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a-a-ra-s-s-s-s-a-s-s-a-s-a-s- Welcome to the Russian rulers podcast

episode 54 Napoleon versus Alexander.

Last week, Alexander started his reign

with all good intentions of enacting numerous liberal reforms, including freeing the over 50 million

serfs, but instead had the guts to only free a few and only change the onerous laws

his father Paul the first had created.

He now had to face a bigger and fiercer threat, the grand armay of Napoleon Bonaparte.

When we left Alexander, he was in Berlin trying to get the Prussians involved in the war effort,

but he was unable to convince them to help out.

The lead general of the Russian army, a very capable man.

Marshall Kutuzov wanted to pull back and join up with the Austrians to present an army of 175,000 to Napoleon.

Unfortunately, Emperor Alexander took control of the army and despite desperate pleas to pull back, he decided to attack with 40,000 troops, with

46,000 in reserve against Napoleon's crack army of 70,000. Citing with the Russians. the near the town of Austerlitz was a complete Russian-Australian disaster.

Starting at 7 a.m. on December 2nd, Alexander the 1st sent the first 50,000 troops in.

By 10 a.m. Napoleon's troops had seized the advantage

and by four in the afternoon the route was on.

Alexander with a small entourage escaped,

not finding his army for days while being chased.

Estimates lay the Russian dead at between 15 to 25,000, with the French sending up messages asking for peace, which Alexander refused to even consider.

The Austrian Emperor Francis II saw no need to continue and sued for peace.

Before Alexander could even make it back to St. Petersburg, the Prussian king, Frederick

...