Paul openly disapproved of many of the people and policies his
mother had favored. He ordered a halt to the Zubov expedition on
November 7, 1796, the day after Catherine died, and canceled the
undertaking one month later. The Zubov brothers soon fell from
favor and remained in eclipse until the last months of Paul's reign. He
also downplayed the importance of New Russia, the territory Cathe-
rine had acquired on the Black Sea's northern coast, where Gregory
Potemkin and later Platon Zubov had exercised broad authority. Al-
though Paul had bitter memories of Potemkin, he appointed as chan-
cellor Alexander Bezborodko, who rose to prominence through his
connection with Potemkin. Bezborodko had been an advocate of
Russian expansion in Asia (including the Iranian marches in the Cau-
casus) when he was Catherine's vice chancellor. In 1797, at the height
of his power, he emphasized the primacy of Russia's domestic con-
cerns over involvement in the war against France. Bezborodko's in-
fluence declined as his health worsened over the next two years.
When he died in 1799, the role of foreign policy adviser was divided
among a number of people, of whom the most important—especially
with regard to Russia's position in western Asia—was Fedor Rostop-
chin, who became chancellor in August 1799.
Rostopchin had served in Catherine's second war against the Otto-
man Empire and had gained diplomatic experience under Bezborod-
ko, including his role as Bezborodko's assistant in the negotiations
that ended the war. During Paul's reign, Rostopchin saw the mem-
bers of the Bezborodko circle as his adversaries, but his views on the
desirability of Russian expansion in Asia closely resembled those his
former mentor had once championed. Even though Rostopchin be-
came the foremost of Paul's foreign policy advisers, he did not domi-
nate the tsar. Paul was determined to be the model autocrat who was
actively involved in every facet of government and, therefore, insis-
ted on direct scrutiny of the minutiae of Russian diplomacy. Under
such circumstances, Rostopchin could play a leading role in foreign
affairs because he told Paul what he wanted to hear. Like Bezborod-
ko, Rostopchin favored Russian involvement in Georgia because
that kingdom could provide a base of operations against the Ottoman
Empire. He also looked further afield to the use of Georgia and the
khanates to the east as a commercial center for trade with India.^1 In
1800, when the king of Georgia began to urge St. Petersburg to make
his realm a province of the Russian Empire, Paul chose Rostopchin
to negotiate the terms of annexation with the king's emissaries. The
chancellor was quite enthusiastic about the emissaries' proposals:
creation of a Russian province of Georgia with a member of the Bag-
Russian Policy: Questions and Continuity 47