Time and money. Russia. From Alexander the First to Vladimir Lenin. A story of love, wars and money

© Rem Word, 2020

ISBN 978-5-0051-3639-8

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Time

…In 1804, in response to the annexation of Eastern Georgia to Russia, and incited by the British leading their game in Asia, the Shah of Persia Feth-Ali (Baba Khan) declares war on Russia. In June-July, Russian troops, having defeated the Iranian detachments, besieged Erivan (Yerevan), but retreated due to heavy losses. The Karabakh, then the Shirvan (part of present-day Azerbaijan) Khanates passed under the authority of Russia. Since August 12, 1805, the Caspian flotilla has dropped anchor in the Baku bay. Russian general I. Zavalishin convinces Huseyngul Khan to accept citizenship of the Russian Empire. After unsuccessful negotiations, the squadron bombarded Baku for 11 days, landed troops, and defeated the Khan’s troops that had left the fortress. However, due to serious losses and a lack of ammunition, the siege ends. On January 30, 1806, the Caspian flotilla, which replenished its reserves, and a two thousandth detachment of infantry stood at the walls of the eastern capital. It seems that the transition of the Baku Khanate to the Russian Empire is a done deal. However, the khan’s cousin is involved in the negotiations. His bodyguards are killing Russian envoys. In the summer of the same year, Russian troops defeated the forces of the Persian commander (son of the shah) Abbas Mirza and annex the Baku, Derbent and Kuba (part of present-day Dagestan and Azeibarjan) khanates.

An artistic picture. One of the battles of the Russian-Persian war of 1804

After the end (running in parallel) of the Russian-Turkish war in January 1812, Persia tends to sign a peace treaty. The Napoleonic invasion of Russia lends additional weight to the war party at the Shah’s court. South Azerbaijan becomes the site of the formation of the 30,000th army of the invasion of Georgia. Further, on February 1, 1812, the 18,000-strong Persian corps, under the control of British officers, managed to encircle, force one of the Russian battalions to surrender. This is where their luck ends.

And, on October 24, 1813, the Gulistan peace treaty was signed in Karabakh. All acquisitions of the Empire were recognized, except for Eastern Armenia, which was returned to Persia. The peoples of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia are getting rid of the threat of invasion by Persia and Turkey. However, racial and religious tensions in the region are becoming one of the long-term factors of Russia’s instability.

The third coalition against Napoleon and his allies – Spain, Bavaria, Italy, arises after the signing of the Petersburg Union Treaty by England and Russia on April 11, 1805. Later it is joined by Austria, Sweden and Portugal.

Bonaparte is not helped by the fact that he, in essence, becomes a monarch. Since December 1, 1804, according to the results of a plebiscite poll among his people, with 0.07% of the votes “against” he is proclaimed emperor. Russian and French rulers exchange insults.

Great Britain is not so much fighting as it is paying. From the treasury, 1 million 250 thousand pounds sterling is allocated for every 100,000 coalition soldiers annually. That’s 80 grams of gold, or 900 modern pounds for one private.

Battle of Trafalgar

Bonaparte is preparing a landing across the English Channel, against his main opponent, and, so to speak, “customer”, a considerable 180 thousand cavalry and infantry. The Franco-Spanish fleet is sent from the Mediterranean to support the landing and, at Cape Trafalgar (near the Strait of Gibraltar), meets with the British Navy. The forces are approximately equal, three dozen ships of the line on each side, but the British gunners are more skilled, and the noble officer corps of the “Lady of the Seas” did not suffer from the work of the revolutionary guillotines. Allied ships suffer crushing losses of manpower in artillery duels (4500 versus 450 for the British), are boarded and captured. The British do not lose a single ship. Their brave Admiral Nelson is killed. In a barrel of rum (according to legend, drunk by the sailors on the way), the body of the commander returns to his homeland.

In the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, against the combined Russian and Austrian troops, Napoleon almost gets captured. However, subsequent battles convince the allies of the need for peace.

…In the summer of 1807, on the river near the town of Tilsit (now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad region), the Peace of Tilsit is concluded between France and Russia. Russia recognizes the conquests of Napoleon, the restoration of Poland’s statehood in the former Prussian possessions, and the rule of France over the Ionian Islands. At the insistence of Napoleon, the Russian Empire withdraws its troops from Wallachia and Moldavia, already conquered from Turkey, participates in the naval blockade of England, recognizes the three Bonaparte brothers – Joseph, Louis, Jerome, as kings of Naples, Holland and Westphalia, respectively.

