This prototype of alternative history has been modified severely to increase consistency, it is recommended to reread all parts.
If you are reading this, I welcome you to this prototype of alternative history. This part will be considered as the First Point of Divergence.
Stein's letter (1808)
In August 1808, a letter from prussian politician Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom Stein was intercepted and published in the french newspaper Le Moniteur.
Stein (painting by Johann Christoph Rincklake)
In this letter, Stein outlined his plans to raise a revolt in Germany comparable to that of Spain and urged Austria to declare war on Napoleon.
While all this was happening, Napoleon entertained himself with the preparations for his meeting with Tsar Alexander in the city of Erfurt. It is said that upon receiving the news of Stein's letter he could only murmur: ''Prussia ...'', although the historical veracity of this fact is questionable if we know what he did next.
On September 8, 1808, the September Convention was signed whereby the Prussian army was limited to 42,000 men and the Prussian Silesia was ceded to the Duchy of Warsaw with the excuse of connecting it with the Kingdom of Saxony (with which it had a personal union). On September 10, Napoleon signed an edict, declaring Stein as Enemy of France and the Confederation of the Rhine, ordering the confiscation of his property, his capture and execution and on September 16 Stein was traversed by arms. King Frederick William III of Prussia was alarmed and tried by all means to get rid of this scandal, offering substantial monetary compensation to the French and promising the removal and execution of Stein, but unfortunately nothing could calm Napoleon.
This prototype of alternative history has been modified severely to increase consistency, it is recommended to reread all parts.
Congratulations, you have already read the Point of Divergence and you are ready for more. I have modified the second part of my prototype in order to strengthen coherence and cement the foundations that history will follow from now on. Enjoy it.
Congress of Erfurt (1808)
The expansion of the Duchy of Warsaw was met with horror by the monarchs of Austria and Russia. Austria was upset that it did not receive a part of Silesia apart from the danger posed by an expanded Polish state to its national borders, regarding the latter the Tsar Alexander saw him with greater concern because Russia owned large lands that in the past belonged to Poland.
At the Erfurt Congress (1808), Napoleon met with Tsar Alexander to strengthen ties between France and Russia, but the deliberations between the two did not materialize. Napoleon wanted the total support of his ally to ease the pressure caused by the Peninsular War and deter Austria from going to arms. Alejandro, on the other hand, was disappointed with the little support received from Napoleon in the Russian-Turkish War (1806-1812) and the aggrandizement of Poland at the expense of Prussia in addition to the negative effects of the Continental System on the Russian economy. It should be said that Alexander was instigated by Talleyrand to distrust Napoleon, which, together with the Tsar's fear of being overthrown by his own aristocracy in the case of being too complacent to Napoleon, defined his uncompromising attitude with Napoleon. On October 14, both rulers went to their homeland.
L'entrevue d'Erfurt,oil on canvas by Nicolas Gosse
Most historians agree that the ambiguous deliberations of the Erfurt Congress convinced Napoleon that the best course of action was to strengthen the Duchy of Warsaw to have a fierce ally in case Russia or Austria tried to attack it, at the same time it weakened an annoying enemy like Prussia.
From the Treaties of Tilsit, the French emperor had in mind the idea of getting rid of Prussia, but preferred not to do so in order to maintain good relations with Russia. However, the idea was there and Stein's letter was the political pretext to at least take away one of its richest regions and give it to a more reliable ally and there are even those who say that Napoleon himself organized it although this would already enter territory speculative.
This prototype of alternative history has been modified severely to increase consistency, it is recommended to reread all parts.
After modifying my two previous parts here is the third part of my alternative history prototype. This part will be considered as the Second Point of Divergence. Read it, analyze it, enjoy it.
Kingdom of Poland (1809)
The Poles, a people torn apart by the interests of their neighbors, rose in rebellion in 1806 against Prussia, in support of Emperor Napoleon, hoping that he would resurrect the Polish nation. The uprising was successful and allowed them to obtain in 1807 through the Tilsit Treaties, a modest barely independent nation known as the Duchy of Warsaw, after such a long time, the Poles returned to have a nation that although small, made them flourish in the Poles a feeling of hope in the future.
