November 20, 2015

Ten Years of Napoleon


Ten Years of Napoleon

In the strange way that historic dates sometimes line up, this Friday, November 20, marks two anniversaries in stark contrast with each other. On this day in 1805, Napoleon destroyed Russian and Austrian troops at Austerlitz. Ten years and one burnt Moscow later, on this same day in 1815, Napoleon was defeated for good, the Treaty of Paris was signed, and 30,000 Russian troops were stationed in Paris.

In the interim, Russia and France managed to sign another peace treaty, the Treaty of Tilsit, and yet still went to war with each other. How did that happen? Amateur historian Georgy Sudanov takes a look in his book 1812: That’s Not How It Was!

 

Napoleon’s “Duplicitous” Attack on Russia

Since we were in school it’s been hammered into our heads that Napoleon, like Hitler in 1941, launched a duplicitous attack on Russia. Here are just a few examples: “Napoleon went back on his word and, without declaring war, attacked Russia (The History of the Belarussian SSR); “France didn’t declare war and attacked Russia duplicitously” (The History of Russian Journalism in the 18th and 19th Century); “In violating the alliance between Russia and France, Napoleon went back on his word” (1812: For the Sesquicentennial of the Patriotic War); “In the early hours of June 12, 1812, Napoleon broke his promise and, without declaring war, began a campaign to conquer Russia” (Polotsk: A Historic Sketch)…

The list of similar statements could be extended indefinitely.

The reality was quite different. On June 10 (22), 1812, Napoleon officially declared war on Russia and did so through the French ambassador in St. Petersburg, Jacques Alexandre Bernard Law, future Marquis de Lauriston, who transmitted the appropriate missive to the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Nikolayevich Saltykov.

Lauriston’s message read: “My mission here has ended, as Prince Kurakin’s request for passports indicated a rift, and from this point on his imperial and royal majesty considers himself to be at war with Russia.”

Lauriston then left the Russian capital.

Lauriston with Napoleon, looking rather sad about how it all turned out. (Vereschyagin, "Peace at Any Cost")

To clarify: prince Alexander Borisovich Kurakin was the Russian ambassador in Paris 1808-1812. He never deluded himself with regard to Napoleon and the latter’s attitude toward Emperor Alexander. In his letters to St. Petersburg, the prince advised Alexander to seek a timely alliance with Prussia and Austria, and if not that, then at least a promise of their neutrality, then make peace with the Turks and ally with the Swedes. He even suggested an alliance with England.

He wrote of Napoleon: “Our best course of action is to not only not reject him in the present circumstances, but to seek him out, because if, despite all the goodwill Your Majesty has shown in performing your obligations toward France, she still intends to attack you, Your Majesty has the right, by all human and divine laws, to pay no more attention to past obligations, and the right, in all fairness, to employ any means that may help you in repelling the attack.”

Translated by: Eugenia Sokolskaya

Source: Георгий Суданов, "1812: Всё было не так!"

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955