Forgotten holiday: The day of the capture of Paris by Russian troops. The capture of Paris by the Russians! (10 photos)
This day in history:
And the day before, a battle took place that put an end to the era of the Napoleonic Wars. The famous historical period known as the “100 Days,” which ended with the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, is another story that will put an end to Napoleon’s participation in the political life of France and Europe. And on this day, the army of Russia and the allies, having suppressed pockets of resistance, entered Paris.
Brief background of events
After a lost campaign in Russia in 1812, Napoleon managed to raise a new army, and hostilities resumed in Europe. The Russian army took in them the most Active participation, and this participation is known in Russian historiography as the Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army. The defeat of the French army in Russia led to the formation of the sixth anti-French coalition. Until the spring of 1813, the war against Napoleonic troops was waged predominantly by the Russian army, but starting in March, European states began to join Russia in the fight against Napoleon: Prussia, England, Austria, Sweden.
After the defeat of Napoleon's army near Leipzig in October 1813, fighting moved to France by 1814.
Individual successes of Napoleon's army in 1813 and 1814, which proved Once again the genius of the commander-emperor of France and the valor of the French troops could no longer turn the tide of events, since the forces were completely on the side of the allied contingent.
On March 29, 1814, the allied forces, most of which were Russian contingents, approached Paris. Marshals Mortier, de Moncey and de Marmont were responsible for the defense of the city under the general leadership of Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte.
The Allied forces were led by Emperor Alexander I and General M.B. Barclay de Tolly (from Russian Empire), as well as Prussian Field Marshal G.L. von Blücher and Austrian Field Marshal K.F. zu Schwarzenberg.
On March 30, 1814, the battle for Paris began. During the battle, J. Bonaparte left the capital, leaving leadership of the battle and possible capitulation to Marshals de Marmont and Mortier.
The Battle of Paris became one of the bloodiest battles for the Allied armies, as in just one day the Allied army lost over 8,000 people killed, of which more than 6,000 were Russians. By the end of the day, Marshals Mortier and de Marmont realized the obviousness of their defeat and the pointlessness of further resistance.
On the night of March 30-31, a capitulation was signed, in which de Marmont managed to defend the possibility of withdrawing French troops from Paris.
On March 31, 1814, at noon, selected units of the allied forces, led by Emperor Alexander I and the commanders of the allied forces, solemnly entered Paris.
Entry of Russian and allied troops into Paris "Entry Russian troops in Paris. March 31, 1814." Painting by an unknown artist from the original by I.F. Yugelya
The capture of Paris, as well as the hesitation of part of the French army corps in terms of readiness to continue resistance, led to the formation of the Provisional Government, Napoleon's abdication of the throne and the restoration of the monarchy.
The Parisians were wary of the Russian army and allies. But they soon realized that there would be no pogroms and became bolder. One Frenchman, probably a supporter of the Bourbons, boldly approached the king and declared: “We have been waiting for you for a long time!” Alexander replied: “Blame the bravery of the French troops for the fact that I did not come to you earlier!”
The Russian emperor knew how to win the hearts of people, and soon crowds of jubilant Parisians shouted “Long live Alexander!” every time he appears. Paris was flooded with our officers, Cossacks and soldiers.
You can see how this was possible in the works of Georg-Emmanuel Opitz (1775-1841). This miniaturist, watercolorist, engraver and lithographer was an eyewitness to the events of 1814.
After the withdrawal of troops cultural values they did not remove them from museums and palaces. The French issued a draconian bill for the occupiers' stay (for food and drink, troop billets, etc.). And our emperor paid for everything... the worst of the Russian occupiers...)))
Alexander clearly showed the whole world the difference between how the French entered Moscow and what they left there, and how the Russians entered Paris and what was left after them... and after this, will anyone talk about the culture and savagery of the Russian people? As we see today, none of this helps. It's time to draw the right conclusions.
Also, on this day in 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened
At noon on March 31, 1814, the cavalry led by Tsar Alexander I triumphantly entered Paris. The city was overrun by Russians. The Cossacks turned the banks of the Seine into a beach area. “Water procedures” were taken as in their native Don - in underwear or completely naked.
Chess move
On the 20th of March, Napoleon, after successful actions against the allies in France, went to the northeastern fortresses to strengthen the army and force the allies to retreat. He did not expect an attack on Paris, counting on the well-known intractability of the allied armies. However, on March 24, 1814, the Allies urgently approved a plan to attack the capital. To distract Napoleon, a 10,000-strong cavalry corps under the command of General Wintzingerode was sent against him. Meanwhile, the Allies, without waiting for the concentration of troops, began an attack on Paris. 6,000 soldiers were lost due to lack of preparedness. The city was taken within a day.
Having defeated a small detachment, Napoleon realized that he had been tricked: “This is an excellent chess move! I would never have believed that any Allied general was capable of doing this.”
All Paris
Most of all, the Parisians feared Russian revenge. There were stories about soldiers loving violence and playing barbaric games. For example, driving people naked for flogging in the cold.
Major General Mikhail Fedorovich Orlov, one of those who signed the surrender, recalled his first trip around the captured city:
“We rode on horseback and slowly, in the deepest silence. All that could be heard was the sound of the horses’ hooves, and from time to time several faces with anxious curiosity appeared in the windows, which quickly opened and quickly closed.”
When a proclamation of the Russian Tsar appeared on the streets of houses, promising residents special patronage and protection, many townspeople rushed to the north-eastern borders of the city to get at least a glimpse of the Russian Emperor. “There were so many people in the Place Saint-Martin, the Place Louis XV and the avenue that the divisions of the regiments could hardly pass through this crowd.” Particular enthusiasm was expressed by the Parisian young ladies who grabbed the hands of foreign soldiers and even climbed onto their saddles in order to get a better look at the conqueror-liberators entering the city. The Russian emperor fulfilled his promise to the city, stopping the slightest crimes.
