Napoleon and Alexander 1 trip to India. Napoleonic plans of Paul I. The desire for political independence

It is generally accepted (and among historians too) that the short reign of Emperor Paul I (1796−1801) is associated with complete madness in all spheres of the state. And the ruler himself is portrayed as a tyrant, a martinet, anything but a sovereign.

Government reforms

But in a very short period of reign, Paul I managed to put the country on the path of modernization. He personally brought order to the system of succession to the throne, thereby eliminating the possibility of “leftist” people coming to the throne, as was the case after the death of Peter I. Then Paul quite seriously “curtailed” the rights of landowners to peasants. He prohibited their sale without the accompanying land plot, and also signed a law according to which the peasant had to work for the landowner no more than three days a week. By the way, after the death of the emperor, these innovations were instantly “forgotten.”

In a short period, Paul I put Russia on the path of modernization

In general, Paul I managed to do a lot for the peasants. It was under him that they swore allegiance to the king for the first time, which is very significant. After all, for the first time, ordinary people felt like real citizens of Russia.

Pavel Petrovich strenuously fought against the overly developed and strengthened system of favoritism. He sent several thousand officials into exile for bribery and other violations.

He did not ignore the military sphere. First, he reduced the role of the guard, leaving it a secondary role (for which, by the way, he later paid with his life). Then a system of keeping military personnel in barracks was introduced, and not in billets as before.

The desire for political independence

But most importantly, he tried to return the country's foreign policy independence. Although Pavel Petrovich was an ardent Prussophile, he understood that he was very for a long time Russia was just a pawn in someone else's games. In his opinion, the country needed a break from hostilities in order to become a leading state in Europe. And the emperor initially adhered to this line in every possible way. It was under him that for the first time in a hundred years the country “calmed down” and stopped expanding its territory through military operations. The “sprouting” of Alaska and the voluntary annexation of Eastern Georgia do not count, since all this happened without a single shot being fired.

Paul I wanted to achieve for Russia the status of a leading state in Europe

True, later he still dared to get involved in a confrontation with a great European power. The emperor paid for this with his own life, and the country had to endure a bloody test by Napoleonic army. Paul I decided to declare war on England, and the battlefield was not Foggy Albion, but India.

Surprisingly, even now many historians consider this idea to be another extravagance of the sovereign. But Pavel Petrovich reasoned quite sensibly. He believed that the root of all European troubles was an aggressive, scheming England. And while it is strong, countries will not see peace. Events taking place over the course of two hundred years only confirm that the emperor was right.

But first, Pavel Petrovich found himself drawn into a confrontation not with England, but with France. In 1798, relations between the countries deteriorated sharply, and Russia (thanks to the machinations of British diplomacy) found itself in the ranks of the anti-French coalition. This resulted in the famous Italian and Swiss campaigns, led by Suvorov. And Ushakov “went” on an equally brilliant Mediterranean campaign.
But soon the Russian sovereign realized that the country was once again simply used to achieve the interests of others. So he made a drastic change in diplomacy. And since 1800, Russia and France began to get closer.

The main achievement of this alliance can be considered the idea of ​​a joint Russian-French campaign in British India. After all, it was precisely that state that was considered the bottomless “wallet” of England. And Paul I himself spoke about the upcoming campaign like this: “To hit England in its very heart - to India.”

Features of the Indian trek

The plan to strike India was developed personally by Napoleon. He spoke about it back in 1797, before his trip to Egypt. Napoleon understood that neither his fleet, nor the Russian fleet, nor even the combined forces were capable of resisting the English ships. Therefore, landing on Foggy Albion was out of the question. So there was only one option left - an invasion of India. Napoleon also realized that it was possible to get there only through Russia, since Turkey would not agree to let his army pass through its territory.

Paul I: “Strike England to its very heart - to India”

In short, Napoleon's plan was as follows: the 35,000-strong French army reaches the Black Sea, where it is met Russian fleet and forwards to Taganrog. From there they travel along the Volga to Astrakhan, where they join the 35,000-strong Russian army. The combined army is transported across the Caspian Sea to the Persian city of Astrabad. There, according to Napoleon's plan, the military had to build warehouses for various needs. According to calculations, the trip to Astrabad would take eighty days. Another fifty were allocated for the transition to the banks of the Indus. In general, Napoleon allocated one hundred and thirty days for everything.

The Frenchman Andre Massena was to lead the united army. By the way, it was thought that these forces would be supported by Russian ships departing from Kamchatka, as well as by the Cossacks, who were supposed to reach India on their own.

The question of whether this campaign could have been successful is a matter of much debate. It is clear that to conquer India would require much more manpower than Massena had at his disposal. But the French commander was confident that the tribes inhabiting the territory of modern Pakistan would come over to his side. Namely Pashtuns, Balochis, Turkmens and others. In general, all those who were afraid of the excessive influence of Britain. Massena also thought that the “offended” Indian Muslims would join him. In total - about one hundred thousand “recruits”. So the Frenchman expected to conquer India in a year.

If the campaign had ended in victory, then the northern part of the country would have come under Russian protectorate. Everything else would go to the French, of course.

France and Russia planned to conquer India within a year

Already in January 1801, Ataman Orlov received an imperial order. In the shortest possible time, he managed to assemble an army of two tens of thousands of Cossacks. Their campaign was led by Major General Platov. They had to first get to Orenburg, and then go to Khiva and Bukhara.

But just eleven days after the start of the campaign, on the night of March 12, 1801, the Russian emperor was killed. According to official data, the St. Petersburg Governor General Palen is considered the “soul” of the conspiracy. But the English ambassador Whitworth also played a significant role in the assassination of the emperor. And Paul’s son Alexander came to power. Almost with his very first order, he returned the Cossacks, and then broke the agreement with France on the campaign against India. So, thanks to the death of Paul I, the British involved in the conspiracy were able to turn history around.

