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The Pragmatic Diplomacy of Paul I: Russia’s Relations with Asia, 1796–1801

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Muriel Atkin
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Extract

In recent years, a number of scholars have argued that the traditional negative image of Paul I is in need of substantial revision. Even Boris Nolde’s seminal history of the Russian Empire presents the emperor in an uncomplimentary light, as a man who was greedy for territory but not an astute analyst of the information available to guide his decisions. If no one has yet claimed that Paul was an exceptionally wise and able man, some historians, at least, have shown that he was neither as foolish nor as mad as the partisans of Catherine and Alexander would have him be. Hugh Ragsdale has argued that Paul was far more aware of Russia’s international interests and more assertive in policy making than is usually thought.

Type
Articles
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , March 1979 , pp. 60 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1979

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References

1. B., Nolde, La Formation de I'Empire Russe, 2 vols. (Paris, 1952%), 2: 379–82.Google Scholar

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7. Paul to I. V. Gudovich [commander of the Caucasian Line], January 5, 1797 ( Dubrovin, N. F., Istoriia voiny i vladychestva russkikh na Kavkaze, 6 vols. [St. Petersburg, 1871-88], 3: 199 and 195)Google Scholar.

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13. Paul to Knorring, July 10, 1800 (Akty, 1: 106); Paul to P. I. Kovalenskii [Paul's representative to the King of Georgia], April 17, 1799 (ibid., 1: 95).

14. Paul to Kovalenskii, April 16, 1799 (ibid., 1: 94-95); ukas of April 22, 1799 (ibid., 2: 1149).

15. Typical of this approach was the rebuff given the Khan of Qarābāgh in 1783 when he wanted to negotiate a treaty with Russia as his ally, King Erekle of Georgia, had done but was alienated by the Russian insistence that he comply with nonnegotiable demands (Dubrovin, Istoriia voiny i vladychestva, 2: 30-35).

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17. College of Foreign Affairs to Kovalenskii, April 16, 1799 (Akty, 1: 94).

18. Paul to Kovalenskii, January 23, 1801 (ibid., 1: 414).

19. Paul to the khans of Erevan, Qarābāgh, and Ganjeh, August 3, 1800 (ibid., 1: 108-9); Paul to Gudovich, January 5, 1797 (Dubrovin, Istoriia voiny i vladychestva, 3: 200).

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21. Knorring to Paul, April 11, 1800 (Akty, 1: 113); Kovalenskii's observations on Georgia, August 1800 (ibid., 1: 678).

22. This was also reflected in the letter by the reference to Paul's interest in “all other Persian rulers,” Paul to Bābā Khan, March 23, 1799 (ibid., 2: 1145); Paul to Kovalenskii, April 16, 1799 (ibid., 1: 96); Paul to Skibinevskii [consul at Anzali, Iran] (ibid., 1: 678).

23. Lazarev to Knorring, August 25, 1800 (ibid., 1: 142); Kovalenskii's observations On Georgia, August 1800 (ibid., 1: 113); Lieutenant Merabov [Paul's messenger to Fath 'Ali Shah] to Kovalenskii, July 1800 (ibid., 2: 1161 and 1168).

24. Paul to Bābā Khān, March 23, 1799 (ibid., 2: 1145).

25. Reference to a letter from Paul to Gudovich, 1797, cited in Knorring to Alexander, March 6, 1802 (ibid., 1: 688); session of the state Council, November 11, 1798 ﹛Arkhiv Gosudarstvennago Soveta, 5 vols. [St. Petersburg, 1869-1904], vol. 2, part 2, col. 726 [hereafter cited as AGS]).

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27. College of Foreign Affairs to Skibinevskii, July 27, 1800 (ibid., 1: 681).