Cossacks in Paris
If Russian soldiers and officers could not be distinguished from Prussians and Austrians (except perhaps by their uniform), then the Cossacks were bearded, wearing trousers with stripes - the same as in the pictures in French newspapers. Only real Cossacks were kind. Delighted flocks of children ran after the Russian soldiers. And Parisian men soon began to wear beards “like the Cossacks”, and knives on wide belts, like the Cossacks.
During their stay in the French capital, the Cossacks turned the banks of the Seine into a beach area: they swam themselves and bathed their horses. “Water procedures” were taken as in their native Don - in underwear or completely naked. The popularity of the Cossacks and the great interest of Parisians in them is evidenced by a large number of mentions of them in French literature. George Sand's novel is even called: "Cossacks in Paris."
The Cossacks captivated the city, especially beautiful girls, gambling houses and delicious wine. The Cossacks turned out to be not very gallant gentlemen: they squeezed the hands of Parisian women like bears, ate ice cream at Tortoni's on the Boulevard of Italians and stepped on the feet of visitors to the Palais Royal and the Louvre.
The Russians were seen by the French as gentle, but also not very delicate giants in their treatment. Parisian women gave the soldiers their first lessons in etiquette.
The French were frightened by the Asian cavalry regiments in the Russian army. For some reason they were horrified at the sight of the camels that the Kalmyks brought with them. French young ladies fainted when Tatar or Kalmyk warriors approached them in their caftans, hats, with bows over their shoulders, and with a bunch of arrows on their sides.
Once again about the bistro
The Parisians were amazed by their interactions with the Russians. French newspapers wrote about them as scary “bears” from a wild country where it is always cold. And the Parisians were surprised to see tall and strong Russian soldiers, who in appearance did not differ at all from the Europeans. And the Russian officers, moreover, almost all spoke French. There is a legend that soldiers and Cossacks entered Parisian cafes and hurried food peddlers: “Quickly, quickly!”, which is why eateries in Paris began to be called bistros.
However, this version is confirmed by French linguists. The first mention of the use of the word "bistrot" in French dates back to the 1880s. In addition, there are similar dialect and colloquial words, for example, bist(r)ouille, bistringue or bistroquet. French etymological dictionary"Robert" connects the bistro with the dialect bistouille - "swill, bad alcohol." The Russian version qualifies it as “pure fantasy.”
The commander of the Russian occupation corps, Count Mikhail Vorontsov, paid everyone’s debts in 1818, when the last soldiers were leaving France. To do this, he had to sell the Krugloye estate.
The French capital was expecting an invasion of “northern monsters”, but saw disciplined and generous - real - winners
On March 31, 1814, allied forces led by Russian Emperor Alexander I entered Paris. It was a huge, motley, multi-colored army that united representatives of all countries of the Old World. The Parisians looked at them with fear and doubt. As eyewitnesses of those events recalled, most of all in Paris they were afraid of the Prussians and, of course, the Russians. There were legends about the latter: to many they seemed like snarling beast-like monsters, either with clubs or with pitchforks at the ready. In fact, the Parisians saw tall, fit, neat soldiers, indistinguishable in their European appearance from the indigenous population of France (only the Cossacks and Asian units stood out with a special flavor). The Russian officer corps spoke flawless French and instantly - in every sense - found mutual language with the vanquished.
...The Russians left Paris in June 1814 - exactly two hundred years ago, following the main regular units withdrawn back in May, the guard left the city. Russians in Paris - one of the greatest triumphs national history, a glorious period, which in world and even our historiography is not quite rightly obscured by the events of 1812. Let us remember what it was.
Two hundred years ago
Let's start with the fact that the participants in the anti-Napoleonic campaign did not divide the events of those years into the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army of 1813-1814. They called this confrontation the Great Patriotic War and dated it to 1812-1814. Therefore, it is appropriate to talk about the year 1814 as the time when Russia emerged from the war with Napoleon, in contrast to the Anglo-Austrian and other allies, who still had fun in the format of restoring Bonaparte to the throne during the Hundred Days and by a miracle, only a miracle won the battle of Waterloo. (True, according to the 2nd Treaty of Paris, signed after Waterloo in 1815, a 30,000-strong occupation corps under General VORONTSOV was introduced into France, but that’s a completely different story.)
At the time the allied armies entered the capital of France, their ruler was no longer with the Parisians - Emperor Napoleon with an army of sixty thousand was in Fontainebleau, a castle 60 km from the French capital. A few days later, on April 6, he ceased to be an emperor: with one stroke of the pen in the act of abdication, he made himself simply General Bonaparte... For many this was a shock: “He abdicated the throne. This can bring tears of molten metal from Satan’s eyes!” - wrote the great BYRON.
To the great surprise of Alexander I the Liberator, the French did not at all dream of being “liberated” from the power of Napoleon. Both before and after the occupation of Paris by the allies, French peasants united into partisan detachments and, with the support of the remnants of the regular French army and the national guard, periodically attacked the rear of the allied coalition. However, the degree of this movement was significantly reduced by the vile behavior of other close associates of Napoleon (such as Marshal MARMON, who betrayed the head of state and earned many millions in one day due to a huge jump in the shares of the French Bank on the stock exchange after the abdication of the emperor). The pro-Napoleonic sentiment in society was also brought down by the more than worthy behavior of Russian troops in Paris. There was no talk of “I give you three days to plunder the city”! Of course, there were individual incidents, but they did not turn into a system: for example, once the French city authorities complained about a number of relevant episodes to the Russian military governor, General Fabian Osten-Sacken, and he nipped the already few outrages in the bud. It’s funny that when the Russians finally abandoned Paris, the general was presented with a golden sword, strewn with diamonds, on which was honorably emblazoned the inscription: “The city of Paris - to General Saken.” The definition formulating the grounds for such an award stated: “He established peace and security in Paris; thanks to his vigilance, the inhabitants could indulge in their ordinary activities and considered themselves not in a martial situation, but enjoyed all the benefits and guarantees of peacetime.” All this is extremely far from the horrors that were pictured in the heads of Parisians as the Allied armies approached the capital.