11 days after the start of the Indian campaign, Paul I was killed

After the change of power, the people in Russia were again divided into “mere mortals” and the elite. So, they killed not just the sovereign, but the policy of modernization and change.

It is clear that Paul I is an ambiguous person and one can treat him differently. Yes, he played soldier, executed a rat, sent Suvorov “retired” (although he later changed his attitude towards him). But at the same time, he tried to make the country better, change it, return it to the status of a great power.

If it were not for the death of Paul I, then perhaps there would not have been a confrontation with Napoleon, the bloody Battle of Borodino and the burning of Moscow. But history does not know the subjunctive mood.

– Twenty thousand Cossacks –
To India, on a hike! –
Paul the First ordered
In my last year.
A.I. Mordovina - “Poems about the Don Cossacks”

The first attempts to reach India through Central Asia arose in 1700 under Peter I, when the Khan of Khiva Shaniaz declared to the Tsar his desire to receive Russian citizenship. Such an increase in the number of subjects brought absolutely nothing to Peter I due to the remoteness of the territory of Khiva from Russia, and had only symbolic significance, raising the prestige of the power. However, at the beginning of 1714, news reached St. Petersburg that the Khivans had rich reserves of gold-bearing sands, which they were diligently hiding from the Russians. In the same 1714, to confirm this information and search for routes to India and Central Asia, the king sent an expedition from Siberia under the leadership of the guard of Lieutenant Buchholz. In 1716, Buchholz built a fortress near Lake Yamysh for the winter, but, finding himself under siege by the local Kalmyk tribe, he did not tempt fate, agreed to the terms of the Kalmyk Khan, destroyed the fortress and sailed home. The second expedition, led by Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky, was assembled with complete seriousness and thoroughness. However, this campaign was also expected to fail. The Khivans captured and sent Bekovich-Cherkassky and his companions to prison; the prince was later executed. However, the king did not give up attempts to explore the route to India. He sent the Tatar Murza Tevtelev there through the territory of the Persians. But Murza was captured in Persia. After the death of Peter I, Catherine II also made attempts to explore Central Asia.

V. Borovikovsky. "Paul I wearing the crown, dalmatic and insignia of the Order of Malta." 1820

At the end of the 18th century, there was a confrontation between two great powers - France and England, which had been going on for many years with varying success. Russia, together with Great Britain, Austria, Turkey and the Kingdom of Naples, was part of the anti-French coalition. A number of brilliant victories of Suvorov in Italy, active actions Ushakov’s Black Sea Fleet forced other countries to respect the interests of our Motherland. But the failure of the joint invasion of Holland with England gave rise to disagreements among the allies, and the capture of Malta by British troops, which Paul I took under the protection of the Order of Malta in 1798, led to Russia’s withdrawal from the coalition. Russian-British relations virtually ceased, and Paul I entered into an alliance with France in 1800.

India was lost to the French in the Seven Years' War and always attracted Napoleon. Most of all, he wanted to bring Great Britain to its knees, and the main wealth of English land lay in the vast, fertile India, overgrown with forests of valuable trees. It was from there that precious stones, silk fabrics and bread were brought. Without supplies of Indian raw materials, England's industry would face inevitable collapse, and the exploitation of China would become impossible due to the lack of opium. The British military forces in Bengal consisted of only two thousand English soldiers and thirty thousand Indians, trained in European methods of warfare. But their loyalty british crown was always in question. At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte and the Russian Emperor Paul I came up with a plan for the Indian Campaign. It provided for a combined operation of the French (with artillery support) and Russian infantry corps. Each corps included 35,000 people, not counting the Cossack cavalry and artillery. According to the plan, the French army was supposed to cross the Danube and the Black Sea, pass through all of Southern Russia, uniting with the Russian army at the mouth of the Volga. Then both corps, having crossed the Caspian Sea, landed in the Persian port of Astrabad and then went through Kandahar and Herat to India. An agreement was reached with the Turkish Sultan for the passage of French ships with landing forces through the Bosporus and Dardanelles. Three Russian frigates were supposed to arrive in the Indian Ocean from Kamchatka, which could possibly compete with the English ships located there.

The adventurousness of these actions arose due to a number of circumstances, the main one of which was extremely scarce information about the Asian region. Of course, Napoleon Bonaparte talked about the East with French scientists, diplomats, and intelligence officers and was aware that there would be many unforeseen difficulties in the way of his plan, but this did not bother him much.

Napoleon asked Paul I the question: “How will the Russian-French army penetrate into India through almost wild, barren countries, making a campaign of three hundred leagues from Astrabad to the borders of Hindustan?” The Russian Tsar dispelled his fears, expressing confidence in the success of the operation.

Paul I and Napoleon believed that the two of them were no worse than Alexander the Great. And if the hated British were able to conquer India alone, then why shouldn’t they be able to do it together? By general calculations, from the time the French regiments were sent from the Rhine to the complete conquest of India, no more than five months should have passed.

So that the ally would not doubt the loyalty of the Russians, Paul I in January 1801 gave the order to the Cossack troops to go on a campaign. The tsar entrusted the implementation of this operation to the ataman of the Don troops, Vasily Orlov. Due to the ataman’s advanced years, Paul I appointed officer Matvey Platov to support him, who, by the way, was released directly from the cell of the Alekseevsky ravelin for this purpose. The operation was completely secret. In St. Petersburg they only had information that the Cossacks were setting off on a campaign somewhere. Only five senior Cossack officers knew that they had to walk thousands of kilometers across the deserted steppe, and then through the sandy desert, cross the mountains, passing through all of Central Asia and the Pamirs. On the way, they were ordered to occupy Bukhara, and in Khiva to release all Russian prisoners. At the same time, Paul ordered “not to offend the peoples they meet along the route of the detachment, and kindly bring them into Russian citizenship.” As a reward to the Cossacks, he promised all the wealth of India.