Entrance of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski to Poznań painted by Jan Gładysz, the event shown in this painting is the beginning of the Greater Poland uprising (1806)
And they were not mistaken, after the publication of Stein's famous letter in 1808, Napoleon took advantage of the incident to strengthen his Polish allies, claiming his disturbance at the idea of a German rebellion. At the September Convention of the same year, Prussia is forced to cede Silesia to the Duchy of Warsaw. From here, the Poles begin to have a slightly wider freedom of maneuver and political relief from the uncertainty of whether Napoleon would continue to support the Poles. Unfortunately, they could not enjoy the moment since on April 14, 1809 (on the eve of the Fifth Coalition War) they were attacked by the Austrian army under the archduke Fernando Fernando of Austria-East.
The Polish defenders were undermined as a considerable part of their forces were transferred to Spain, which prevented an effective counteroffensive against the Austrians. Despite the above, Polish troops under Poniatowski arrested an Austrian force that exceeded them 2 to 1, however they could not prevent the capture of Warsaw by the enemy. After a series of battles, the Poles resumed the initiative and invaded the territory of Galicia that had once belonged to them. With the defeat of Austria in the Battle of Wagram and the signing of the Treaty of Schönbrunn, the Duchy of Warsaw obtained its reward for its performance in the war with the obtaining of the territory of Western Galicia, however Napoleon not only thanked them with more territory but on October 20, 1809 he announced his intention to raise the Duchy of Warsaw to the category of kingdom.
Battle of Raszyn (1809), in this battle, the Poles achieved a tactical victory against Austria in the War of Fifth Coalition
Although Austria wanted to protest, it was weakened by the recent war while Russia became more distant from France since the Congress of Erfurt (1808), but the most important issue was who would take the Polish throne. Prince Józef Poniatowski was the legitimate candidate and had a prominent role in the last war being considered a hero by his countrymen and even Napoleon gave him a ceremonial saber for his victories, but Napoleon although he held him in high esteem, did not trust him enough he. Joachim Murat, King of Naples, hastened to ask Napoleon to consider him for the throne, but Napoleon's goal was to create a strong state friendly with France that could help significantly in a possible Franco-Russian war, which Napoleon's eyes, Murat could not comply (it should be mentioned that the relations between Napoleon and Murat were sour at this time because Murat was chosen by Fouché and Talleyrand to replace Napoleon while he was in Spain, fortunately for Murat, he was married to the Emperor's sister who mediated between both of them ). Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was another of the rumored since Napoleon considered him as a possible successor in case of not having children besides being a capable administrator and even Napoleon came to offer him indirectly the throne of Spain, however Bernadotte's conduct left much to be desired, in the Battle of Auerstädt Bernadotte did not come to the aid of Davout who was outnumbered (although he won it extraordinarily), he sent letters to Napoleon where he made clear his empty interest in the Spanish crown and his inept performance in the Battle of Wagram, as well as his controversial Order of the Day (in which he attributed the success of the aforementioned battle to the Saxons under his command contradicting Napoleon's official bulletin) caused Napoleon to lose his consideration for him.
On October 23, the Duchy of Warsaw is elevated to the Kingdom of Poland and on October 25 Napoleon announces his election of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout as King of Poland. Davout was appointed as Governor General in the Duchy of Warsaw by Napoleon after the Tilsit Treaties where he demonstrated efficient administration and won the support of the local population by promising their protection and he was a Polish independence enthusiast reminding Napoleon whenever it could be that ''an ally is better than a slave''. His performance in the recent campaign consecrated him even more to Napoleon's eyes. On October 30, Davout is crowned in Warsaw as King of Poland under the name of Ludwik II Mikolaj Davouta.
Louis-Nicolas Davout, Marshal of France (1804) and King of Poland (1809)
This prototype of alternative history has been modified severely to increase consistency, it is recommended to reread all parts.
The fourth part dealing with the Russian Campaign of 1812 has been completed. Enjoy reading.
Russian Campaign (1812)
Prologue
Since the Erfurt Congress in 1808, Franco-Russian relations had strained and the creation of the Kingdom of Poland in 1809 by Napoleon only managed to add more fuel to the fire.
In 1809, Napoleon sent a marriage proposal to Russia in order to marry Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna (only 14 years old) as she wanted to legitimize her empire by being married to a member of one of the most prestigious royal houses in Europe, have an heir and reconcile Franco-Russian relations. In 1810 he receives a courteous rejection from Tsar Alexander who alleges that the girl's mother will not be willing to marry her daughter until she is at least 16 years old. Napoleon's response was to announce his commitment to the Austrian archduchess Marie-Louise so that Alexander understood that the two commitments had been negotiated at the same time.