In the fallen French capital, the “king of kings” Alexander, Emperor of All Russia, behaved mercifully. Although the participants in the capture of Moscow in 1812, who saw with their own eyes how other soldiers and officers of the “Great Army” behaved in the capital, had suspicions that the Russian autocrat would lift all bans. So to speak, Kuzkin’s mother will show the French to the French: well, for example, he will set fire to the Louvre, set up a stable or latrine in Notre-Dame de Paris, demolish the Vendôme Column or abolish the Order of the Legion of Honor (he was, by the way, directly called upon to do the last two points royalists - supporters of the overthrown Bourbon dynasty). Nothing happened. Alexander turned out to be, to use the now popular vocabulary, a polite and tolerant person. Often, without security, he went for a walk in the center of Paris, talked with ordinary people, which greatly endeared them to him. Alexander was respected even more after he ordered the restoration of green spaces on the Champs Elysees, which were accidentally destroyed by units of the Russian army stationed here.
Actually, Paris did not live in wartime mode, under a curfew for almost a day: by the beginning of April, banks, post offices, and all public places were operational, it was possible to safely leave the city, it was possible to enter the city calmly and safely. The overall smooth picture was spoiled by the Prussians: they plundered wine cellars in one of the Parisian suburbs and got drunk. Such things did not happen in the Russian army, and the “polite” soldiers complained in a low voice about the overly strict discipline that prevented them from enjoying all the benefits of the “tour of Europe”: they say, in Moscow the “paddling pools” were not very moral...
Information wars of the 19th century
As you know, the stay of Russian troops in Paris enriched both Russian and French culture, including everyday culture. Off the top of my head, “bistro” immediately comes to mind. Speaking of cuisine: there are household habits that are considered purely Russian, but in fact are of Parisian origin. We are talking, for example, about the sign not to put empty bottles on the table - “there will be no money.” The point is this: waiters in French drinking establishments did not take into account the number of bottles given to customers (yes, the soldiers also paid!), but simply counted the empty containers on the table. The savvy Cossacks noted this method of calculation and moved some of the bottles under the table. Certain savings were indeed evident.
As soon as we are talking about the Cossacks, it is impossible not to mention them in more detail (although in the ranks of the Russian army there were also more exotic ingredients, for example, Kalmyks on camels, at one glance at which - both Kalmyks and camels - sensitive Parisian women fainted, sir ). The Cossacks created a real sensation: they swam in the Seine completely without uniform, bathed and watered their horses there. Remember how in the famous song about the Cossacks in Berlin in 1945: “The horseman sings: “Oh, guys, this is not the first time // We have to water the Cossack horses // From a foreign river...” Despite not being particularly delicate, the Cossacks left a good memory of themselves. Parisian boys ran in droves after the “conquerors” and begged for souvenirs.
The Cossacks were the main attraction of Paris for two months. On the eve of the capture of Paris, popular horror cartoons were posted all over the city: Cossacks were depicted as monstrous creatures in furry hats, they were hung with nightmarish necklaces made of human ears. Drunken scoundrels burned houses, and having done their dirty deed, fell into a puddle in bestial unconsciousness, et cetera.
Real Cossacks were strikingly different from the caricatures. Although initially they were afraid: the bearded men made fires on the banks of the Seine and fried meat, and who knows whose meat was browned on the fire?.. So, the wife of the Napoleonic general Andoche JUNOT in her memoirs cited the following episode: the famous Cossack ataman Matvey PLATOV took a girl in his arms one and a half years old, and her mother immediately began to scream and threw herself at his feet. General Platov for a long time could not understand what the distraught woman was shouting at him, and only a little later he understood that she was asking him “not to eat her daughter” (!).
On the one hand, this is comical, on the other - sad (especially considering that our people in Paris never allowed themselves such things as the allies in the 6th anti-Napoleonic coalition). And yet the ridiculous, stilted horror stories about Russians have survived centuries and migrated to our time...
Nevertheless, the stay of the Russians in Paris was overgrown with legends of a much more grateful kind, and the capture of the French capital finally secured Russia’s status as a superpower. The concept of “Russians in Paris” acquired an archetypal sound, and other historical jokes, such as the famous imperial one, were based on it: for example, in 1844 in Paris they were preparing to stage the openly anti-Russian play “Paul I”, and Nicholas I, the son of the “chief”, learned about it hero" of the play, sent a letter to Paris. In it, he indicated that if the play was nevertheless made public, he would send to the French capital “a million spectators in gray overcoats who would boo this performance”...
Textbook behavior
After the final withdrawal of Russian troops from Paris, ours were still destined to return to France. True, for this, Napoleon needed to triumphantly regain power and draw upon himself the fire of all of Europe, which was offended in the best feelings. (To get a feel for the dynamics of this truly greatest comeback, here are the headlines that appeared in the same French media as Napoleon approached Paris: “The Corsican monster landed in Juan Bay” (near Cannes on the Mediterranean coast of France. - Author); “ The cannibal is approaching Grasse”; “The usurper has entered Grenoble”; “Bonaparte has occupied Lyon”; “Napoleon is approaching Fontainebleau”, and finally the final and magnificent one - “His Imperial Majesty is expected today in his faithful Paris.”)