The Emperor wrote to Orlov: “In India, the British have their own trading establishments, acquired either with money or. You need to ruin all this, liberate the oppressed owners and bring the land into Russia into the same dependence as the British have it.”

In a short time, 41 cavalry regiments with two companies of horse artillery were prepared for the campaign. In total, about twenty-two thousand Cossacks gathered. The state treasury allocated a fabulous sum of 1.5 million rubles for the operation.

This is how General of the Imperial Army Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov depicts the events that took place on the Don: “Where and why the campaign was planned - no one knew about it. Everyone, down to the last, had to be ready in six days to set out on two horses with a month and a half of provisions. Cossacks were required to carry guns and darts. There were 800 sick people in the army, but they were also ordered to appear for inspection. They walked sick, swollen from wounds, crippled. Orphans and helpless poor people were preparing for the campaign; Many Cossacks did not have uniform jackets and checkmen; they were dressed in old robes and homespun clothing. Nobody was respected. Even though the house burned down, even though everything was burned, go anyway, at the expense of the village. The regiments that had just arrived from the Caucasian line, from the Italian campaign, were again enlisted in service. Churches were left without sextons, village boards were left without clerks, they all were taken away. The militia was complete!”

On February 20, 1801, Orlov informed the sovereign that everything was ready for the journey. On February 28, the approval of the emperor arrived on the Don, and Matvey Platov, at the head of the main forces, set out from the village of Kachalinskaya to Orenburg, where the local administration was hastily preparing provisions for the campaign in the desert. The timing of the performance was calculated incorrectly, and from the first steps along the Trans-Don steppe the Cossacks had to overcome terrible difficulties. The roads were covered with snow, the artillerymen were exhausted, pulling guns out of deep snowdrifts. There were no apartments for heating anywhere; people and horses were freezing in the steppe. There was not enough food, there was no fuel, hay, or oats. At the beginning of March, when they reached the Volga near the Saratov province, a thaw set in. Streams began to flow, the steppe became wet, the roads became impassable, but only because of the mud. Many Cossacks fell ill and scurvy developed. Due to flooded rivers, the regiments had to change their routes so that food warehouses, organized along the route of the troops, remained far away. The commanders had to buy from own funds everything necessary for the army or issue receipts that the treasury was supposed to cash. Only in the Saratov province were such receipts issued for a huge sum at that time - ten thousand rubles. On top of everything else, it turned out that the local residents, who had to support the Cossack army through purchases of food and horse feed, did not have any food supplies. The previous year was lean and dry, so the Cossacks starved along with the Volga peasants. A new problem has appeared in Orenburg. Food and fodder prepared for the entire long expedition of the expedition did not have the required quantity vehicles to carry him after the army. On March 23, on the eve of the Resurrection of Christ, the Cossacks were in the village of Mechetnoye (now the city of Pugachev Saratov region). Here they were found by a courier from St. Petersburg with the death of Paul I and an order to return home. On the day of the Annunciation, the Cossacks set out on the return journey, which was much easier. Ataman Vasily Orlov died of a stroke on the way, and Matvey Platov took his place. On April 17, the Cossack regiments returned to their homeland.

Emperor Paul I obviously seriously believed that his Cossack army would go all the way from Orenburg to India without reconnaissance of the area, without preliminary agreements with the Central Asian khans, and without wheeled carts. We can safely say that with this act he sent the Cossacks, who were not prepared for such a journey, to certain death. In addition to Suvorov's crossing of the Alps, the Cossacks' campaign in India was one of the most difficult in their history, which showed how excellent their discipline was and how great their devotion to the tsar was.

Napoleon was sure that the British were behind the palace coup and the murder of Paul I, who defended their interests in India with the hands of Russian conspirators.

Enraged, Bonaparte declared: “The British missed me in Paris, but they did not miss me in St. Petersburg.”

Baron Jean-Leon Jerome. "Bonaparte before the Sphinx." 1867-1868

The plan for the conquest of India, drawn up by the kings, fell apart before it even began. However, Napoleon did not give up his attempts to capture this country. There is an opinion that the Patriotic War of 1812 was just preparation for Napoleon’s invasion of India. Even before the start of the war in March 1812, the heir to the Swedish throne, the former French Marshal Bernadotte, who had personal channels of information in Paris, conveyed to Alexander I the words of the emperor: “Russia will join my army either voluntarily, or as a result of the laws of victory and will be attracted to the great movement, which should change the face of the world." By the “great movement,” Bonaparte meant the invasion of the united Russian-French army, first into Turkey, then into Iran, and subsequently into India.

“Hindustan is ours!” and “a Russian soldier washing his boots in the Indian Ocean” - this could have become a reality back in 1801, when Paul I, together with Napoleon, attempted to conquer India.

Impenetrable Asia

As successful as Russia's exploration of the east was, it was just as unsuccessful in the south. In this direction, our state was constantly haunted by some kind of fate. The harsh steppes and ridges of the Pamirs always turned out to be an insurmountable obstacle for him. But it was probably not a matter of geographical obstacles, but a lack of clear goals.

By the end of the 18th century, Russia was firmly entrenched in the southern borders of the Ural range, but raids by nomads and intractable khanates hindered the empire’s advance to the south. Nevertheless, Russia looked not only at the still unconquered Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva, but also further - towards the unknown and mysterious India.

At the same time, Britain, whose American colony had fallen away like ripe fruit, concentrated its efforts on India, which occupied the most important strategic position in the Asian region. While Russia was stalling on its approach to Central Asia, England, moving further north, was seriously considering plans to conquer and populate the mountainous regions of India, favorable for farming. The interests of the two powers were about to collide.

