Paul the First of Russia, the Son of Catherine the Great by K
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lAin ^ ^amtll Wimvmiis, Jitotg BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF XS91 ^M^Mi ilMlii.. 97'4 DATE DUE -&'' At Mr 29-46 ^) i| |- . p — r Cornell University Library DK 186.W17 Paul the First of Russia, the son of Cat 3 1924 028 412 835 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028412835 PAUL THE FIRST OF RUSSIA BY THE SAME AUTHOR PETER THE GREAT Demy 8vo, with a portrait, price 6a THE ROMANCE OF AN EMPRESS (Catherine H of Russia) Demy 8vo, witli a portrait, price 63 THE STORY OF A THRONE (Catherine II of Russia) Demy 8to, with a portrait, price 6s IVAN THE TERRIBLE Demy 8vo, with a portrait, price 14s net MARYSIENKA Marie de La Grange D'Arquien, Queen OF Poland and Wife of Sobieski Demy 8to, with a portrait, price 6s A HISTORY OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE (Literatures of the World Series) Large Crown Svo, price 6s LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANN f-o in tie collection of KI.H. the Grand Duhe Hicolas Mikliailovitcli. PAUL THE FIRST OF RUSSIA, THE SON OF CATHERINE THE GREAT BY K. WALISZEWSKI WITH A POKTEAIT LONDON MCMXIII WILLIAM HEINEMANN E.V. 5 7'^' ^?.^3?3^(^ AM rights reserved CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 PART I I. WAITING 6 II. THE REFORMER 29 III. THE HEIR 51 PART II IV. THE ACCESSION OF PAUL I 74 V. PAUL'S METHODS AND IDEAS 100 VI. THE CZAR'S ENTOURAGE 126 VII. INTERNAL GOVERNMENT : A PROGRAMME AND ITS FAILURE 155 VIII. THE REFORM OF THE ARMY 192 IX. FOREIGN POLICY 212 X. IN THE TOILS OF THE COALITION 238 XI. SOUVOROF IN ITALY 260 XII. THE END OF THE COALITION 291 XIII. PAUL I AND BONAPARTE 335 PART III : THE CATASTROPHE XIV. THE FINAL CRISIS 379 XV. THE PLOT 410 XVI. THE NIGHT OF MARCH 11, 1823 437 CONCLUSION 478 INDEX 481 ; INTKODUCTION The tragic figure of the son of Catherine the Great is one of the most enigmatic in history, and also one of the most discussed. Mad monarchs have been common enough, and in the second half of the eighteenth century such an affliction hardly called for remark. George III in England and Christian VII in Denmark were the contemporaries of the Czar Paul, whose case however presents some special features. In the first place was Catherine's son really mad ? Till lately it seemed to be admitted that he was so, at any rate in the last years of his life. The events of his reign of nearly four years were unanimously regarded as the grotesque and disastrous result of the uncontrolled caprice of a demented tyrant. All this is now contested, and in the last few years there has been a complete reversal of the received opinions both of Paul's character and intellect and of the value of his work. The progress of science, both medical and historical, has made it necessary to revise to some extent views formerly accepted, but the reaction has been carried to extremes. In the eyes of his most recent Russian biographers Paul is not merely not a lunatic ; he has become almost a great man. They are not content to celebrate his great qualities and his brilliant talents they incline to think that he had genius. His reign, far from having been a series of cruel misfortunes for his subjects, as used to be supposed, was in the opinion of these historians a period of beneficent activity and development which, had it not been cut short by the death INTRODUCTION of the sovereign, might have been the beginning of un- exampled prosperity and greatness. How is it that we have deceived ourselves so long and so grossly ? How was it that Paul's own mother shared the common delusion to such an extent that she did all she could to exclude him from the throne ? Moreover, if he is really worthy of the place in the Pantheon of great sovereigns which is assigned to him by his new apologists, how do they reconcile this historic eminence with the eccentricities of his mind and character which they do not deny, and with the calamities which they admit were the consequences of his government. All this gives a new aspect to the problem and the following pages may help to indicate a solution. Minute as the investigations of Paul's intellectual and temperamental evolution have been, all the factors have not been taken into account. Influences of even greater moment than heredity, education and environment have escaped the notice of the inquiries. It is a plausible supposition, but not an ascertained fact, that his reputed father Peter III was really the author of