Talleyrand told Alexander that the tacit social alliance between Napoleon
and the notables was at an end, that the notables wanted nothing but the
'natural frontiers' and viewed with extreme alarm both Napoleon's
German expansionism and his quixotic foray into Spain. The conse
quence was that the Czar refused to accept Napoleon's two extraordinary
clauses. The highly unsatisfactory final protocol signed on r2 October
dealt with marginal matters.
To secure a breakthrough at Erfurt Napoleon had to give Alexander a
free hand in Poland and, especially, give him Turkey. For mysterious and
unexplained reasons, Napoleon could not bring himself to do so; almost
certainly the explanation is the 'Oriental complex', for such obstinacy has
no rational basis. He did concede the Czar Finland and the Romanian
provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, but that was about the only
significant content in the Treaty of Erfurt. All the concessions were on
Napoleon's side: a reduction of Prussia's war indemnity by twenty
million francs, a promise not to intervene in any conflict between Russia
and Turkey, and the meaningless acceptance of Russia's 'mediation' in
the conflict with England. Article ro pledged the Czar to go to war if
Austria attacked France, but the article was vaguely worded, allowing
Alexander several loopholes. When Napoleon sent a minatory letter to the
Austrian Emperor, designed to preempt any attempts at revanchism,
Alexander refused to be a co-signatory.
The most signal failure at Erfurt was the farcical attempt to secure a
dynastic marriage. Talleyrand pretended to be making strenuous efforts
to this end but all the time was sabotaging his master's policy. Every time
Napoleon complained about the Czar's evasiveness, Talleyrand would
assure him that Alexander was as taken with him as ever. Then he
would depart fo r a teatime rendezvous with the Czar and together they
would plot a fresh item of verbal obfuscation with which to bamboozle
Napoleon. Face to face with the Emperor, Alexander claimed to be
enthusiastic for the idea of Napoleon's marriage to his sister, save only
that he needed the consent of the Dowager Empress. In the end
Napoleon grew so frustrated with Alexander's stalling that he stayed up
late with Talleyrand, in a state of high agitation. 'Tell him I will agree
with him on any of his plans fo r the partition of Turkey ... Use any
arguments you want. I know you favour the divorce. Josephine favours it
too.'
There can be no question of Napoleon's sincere desire to marry the
Grand Duchess Catherine. To Caulaincourt he wrote that he was making
this union the acid test of the Czar's friendship, fo r 'it would be a real
sacrifice for me. I love Josephine; I will never be happier with anyone
marcin
(Marcin)
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