleon had treated Italy. He even went so
far as to sound the Poles on the subject; but he found that
they had not forgotten the three partitions of their country,
and that their sympathies were rather with France than with
Russia. At the same time Napoleon was convinced that until
Russia was subdued his empire was unsafe, and all hopes of
avenging himself upon England were at an end. All through the
year 1811 it was known that war was inevitable, but neither
power was in a hurry to take the initiative. Meanwhile the
various powers that retained nominal independence had to make
up their minds as to the policy they would pursue. For no
country was the decision harder than for Prussia. Neutrality
was out of the question, as the Prussian territories, lying
between the two combatants, must be occupied by one or the
other.
{1353}
The friends and former Colleagues of Stein were unanimous for
a Russian alliance and a desperate struggle for liberty. But
Hardenberg, who had become chancellor in 1810, was too prudent
to embark in a contest, which at the time was hopeless. The
Czar had not been so consistent in his policy as to be a very
desirable ally; and, even with Russian assistance, it was
certain that the Prussian frontiers could not be defended
against the French, who had already garrisons in the chief
fortresses. Hardenberg fully sympathised with the patriots,
but he sacrificed enthusiasm to prudence, and offered the
support of Prussia to France. The treaty was arranged on the
24th of February, 1812. Frederick William gave the French a
free passage through his territories, and undertook to furnish
20,000 men for service in the field, and as many more for
garrison duty. In return for this Napoleon guaranteed the
security of the Prussian kingdom as it stood, and held out the
prospect of additions to it. It was an unnatural and hollow
alliance, and was understood to be so by the Czar.
Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and other friends of Stein resigned
their posts, and many Prussian officers entered the service of
the Czar. Austria, actuated by similar motives, adopted the same
policy, but with less reluctance. After this example had been
set by the two great powers, none of the lesser states of
Germany dared to disobey the peremptory orders of Napoleon.
But Turkey and Sweden, both of them old allies of France, were
at this crisis in the opposition. ... The Swedes were
threatened with starvation by Napoleon's stern command to
close their ports not only against English, but against all
German vessels. Bernadotte, who had just been adopted as the
heir of the childless Charles XIII.; determined to throw in
his lot with his new country, rather than with his old
commander. He had also hopes of compensating Sweden for the
loss of Finland by wresting Norway from the Danes, and this
would never be agreed to by France. Accordingly Sweden
prepared to support the cause of Alexander."
_R. Lodge,
History of Modern Europe,
chapter 24, sections 88 and 41._
"Napoleon's Russian expedition should not be regarded as an
isolated freak of insane pride. He himself regarded it as the
unfortunate effect of a fatality, and he betrayed throughout
an unwonted reluctance and perplexity. 'The war must take
place,' he said, 'it lies in the nature of things.' That is,
it arose naturally, like the other Napoleonic wars, out of the
quarrel with England. Upon the Continental system he had
staked everything. He had united all Europe in the crusade
against England, and no state, least of all such a state as
Russia, could withdraw from the system without practically
joining England. Nevertheless, we may wonder that, if he felt
obliged to make war on Russia, he should have chosen to wage
it in the manner he did, by an overwhelming invasion. For an
ordinary war his resources were greatly superior to those of
Russia. A campaign on the Lithuanian frontier would no doubt
have been unfavourable to Alexander, and might have forced him
to concede the points at issue. Napoleon had already
experienced in Spain the danger of rousing national spirit. It
seems, however, that this lesson had been lost on him."
_J. R. Seeley,
Short History of Napoleon,
chapter 5, section 3._
"Warnings and cautions were not ... wanting to him. He had
been at several different times informed of the desperate
plans of Russia and her savage resolve to destroy all around
him, provided he could be involved in the destruction of the
Empire. He was cautioned, with even more earnestness, of the
German conspiracies. Alquier transmitted to him from Stockholm
a significant remark of Alexander's: 'If the Emperor Napoleon
should experience a reverse, the whole of Germany will rise to
oppose his retreat, or to prevent the arrival of his
reinforcements.' His brother Jerome, who was still better
situated for knowing what was going on in Germany, informed
him, in the month of January, 1811, of the proposal that had
been made to him to enter into a secret league against France,
but the only thanks he received from Napoleon was reproach for
having encouraged such overtures by his equivocal conduct. ...
Marshal Davout and General Rapp transmitted him identically
the same information from Hamburg and Dantzig. But far from
encouraging such confidential communications, Napoleon was
irritated by them. ... 'I do not know why Rapp meddles in what
does not concern him [he wrote]. ... I beg you will not place
such rhapsodies under my eyes. My time is too precious to
waste on such twaddle.' ... In presence of such hallucination,
caused by pride and infatuation, we seem to hear Macbeth in
his delirium insulting the messengers who announced to him the
approach· of the enemy's armies."
_P. Lanfrey,
History of Napoleon,
volume 4, chapter 6._
"That period ought to have been esteemed the happiest of
Napoleon's life. What more could the wildest ambition desire?
... All obeyed him. Nothing was wanting to make him happy!
