La Bataille de Bautzen 1813

Alexander led a contradictory life during the entirety of his reign—a reign filled with abrupt changes in political direction, as well confusion in the bureaucratic initiative in Russia; this was coupled with an increasing sense of spirituality in his personal life as the Tsar got older. This, in turn, increasingly led to a confusion of just who Alexander was in the final years of his reign. However, for a few of those years from 1812-1814, Alexander would prove himself to be the backbone of the Sixth Coalition and, subsequent to the fall of Napoleon, the master of Europe. Why this didn’t continue is not the subject of this piece. Alexander’s Spiritual Mission As early as 1801, Alexander had described Napoleon as “the oppressor of Europe and disturber of the world’s peace.” Even in those early years, Alexander believed his spiritual mission was to combat the evil of Napoleon. His was a willing ally with Austria in 1805 in their war against France. Russian failure at Austerlitz would not stop Alexander’s willingness to ally himself with Prussia in 1806. Despite Russian success at Eylau, Friedland would be a Russian disaster but Napoleon would not be as exacting as he was with Austria and Prussia. Instead what developed after the Battle of Friedland for Alexander and Napoleon after the battle of Friedland, was what in, 21st Century terms, is described as bromance. This was solidified by the Tilsit treaties and the Congress of Erfurt. And while Napoleon and Alexander continued this flirtation for a short period, the pressures Napoleon’s Continental System put on the Russian economy led Alexander to renounce the Russian participation in Napoleon’s British blockade in 1810. This and several other complicated diplomatic events led to the end of the “bromance” and the French invasion of Russia in 1812. Once the invasion occurred Alexander acted as if he was possessed with the destruction of Napoleon. The French invasion of the Russian motherland seemed to invigorate Alexander, and he grew into a leadership role that inspired the Russian people and more importantly the Russian armies. During this war, Alexander earnestly began a spiritual journey that would take him many places during the rest of his reign, which ended in 1825. He seemed genuinely disturbed by the destruction of his realm occurring because of Napoleon’s invasion. Despite the Russian defeat at Borodino and Napoleon’s occupation of Moscow, Alexander refused to come to the peace table with Napoleon and Moscow is destroyed by a fire. Instead, the Russians and a savage Russian winter hounded the French out of Russian territory as the fateful year 1812 comes to an end. Even though the French were gone, Alexander did not want to stop, and sent his army, almost battered as much as the French, deep into Germany. On February 28, 1813, the Russians and Prussians agreed to an alliance, known as the Convention of Kalisch; and shortly thereafter, the Sixth Coalition was formed with the British. By March, the Coalition army was as far west as Leipzig, pressuring Eugene and the remnants of the Grand Armée at Magdeburg on the Elbe River.

La Bataille de Bautzen 1813

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