"Napoleonic plans"

France also had its own plans for India. However, it was not so much interested in the territories as in the hated British, who were strengthening their rule there. The time was right to knock them out of India. Britain, torn by wars with the principalities of Hindustan, noticeably weakened its army in this region. Napoleon Bonaparte had only to find a suitable ally.

The First Consul turned his attention to Russia. “With your master, we will change the face of the world!” Napoleon flattered the Russian envoy. And he was right. Paul I, known for his grandiose plans to annex Malta to Russia or send a military expedition to Brazil, willingly agreed to a rapprochement with Bonaparte. The Russian Tsar was no less interested in French support. They had a common goal - weakening England.

However, it was Paul I who first proposed the idea of ​​a joint campaign against India, and Napoleon only supported this initiative. Paul, according to historian A. Katsura, was well aware “that the keys to mastery of the world are hidden somewhere in the center of the Eurasian space.” The eastern dreams of the rulers of two strong powers had every chance of coming true.

Indian blitzkrieg

Preparations for the campaign were carried out in secret, all information was mostly transmitted orally through couriers. The joint push to India was allotted a record time of 50 days. The Allies relied on the support of the Maharaja of Punjab, Tipu Said, to speed up the expedition's progress. From the French side, a 35,000-strong corps was to march, led by the famous General Andre Massena, and from the Russian side, the same number of Cossacks led by the ataman of the Don Army, Vasily Orlov. In support of the already middle-aged ataman, Pavel ordered the appointment of officer Matvey Platov, the future ataman of the Don Army and a hero of the War of 1812. In a short time, 41 cavalry regiments and two companies of horse artillery were prepared for the campaign, which amounted to 27,500 people and 55,000 horses.

There were no signs of trouble, but the grandiose undertaking was still in jeopardy. The fault lies with the British officer John Malcolm, who, in the midst of preparations for the Russian-French campaign, first entered into an alliance with the Afghans, and then with the Persian Shah, who had recently sworn allegiance to France. Napoleon was clearly not happy with this turn of events and he temporarily “froze” the project.

But the ambitious Pavel was accustomed to completing his undertakings and on February 28, 1801 he sent the Don Army to conquer India. He outlined his grandiose and bold plan to Orlov in a parting letter, noting that where you are assigned, the British have “their own trading establishments, acquired either with money or with weapons. You need to ruin all this, liberate the oppressed owners and bring Russia into the same dependence on the land as the British have it.”

Back home

It was clear from the outset that the expedition to India had not been properly planned. Orlov failed to collect necessary information about the route through Central Asia, he had to lead the army using the maps of the traveler F. Efremov, compiled in the 1770s - 1780s. The ataman was unable to gather an army of 35,000—at most 22,000 people set out on the campaign.

Winter travel on horseback across the Kalmyk steppes was a severe test even for seasoned Cossacks. Their movement was hampered by burkas wet from melted snow, rivers that had just begun to become free of ice, and sandstorms. There was a shortage of bread and fodder. But the troops were ready to go further.

Everything changed with the assassination of Paul I on the night of March 11-12, 1801. “Where are the Cossacks?” was one of the first questions of the newly-crowned Emperor Alexander I to Count Lieven, who participated in the development of the route. The sent courier with the order personally written by Alexander to stop the campaign overtook Orlov’s expedition only on March 23 in the village of Machetny, Saratov province. The Cossacks were ordered to return to their homes.
It is curious that the story of five years ago repeated itself, when after the death of Catherine II the Dagestan expedition of Zubov-Tsitsianov, sent to the Caspian lands, was returned.

English trace

Back on October 24, 1800, an unsuccessful attempt was made on Napoleon's life, in which the British were involved. Most likely, this is how English officials reacted to Bonaparte’s plans, afraid of losing their millions that the East India Company brought them. But with the refusal to participate in Napoleon’s campaign, the activities of English agents were redirected to the Russian emperor. Many researchers, in particular the historian Kirill Serebrenitsky, see precisely English reasons in the death of Paul.

This is indirectly confirmed by facts. For example, one of the developers of the Indian campaign and the main conspirator, Count Palen, was noticed in connections with the British. In addition, the British Isles generously supplied money to the St. Petersburg mistress of the English ambassador Charles Whitward so that, according to researchers, she would prepare the ground for a conspiracy against Paul I. It is also interesting that Paul’s correspondence with Napoleon in 1800-1801 was bought in 1816 by a private individual from Great Britain and was subsequently burned.

New perspectives

After the death of Paul, Alexander I, to the surprise of many, continued to improve relations with Napoleon, but tried to build them from positions more advantageous for Russia. The young king was disgusted by the arrogance and gluttony of the French ruler.
In 1807, during a meeting in Tilsit, Napoleon tried to persuade Alexander to sign an agreement on the division of the Ottoman Empire and a new campaign against India. Later, on February 2, 1808, in a letter to him, Bonaparte outlined his plans as follows: “If an army of 50 thousand Russians, French, and perhaps even a few Austrians headed through Constantinople to Asia and appeared on the Euphrates, it would make England and would have brought the continent to its feet.”

It is not known for certain how the Russian emperor reacted to this idea, but he preferred that any initiative come not from France, but from Russia. In subsequent years, already without France, Russia begins to actively develop Central Asia and establish trade relations with India, eliminating any adventures in this matter.

