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Napoleon’s War with Russia
On December 31, 1810, Tsar Alexander I withdrew Russia from the Continental System and began trading openly with Britain. Napoleon, outraged, soon sent his massive Grand Army, consisting of over 600,000 troops, to Poland, ready to force a decisive battle with the tsar’s army. However, upon the army’s arrival at Russia’s border, Russia did not attack. Finally, tired of waiting, Napoleon moved his army into Russia in June 1812. Instead of fighting, the Russians continued retreating, burning and destroying the countryside they left behind.
Napoleon finally won a victory in September, at the Battle of Borodino, then entered Moscow, which had been ruined under the Russian scorched-earth policy. However, as the French occupied the city, the Russian winter began to take hold unusually early. The winter of 1812 would be brutally harsh, ultimately decimating Napoleon’s Grand Army, who lacked the necessary food and shelter to face the winter. Napoleon tried to negotiate with Alexander, who refused, and thus Napoleon's only choice was to retreat. He emerged from Russia with only a handful of the soldiers he took in.
Napoleon’s Defeat
Napoleon’s fortunes continued their downward turn after he returned to Paris. In 1813, Austria and Prussia quickly joined Alexander’s side, with many German patriots from the Confederation of the Rhine rushing to join this new coalition. Meanwhile, Wellington threatened France from his position in Spain. In October of 1813, Napoleon’s new army fought the coalition at Leipzig, also called the “Battle of Nations,” and Napoleon lost.
The Return of the Monarchy
After much negotiating and wrangling, on April 4, 1814, Napoleon finally abdicated through the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Louis XVIII, a Bourbon, became the new king of France, as this option created the least conflict. Having the good sense to not try and return France to the way it was before the Revolution, he accepted a “Constitutional Charter,” which allowed legal equality and equal access of all to government jobs. He also kept the Napoleonic Code and several other reforms.
On May 30, 1814, Louis XVIII signed the Treaty of Paris, which constrained France to its 1792 boundaries. Napoleon was exiled to the isle of Elba, off the Italian coast in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Russian Opposition to Napoleon
Although his Continental System was ultimately a failure, by 1811, Napoleon was undoubtedly the dominant force in Europe. Even so, his Empire was becoming increasingly riddled with weaknesses. French dominance inspired local nationalism in Germany and Spain all while Napoleon’s more established enemies bided their time. In Russia, Alexander I had soured on Napoleon after his creation of the The Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Furthermore, the exiled Prussian Baron vom Stein was now in Alexander's court, encouraging the tsar to turn on his former ally.
The Russian handling of Napoleon's onslaught was very skillful. In a major confrontation, Napoleon most likely would have won, so, instead of fighting, the Russians employed a scorched-earth policy, in which they retreated and burned all the farms and other resources left behind, in order to seriously hurt Napoleon's army. The Grand Army was so large that Napoleon did not supply it with the more traditional supply-trains. Instead, it generally fed and maintained itself by taking what it needed from the land it occupied. The Russian scorched-earth policy left the Grand Army little to feed itself, and thus, starving and cold, it marched deeper and deeper into Russia, walking into ruin.
The Fate of France
After Napoleon was defeated at Leipzig, the victorious powers began to fight amongst themselves over what to do with France. Alexander I wanted to install a puppet king, while the British wanted a Bourbon back on the throne. Metternich of Austria proposed that Napoleon should continue to rule a weakened France, knowing that Napoleon would be indebted to Austria for this (Napoleon rejected the offer). Britain, frightened by such a possibility, immediately dispatched Viscount Castlereagh to the continent to advocate for returning a Bourbon on the French throne. Metternich and Castlereagh then teamed up, secretly agreeing to prevent Russia from becoming too strong. The four powers signed the Treaty of Chaumont, promising to remain as allies for 20 years to stop France if it ever became too powerful.
The Treaty of Paris, which restored France to its 1792 borders, was surprisingly mild. Instead of destroying France, the great powers of Europe wanted a stable, normal France that could help preserve the delicate balance of power that European peace depended on. In terms of land power, the Treaty was a great success, establishing such a balance that no war broke out in Europe for a century. Even so, with its dominance of the seas, a growing industrial economy, and a vibrant colonial network, Britain emerged from the Treaty first among equals.