28. Paul to Kovalenskii, April 17, 1799 (ibid., 1: 96).

29. Paul to Knorring, July 10, 1800 (ibid., 1: 106-7).

30. Session of the state council, April IS, 1801 (AGS, vol. 3, part 2, col. 1911); report to the state council, June 24, 1801 (ibid., cols. 1220-26); meeting of the'secret committee, August 13, 1801 ( Mikhailovich, Grand Duke Nikolai, Graf Pavel Aleksandrovich Stroganov, 3 vols. [St. Petersburg, 1903], 2: 90–93)Google Scholar; see also Dubrovin, Istoriia voiny i vladychestva, 3: 416 and 419.

31. P. D. Tsitsianov [commander-in-chief in the Caucasus] to Alexander, April 27, 1803 (Akty, 2: 290); Tsitsianov to Prince Adam Czartoryski, foreign minister, May 22 and September 26, 1805 (ibid., 2: 706, 1036-37); Chancellor N. P. Rumiantsev to N. F. Rtishchev [commander-in-chief in the Caucasus], April 7, 1812, two letters (ibid., 5: 649- 50).

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33. Lang, Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy, pp. 228, 230-32, 235-36, 239-45.

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38. Paul to V. P. Orlov [commander of the Cossack expedition], January 12, 1801 (in Shil'der, N. K., Imperator Pavel I [St. Petersburg, 1901], p. 417).Google Scholar

39. Paul to V. P. Orlov, January 12, 1801 (Shil'der, Imperator Pavel I, p. 418); see also “Zapiska grafa F. V. Rostopchina,” Russkii arkhiv, 1878, no. 1, pp. 105-7, 109-10.

40. Shil'der, Imperator Pavel I, p. 418.

41. Captain M. Williams to General John Malcolm [representative of the governorgeneral of India to the Shah], April 13, 1808 (Great Britain, Public Record Office, Foreign Office papers, 248/2, pages unnumbered).

42. 1801 treaty, articles 4 and 5; 1809 treaty, article 3; 1812 treaty, article 1 ( Aitchison, C. U., ed., A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds Relating to India and Neighboring Countries, 4th ed., 13 vols. [Calcutta, 1909], 12: 40–41, 46, 48-49).Google Scholar

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44. Session of the state council, April 16, 1797 (AGS, vol. 2, cols. 646-47).

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46. Saul, Russia and the Mediterranean, p. 149. For a similar view, see Rawlinson, H., i England and Russia in the East, 2nd ed. (London, 1875).Google Scholar.

47. For a discussion of the “Great Game” in terms of what happened and what each ) side thought was happening, see Firuz, Kazemzadeh, Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864-1914 j (New Haven, 1968).Google Scholar

48. Saul, Russia and the Mediterranean, p. 149. 1

49. Caulaincourt [French ambassador to Russia] to Napoleon, January 21, 1808 ( Mikhailovich, Grand Duke Nikolai, Les relations diplomatigues de la Russie et de la France d'après les rapports des ambassadeurs d'Alexandre et de Napoléon, 1808-1812, 7 vols. [St. Petersburg, 1905-14], 1: 73).Google Scholar

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51. Dubois de Jancigny, A. P. and Raymond, X., Inde (Paris, 1845)Google Scholar; P. P., Karatygin, “Proekt Russko-frantsuzskoi ekspeditsii v Indiiu 1800 g.,” Russkada starina, 8 (1873): 401–8.Google Scholar

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53. Ibid., p. 7; Karatygin, “Proekt Russko-frantsuzskoi ekspeditsii,” pp. 401-4.

54. A strong argument against its authenticity, based on the timing of certain key events, was made by Miliutin, General D. A. in Istoriia voiny 1799 goda, 2nd ed., 3 vols. (St. Petersburg, 1857), 2: 537–38 Google Scholar, and 3: 667-69. The attack has been expanded by J. L., Shneidman, “The Proposed Invasion of India by Russia and France in 1801,” Journal of Indian History, 35 (1957): 167–75.Google Scholar However, Shneidman's article suffers from factual errors and the failure to consider certain relevant sources, especially the complete text of Rostopchin's memoir on Paul's foreign policy options.

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