Marriage of Napoleon and Marie-Louise by Georges Rouget
Also in 1810 France annexed for himself the Duchy of Oldenburg with the excuse of strengthening the Continental System, the czar did not take this at all well because this duchy was ruled by his uncle Peter Friedrich Wilhelm of Oldenburg getting to demand Napoleon compensation to his uncle for this and even requested that a duchy be created in Western Galicia, territory that was given to the Poles in the Treaty of Schönbrunn. Napoleon refused to respond to the tsar's requests.
Another important issue was the Continental System imposed by Napoleon throughout Europe in order to seriously harm the British economy and thus force Britain to a peace agreement, however this caused a serious setback in the Russian economy (although it helped the national industry) so in 1810 Tsar Alexander introduced free trade with neutral countries allowing trade with Great Britain from intermediaries and increased tariffs on luxury goods, which were mainly supplied by France. All this caused outrage in the French emperor who understood those actions as a way to violate the Continental System and harm the French economy.
In 1811 it became clear to Alejandro that France would not bother to help Russia with its war in Turkey and that the war with this country would be imminent so it stationed Russian troops near the Kingdom of Poland and prepared the political ground by signing an alliance with Sweden (which I was resentful of Napoleon over the occupation of the Swedish Pomeranian) and Britain (thus ending the war with this country) in 1812 as well as ending the war with Moldova and Turkey to secure its southern flank and have more men at its disposal
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Tsar Alexander I of Russia
The Grand Army
In 1812, the French Empire with its subordinate states had approximately 80 million people out of the 172 million that inhabited Europe, according to some reports 726,000 men were mobilized to invade Russia (counting allies and reinforcements). 14 different nationalities participated in the campaign: French, Polish, German, Italian, Swiss, Austrian, Spanish, Prussian, Portuguese, Croatian, Belgian, Dutch and Lithuanian. Napoleon also had reserves of 130,000 to 220,000 in the garrisons of Central Europe and 80,000 men of the National Guard in France. In the initial stage, Napoleon was able to gather 492,000 soldiers, of which 235,000 were French and 257,300 were of another nationality (except Belgians and Dutch who served in the French army). The Grand Army consisted of 10 Corps, the Imperial Guard, 3 Corps of Reserve Cavalry, the Polish Royal Army of Davout and an Austrian corp led by General Schwarzenberg.
Officer and soldier of the Old Guard hunter on foot, circa 1811 Russian Army of 1812
For its part, Russia had a population of more than 40 million people in 1812. The attack of Napoleon's army was received by troops stationed on the western border: Commander Barclay de Tolly's First Western Army and Commander's Second Western Army Pyotr Bagration with a total of 153,000 soldiers and 758 guns. The Third Western Army of Commander Alexander Tormasov with 45,000 men and 168 guns, was located further south in Volyn with the aim of containing Austria. In Moldova, Admiral Chichagov's army (55,000 men and 202 guns) who would join the Third Western Army in Volyn. In Finland was the corp of the Russian general Steingel (19,000 men and 102 guns). In the Riga area there was a regiment led by Lieutenant General Essen and up to 4 Reserve Corps were located further from the border.
Throughout the war, 4 recruitment calls were announced that could attract more than 400,000 people, however, it would take time to prepare them.
The active irregular Cossack troops were a total of 20-25 thousand light cavalry troops (although 117,000 were listed on the official lists).
Portrait of Count Michel Barclay de Tolly, commander of the First Russian Western Army and commander in chief of the Three Western Armies in 1812
Beginning of the War
On June 22, 1812, Napoleon launched the following proclamation to his army:
''Soldiers !! The Second Polish War has begun. The First ended in Friedland and in Tilsit with Russia promising to be in perpetual alliance with France and in the war with England; Now Russia is breaking its oath. Russia does not want to give any explanation of its strange behavior until the French eagles leave the Rhine and thus leave our allies in the hands of their arbitrariness.
Russia is passionate about fatality. Your destiny must be fulfilled. Does she think we have degenerated? That we are no longer soldiers of Austerlitz? She puts us between dishonor and war. The choice cannot be doubtful. We keep going! We cross the Niemen! Let's take the war to its borders!