Somewhat earlier, in 1806, due to an insignificant, in essence, the dismissal of the ruler of Moldova without the prior approval of Russia, another Russian-Turkish war began. The Russian army once again storms Izmail, takes possession of Yassy, Bendery and Bucharest.

…Admiral Senyavin’s fleet is blocking the Dardanelles, landing troops on the islands, making progress. In August 1807, with the mediation of Napoleon, an armistice was concluded with Turkey.

Active ground fighting resumed in 1810. They boil down to a series of battles in the territories of Moldova, Romania and Serbia. In 1812, the Bucharest peace treaty was signed. The Bessarabian region (part of present-day Moldavia) and some territories of the Transcaucasia ceded to Russia. The border of Europe is shifting somewhat to the south. The Danube principalities as well as Serbia are returned to Turkey. Russia is withdrawing from the war with the Porta in a hurry, on the eve of a large-scale Napoleonic invasion.

…In 1808 and 1810, Napoleon, wishing to become a monarch recognized by the European courts, sent proposals to the Russian reigning house to marry Alexander’s sisters, Catherine, then Anna. This request is politely declined. Bonaparte is deeply offended. He marries an Austrian princess. Thus, among other things, Bonaparte provides the French Empire with a strong rear and military support.

Meanwhile, Russia maintains a continental blockade of Great Britain. The export of food stops. The price of bread falls by half. Domestic light industry is rising, in particular, the production of technically sophisticated luxury goods. But, the nobility is already accustomed to the goods produced in England. Therefore, Russia trades with the “Lady of the Seas” through neutral countries. The French government is aware of this.

Napoleon proclaimed the idea of expanding the Duchy of Warsaw to the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the time of False Dmitry. This is impossible without alienating part of its ancestral lands from Russia. The emperor regards the advancement of units of the Russian army to the borders of the Duchy as an immediate threat to the vassal.

Bonaparte’s main plan is a huge dependent Poland, which includes Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. A world with a shrunken Russia. Full continental blockade of England, then the occupation of Great Britain. Theoretically – a campaign to India, the return and growth of the French colonial possessions (the First Empire). Hypothetically, Napoleon becomes the ruler of the whole world.

It’s not so impossible. England owns 27% of the earth’s land, which, together with the colonies of France itself, as well as the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, which became part of the suzerain of the Commonwealth, makes up more than half of the territory of the globe.

This plan does not fit the liberation of the Russian peasants from serfdom. At the beginning of his career, Bonaparte serves the Convention and the Republic, introduces a progressive Civil Code, destroys the basis of the feudal system. However, he despises “ordinary people”, and tries not to resort to their assistance. He is not at all the benefactor of the people. In parts of Belarus and Lithuania, at the beginning of the summer of 1812, Napoleon abolished serfdom. The peasants begin to plunder the former oppressors, landlords and their families. They are not becoming noticeably more loyal to the French army. Napoleon is primarily interested in the supply of his troops. Three weeks later, he returns the peasants to the landlords, provides security, so that the nobles themselves collect food and give it to foragers. And so it happens. It should be borne in mind that the aristocracy of the region counted on the revival of the Commonwealth, and therefore was so welcoming to the conquerors. Considering his experience with the liberation of the serfs unsuccessful, Napoleon projects his conclusions throughout Russia. He does not pay attention to the fact that the Russian nobles are satisfied with their high position. There is autocracy here, but it is limited, in the extreme case of landlord discontent, by an apoplectic blow (a snuffbox to the temple). The gold saved during the expropriation of peasant reserves, the propensity to plunder churches and monasteries, arrogance, will subsequently turn into rivers of blood of Napoleonic soldiers.

Napoleon’s army is: 20,000 Prussian soldiers – Prussia is offered some territories of the current Baltic states, 30,000 Austrians, 100,000 Poles, 21,000 Italians, 300,000 French, 8,000 former Russian prisoners of war who believe that they are going to free the country from serf slavery, and also parts from other countries subordinate to the French Empire. Total about 6

battle of Borodino

At noon, Russian troops successfully counterattack. Marshal Bagration is in the front rows. A shard of the core injures the commander. The news of this instantly demoralizes the army. The retreat begins. The onslaught of the French is weakening after the raid on their rear of 2500 Cossacks by General Platov. The troops are regrouping. Napoleon leaves the left flank of the Russians, rushes to the center, recaptures the redoubts at the cost of almost all his heavy cavalry, and stops. At seven o’clock in the evening, the French emperor withdraws troops from the battlefield.

