After an acrimonious meeting Napoleon banished his uncle from Paris
and confined him to his see. At his Archbishop's Palace in Lyons, Fesch
supported the Catholic resistance to the Emperor and laid the founda
tions for the reactionary post-1815 French Church. But, being Fesch, he
did not abate his love of money and luxury one whit.
Yet both Spain and the Papacy were subplots to the great drama
beginning to unfold in Germany. After Murat's craven departure,
Eugene de Beauharnais had done his best to stem the Russian advance,
but by mid-January they were over the Vistula and on 7 February they
occupied Warsaw. The sheer numbers of Russians meant they could
outflank any defensive position, so that Eugene was forced back from the
Oder to the Elbe. An even more sinister development was the convention
of Tauroggen of 31 December 1812 , when the Prussian general Yorck,
whose corps had been part of the French Army, went over to the
Russians. Eastern Prussia rose in support and the movement spread to
Silesia and Brandenburg. On 28 February 1813 , under pressure of
fervently nationalistic public opinion, a reluctant Frederick William
signed an alliance with the Czar to pursue a 'holy war' against the
French. The Kaiser really had little choice for the Russian hordes swept
into Berlin.
On 13 March 1813 Prussia declared war and put an Army of 8o,ooo
into the field. There has been much discussion about the provenance of
this force since Napoleon had previously limited numbers in the Prussian
Army and taken many of them to Russia with him. The explanation
appears to be twofold. Napoleon had incautiously authorized the
Prussians to recruit so as to make up the losses sustained in Russia.
Additionally, the Prussians had over the years been secretly building up
their strength by retiring large numbers of regulars each year and then
training others to take their place. The new Prussian Army was a more
fo rmidable instrument than the force that had failed at Jena; motives of
civic virtu and German nationalism replaced the old feudal attitude of
blind obedience. Since 1 Io,ooo Russians had already entered Germany,
the allied force was considerable even before the treacherous Bernadotte
entered the war on their side, adding z8,ooo Swedes. By the time
Napoleon entered the field himself, Eugene was entrenched in a strong
position on the Saale, having been repeatedly forced to retreat.
To combat this menacing build-up Napoleon had to ask the French
people fo r more sacrifices, more taxes and more manpower. 1813 was the
year when he decisively lost the support of the two pillars of his regime,
the notables and the peasantry. Napoleon tried to curry favour with the
peasantry by putting up more common land fo r sale, but the recent
marcin
(Marcin)
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