The Russian-French alliance and the failed campaign in India: what Paul I and Napoleon agreed on
Battle of Marengo. Painting by Louis-François Lejeune
The topic of the Russian-French alliance during the Napoleonic Wars remained in the shadows for a long time, and most historians considered it in passing. It is known that Napoleon was not eager to fight with Russia and therefore entered into an alliance with it twice: in 1800 and 1807. What all this led to and could have led to if the allied relations had lasted longer, we will consider.
So, 1800.
Napoleon is 31 years old, he came to power a few months ago, and before that he had already distinguished himself in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns as a talented and extraordinary commander. Napoleon did not inherit the state in the most enviable state: revolutionary instability, general corruption, banditry, and in addition to this there was also a war with half of Europe, which lasted with short interruptions since 1792.
The country was exhausted, it needed peace and at least one major ally in Europe.
It is quite logical that this ally became Russia, a country located hundreds of kilometers from France, whose territorial interests had absolutely no overlap with French ones.
In 1799, Suvorov made the Italian and Swiss campaigns.
But why did he do them?
What did the Russian army forget in Italy and Switzerland?
Yes, Suvorov won, but what specific benefit did these victories bring to Russia?
But the losses were obvious: Suvorov lost a third of his army during the campaigns. The political results of Suvorov’s campaigns were nullified by Napoleon as a result of his single victory in the Battle of Marengo in June 1800.
And most importantly: many understood that the Russian-French war was beneficial only to Austria and Britain, but certainly not to Russia and France. The same Italy had long been the scene of the Franco-Austrian wars; each of the two countries wanted to gain a foothold here, but what interest could Russia have in Italy?
All this made the Russian-French alliance long-awaited and quite logical.
Could the campaign to India end in victory?
Napoleon had far-reaching plans for this alliance. And the most ambitious of them was the plan for a joint Russian-French campaign in India, which at that time was already a British colony. Until the mid-18th century, France had small possessions on the west coast of India, but they were lost during the wars with Britain. Now Napoleon hoped to return them.
This plan, according to which 35 Russian soldiers and Don Cossacks and the same number of French were to set off on a joint campaign through Central Asia to India, was enthusiastically accepted by Emperor Paul I. Some historians also argue that the initiative for the campaign itself came from Paul, and not from Napoleon.
Emperor Paul I. Portrait by V. Borovikovsky
Moreover, Pavel apparently did not think much about the difficulties of this campaign, as well as the fact that in Russia there were practically no reliable maps of Central Asia and India.
The time allotted for preparing this campaign was catastrophically small - about one month.
In January 1801, it was decided that there would still be a campaign, and already on February 28, the Don Cossacks moved in the direction of Orenburg, where they were supposed to await the arrival of the French corps.
In an order to Ataman Orlov, Pavel wrote:
"The British are preparing to attack fleet and an army against me and my allies - the Swedes and Danes. I am ready to accept them, but we need to attack them themselves and where their blow may be more sensitive and where they are less expected. India is the best place for this. It takes three months from us to the Indus, from Orenburg, and a month from you there, but only four months. I entrust this entire expedition to you and your army, Vasily Petrovich... All the wealth of India will be your reward for this expedition.”
From the very beginning of the campaign, difficulties arose. At the beginning of March, a thaw had already begun, roads were washed away, and mud made it difficult for artillery to move. Then problems with food arose, since local authorities were not notified of the campaign.
Atamans Denisov, Platov and Orlov - participants in the campaign of 1801
The Cossacks were not destined to reach not only India, but even Orenburg: on the night of March 11-12, Pavel was killed by conspirators in his own palace, and Alexander I, who replaced him on the throne, immediately ordered the Cossacks to return home:
“With all the Cossack regiments following with you on the Secret Expedition, return to the Don and disband them to their homes.”
The Cossacks, who had reached Saratov by this time, turned back. The two million rubles spent on organizing the trip turned out to be a waste of money.
Don Cossacks. Juliusz Kossak
What were the prospects for this campaign if Paul had escaped murder that fateful night?
Could the Cossacks and the French reach India?
The prospects for this campaign were more than illusory. If some of those who set out on the campaign could reach India, then at best every tenth had a chance of returning back. And the chances of winning a complete victory and expelling the British from India with the forces that could get there are almost zero.
Attempts to conquer not India, but Central Asia, which was closer to Russia, had already been made before 1801.
Back in 1717, a 6-strong detachment of Bekovich-Cherkassky undertook a campaign against the Khiva Khanate. Only a few returned. Bekovich himself and almost his entire detachment were killed by the Khiva Khan.
A similar campaign was undertaken at a later time - in 1839–1840. And this campaign also ended in failure. Moreover, most of the dead in the Russian detachment fell not at the hands of the enemy, but from disease and harsh climate, since the campaign was undertaken in winter.
The French’s chances of achieving success in this campaign were also slim: everyone remembers very well how Bonaparte’s campaign in Egypt, closer to France, ended.
Prospects for the further existence of the union
The British were seriously alarmed when they learned about plans for a campaign in India. The main bet was made on eliminating the leaders of France and Russia. They tried to eliminate Napoleon first: in December 1800, there was an attempt on his life in Paris, but Bonaparte survived. And only the assassination attempt on Paul in March 1801 was successful.
“The British missed me in Paris, but hit me in St. Petersburg,”
- Napoleon will say later.
Until the end of his days, he was sure that the campaign in India could end in victory. Already on the island of St. Helena, the former emperor told the British:
“If Paul had lived, you would have already lost India.”
The prospects for the Russian-French alliance were not limited to planning a joint campaign in India. If this alliance had been extended, the further picture of the Napoleonic Wars would have looked completely different.
Austria and Prussia, surrounded on all sides by opponents, would have fallen under the onslaught of Russian-French troops, and Napoleon would have had to share their territory with Russia. Thus, East Prussia, Poland, and part of Austria could have been annexed to Russia already in 1803–1805.
And most importantly: although the prospects for a campaign in India were uncertain, in the case of a Russian-French alliance the chances of the French landing on the British Isles increased noticeably, in which the Russian fleet could help them. In reality, such a landing had been prepared by Napoleon for about a year and did not take place for two reasons - the defeat of the French fleet at Trafalgar and the declaration of war by Russia.
As a result of the latter, he was forced to give up everything and go to fight the Russians. However, the balance of forces would change noticeably if there were a united Russian-French army on the French shore of the English Channel, and a Russian-French fleet in the strait itself.
Under the conditions described above, there is no doubt about the success of the landing in Britain.
Thus, within a few years, Europe would have been divided into Russian and French spheres of influence. Probably, in this case, Russia would have engaged in the conquest of Sweden and Turkey, and France - Spain. Both states would be so strengthened as a result of all this that open war between them would become unlikely.
As we know, in reality, Napoleon decided to attack Russia when it was in a weakened state as a result of previous wars, and the Russian economy was suffering huge losses from the continental blockade. Consolidation in Central Europe would lead to an unprecedented strengthening of the country.
Thus, by extending the alliance with Napoleon, Russia could probably gain much more than it received as a result of defeating him.
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