What happened next is known to everyone. Napoleon lost Waterloo and the Allied troops were once again stationed in France. It should be noted that both the first and second “occupation” of France bore little resemblance to the seizure of the country by the Nazis in 1940 and the next four years: in 1814 and 1815, all local civil power belonged to the French themselves, the allies tried not to interfere in internal affairs of the country, and it was the Russians who behaved more tolerantly than others. A remarkable fact: the municipalities of French cities intended to accommodate foreign troops remembered the behavior of the Russians in Paris in 1814 and asked that they accommodate not “civilized” Englishmen and “disciplined” Germans (the latter, by the way, especially distinguished themselves in robberies , as subsequently their great-great-great-grandchildren in the 20th century), namely the Russian regiments.
P.S. Of course, our fellow countrymen also visited the banks of the Seine back then! Since childhood, each of us has heard about the Saratov resident who entered defeated Paris in 1814 - even those who have little idea of the details of that operation, as well as the geography of those who took part in the capture of the French capital. “Tell me, uncle, it’s not without reason...” Aha, the same one! We are, of course, talking about Afanasy STOLYPIN, the provincial leader of the Saratov nobility and LERMONTOV’s granduncle. He entered Paris with the rank of staff captain, and in 1817 he retired from the army so that, at the behest of his brilliant nephew, he could be included in all the anthologies...
On March 9 (31), 1814, Russian troops led by Emperor Alexander I triumphantly entered Paris. The capture of the French capital was the final battle of the Napoleonic campaign of 1814, after which the French Emperor Napoleon I Bonaparte abdicated the throne.
The Napoleonic army, defeated near Leipzig in October 1813, could no longer offer serious resistance. At the beginning of 1814, Allied forces, consisting of Russian, Austrian, Prussian and German corps, invaded France with the aim of overthrowing the French emperor. The Russian Guard, led by Emperor Alexander I, entered France from Switzerland, in the Basel region. The Allies advanced in two separate armies: the Russian-Prussian Silesian Army was led by Prussian Field Marshal G.L. von Blücher, and the Russian-German-Austrian army was placed under the command of the Austrian Field Marshal K. F. zu Schwarzenberg.
In battles on French territory, Napoleon won victories more often than his allies, but none of them became decisive due to the numerical superiority of the enemy. At the end of March 1814, the French emperor decided to march to the northeastern fortresses on the border of France, where he hoped to break the blockade of enemy troops, liberate the French garrisons, and, having strengthened his army, force the allies to retreat, threatening their rear communications. However, the allied monarchs, contrary to Napoleon's expectations, approved the plan for an attack on Paris on March 12 (24), 1814.
On March 17 (29), the allied armies approached the front line of defense of Paris. The city at that time numbered up to 500 thousand inhabitants and was well fortified. The defense of the French capital was led by Marshals E.A.K. Mortier, B.A.J. de Moncey and O.F.L.V. de Marmont. The supreme commander of the city's defense was Napoleon's elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte. The Allied troops consisted of three main columns: the right (Russian-Prussian) army was led by Field Marshal Blücher, the central one by Russian General M.B. Barclay de Tolly, the left column was led by the Crown Prince of Württemberg. The battle for Paris became one of the bloodiest battles for the allied forces, which lost more than 8 thousand soldiers in one day, 6 thousand of whom were soldiers of the Russian army.
The offensive began on March 18 (30) at 6 a.m. At 11 o'clock, Prussian troops with the corps of M.S. Vorontsov approached the fortified village of Lavilette, and the Russian corps of General A.F. Langeron launched an attack on Montmartre. Seeing the gigantic size of the advancing troops from Montmartre, the commander of the French defense, Joseph Bonaparte, left the battlefield, leaving Marmont and Mortier with the authority to surrender Paris.
During March 18 (30), all suburbs of the French capital were occupied by the allies. Seeing that the fall of the city was inevitable and trying to reduce losses, Marshal Marmont sent a truce to the Russian emperor. However, Alexander I presented a harsh ultimatum to surrender the city under the threat of its destruction. On March 19 (31), at 2 a.m., the surrender of Paris was signed. By 7 a.m., according to the terms of the agreement, the French regular army was supposed to leave Paris. At noon, the Russian guard, led by Emperor Alexander I, solemnly entered the capital of France.
"THE SWEEP WILL END EVERYTHING"
Military critics find the campaign of 1814 one of the most remarkable parts of the Napoleonic era from the point of view of the emperor's strategic creativity.
The Battle of Chateau-Thierry on February 12 ended in another great victory for Napoleon. If it had not been for the erroneous movement and delay of Marshal MacDonald, the matter would have ended in the complete extermination of the allied forces fighting at Chateau-Thierry. On February 13, Blucher defeated and drove back Marshal Marmont. But on February 14, Napoleon, who came to the aid of Marmont, defeated Blucher again at the Battle of Vauchamps. Blucher lost about 9 thousand people. Reinforcements approached Napoleon, and the allies suffered a series of defeats, and yet the emperor’s position remained critical; the allies had much more forces available than he did. But these unexpected victories of Napoleon, which followed each other every day, so embarrassed the allies that Schwarzenberg, who was considered the commander-in-chief, sent an adjutant to Napoleon’s camp asking for a truce. Two new battles - at Morman and at Villeneuve, which also ended in victory for the French - prompted the allies to take this unexpected step - a request for a truce. Napoleon refused Schwarzenberg's envoy (Count Parr) a personal meeting, and accepted Schwarzenberg's letter, but postponed his response. “I took from 30 to 40 thousand prisoners; I took 200 cannons and a large number of generals,” he wrote to Caulaincourt and declared that he could reconcile with the coalition only on the basis of leaving behind France its “natural borders” (Rhine, Alps, Pyrenees). He did not agree to a truce.