Nothing, if he could be happy who possessed not a love of
justice. ... The being never existed who possessed ampler
means for promoting the happiness of mankind. Nothing was
required but justice and prudence. The nation expected these
from him, and granted him that unlimited confidence which he
afterwards so cruelly abused. ... Instead of considering with
calmness and moderation how he might best employ his vast
resources, he ruminated on projects beyond the power of man to
execute; forgetting what innumerable victims must be
sacrificed in the vain attempt. ... He aspired at universal
despotism, for no other reason than because a nation, isolated
from the continent and profiting by its happy situation, had
refused to submit to his intolerable·yoke. ... In the hope of
conquering that invincible enemy, he vainly endeavoured to
grasp the extremities of Europe. ... Misled by his rash and
hasty temper, he adopted a false line of politics, and
converted in the north, as he had done before in the south,
the most useful and powerful of his allies into a dangerous
enemy."
_E. Labaume,
Circumstantial Narrative of the Campaign in Russia,
part 1, book 1._
ALSO IN:
_C. Joyneville,
Life and Times of Alexander I.,
volume 2, chapter 3._
_Imbert de Saint Amand,
Memoirs of the Empress Marie Louise._
FRANCE: A. D. 1812 (June).
The captive Pope brought to Fontainebleau.
See PAPACY: A. D. 1808-1814.
FRANCE: A. D. 1812 (June-August).
Defeat by the English in Spain at Salamanca.
Abandonment of Madrid by King Joseph.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1812 (JUNE-AUGUST).
{1354}
FRANCE: A. D. 1812 (June-December).
Napoleon's Russian campaign.
The advance to Moscow.
The burning of the city.
The retreat and its horrors.
See RUSSIA: A. D. 1812.
FRANCE: A. D. 1812-1813 (December-March)
Napoleon's return from Russia.
His measures for creating a new army.
"Whilst Europe, agitated at once by hope, by fear, and by
hatred, was inquiring what had become of Napoleon, whether he
had perished or had been saved, he was crossing in a
sledge--accompanied by the Duke of Vicenza, the Grand Marshal
Duroc, Count Lobau, General Lefevre-Desnouettes, and the
Mameluke Rustan--the vast, plains of Lithuania, of Poland, and
of Saxony, concealed by thick furs; for if his name had been
imprudently uttered, or his countenance recognised, a tragical
catastrophe would have instantly ensued. The man who had so
greatly excited the admiration of nations, who was the object
of their ... superstition, would not at that moment have
escaped their fury. In two places only did he allow himself to
be known, Warsaw and Dresden. ... That he might not occasion
too great surprise, he caused himself to be preceded by an
officer with a few lines for the 'Moniteur,' saying that on
December 5 he had assembled his generals at Smorgoni, had
delegated the command to King Murat, only so long as military
operations were interrupted by the cold, that he had traversed
Warsaw and Dresden, and that he was about to arrive in Paris
to take in hand the affairs of the Empire. ... Napoleon
followed close on the steps of the officer who was to announce
his arrival. On December 18, at half-past 11 P. M., he entered
the Tuileries. ... On the next morning, the 19th, he received
the ministers and grandees of the court ... with extreme
hauteur, maintaining a tranquil but severe aspect, appearing
to expect explanations instead of affording them himself,
treating foreign affairs as of minor consequence, and those of
a domestic nature as of principal import, demanding some light
upon these last,--in short, questioning others in order to
avoid being questioned himself. ... On Sunday, the 20th of
December, the second day after his arrival, Napoleon received
the Senate, the Council of State, and the principal branches
of the administration," which severally addressed to him the
most fulsome flatteries and assurances of support. "After an
infuriated populace basely outraging vanquished princes,
nothing can be seen more melancholy than these great bodies
prostrating themselves at the feet of a power, bestowing upon
it a degree of admiration which increases with its errors,
speaking with ardour of their fidelity, already about to
expire, and swearing to die in its cause when they are on the
eve of hailing the accession of another. Happy are those
countries whose established Constitutions spare them these
humiliating spectacles!" As speedily as possible, Napoleon
applied himself to the recreation of his lost army, by
anticipating the conscription for 1814, and by making new
calls upon the classes which had already furnished their
contingents. All his measures were submissively sanctioned by
the obsequious Senate; but many murmurs of discontent were
heard among the people, and some movements of resistance
needed to be put down. "However, when the enlightened classes
of a country approve a measure, their support is extremely
efficacious. In France, all those classes perceiving that it
was necessary energetically to defend the country against a
foreign enemy, though the Government had been still more in
the wrong than they were, the levies were effected, and the
high functionaries, sustained by a moral acquiescence which
they had not always obtained, fulfilled their duty, though in
heart full of sad and sinister forebodings."
_A. Thiers,
History of the Consulate and the Empire,
book 47 (volume 4)._
ALSO IN:
_Duchess d'Abrantes, Memoirs of Napoleon,
volume 2, chapter 43._
FRANCE: A. D. 1812-1813.
Germanic rising against Napoleon.
War of Liberation.
Lützen.
Bautzen.
Dresden.
Leipsic.
The retreat of the French from beyond the Rhine.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1812-1813,
to 1813 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).
FRANCE: A. D. 1813 (February-March).
The new Concordat signed and retracted by the Pope.
See PAPACY: A. D. 1808-1814.
FRANCE: A. D. 1813 (June-November).
Defeat at Vittoria and in the Pyrenees.
Retreat from Spain.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1812-1814.
FRANCE: A. D. 1813 (November-December).
Dutch independence regained.
See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1813.
FRANCE: A. D. 1814 (January).
The Pope set free to return to Rome.
See PAPACY: A. D. 1808-1814.
FRANCE: A. D. 1814 (January-March).
The allied invasion.
Napoleon's campaign of defense.
His cause lost.
Surrender of Paris.