– Twenty thousand Cossacks –
To India, on a hike! –
Paul the First ordered
In my last year.
- O-two-horse to gather the Donets,
Without getting into the essence.
Send messengers to Orenburg,
To pave the way.
- There's no point in arguing. Order.
The king said - go on a campaign.
- We fought more than once,
- It's a pity we don't know the move.
The blizzard is howling,
February is heartbreaking.
How will fate decide now?
There is no fortune teller... It's a pity.
The horses get stuck... Rough snow,
The Cossacks are getting cold...
Success is unlikely to come
The Donetsk people are grumbling.
Don was left without husbands,
We took everyone on a hike:
The poor, the wounded, the sick,
Even old people.
Clerks and teenagers were taken
And sextons...
A.I. Mordovina - “Poems about the Don Cossacks”

Why do huge masses of people suddenly rise from their homes and, driven by some idea, move forward, despite any difficulties and obstacles, perform feats, go to martyrdom...?

The answer can be found in the research of Lev Nikolaevich Gumilyov (1912-1992), the son of glorious Russian citizens - poets Nikolai Gumilyov and Anna Akhmatova.

Lev Gumilyov explained this by introducing the concept of “passionarity” from the Latin “passion”. Passionarity according to Gumilyov “... is a characterological dominant, it is an irresistible internal desire (conscious or, most often, unconscious) for activity aimed at achieving some goal (often illusory). This goal seems more valuable to a passionate individual than even his own life, and even more so the life and happiness of his contemporaries and fellow tribesmen...”

King Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), to achieve his personal unsurpassed glory, reached India with his soldiers and conquered it in 326 BC.

Why did you remember Alexander the Great and his campaign in India?

In 1796, Pavel Petrovich Romanov, Pavel I (1754-1801), ascended the throne, replacing his mother, Empress Catherine II.
At the end of his reign, Paul I sharply changed the guidelines of Russian foreign policy and began joint actions with Napoleon against England, for which in January 1801 he sent 23,000 Cossacks to conquer India, trying to strike the British in an unexpected place, and at the same time subjugate not only India to Russia, but also but also everything that lies between India and Russia - this was said in the order given on January 12, 1801 to the ataman of the Don army, cavalry general V.P. Orlov for the Cossack army... to move "... straight through Bukharia and Khiva to the Indus River and to the English establishments along it...". Having received the imperial rescript, the ataman ordered the army so that “before the last, in six days, everyone should set out with a month and a half of provisions.”
The Ural Cossacks were also supposed to join these forces.

