The Presidential Library marking the anniversary of the birth of Alexander I: confrontation of empires and victory over Napoleon

The future Emperor Alexander I who received the name Blessed was born on December 23, 1777. Among the greatest merits of Alexander to Russia is the victory over the Napoleon’s army during the Patriotic War of 1812, the 210th anniversary of which will be celebrated next year.

The Presidential Library features numerous materials, devoted to the life and reign of emperor Alexander, united by a special selection Alexander I (1777-1825) including a rare material such as a letter from Alexander I to Napoleon in connection with the entry of French troops into Russia on June 13/25, 1812. A separate collection tells about the victorious war with Napoleonic troops.

The military confrontation between two powers, Russia and France, in 1812 was preceded by a political confrontation between their rulers.

Their personal acquaintance, according to the writer and publisher Alexander Avchinnikov in the book Emperor Alexander I the Blessed and the Patriotic War (1912), took place after Napoleon defeated the Prussian troops on June 13, 1807 near Tilsit. The atmosphere was solemn - in a luxurious tent on a raft in the middle of the Nemunas, both emperors sailed in boats - each from its own shore. Napoleon and the Russian sovereign embraced and went into the tent, where they talked for a long time. Then the negotiations ended with an alliance between the emperors.

Prince Sergei Kudashev tells about the complex diplomatic relations between the two emperors in his work The History of Emperor Alexander Pavlovich (1912). According to him, "both emperors acted in accordance with their rights and abilities". Alexander, evading the undesirable consequences of the obligations of an alliance with Napoleon, hoped to avoid this by "deepening the courtesy before the French emperor", the same, in turn, "temporarily did not even show special attention to some of the bad faith of his ally".  

Many points of the peace agreement, in particular the continental blockade of England, inflicted considerable economic losses on Russia; Napoleon insisted on the observance of this condition of the treaty. According to the professor of history Vladimir Nazarevsky in the publication Emperor Alexander I, 1812 and other wars of this reign (1910), Napoleon told Alexander that "the united armies of Russia and France can dominate the world, granting it prosperity and tranquility", but the Russian the emperor, unlike the French, was alien to personal and national egoism and was idealistically carried away by the idea of ​​universal justice.

In 1810, for the first time after Tilsit, instead of courteous courtesy, Alexander began to speak the language of an independent ruler based on his rights and guided by the instructions of the treaty and the needs of his homeland. Responding to a letter from Napoleon, who called for assistance in "restoring that close alliance that has made them happy for almost four years", Alexander wrote that "...if Your Majesty is no more desirable than me, then it certainly will not be. <...> ...If there is a war, it will be because Your Majesty will want it".

Alexander was weighed down by the unpopular alliance with Napoleon in Russia: he believed that he wanted to make him his vassal. Therefore, the struggle between them became inevitable. The Russian tsar and the Russian people did not want to recognize their ruler in Napoleon - that was the main reason for the "colossal clash" that was being prepared.

To Bonaparte, the impending war did not seem to be the self-defence of Russia, but only the same, like all others, a military campaign. The Russian tsar understood all the difficulty of a possible war and therefore decided not to start it, but only to defend his fatherland.

In a unique document, a letter from Alexander I to Napoleon, in connection with the entry of French troops into Russia on June 13/25, 1812, which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal, the Russian emperor turns to French: “My sovereign brother, yesterday I learned that, despite the conscientiousness with which I fulfilled my obligations towards your Majesty, your troops crossed the borders of Russia ... <...> ... If you agree to withdraw your troops from Russian territory, I will consider that everything that happened did not take place and an agreement was reached between we will still be possible. Otherwise, Your Majesty, force me to see in you only an enemy, whose actions are not caused by anything on my part. It is up to your Majesty to save humanity from the scourge of a new war".

It is known that Alexander sent Adjutant General Balashov to Napoleon to tell about the possibility of peace if the French troops withdraw from the borders of Russia. Napoleon said to the envoy: “Do you really think that I brought so many troops to look at the Neman?” And mockingly asked the Russian general: “Which roads do lead to Moscow?”. He sarcastically replied that he only knew the one along which Charles XII was walking, but “it goes through Poltava”.

In his order on the army, the French emperor declared with the proud ardor of a conqueror: “Russia is fond of fate and will not escape its fate. It is time to put an end to its fifty-year arrogant influence on European affairs. "Alexander's mood was completely different. In the manifesto on the entry of enemies into Russia, he said: “Warriors! You defend faith, fatherland and freedom. I'm with you. On God who conceives". These were the same words that Peter I said before the Battle of Poltava.

The different attitudes of the emperors to the war of 1812 are described in Nikolai Duchinsky's book Emperor Alexander the Blessed and the Patriotic War (1912). In a letter addressed to Field Marshal Count Saltykov, Alexander made a sacred vow in the face of the Russian people and the whole world: "I will not lay down my arms until not a single enemy warrior remains in my kingdom". Napoleon, on the other hand, self-confidently declared: "After six months, the two northern capitals (i.e., Moscow and St. Petersburg) will see their invincible victors within the walls". He boastfully addressed his soldiers: "You will rule over the Russian people, ready to obey all your orders submissively..."

But already on October 3, 1812, Napoleon sent peace proposals to Alexander through Kutuzov. The Russian emperor replied: "At the present time, no proposals of the enemy will induce me to interrupt the battle and thereby weaken the sacred duty to avenge the insulted Fatherland".

Sergei Kudashev believed that Alexander's enormous merit lay in his determination to endure all the trials of a formidable collision with the almighty Napoleon. "... In this struggle, not only the fate of the rivalry between the two most powerful emperors of Europe was decided, but also the fate of the inviolability and independence of the Russian statehood..."

History has resolved the dispute between emperors and empires.