his existence. Thus the theory of congenital mental instability is no sound basis for argument. He was opposed to the ideas of his mother and for twenty years he spent his time in violently attacking a policy and a government which with all its faults gave Russia a power and a prestige which she has not since recovered. Paul meditated, plotted and prepared the overthrow of this system, and when he came to the throne he endeavoured at least to carry out his design. Entangled for a moment in the anti-revolutionary league he left that alliance in order to join hands with the hero of the 18th Brumaire and to take a share with him in the destruction of the old order of things in Europe and in the partition of the world. To what does all this point if not to a close and clear relationship with the mob of unbalanced contemporaries who suffered 2 INTRODUCTION as he did from the pohtical and moral hysteria of the time. He may have been neither a Holsteiner nor a Romanof ; he was certainly the true child of the Revolu- tion which he affected to detest and to combat. He was neither insane, in the pathological sense, nor even weak- minded. But he was capable of the most astounding madness and folly because, being himself a mediocrity, he was touched by a kind of collective frenzy which turned, stronger heads than his. In spite of this he was admired in his own time and has been extolled since, because most people readily mistake violence and recklessness for the vigorous inspirations of genius. The author hopes that if his readers will follow him in examining the facts set out in the following study they will be at least so far persuaded of the truth of his conviction as to absolve him from any suspicion of paradox or a taste for arbitrary conjecture. It is more- over to be remarked that the new school of thought which favours Paul's rehabilitation in Russia has there somewhat violently encountered the same political and social currents which shook Europe a hundred years ago. The object of this book, and its chief interest, is to examine how far these currents penetrated and influenced the Russia of that time ; how in the person of Paul I and in the character of his government they were combined with elements of stability or disorder, of conservatism or revolution. The complicated psychology of the Czar and the dramatic incidents of his career which led up to the final tragedy no doubt make him a figure of great interest. But the trials suffered during his reign by the vast country which he held in his hands and sought to^ mould as he thought fit are more interesting still. ^ ;: For the preparation of the volume the literature of the; subject has provided abundant resources which, how^r|er, were often difficult to utilise. Apart indeed from a few fragmentary and incomplete studies,. a^dr"''the,;; 3 INTRODUCTION ordinary histories of the period the monographs, memoirs and even the printed documents of which it consists are scattered through innumerable periodical publications. I believe I have neglected nothing which is at all instructive. I cannot claim to have similarly exhausted the other sources of information. Their multiplicity, no less than their dispersion, defies any individual effort. Some are inaccessible even in public depositories owing to the iabsence of the indispensable catalogue or classification. But no revelations can be expected which are likely to modify our ideas about Paul himself on the events of his time. The work of investigation has been carried very far, even in Russia, and Catherine's son with his passion for publicity lived too much in broad daylight to conceal anything essential even about his most intimate concerns. The principal documents for the history of his reign are to be found in the Collection of Laws and the publications of the official Gazette in which his follies and his fits of passion are writ large. Valuable help from many quarters has compensated for the gift of ubiquity which I do not possess. Of this one example must suffice. At the Record Office in London the courtesy of the eminent head of that incomparable establishment and the assistance of his inteUigent staff, enabled me to accomplish much in the space of a few days. At the very same time the helpful kindness of M. de Roudanovsky, the learned Russian Consul at Valetta, spared me the necessity of a personal visit to the archives of the island. To these gentlemen and to others whose help I have been fortunate enough to obtain I wish here to express my grateful thanks. His Excellency M.