by insisting on two clauses: that he, not Alexander, should determine the
criteria for Russia's going to war with Austria, and that Russian troops
should at once mass on the Austrian border.
Napoleon arrived in Erfurt on 27 September, welcomed the Czar and
spent the rest of the day with him. The two men were together until 14
October. Immense efforts had been made to impress Alexander with
French power, as Napoleon had explained to Talleyrand in his original
letter of instruction: 'Before we begin, I wish the emperor Alexander to
be dazzled by the spectacle of my power ... Use the language he
understands. Tell him that the grand designs of Providence are evident in
the benefits our alliance will have for mankind.' To this end he had
summoned all the vassal kings of Bavaria, Saxony and Wtirttemberg and
all the dukes and princes of the Confederation of the Rhine to meet him
at Erfurt. Sumptuous apartments were put at the disposal of Alexander
and his retinue, all fu rnished with paintings, sculptures and tapestries
sent fr om France as if they were a travelling museum exhibit; lavish
banquets were prepared by French chefs; there were shooting parties and
daily receptions, balls or fetes; Napoleon's favourite actor, Talma, came
from Paris with the Comedie-Fran�aise to perform.
The social round worked out magnificently. On 7 October Napoleon
took Alexander on a tour of the battlefield of Jena and talked him through
all the military manoeuvres; afterwards a 'hunt' (actually a mass
slaughter) of hares and partridges was conducted over the terrain of the
battlefield. The tenor of the day before can be gauged fr om a letter
Napoleon sent to Josephine on the 6th: 'Emperor Alexander danced but I
didn't. After all, forty years old is forty years old.' Another letter to
Josephine hints at the repressed homosexual elements in the Emperor's
makeup: 'I am satisfied with Alexander and he should be satisfied with
me. If he were a woman I think I would make him my mistress.' The way
they actually bonded was itself curious. In Napoleon's retinue was his old
mistress Mlle Bourgoin, the woman he had stolen fr om Chaptal. When
Alexander took a strong fancy to her, Napoleon tried to head off the
liaison, fearing that she would reveal intimate secrets of the boudoir. But
Alexander insisted he must have her, and so it transpired.
The talks themselves, by contrast, were a huge disappointment to
Napoleon. This was hardly surprising, since Talleyrand was engaged in a
daily game of sabotage. After being briefed by Napoleon and encouraged
to see the Czar privately, he would visit Alexander and reveal every
aspect of Napoleon's hand. On his very first meeting with the Czar,
Talleyrand begged him to resist the Emperor with all his might, since
Napoleon's foreign policy no longer answered French national interests.
marcin
(Marcin)
#1