The Second Polish War will be as glorious for French weapons as the first; but the peace we will make will bring a guarantee for ourselves and will put an end to the disastrous influence of Russia, which for fifty years has been exercised in the affairs of Europe.
In our imperial camp, in Vilkivishki, June 22, 1812.
Napoleon''
The proclamation was included in the second bulletin of the Grand Army, on the same day, the French ambassador to St. Petersburg, Jacques de Lauriston, delivered this proclamation in the form of a note to the President of the State Council and Committee of Ministers of Russia Nikolay Saltykov, officially declaring war.
Jacques de Lauriston
On the afternoon of June 23, a detachment of the Cossack Regiment of the Russian Imperial Guard three miles upstream from the Niemen, near the city of Kaunas. The Cossack regiment noticed a suspicious movement on the opposite bank of the river and when it got completely dark, a company of French sappers crossed the river in boats, the Cossack regiment when noticing the arrival of French, launched into the attack beginning the first actions of the war.
At midnight on June 24, French troops crossed the Niemen River along four bridges built over Kaunas by sappers. At 6 in the morning, the French avant-garde entered the fortress of Kaunas. At night, Tsar Alexander I was in the country palace of General Bennigsen in Vilnius, where he was informed of the invasion of Napoleon.
The first formal confrontation between the French and Russians took place on June 25 near the village of Barbariski. Skirmishes also occurred in Rumšiški and Popartsy.
From June 29 to 30, another group of soldiers moved near Prienai, south of Kaunas, under the command of the viceroy of Italy Eugène de Beauharnais. Almost at the same time, further south, near Grodno, on June 30, 4 Corps crossed the Niemen under the command of the King of Westphalia, Jérôme Bonaparte.
To the north, near Tilsit, the First Corp of Marshal MacDonald crosses the Niemen. In the southern direction, from Warsaw across the river Bug, the Austrian corp of Schwarzenberg enters Russia.
On June 28, Vilnius is busy. On June 30, General Assistant Balashov offered Napoleon a proposal from Tsar Alexander to withdraw his troops and make peace. Napoleon refused. After an atypical hesitation of what to do next, Napoleon left Vilnius on July 16.
The Great Army crossing the Niemen (1812) North Direction
Napoleon launched Marshal MacDonald's First Corp towards St. Petersburg. The First Corp should occupy Riga and then join the Second Corp of Marshal Oudinot and move on to Pskov. The base of MacDonald's body were French veterans. MacDonald besieged Riga intensely forcing the surrender of his military governor Magnus von Essen. He then proceeded to capture Daugavpils and join the Second Corps of Marshal Oudinot who had captured Polotsk.
Jacques MacDonald, Marshal of the First Corp of the Grand Army
The two corps marched on General Wittgenstein's forces (25,000 men). Wittgenstein, upon being informed of the union of the two French corp, tried to withdraw, but was intercepted in Sebezh beginning The Battle of Sebezh (1812). Wittgenstein's forces were annihilated and the First and Second Corp had a free way to go to Pskov and capture her.
Peter Wittgenstein, defeated in the Battle of Sebezh by Marshals MacDonald and Oudinot.
Central Direction
The Second Western Army of Bagration that was close to Białystok (after Commander Barclay de Tolly retired from Vilnius to the First Western Army), tried to join the First Western Army, but when he arrived in Lida 100 km from Vilnius, he realized that the French would not allow it. Bagration withdrew to the south with Cossacks of General Platov covering his rear guard who performed well against a French skirmish near Grodno and defeating the Seventh Division of Coraceros of the Grand Army (3000 men) in The Battle of Mir (1812), preventing destruction.
Cossack cavalry deployed at Mir (1812)
Napoleon sent Davout and his Polish army (120,000 Poles reinforced with 20,000 Lithuanians) to cut Bagration. Davout launched into the persecution and occupied Minsk on July 8 while Jérôme attacked Bagration from the west, but Bagration with rapid marches and successful battles (in Grodno and Mir), moved away from Jérôme's troops and avoiding Minsk.