February 18th occurred new battle at Montero, and again the allies lost 3 thousand killed and wounded, and 4 thousand prisoners, and were driven back.
Napoleon, according to even enemy observers and memoirists, surpassed himself in this seemingly completely hopeless campaign of 1814. But there were few soldiers, and the marshals (Victor, Augereau) were extremely tired and made a number of mistakes, so Napoleon could not make full use of your unexpected and brilliant victories at that moment. Napoleon angrily and impatiently reprimanded the marshals and hurried them. “What pathetic excuses you give me, Augereau! I destroyed 80 thousand enemies with the help of recruits who were barely dressed... If your 60 years are a burden to you, give up command!..” “The Emperor did not want to understand that not all of his subordinates were Napoleons,” he later said, remembering about this time, one of his generals.<…>
On March 20, the Battle of Arcy-sur-Aube took place between Napoleon, who at that moment had about 30 thousand people on the battlefield, and the Allies (Schwarzenberg), who had up to 40 thousand at the beginning of the battle and up to 90 thousand at the end. Although Napoleon considered himself the winner and indeed drove back the enemy at several points, in fact the battle should be considered undecided based on its results: Napoleon could not pursue Schwarzenberg with his army after the battle; he crossed back across the Ob River and blew up the bridges. Napoleon lost 3 thousand people in the battle of Arcy-sur-Aube, his allies up to 9 thousand, but Napoleon, of course, this time failed to achieve the defeat of the allied armies. The Allies were afraid people's war, a general militia, like the one in heroic times The French Revolution saved France from the interventionists and from the Bourbon restoration... Alexander, Friedrich Wilhelm, Franz, Schwarzenberg and Metternich would have calmed down if they had overheard what Napoleon and General Sebastiani were talking about in the evening after the battle of Arcy-sur-Aube. “Well, general, what do you say about what’s happening?” - “I will say that Your Majesty undoubtedly has new resources that we do not know.” - “Only those that you see before your eyes, and no others.” - “But then why don’t Your Majesty think about raising nation? - “Chimeras! Chimeras borrowed from memories of Spain and the French Revolution. To raise a nation in a country where the revolution destroyed the nobles and clergy and where I myself destroyed the revolution!<…>
After the Battle of Arcy-sur-Aube, Napoleon tried to go behind the Allies' rear and attack their communications with the Rhine, but the Allies had finally decided to go straight to Paris. From letters accidentally intercepted by Russian Cossacks from Empress Marie-Louise and Minister of Police Savary to Napoleon, Alexander became convinced that the mood in Paris was such that popular resistance could not be expected and that the arrival of the allied army in Paris would immediately decide the whole war and end it with the overthrow of Napoleon.<…>The only people blocking the path were Marshals Marmont and Mortier and Generals Pacteau and Ame; they had a total of about 25 thousand people. Napoleon with his main forces was far behind Allied lines. The Battle of Fer-Champenoise on March 25 ended in an Allied victory over the marshals. They were driven back to Paris, and the 100,000-strong Allied army approached the capital. Already on March 29, Empress Marie-Louise with her little heir, the Roman king, left Paris for Blois.
The French had about 40 thousand people to defend Paris. The mood in Paris was panicky, and the troops were also in decline. Alexander did not want bloodshed near Paris and generally played the magnanimous winner. “Paris, deprived of its defenders and its great leader, is unable to resist; I am deeply convinced of this,” the Tsar told M.F. Orlov, authorizing him to stop the battle whenever there was hope for the peaceful surrender of the capital. The fierce battle lasted several hours; The allies lost 9 thousand people during these hours, of which about 6 thousand Russians, but, oppressed by the fear of defeat, under the influence of Talleyrand, Marshal Marmont capitulated on March 30 at 5 pm. Naroleon learned of the unexpected Allied movement towards Paris in the midst of the fighting he was waging between Saint-Dizier and Bar-sur-Aube. “This is an excellent chess move. Now, I would never have believed that any Allied general was capable of doing this,” Napoleon praised when he learned about what was happening on March 27. The specialist strategist showed in him primarily in this praise. He immediately rushed with the army to Paris. On the night of March 30, he arrived in Fontainebleau and then learned about the battle that had just taken place and the capitulation of Paris.
He was always full of energy and determination. Having learned about what had happened, he was silent for a quarter of an hour and then told Caulaincourt and the generals who were around him, new plan. Caulaincourt will go to Paris and, on behalf of Napoleon, offer peace to Alexander and his allies on the terms they set at Chatillon. Then Caulaincourt, under various pretexts, will spend three days traveling from Paris to Fontainebleau and back, during these three days all the forces that still exist (from Saint-Dizier) with which Napoleon has just operated behind Allied lines will arrive, and then the Allies will be thrown out from Paris. Caulaincourt hinted: maybe not in the form of a military stratagem, but in fact offer peace to the allies on Chatillon terms? "No no! - the emperor objected. - It is enough that there was a moment of hesitation. No, the sword will end everything. Stop humiliating me!”
MEDAL "FOR THE CAPTURE OF PARIS"
On the first day of the new year, 1814, Russian troops crossed the Rhine River near the city of Basel (in Switzerland) and, having entered the lands of France, began to fight their way (through Beliyar, Vesoul, Langres) into the interior of the country, to its heart - Paris. K.N. Batyushkov, who was destined to reach Paris with his troops, wrote to N.I. on March 27, 1814. Gnedich: “...We fought between Nanjins and Provins... from there we went to Arsis, where there was a fierce battle, but not long, after which Napoleon disappeared with the entire army. He went to cut off our road from Switzerland, and we, wishing him a good journey, moved towards Paris with all our might from the city of Vitry. On the way we met several buildings covering the capital and... swallowed it. The spectacle is wonderful! Imagine a cloud of cavalry crashing into the infantry on both sides on an open field, and the infantry in a thick column retreating with quick steps without firing shots, occasionally releasing battalion fire. In the evening the French were persecuted. Guns, banners, generals, everything went to the winners, but even here the French fought like lions.”