At night, having collected the wounded, the Russian army retreats to Mozhaisk, 105 kilometers west of Moscow. About 20,000 seriously wounded remain in the Mother See and later perish in the fire.

Losses of the parties. Russian army 42,000 killed (30% of the composition). Napoleon’s army – 35,000 people (25%).

After the battle at Maloyaroslavets, Napoleon realizes that he will not be able to gain a foothold in the south of Russia, and leaves the Smolensk road, plundered by his own troops. Survivors, including the servicemen of the German McDonald corps, remain 30,000 people. Of the imperial guard, numbering at the beginning of the invasion of 47 thousand, 400 or 500 survive. There are 100 thousand prisoners and deserters. A significant part of them voluntarily remained in Russia after the fall of Bonaparte’s empire.

The total loss of servicemen of the Russian Empire at this stage is 120 thousand people.

In pursuit of the enemy, the Russian army occupies almost the entire Grand Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815, according to the agreements of the Congress of Vienna, it becomes part of Russia, the population is sworn in to the Russian sovereign. However, some attributes of autonomy remain. So, for example, the Polish zloty will be replaced by the Russian ruble only in 1832. The formally neutral Dresden is captured. Leipzig and Berlin are liberated. In the battle of Lützen, Napoleon’s troops fearlessly attack the Russian-Prussian troops saturated with artillery, suffer twice as large losses (20 thousand), but eventually force the allies from Saxony to retreat. Two more such Pyrrhic victories follow. Bonaparte calls for an armistice. The Sixth Coalition is strengthened by Sweden, which has bargained for itself Norway (Danish possession) for military services, and a number of other European monarchies. Near Leipzig, Napoleon offers peace in exchange for the countries captured by his troops, with the condition that the French colonies return. The allies reject such a decision and, on October 16, 1813, a multi-day battle begins to boil – the Battle of the Nations. Forces of the Coalition – 300 thousand people, 1400 guns, France – 200 thousand, 600 guns. The battle lasts until October 19, boiling down to a chain of fierce battles. German soldiers in Bonaparte’s camp go over to the side of the Coalition, thus deciding the outcome of the case. Napoleon retreats, losing 80 thousand people killed, wounded and captured, and 325 guns. Allied losses – 54 thousand. Almost half of them are soldiers of the Russian Expeditionary Army. Six months later, on April 11, 1814, on the outskirts of the already captured Paris, Fontebleau, Napoleon signed an abdication for himself and his heirs.

Battle of the Nations at Leipzig

…After a series of battles on the outskirts, which brought an equal number of victims – 6—8 thousand, and a demonstration of artillery batteries, Russian troops occupied Paris without a fight. There are no excesses with the civilian population. Officers pay for alcohol with receipts, or put bottles under the table, thus removing them from the field of vision of not very picky waiters. Later, the Russian emperor, or rather, the working people of Russia, will pay for all this. The imposition of military indemnities on France, a perfectly reasonable proposal of Great Britain, Alexander I complacently rejects.

During the one and a half years of occupation, 40 thousand Russian soldiers leave their army, roughly speaking, they defect, because the Victory has already been achieved, the French women are very friendly, well-to-do, the local authorities in every possible way welcome the appearance of new citizens. Men, after the Napoleonic adventures, in France are simply catastrophically lacking.

In the wake of successes in foreign policy, Alexander the First believes that everything is fine in his state. He is in no hurry with the abolition of serfdom and other major reforms. His opinion is shared by the majority of the Russian nobility.

In 1816 the Baltic peasants were liberated. Initially, the inhabitants of Russian Pomorie, the Caucasus, the Far East, Alaska, parts of Asian possessions, the Finns and, to some extent, the Cossacks are free.

The emperor’s new toy is military settlements. Some similarities exist in Germany. This is Landver, a rural settlement, where a weapons depot for training is located, and the training of young villagers is carried out in their free time by a retired officer. Corporal punishment is prohibited. Landwehr is popular. Freed youth find these infrequent military exercises amusing. Almost half of the army in wartime is Landwehr militia, they serve well.

They are reminiscent of “arable soldiers” and Cossacks. But, in the latter case, the organization and life are created by people at their own discretion, therefore they are viable.

The emperor hands over his idea to the executive officer, Count Arakcheev. He gets down to business with mindless zeal. A battalion of lower ranks of the regiment settles in Novorossiya, with wives and families. Military personnel, unaccustomed to agricultural work, resist. Then gauntlets are used. But, these people are now not peasants in the full sense of the word. Sowing, haymaking, harvesting, etc., are performed not when the time comes, but according to the schedule approved by the authorities.