Paul I of Russia

Paul I of Russia (Russian: Pavel Petrovich, ????? I ????????) (October 1, 1754 - March 23, 1801) was an Emperor (Tsar) of Russia (1796 - 1801).

Foreign Relations

His independent conduct of the foreign affairs of Russia plunged the country first into the Second Coalition against France in 1798, and then into the armed neutrality against Britain in 1801. In both cases it seems as if he acted on personal pique, quarrelling with France because he took a "sentimental" interest in the Hospitallers, and then with England because he was flattered by Napoleon. Besides the previously abandoned plans of joint Russo-French naval assault onto the British Isles, another of his gravest mistakes was the dispatching of the Cossack expeditionary force to India (Indian March of Paul). But his so-called political follies might have been condoned. But it is more likely that the Emperor was just trying to follow in the footsteps of Peter the Great. The inscription on the monument to Peter the Great erected in Paul's times near the Mikhailovskiy (St. Michael) Palace reads in Russian "To the Grandfather from the Grandson", a subtle but obvious mockery of Latin "PETRO PRIMO CATHERINA SECUNDA", the pompous dedication by Catherine on the 'Bronze Horseman', the most famous statue of Peter in St Petersburg.

Related Topics:
Second Coalition - France - 1798 - Britain - 1801 - Napoleon - British Isles - Cossack - India - Indian March of Paul - Peter the Great - St. Michael - Russian - Latin - Bronze Horseman

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~