How did this Cossack campaign go? Let us turn to the essays on the history of the Don Army, written by an expert on the history of the Cossacks, a classic of Russian military prose, ataman of the All-Great Don Army, cavalry general of the Imperial Army Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov (1869-1947).
This is how he describes these events: “On January 12, 1801, Emperor Paul I deigned to command: to gather the entire Don army. Where and why the campaign was planned - no one knew. The military ataman Vasily Petrovich Orlov ordered all officers, non-commissioned officers and Cossacks to prepare. Everyone, down to the last, had to be ready in six days to set out on two horses with a month and a half of provisions. The Cossacks were obliged to have guns and darts with them... No one knew where the Don army would go. There were 800 sick people in the army, but they were also ordered to appear for inspection. They walked sick, swollen from wounds, crippled. Orphans and helpless poor people were preparing for the campaign; Many Cossacks did not have uniform jackets and checkmen; they were dressed in old robes and homespun clothing. Nobody was respected. Although the house burned down, although everything was burned, go anyway, at the expense of the village. Rich Cossacks equipped the poor... The ataman ordered to take out of line, and the last owner went, although his two brothers were already serving in the regiments. The regiments that had just arrived from the Caucasian line, from the Italian campaign, were again enlisted in service. Churches were left without sextons, village boards were left without clerks, they all were taken away. The militia was complete!
They also demanded Kalmyks to serve. The landowner officers were not allowed to go to their farms. Wives did not say goodbye to their husbands, children did not say goodbye to their fathers. Hastily, according to the royal decree, an army was assembled.
The following villages were designated as gathering places: Buzulutskaya, Medveditskaya, Ust-Medveditskaya and Kachalinskaya. In the winter cold, at the end of February, the Cossacks gathered to review the ataman. In total, the troops recruited 510 officers, 20,947 Cossack cavalry regiments, 500 artillerymen and 500 Kalmyks. These people made up the 41st cavalry regiment.
Orlov divided them into 4 parts. 1, out of 13 regiments, was led by Major General Platov; 2, from 8 regiments, Major General Buzin; 3rd, from 10 regiments, Major General Bokov and 4th, from 10 regiments, Major General Denisov, who had just returned from Italy. Ataman Orlov and with him two companies of Don horse artillery and military engineers walked with General Platov’s detachment. The artillery was commanded by Colonel Karpov.
On February 27 and 28, the regiments set out on an unknown campaign. Their path lay towards the Orenburg side.
No one else, except the ataman and the commanders of the columns, knew anything.
What happened and why was such a terrible effort demanded from the Donskoy army?
Emperor Paul I suddenly quarreled with his allies, the British, and, in alliance with the French Emperor Napoleon, decided to declare war on England. The main wealth of the English land lay in the vast, fertile India, covered with forests of rare trees. Semi-precious stones are also mined from Indian soil, and precious silk fabrics are also prepared there. England trades in the products of India, its grain and materials, and it is rich in it. Emperor Paul decided to take India from England and entrusted the Don Cossacks with doing this. They had to travel thousands of miles across the deserted steppe, then across the sandy desert, cross the mountains and invade Indian lands.
“India,” the Emperor wrote to Orlov, “where you are appointed, is governed by one main owner and many small ones. The British have their own trading establishments, purchased either with money or with weapons. You need to ruin all this, liberate the oppressed owners and bring the land into Russia into the same dependence as the British have it. Trade her to turn to us.
Ataman was also sent a map of India. Along the way, the Don Cossacks were to occupy Bukhara and free our prisoners in Khiva. All the wealth of India was promised to the Cossacks as a reward.
If Ataman Orlov and the Don Cossacks had time to fulfill this order, they would have glorified themselves more than Ermak, the conqueror of Siberia... But the Lord did not decree that the sovereign’s great plan should be accomplished!
From the very first steps in the Trans-Don steppe, the Cossacks encountered terrible difficulties. The roads were covered with snow, and the artillery was exhausted, pulling guns out of deep snowdrifts. There were no apartments for heating anywhere, and people and horses were cold and frozen in the cold wind in the steppe. There was no fuel, there was not enough food, there was no hay and oats. Unfed horses barely trudged towards the brutal cold snowstorms.
At the beginning of March there was a sudden thaw. The streams began to play, the steppe became wet, the mud became impassable. Each beam became a terrible obstacle. Military foreman Papuzin barely crossed the usually empty Talovka River. He walked forty miles in knee-deep mud, crossing Talovka itself on a bridge he had built from brushwood, farm fences, gates and roofs.
Finally we approached the Volga. The ice swelled and turned brown. The horses fell through it. In some places it has already started moving. Denisov and his column approached him and saw that the crossing was dangerous. Across the entire river, he placed men with ropes and gave them several Cossacks to provide assistance. They began to lead the horses, but they fell through and went to the bottom. However, Denisov knew that on large rivers the ice in the middle is always thicker, and so he ordered his tall and well-fed horses to be led forward. At first they failed, but then they moved on. The Cossacks followed them. Up to 700 horses failed, but the Cossacks pulled them all out. The crossing lasted five hours.
And they went again, first along the Volga, then along the Irgaz River. The steppe became more and more deserted. Commissioner Terenin, who undertook to deliver bread and fodder, did not fulfill his obligation; On the Volga this summer was lean, and he could not collect food. When we arrived for the night, we didn’t find any oats, and the hay was mixed with garbage. The horses were dying from lack of food, and the path traversed by the Cossacks was marked by a long line of swollen horse corpses and black flocks of crows.
The Don people were drawn into the boundless steppes in a huge crowd and became lost in them, like a grain of sand. The distant songs fell silent. The Cossacks froze at night, and during the day they suffered in the mud and puddles into which the spring sun turned the steppe. There were already many sick Cossacks. Scurvy appeared.
And ahead was the same steppe, and there was no end to it. And the sun rose there in a golden fog, and the plain stretched on all day, today, as it was yesterday, as it will be tomorrow.
It was hard for the Cossacks, but silently, without grumbling, they went to fight an unknown enemy, to conquer distant India for Russia.
From the Don we walked almost seven hundred miles through the desert. On March 23, on the eve of the Resurrection of Christ, a Cossack detachment located in the village of Mechetnoye, Volsky district, Saratov province, was caught up by a courier from St. Petersburg. On the night of March 11-12, Emperor Paul I died and Emperor Alexander I Pavlovich ascended the throne. He ordered to return home. Now the order was to assemble the shelves. Ataman Orlov came out to them and said in an inspired voice trembling with joyful excitement:
- God and the Emperor favor you guys with parental homes!
On the first day of Easter, the ataman and some regiments listened to mass in the Old Believer Monastery not far from Mechetny. It was fun that day in the Cossack camp. Cannons were fired, guns were fired, songs were sung.
On the day of the Annunciation we set off on the return journey. The way back was easier. Spring was coming. It was getting warmer, but in some places the mud was still impassable. Between 9 and 17 April the regiments returned home. The Khopersky, Medveditsky, Buzulutsky, Verkhnedonsky and Donetsk Cossacks were released straight from the border, the rest with the officers on the left side of the Don went to Cherkassk.
On May 2, the ataman arrived in Cherkassk,
After Suvorov's crossing of the Alps, the Orenburg campaign of the Don Cossacks is the most difficult of the marching movements. 1564 versts were made by a 20,000-strong cavalry detachment in two months across the deserted steppe during the spring thaw. Done without loss of people and without stragglers. And the horses endured this trip, despite the lack of food, well. The regiment had from 62 (in the Ataman regiment) to 12 (in the Mironov regiment) fallen horses.
Many years have passed since then, none of the participants in this campaign are alive, but the old people still remember the stories of their fathers about the mysterious campaign towards Orenburg, about the time when the Cossacks were swept away on the Don - there was no one left, and the women were all working work. They remember this terrible, difficult time of eternal campaigns.
And young people, talking about this campaign against India, often ask the question: “Could the Cossacks have reached India, could they have ruined it?”
The Cossacks performed many great feats. With only peaks, on foot, they took the Izmail strongholds, crossed the Black Sea in light boats, fought on their own, took Azov at their own peril, with Suvorov they crossed the sky-high heights of the Alpine mountains, but this command - to conquer distant India - was impossible to fulfill. Those who sent them did not know how far and difficult this path was and how many obstacles the Cossacks encountered on it. It was impossible to reach India through a deserted desert, without food and fodder. But the Don army set out to carry out the will of the sovereign without reasoning - all the Cossacks would have died in it. The campaign against India is remarkable because in it the Cossacks showed how great and excellent their discipline and devotion to the sovereign was, how hardened they were in the adversities of the campaign.
Our grandfathers, with all their valiant service, taught us to perform feats, and the campaign against India is an example of high courage, desperate determination, holy submission to the sovereign’s will!..”

By the way, with this Cossack campaign, the situation is also far from being as simple as it seems at first glance. After all, things were very restless on the Don at that time. The only thing is that in the fall of 1800 in Cherkassk, Colonel of the Life Guards Cossack Regiment Evgraf Gruzinov, one of the former Gatchina residents, was executed “for rebellious intentions.” one of the most faithful, devoted, who served under Paul even when he was the Grand Duke - and Evgraf’s brother, retired lieutenant colonel Pyotr Gruzinov, testifies to many things. The Emperor more than once expressed a desire to “shake up the Cossacks,” so he sent them “their way” - for the purpose of “military education.”