On March 19, the Allied troops entered Paris in a solemn march. The French were quite surprised by the humane treatment of the Russians who came from the east. They expected Russian revenge for Moscow, for the blood shed in this war by the destruction of the French capital. But instead we were met with Russian generosity. The life of Paris continued in the same measured rhythm as before the arrival of Russian troops - shops were trading, theatrical performances were taking place; crowds of smartly dressed townspeople filled the streets, they looked at the bearded Russian soldiers and tried to communicate with them.
The Allied forces behaved completely differently. A striking example of this is given by the future Decembrist K.N. Ryleev, reporting on his conversation with a French officer in Paris: “...We are as calm as we can, but your allies will soon drive us out of patience... - I am Russian (says Ryleev) , and you are in vain telling me. - That's why I say that you are Russian. I tell my friend, your officers, your soldiers treat us like this... But the allies are bloodsuckers!
But be that as it may, the war is over. Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea, and the power of the Bourbons, overthrown by the French Revolution, was again restored.
Summer was coming. Russian troops were returning to Russia on a march. And on August 30 of the same 1814, by the manifesto of Emperor Alexander I, an award silver medal was established, on the front side of which there is a chest-length, right-facing image of Alexander I in a laurel wreath and in the radiance of the radiant “all-seeing eye” located above him. On the reverse side, along the entire circumference of the medal, in a laurel wreath, there is a straight five-line inscription: “FOR - THE TAKEN - OF PARIS - MARCH 19 - 1814.”
The medal was intended to reward all participants in the capture of the French capital - from soldier to general. But it was not given to them. With the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, the Russian emperor considered it inhumane to release this medal, which would remind France of the past collapse of its capital. And only 12 years later it was distributed to participants in the 1814 campaign at the behest of the new Emperor Nicholas I, who “... on the eve of the anniversary of the Russians’ entry into Paris, March 18, 1826, ordered this medal to be consecrated on the tomb of his brother (Alexander 1).”
The issuance of its participants began on March 19, 1826 and lasted until May 1, 1832. In total, more than 160 thousand medals were issued. Naturally, in the portraits of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, which were painted before 1826, this medal is absent among other awards.
There were basically three varieties of it in size: combined arms - with a diameter of 28 and 25 mm and for awarding cavalrymen - 22 mm. There was a transverse eyelet with a ring threaded through it for hanging the award on a ribbon. A similar medal, belonging to the famous 1812 partisan Denis Davydov, is kept in the Leningrad Military History Museum.
There are also many varieties of this medal in reduced sizes - 12, 15, 18 mm. These are tails medals for wearing on civilian clothes. They wore a medal on the chest on the first introduced combined St. Andrew's and St. George's ribbon. It was of normal width, but consisted of two narrow ribbons: St. Andrew's - blue and St. George's - orange with three black stripes.
Kuznetsov A., Chepurnov N. Award medal. in 2 vols. 1992
A RUSSIAN OFFICER'S VIEW OF PARIS IN 1814
The solemn day for all of Europe is March 19, 1814, the day the Allies entered Paris, fraternal troops will divulge the glory of the Russians to later descendants, and the Chroniclers will put in the first row of monuments Russian invincibility, crowned with patriotic unanimity and immovable firmness. The very slanderous, gnashing envy petrified at the sounds of the immortal glory of the Russians, who accomplished the most important era in History with unfading laurels. They proved to the universe the power of the strength of the people's spirit and raised the price of the courage of the ancient Slavs.
The most magnificent entrance of our troops into Paris was illuminated pure radiance sun, - images of the rightness of the Russians! He was accompanied by a countless crowd of people.
As soon as Emperor ALEXANDER and the Prussian King Frederick William with their invincible Heroes approached the walls of the city, loud exclamations were heard from all sides: “Long live ALEXANDER and Wilhelm, liberators of Europe!” Millions of voices filled the air, joyful echoes were repeated everywhere; Sun rays represented the Finger of the Divine, blessing the solemn procession of the Kings, who trampled upon the arrogant pride of treachery! Everyone was intoxicated with lively delight: some tried to outshout others, crowded under the horses, as if they considered it a blessing to be trampled by the horses of the victorious army!
A thousand questions: Where is the Russian Emperor? drowned out the whole city! Humility and attractive meekness were the hallmarks of the majesty of our Monarch. Everyone greedily fixed their eyes on the Emperor and devoured the tenderness of his glances; they threw hats and caps into the air; blocked the streets; they grabbed onto His horse, which, apparently, was proud of such a sacred burden and, suppressing stones with arrogant steps, looked around in all directions, without causing the slightest harm to the surrounding crowded space! Bucephalus himself would have given way to his important step - just like Alexander the Great, of course, would have given the advantage to ALEXANDER of Russia!
The houses were filled and the rooftops were dotted with spectators! From the windows, decorated with the richest carpets, the streets were strewn with flowers, they splashed their hands, fluttered scarves and exclaimed with delight: “Long live the Emperor ALEXANDER, resurrector of the Bourbons!” The peace-loving color of Lily, with its purest whiteness, finally eclipsed the bloody banner of the tyrant’s vanity! Many brave French women persistently begged for horses - they took off on them and rushed after the Emperor!
This unlimited frenzy is hardly characteristic of a great people. How long ago was Buonaparte, revered by them as God, greeted with similar exclamations during his brazen escape from Russia? Rash transitions from one emergency to another mean frivolity of character. Everyone was in amazement, seeing the extraordinary freshness and perfect organization in our army, which, according to Napoleon, was all broken, scattered, and only the remnants of it wandered around France! The cleanliness of weapons, ammunition, clothing and order in the ranks amazed everyone to the point of madness.