On July 19, the Second Western Army of Bragration was in Bobruisk near the Berezina River while Davout settled in Mogilev on July 21. Bagration, approaching the Dnieper River 60 km below Mogilev, sent July 15,000 men under the command of Nikolay Raevsky to delay the advance of Davout and reach Vitebsk where he would meet with the First Western Army of Barclay of Tolly
On July 23 The Battle of Saltanovka (1812) is fought, Raevsky courageously leads his 15,000 men, but is decisively defeated by Davout. On July 24, Davout intercepts Bagration near Bykhov starting The Battle of Bykhov (1812) where Davout defeats the Russian Second Western Army. After rendering Bagration useless, Davout builds a bridge in the Dnieper and goes to Smolesnk who captures July 26 and Jérôme arrives late on July 28 to reinforce Davout.
General Rayevski leading his men into combat at the Battle of Saltanovka. (1812)
While the above was happening, Barclay de Tolly arrived in the city of Vitebsk on July 23 where he wanted to wait for Bagration. To avoid the French advance, he sent to the Fourth Corp of Osterman-Tolstoy who met the French vanguard on July 25 starting the Battle of Ostrovno that despite being a French victory, the Russians inflict tremendous casualties on their cavalry. On July 27 The Battle of Vitebsk (1812) is fought. Commander Barclay de Tolly expected Bagration to meet him, however he did not know that Bagration had already been defeated by Davout at the Battle of Bykhov on July 24. On the dawn of 27, Napoleon and Barclay mobilized their troops and fought fiercely in the vicinity of Vitebsk. Around 11:30 the Russians are defeated by Napoleon, thus annihilating the First Russian Western Army.
French infantry repulsing attacks from Russian cavalry at Vitebsk (1812)
South Direction
The French Seventh Corp under General Reynier was to cover the right flank of Napoleon's main forces of the Third Western Army of General Tormasov. Reynier took the location along the line Brest - Kobrin - Pinsk. On July 27, Tormasov surrounds Kobrin and defeats his garrison and then passes to Brest and then Pinsk.
Alexander Tormasov, commander of the Third Russian Western Army in 1812
When Napoleon realized that Reynier could not defeat Tormasov, he decided to send the Austrian corp of Schwarzenberg to his aid. Reynier and Schwarzenberg unite and attack Tormasov on August 12 near Gorodechno, forcing the Russians to retreat to Lutsk.
Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg and General of the Austrian Corp in the Russian Campaign (1812)
Treaty of Vitebsk (1812)
On August 1, Napoleon is already informed that Davout and Jérôme have captured Smolesnk and that MacDonald and Oudinot are located Pskov, near St. Petersburg. With this data, he intercepts a Russian messenger who was sent to replace communications with Barclay, to send him back to St. Petersburg with a message to Tsar Alexander, which said that the First and Second Russian Western Army have been destroyed while the Third is in process and that if the peace was not signed, The Grand Army would arrive at the gates of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
On August 10, Napoleon receives an answer: The Tsar agrees to meet him at Vitebsk to sign the peace.
On August 14, Tsar Alexander arrives Vitebsk to discuss peace. On August 16, after several deliberations, the Treaty of Vitebsk is signed based on the following points:
1. Creation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its personal union with Poland under the Polish King Ludwik II Mikolaj Davouta.
2. Re-establishment of the Franco-Russian alliance.
3. Consistent, complete and severe application of the Continent System in Russian territory.
4. A substantial compensation from Russia to France.
5. Return of prisoners captured by both parties.
6. Recognition by Russia of the conquests of the French Empire and its allies.
7. The withdrawal of the French and their allies from Russian territory.
With the treaty signed, Napoleon announced the withdrawal of Russian territory the next day and began on the 19th. Russia and France were at peace again. On September 28, 1812, the Grand Army effectively leaves Russia.
View of the city of Vitebsk where the Treaty of Vitebsk (1812) was signed, which ended the war of the same year between the Russian Empire on one side and the French Empire on the other and its allies, by Józef Peszka
While the Tsar was willing to continue fighting Napoleon despite the destruction of two of his Three Western Armies, the Russian aristocracy no longer had faith in continuing to sustain the war effort after learning of the defeat of Barclay and Bagration. The Continental System was not really so harmful to the Russian economy while the war interrupted all economic activity and allocated the entire budget to the arms factory (which was useless without an army) being more profitable to ask France in the peace agreement, a reduction in the tariffs of both countries.
The military also thought that it would be best to accept Napoleon's peace because the Great Army had captured several army heads, morale was at its worst and salaries were increasingly reduced.
All this convinced the Tsar, who was afraid of being killed by the aristocracy like his father, of signing peace with the French emperor.