The order of Paul I of January 12, 1801 is often interpreted as some absolutely senseless and insane act that sent Cossacks unprepared for such a campaign to certain death. Meanwhile, this is not entirely true. The fact is that in addition to the Cossacks, two more armies were supposed to go to India: the Russian one with 45-50 thousand soldiers and the French one of the same size. And this circumstance makes a trip to India not so crazy.

The author of the idea of ​​the “Indian campaign” was Napoleon Bonaparte himself. Back in 1800, he suggested that Russia organize a military expedition to India in order to take away a rich colony from the British. According to Napoleon's plan, the Russian corps was supposed to set out from Astrakhan, cross the Caspian Sea and land in the Persian city of Astrabad. The French corps from the Rhine Army of Marshal Moreau was supposed to go down to the mouth of the Danube, cross to Taganrog, and then move through Tsaritsyn to Astrabad. Napoleon considered the possibility of going to India personally at the head of an expeditionary force.

A joint campaign against India was planned from Persia. Three Russian frigates were supposed to approach the Indian Ocean from Kamchatka, which could compete with the English ships there...

As Paul I and Napoleon believed, the two of them were no worse than Alexander the Great alone. If the British were able to conquer India alone, then why couldn’t the Russians and French do it together? Finally, if the Indian project were truly a pure utopia, it would not have caused such a commotion in England...!!!

The military forces in Bengal then consisted of only 2 thousand British soldiers and 30 thousand sepoys - Indians trained in European methods of warfare. In addition, the sepoys' loyalty to London was always in question. So, in 1857, it was the sepoys who led the uprising against the British colonialists.

In the study “History of the 19th Century” by French professors Lavisse and Rambaud, published in France in the 1920s, one can read: “Since both rulers (Napoleon and Paul I) had the same irreconcilable enemy, it naturally suggested itself the idea of ​​a closer rapprochement between them for the sake of a joint fight against this enemy in order to finally crush the Indian power of England - the main source of its wealth and power. This is how that great plan arose (highlighted in the text), the first thought of which, without a doubt, belonged to Bonaparte, and the means for execution were studied and proposed by the king.”

The weakening of the power of England made France the absolute master of Europe.
The war in Europe had been going on for a good ten years and showed the approximate equality of the parties - France and England. This confrontation with variable success could have continued for quite a long time if there had not been a third great state on the continent - Russia. Paul the 1st, no matter how he was portrayed during his lifetime and subsequently, understood that, firstly, one must be friends with the winner and, secondly, that it was Russia that should determine the winner.

The famous Soviet scientist A. Z. Manfred assessed the situation as follows: “Russia at that time was economically and politically significantly behind England and France. But it far surpassed them in its vast territory, population, and military power. Russia's strength was based on its military might."

The concept of infringed knightly honor was also important for Paul I. The seizure by the British of Malta, which Paul took under his protection, accepting the title of Grand Master of the Order of St. in 1798. John of Jerusalem, quarreled him with England. The main goal of all Russian foreign policy at that time was the liberation of Malta from the British. Paul, who at that time stood at the head of the Catholic (!) Order of Malta, was deeply offended by the fact that London did not want to return “their island” to the Knights of Malta.
And the Orthodox Cossacks went, led by the Old Believer ataman M.I. Platov, the future Hero Patriotic War 1812, to fight against the Protestant English for the interests of the Catholic French. Interesting twist to the story!
It is noteworthy that Major General Matvey Platov was specially released from the Peter and Paul Fortress for this purpose. Platov later recalled: “The operator asks: “Ataman, do you know the way to the Ganga?” This is the first time I've heard it, apparently. But who wants to sit in prison for nothing? I say: “Yes, ask any girl on the Don about the Ganges, she’ll show you the way right away...” Here I have a Maltese cross on my shirt - bam! My lice were really stunned. They were ordered to go to India and grab the English by the cheeks...”

Historian A.N. Arkhangelsky in his book “Alexander I” writes: “A little later there will be talk about the insanity of Paul, who sent the Cossacks on a campaign against India. The fact that the plan was developed jointly with Napoleon, as well as Catherine’s long-standing plans to fight along the banks of the Ganges and Peter’s Persian campaign, was somehow forgotten.”

So, does this mean that the Russian tsars came up with the idea of ​​leading the Russians in a campaign against India long before Paul? It is not difficult to verify this - the author of the “Caucasian War,” Lieutenant General V. A. Potto, testifies: “Peter transferred his favorite thoughts to the Caspian coast and decided to undertake an exploration of the eastern shores of this sea, from where he proposed to look for a trade route to India. He chose Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky as the executor of this powerful thought. In 1716, Bekovich sailed from Astrakhan and began to concentrate a strong detachment near the very mouth of the Yaik. A five hundred horse regiment of Grebenskys and part of the Terek Cossacks were assigned to this campaign from the Caucasus...” But the detachment of Prince Cherkassy died in battles with the Khivans.

On the night of March 11-12, 1801, Paul I was killed as a result of a conspiracy led by his son Alexander Pavlovich Romanov - Alexander I (1777-1825).

For Napoleon, the participation of the British in the murder of the Russian emperor did not raise the slightest doubt. It is known that Napoleon, having learned about the murder of Paul, became incredibly furious and exclaimed: “The British missed me in Paris, but they did not miss me in St. Petersburg.” Napoleon was referring to an assassination attempt that had been committed shortly before: he himself miraculously escaped death as a result of the explosion of the “infernal machine.”

One can only guess how the fate of Russia would have developed in an alliance with Napoleonic France if not for the regicide?