No one could believe that this most wonderful army from the Russian borders, fighting at every step, passing over the corpses of daring enemies with forced marches, rushed like an eagle's flight across the entire space from Moscow to Paris without any exhaustion! We can say that nature itself was a participant in our victories... God forbid! A king cannot be saved by much strength, and a giant cannot be saved by the abundance of his strength.
With astonished gazes, everyone exclaimed: “This brave army is like Angels sent down from God to free us from the yoke of an autocratic tyrant!”
Cockades in honor of the natural Kings were painted white everywhere! The bloody cypress has turned into a humble Lily! The idol of Napoleon, erected in honor of his greedy love of fame on an obelisk 133 in height and 12 pounds in diameter on Place Vendome - was entangled in ropes in the blink of an eye! - The frenzied people were already trying to overthrow her from the heights; but by the will of our magnanimous Monarch, such frantic impudence was stopped! The white banner has taken the place of the colossal Giant!
Everyone congratulated each other on the resurrection of the descendants of Henry IV and exclaimed with applause: “Long live Louis XVIII!” The old song in honor of Henry (Vive Henri IV) was revived on the lips of milestones! Music was booming everywhere! The imaginary amusements in all the streets became agitated! Everyone's desires turned to a friendly alliance. God Himself overshadowed with pure joy the happy successes of general prosperity!
The exemplary piety of our Orthodox Tsar was not in the least shaken by His brilliant glory. Daydreaming is characteristic of some atheists. He places the radiant crown placed on Him by all nations before the foot of the throne of God; He gives his glory to the Almighty and recognizes the All-Seeing Eye as a companion in all His undertakings, imprinting this God-inspired thought on the chests of the sons of the Fatherland in memory of the unforgettable year 1812. Let those who seek my soul be ashamed and disgraced; Let them turn back and be ashamed of those who think evil!..
At the end of the thanksgiving service with kneeling, the Sovereign Emperor went to the Palace, where the most noble nobles had the happiness of being presented to him.
Plan
Introduction
1 Background
2 Defense of Paris and disposition of the parties
3 Progress of the battle
4 Results and consequences of the battle
Bibliography
Capture of Paris (1814)
Introduction
The capture of Paris in 1814 is the final battle of the Napoleonic campaign of 1814, after which Emperor Napoleon abdicated the throne.
On March 30, 1814, the allied armies of Field Marshals Blücher and Schwarzenberg (mainly Russian corps) attacked and, after fierce fighting, captured the approaches to Paris. The French capital capitulated the next day, before Napoleon could move troops to rescue it. The Battle of Paris became one of the bloodiest for the Allies in the 1814 campaign, losing more than 8 thousand soldiers in one day of fighting (of which more than 6 thousand were Russian), but as a result ended the era of the Napoleonic Wars.
1. Background
In early January 1814, Allied forces, consisting of Russian, Austrian, Prussian and German corps, invaded France with the aim of overthrowing Napoleon, who was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. The Allies advanced in two separate armies: the Russian-Prussian Silesian Army was led by the Prussian Field Marshal Blucher, the Russian-German-Austrian Main (formerly Bohemian) Army was placed under the command of the Austrian Field Marshal Schwarzenberg.
In battles on French territory, Napoleon more often won victories, none of which became decisive due to the numerical superiority of the allies. Napoleon rarely had more than 40 thousand soldiers on hand in one place, while his opponents had 150-200 thousand. The Allies tried several times to move on Paris, but Napoleon managed, by concentrating his forces, to push back the armies of Blucher and Schwarzenberg to their original positions with flank attacks.
On the 20th of March 1814, Napoleon decided to march to the northeastern fortresses on the border of France, where he hoped to release the French garrisons and, having significantly strengthened his army, force the allies to retreat, threatening their rear communications. The French emperor relied on the slowness of the allied armies and their fear of his appearance in their rear.
However, the allied monarchs, contrary to Napoleon's expectations, approved the plan for an attack on Paris on March 24, 1814. This decision was supported by information about the unrest in Paris and the fatigue of the French from the war, which removed fears of fierce battles with armed citizens on the streets of a city of half a million. A 10,000-strong cavalry corps was sent against Napoleon under the command of the Russian general Wintzingerode with 40 guns in order to mislead Napoleon about the intentions of the allies. The Wintzingerode Corps was defeated by Napoleon on March 26, but this no longer affected the course of further events.
On March 25, the Allied forces moved west to Paris, and on the same day, near Fer-Champenoise, they encountered individual French units that were rushing to join Napoleon’s army. In the battle, the French corps of Marshals Marmont and Mortier were defeated and rolled back to Paris.
When Napoleon learned about the attack on Paris on March 27, he highly appreciated the enemy’s decision: “ This is an excellent chess move. I would never have believed that some Allied general was capable of doing this" The next day, from Saint-Dizier (approx. 180 km east of Paris) he rushed with his small army to save the capital, but arrived too late.
2. Defense of Paris and disposition of the parties
Paris was the largest city in Europe with a population of 714,600 (1809), most of his was on the right bank of the Seine. The bends of the Seine and its right tributary, the Marne, fenced the city on 3 sides; in the north-east direction, from the Seine to the Marne, a chain of hills stretched (of which Montmartre was the most significant), closing the ring of natural fortifications. The Ourc Canal from the northeast passed between these heights, emptying into the Seine in Paris itself. The defensive line of the French capital was located approximately along the partially fortified heights: from Montmartre on the left flank through the villages of Lavilette and Pantin in the center and to the Romainville hill on the right flank. Places adjacent to the Seine on the left flank and the Marne on the right were covered by separate detachments and cavalry. In some places, palisades were erected to impede the Allied cavalry.
