Over the course of a number of diplomatic congresses, victorious Russia played an impressive role in determining the political restructuring of post-Napoleonic Europe. In , Alexander died unexpectedly, far from home during a voyage through south Russia in the city of Taganrog.
The suddenness and mysteriousness of his death, as well as the memory of those tragic events that brought him to power in , resulted in a persistent folk legend according to which Alexander did not die, but went to live in seclusion as a hermit monk, no longer able to endure the sin of patricide.
Alexander I Born: St. Portrait of Tsar Alexander I. Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna. The war with Napoleon, which ravaged Russia taking hundreds of thousands of lives and destroyed some of the Empire's finest cities, took it's own, personal toll on Alexander. He was troubled by the loss of life and the war itself, which he saw as a not only a battle between nations, but also a spiritual battle between the forces of good and evil.
After many battles and setbacks, the victory of the Allies over Napoleon was crowned by a triumphal entry of the triumpant generals into Paris. Alexander rode at their head. He was the apogee of his reign. Instead of resting on his laurels and enjoying the hero status he enjoyed across Europe, Alexander was more and more troubled spiritually. While in western Europe with the Russian Army he sought out and came under the influence of spiritual advisors from foreign countries.
He toyed with some of their concepts and ideas, eventually discarding them for the Orthodox faith of his own country. His last years were filled with an obsession with God and Christianity. At the end of his reign he left his Polish mistress of 13 years, Maria Naryshkina, and returned to his wife, Elizabeth, who had suffered from his infidelity and neglect for years. He was a troubled and broken man. One fall he and Elizabeth travelled to the south of Russia. There, on November 19, in the town of Taganrog, it is claimed to have faked his own death, disappearing to become a monk named Kuzmich, wandering the forests of Siberia for years afterward.
The Soviet Government fanned the flames of these rumours when it announced his coffin had been opened in the 's and was found to be empty. Please send your comments on this page and the Time Machine to boba pallasweb. The Tsar was also forced to expel the Jesuits in February , and to face the rebellion of the Semenovsky regiment. At the instigation of the monk Photius, coming from the orthodox clergy, Alexander decided to ban all secret societies August , broke away from his liberal Minister Capo d'Istria and finally dismissed his friend Golitsyn May Alexander I's foreign policy found itself dependant on his conflict with Napoleon , then was determined by the desire for armed peace In June , Talleyrand even suggested that both Russia and France carry out a common intervention in the Orient and share Turkey between them.
He then turned to Britain to bar the road to France in its expansionist aims. From then on, Russia was to form and anti-French coalition with Britain and Austria. A mirage of freedom was used against Napoleon, recently become Emperor December , to gain the sympathy of the people, and the threatened Turkey's integrity was guarantied. After the Austrians had set off the hostilities, the French seized Ulm and marched against them. This French victory brought up the question of reconstituting Poland and mainting Turkey.
The latter, under pressure from Napoleon, who blocked off the straits to the Russian fleet, forced Alexander to declare war on him.
For their part, Prussia suffered severe defeats at Auerstaedt and at Jena, which led the French army close to the Russian borders. Alexander; associated to the King of Prussia by a secret treaty, sent his troops to the king's aid; they were stopped at Eylau 8 February, then defeated at Friedland 14 June, Napoleon and Alexander met at Tilsit and signed a peace treaty 7 July, The Tsar was forced to accept the reduction of Prussia's position, the constitution of a grand-duchy of Warsaw and the continental blockade against Britain.
In order to manage the uprising in Spain, Napoleon needed Alexander's help to monitor Austria. As Alexander had refused to assist Napoleon against Austria, this German nation decided that the time had come to open hostilities against France in April , which led Napoleon to Vienna after the difficult victory at Wagram July The fragility of this peace encouraged Alexander to openly show his opposition to the reconstitution of Poland in August , and in September, after a campaign against Sweden, he seized Finland.
In May , the Tsar made peace with Turkey, whilst his relations with the Emperor of the French were becoming increasingly fragile. After Napoleon's defeat, which whom he refused to negotiate, from Warsaw Alexander appealed to the people of Europe to fight for their freedom. The campaign was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars.
The reputation of Napoleon was severely shaken and French hegemony in Europe was dramatically weakened. These events triggered a major shift in European politics. This triggered the War of the Sixth Coalition. From this war, the Russian Empire gained major parts of the Caucasus including Dagestan, Georgia, most of Azerbaijan, and other regions and territories in the Caucasus from Persia.
After the allies defeated Napoleon, Alexander became known as the savior of Europe and played a prominent role in the redrawing of the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna in In the same year, Alexander initiated the creation of the Holy Alliance, a loose agreement pledging the rulers of the nations involved—including most of Europe—to act according to Christian principles.
When Napoleon suddenly reappeared, Russia was part of the alliance that chased him down. The conservative Bourbons were back in power in Paris and on good terms with Russia. The allies created an international system to maintain the territorial status quo and prevent the resurgence of an expansionist France. At the same time, Russia continued its expansion. The Congress of Vienna, held in Vienna from November to June , aimed to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.
The tsar had two main goals: to gain control of Poland and promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations. Though officially the Kingdom of Poland was a state with considerable political autonomy guaranteed by a liberal constitution, its rulers, the Russian Emperors, generally disregarded any restrictions on their power.
Effectively it was little more than a puppet state of the Russian Empire.
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