Alexander I, the parricide heir, concluded the Peace of Tilsit, which was shameful for Russia, with the same Napoleon in 1807, and another son of the murdered Paul I, Nicholas I (1796-1855), again shamefully lost the Eastern (Crimean) War in 1855 same for the French and English...

Used literature:
Bondarenko A. The Legend of the Mad Emperor. – M. – “Red Star”. – 01/24/2001.

Glushchenko V.V. Cossacks of Eurasia. – M.: University Book, 2005.

Gumilyov L.N. The end and the beginning again. – M.: Iris Press, 2007. – P.48-56

Krasnov P.N. History of the Don Cossacks. Essays on the history of the Don Army. – M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2007. - P.296-304.

Ryzhov K.V. All monarchs of Russia. – M.: Veche, 2003. – P.431-442.

Romanov P. What do Paul I, Frunze and Zhirinovsky have in common? – M. – “RIA Novosti” – 07/06/2006.

Kashan O. How the Cossacks went to India.
In its history, Russia has never fought with India. – M. – “Asia and Africa today” - 01/28/2003.

There is still no consensus among historians about Emperor Paul I (1796-1801). Some consider him a short-sighted tyrant who has done nothing worthwhile during his five years in power. The latter, on the contrary, say that he led the country to political independence, and his reforms were timely and effective.

But, one way or another, the emperor dared to take an unprecedented step - to attack India in order to deprive Britain of economic power. Moreover, the military campaign was not a whim; it was clearly planned and had a good chance of success.

Ambiguous personality

Although Paul I was an ardent Prussophile, he understood perfectly well that Russia was on the margins of the political life of Europe. Moreover, the country was most often simply used in the interests of others. And the emperor was not happy with this. By the way, it was he who said that Russia needs 20-25 years without wars to become the greatest world power. And at first, Paul I strictly adhered to this path.
Under him, the country calmed down and stopped “absorbing” new territories. The only exceptions were Eastern Georgia and Alaska. But their annexation took place quietly and calmly, without military clashes. The emperor decided to use the quiet time to develop industry, trade and science.
But then he retreated from the chosen path. First (1798), the emperor came under the influence of British diplomats and tried to get involved in the war with Napoleon. Russia even joined the anti-French coalition. As a result: Italian and Swiss campaigns of Suvorov. But then Paul I changed his mind and decided that the time had come to strike a powerful blow against the main enemy - England. And already in 1800, friendship was established with France. Both countries wanted to make a deal with England, but it was difficult to do this even with joint efforts. After all, the British had the strongest fleet. And then it was decided to “strike England in its very heart - in India,” as the Russian emperor himself said.

Napoleon's plan

This grandiose campaign was never destined to take place. Therefore, now a whole cloud of various myths and legends has gathered around him. And historians, who see only a tyrant in Paul I, confidently declare that all this is “madness.” Like, an amateur and an adventurer decided to play soldiers with living people. But the most interesting thing is that the Russian emperor did not take part in the development of the plan for a military campaign in India. Napoleon personally handled it.
He thought about this back in 1797, before the famous “trip” to Egypt. But then the Frenchman had a problem that he could not solve - Türkiye. The Sultan refused to allow anyone's armies to pass through his territory. So friendship with Pavel was just in time.
At the same time, Napoleon wanted the military expedition to be a Russian-French one. And the entire operation would be led by Divisional General Andre Massena. In this case, a large role was assigned to the Russian fleet, which was supposed to approach India from Kamchatka and, of course, to the Cossacks.
Russian-French troops would hardly have been able to conquer India. But Massena hoped for help from the dissatisfied local population: Baluchis, Pashtuns, Turkmen, Indian Muslims. In general, everyone who was “offended” by the British. And “all” turned out to be more than a hundred thousand people. And therefore Massena set aside one year for the operation.
Napoleon and Pavel even managed to share the “skin of an unkilled bear.” They decided this: if there is victory, then northern India (along the border with Nepal) will become a protectorate of Russia. France will “steer” the remaining part.

Twist of history

And Paul I issued a decree sending a detachment of Cossacks to India. In the shortest possible time, more than twenty thousand people were mobilized, and Major General Platov stood at the head of the army. By the way, he was specifically released from the Peter and Paul Fortress for this purpose.
First, the Cossacks headed towards Orenburg. From there they had to move to Bukhara, and then to Khiva. There it was necessary to release Russian prisoners.
The campaign lasted only eleven days. Because on the night of March 12, 1801, the emperor was killed by conspirators. It is generally accepted that the conspirators were led by the St. Petersburg Governor-General Palen. But there was also a “gray eminence” in that company - the English Ambassador Whitworth. It was he who developed the plan to assassinate the Russian emperor. Paul I himself sensed something was wrong, but suspected his sons Alexander and Constantine of the conspiracy. Therefore, literally a few hours before their death, he forced them to swear allegiance.
When Paul died, power passed into the hands of Alexander I. And he, almost with his first decree, returned the Cossacks, and at the same time, broke the agreement with France on the campaign to India. In general, British diplomacy pulled off a brilliant operation. The same Lord Whitworth described his enthusiasm for this in detail in his letter to the Anglophile Vorontsov: “I ask you to accept my most sincere congratulations. How can I express everything I feel about this happy occasion sent by Providence? The more I think about him, the more I thank heaven.” And in St. Petersburg itself, on the night of the emperor’s assassination, there was not enough champagne for everyone - so many people were celebrating the change of power.

With the death of Paul I, a complete split occurred in Russian society between the common people and the elite. Therefore, many historians believe that the death of the emperor, first of all, put an end to the policy of change, both external and internal.

In 1909, Cossack general Pyotr Krasnov wrote about the failed campaign against India: “If Ataman Orlov and the Cossacks had time to fulfill this order, they would have glorified themselves more than Ermak.” But history does not know the subjunctive mood.