The distance from the front line of defense to the center of Paris was 5-10 km.
The left flank from the Seine to the Ourcq Canal (including Montmartre and Lavillette) was defended by troops under the command of Marshals Mortier and Moncey. The right flank from Ourcq to the Marne (including Pantin and Romainville) was defended by Marshal Marmont. The supreme command was formally retained by Napoleon's lieutenant in Paris, his brother Joseph.
The number of defenders of the city is estimated by historians with a wide range from 28 to 45 thousand, the most often cited figure is 40 thousand soldiers. According to various sources, the French had 22-26 thousand regular troops, 6-12 thousand militia (National Guard under the command of Marshal Moncey), of which not all appeared in combat positions, and about 150 guns. The shortage of troops was partially compensated by the high morale of the defenders of the capital and their hope for the imminent arrival of Napoleon with an army.
The Allies approached Paris from the northeast in 3 main columns total number up to 100 thousand soldiers (of which 63 thousand were Russian): the right (Russian-Prussian Silesian Army) was led by Prussian Field Marshal Blücher, the central one was headed by the Russian Infantry General Barclay de Tolly, the left column under the command of the Crown Prince of Württemberg moved along the right bank Seine. The fighting in the center and on the left flank of the Allies was led by the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops in the Main Army, Infantry General Barclay de Tolly.
3. Progress of the battle
Defense of the Clichy outpost in Paris in 1814. Painting by O. Vernet, who himself was a participant in the defense of Paris.
The Allies were in a hurry to capture Paris before Napoleon's army arrived, so they did not wait for the concentration of all forces for a simultaneous assault from all directions. At 6 a.m. on March 30, the attack on Paris began with an attack on the village of Pantin in the center by the Russian 2nd Infantry. corps of Prince Eugene of Württemberg. At the same time, General Raevsky with the 1st infantry. With the corps and cavalry of Palen 1st, he stormed the heights of Romainville. As usual, the guard remained in reserve.
The French launched a strong counterattack on Pantin, so Eugene of Württemberg, having lost up to 1,500 soldiers alone, requested reinforcements. Barclay de Tolly sent two divisions of the 3rd Grenadier Corps, which helped turn the tide of the battle. The French retreated from Pantin and Romainville to the village and hill of Belleville, where they could count on the cover of strong artillery batteries. Barclay de Tolly suspended his advance, awaiting the entry into action of the belated Silesian army of Blucher and the troops of the Crown Prince of Württemberg.
At 11 a.m., Blücher was able to attack the left flank of the French defense. According to the memoirs of General Müffling, the Silesian army was late in starting the assault because of the Urk Canal, which was not marked on the maps and which had to be crossed with difficulty. The Prussian corps of York and Kleist with Vorontsov’s corps approached the fortified village of Lavilette; Langeron’s Russian corps went to Montmartre, the dominant hill above Paris. Observing the overwhelming superiority of the enemy forces from Montmartre, the formal commander of the French defense, Joseph Bonaparte, decided to abandon the battlefield, leaving Marmont and Mortier with the authority to surrender Paris to save the city.
Battle of Paris in 1814. B. Villevalde, 1834
At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the column of the Crown Prince of Württemberg crossed the Marne and attacked the far right flank of the French defense from the east, passing through the Bois de Vincennes and capturing the village of Charenton. Barclay resumed his attack in the center, and Belleville soon fell. Blucher's Prussians drove the French out of Lavillette. In all directions, the Allies reached directly to the neighborhoods of Paris. At the heights they installed guns, the muzzles of which looked at the capital of France.
Wanting to save a city of thousands from bombing and street fighting, the commander of the right flank of the French defense, Marshal Marmont, sent a parliamentarian to the Russian emperor at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Alexander I gave the following answer: “ He will order to stop the battle if Paris is surrendered: otherwise by the evening they will not know the place where the capital was.“Before the terms of surrender were agreed upon, Langeron took Montmartre by storm. The commander of the left flank of the French defense, Marshal Mortier, also agreed to the surrender of Paris.
The capitulation of Paris was signed at 2 a.m. on March 31 in the village of Lavillette. By 7 o'clock in the morning, according to the terms of the agreement, the French regular army was supposed to leave Paris. At noon on March 31, 1814, units of the allied army (mainly the Russian and Prussian guards), led by Emperor Alexander I, triumphantly entered the capital of France. IN last time Enemy (English) troops entered Paris in the 15th century during the Hundred Years' War.
4. Results and consequences of the battle
Russians in Paris. French humor of 1814.
Campaigner and historian Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, in his work on the foreign campaign of 1814, reported the following losses of the allied troops near Paris: 7,100 Russians, 1,840 Prussians and 153 Württembergers, a total of over 9 thousand soldiers. On the 57th wall of the military glory gallery of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, more than 6 thousand Russian soldiers who were out of action during the capture of Paris are indicated, which corresponds to the data of the historian M. I. Bogdanovich (more than 8 thousand allies, of which 6100 were Russian).
French losses are estimated by historians at more than 4 thousand soldiers. The allies captured 86 guns on the battlefield and another 72 guns went to them after the capitulation of the city; M. I. Bogdanovich reports 114 captured guns.
The decisive victory was generously celebrated by Emperor Alexander I. The commander-in-chief of the Russian troops, General Barclay de Tolly, received the rank of field marshal. 6 generals were awarded the Order of St. George, 2nd degree. An exceptionally high rating, considering that for the victory in the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars near Leipzig, 4 generals received the Order of St. George, 2nd degree, and for battle of Borodino only one general was awarded. In just 150 years of the order’s existence, the 2nd degree was awarded only 125 times. Infantry General Langeron, who distinguished himself during the capture of Montmartre, was awarded the highest Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.