The political situation in Europe in the late 18th, the early 19th centuries was extremely tense, not least because of Napoleon’s military ambitions and his desire to control the whole of Europe. His plans triggered vehement resistance, above all from Britain. The British-French spat for political and economic domination determined the balance of forces on the continent.
Simultaneously, two other major players, Austria and its political rival Prussia were engaged in a bitter and unending conflict for influence in the German lands. All that made it hard for the Russian Empire to formulate its foreign policy priorities.
When Emperor Alexander I ascended the throne in 1801, he pursued the line shaped in the late 18th century, which sought to advertise Russia’s imperial might. Despite suffering a dramatic transformation in the previous centuries, Russia’s geopolitical interests still remained largely conservative. Foreign policy was the exclusive prerogative of the emperor.
Alexander the First went down in history as a shrewd politician and diplomat with his own vision of international relations, based on liberal and conservative ideas. He openly admired French philosophers and agreed that Europe needed strict order and harmony that would bring its people true wellbeing and prosperity. As a diplomat, Alexander favored multilateral alliances and loved chairing pompous international congresses. He widely used his personal ties with European monarchs and politicians. Napoleon spoke highly of Alexander’s diplomatic talent, calling him the most outstanding diplomat among European rulers. It doubtless flattered the Russian emperor, yet did not prevent him from joining all of the seven anti-Napoleon coalitions.
The first coalition was formed in 1791 after Austria and Prussia signed the Pillnitz Declaration pledging to assist the French King Louis XVI. The second coalition made up of Russia, Britain, Austria, Turkey, and the Kingdom of Naples lasted from 1798 to 1799. Russia withdrew from it in June 1800 after Napoleon defeated the Austrian army at the village of Marengo. The third coalition was set up in 1805 and comprised Britain, Russia, Austria and Sweden. In 1805, the British fleet commanded by Admiral Nelson inflicted a crushing defeat on the combined French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. But Napoleon took revenge on the ground, defeating Austrians at Ulm and Russian-Austrian troops at Austerlitz the same year. The fourth coalition lasted from 1806 to 1807. But the defeat of Prussians in the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt and the unsuccessful battle at Friedland, forced Alexander to seek peace with Napoleon. In July 1807, Russia signed the Treaty of Tilsit. The fifth coalition lived barely half a year from spring to October 1809. After Russia joined in, followed by Sweden, the sixth coalition came into being. It survived till 1814. In 1813, Napoleon lost the Battle of Leipzig and on March 31 the same year, the allied forces entered Paris. Napoleon had to abdicate and was exiled to the Elbe Island. In March 1815, he escaped and attempted to re-establish his empire, and then the seventh and last coalition was formed, which ceased to exist in November 1815 after the Prague peace treaty was signed, following Napoleon’s ultimate defeat at Waterloo and his exile to the St. Helena Island where he died six years later.
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