Editing History of Russia (section)

===Alexander I and victory over Napoleon===
[[File:Napoleons retreat from moscow.jpg|thumb|[[Napoleon]]'s retreat from Moscow]]
By the time of her death in 1796, Catherine's expansionist policy had made Russia a major European power. [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] continued this policy, wresting Finland from the weakened kingdom of Sweden in 1809 and [[Bessarabia]] from the Ottomans in 1812. His key advisor was a Polish nobleman [[Adam Jerzy Czartoryski]].<ref>Charles Morley, "Czartoryski's attempts at a new foreign policy under Alexander I." ''American Slavic and East European Review'' 12.4 (1953): 475-485.</ref>

After Russian armies liberated allied [[History of Georgia (country)|Georgia]] from Persian occupation in 1802, they [[Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)|clashed with Persia]] over control and consolidation over Georgia, as well as the Iranian territories that comprise modern-day [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Dagestan]]. They also became involved in the [[Caucasian War]] against the [[Caucasian Imamate]] and [[Circassia]]. In 1813, the war with Persia concluded with a Russian victory, forcing [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar Iran]] to cede swaths of its territories in the Caucasus to Russia,<ref>Timothy C. Dowling [https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728 ''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021003937/https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728 |date=21 October 2022 }} pp. 728–729 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 {{ISBN|1598849484}}</ref> which drastically increased its territory in the region. To the south-west, Russia tried to expand at the expense of the [[Ottoman Empire]], using Georgia at its base for the Caucasus and Anatolian front.

In European policy, Alexander I switched Russia back and forth four times in 1804–1812 from neutral peacemaker to anti-Napoleon to an ally of Napoleon, winding up in 1812 as Napoleon's enemy. In 1805, he joined Britain in the [[War of the Third Coalition]] against Napoleon, but after the massive defeat at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] he switched and formed an alliance with Napoleon by the [[Treaty of Tilsit]] (1807) and joined Napoleon's [[Continental System]]. He fought [[Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812)|a small-scale naval war against Britain, 1807–1812]].

The alliance collapsed by 1810. Russia's economy had been hurt by Napoleon's Continental System, which cut off trade with Britain. As Esdaile notes, "Implicit in the idea of a Russian Poland was, of course, a war against Napoleon".<ref>Charles Esdaile, ''Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803–1815'' (2007) p. 438</ref> Schroeder says Poland was the root cause of the conflict but Russia's refusal to support the Continental System was also a factor.<ref>Paul W. Schroeder, ''The Transformation of European Politics: 1763–1848'' (1994) p. 419</ref>

[[File:Russparis.jpg|thumb|The entry of Russian troops into [[Paris]] in 1814, headed by the Emperor [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]]]]
The [[Napoleon's invasion of Russia|invasion of Russia]] was a catastrophe for Napoleon and his 450,000 invasion troops. One major battle was fought at [[Battle of Borodino|Borodino]]; casualties were very high, but it was indecisive, and Napoleon was unable to engage and defeat the Russian armies. He tried to force the Tsar to terms by [[French occupation of Moscow|capturing Moscow]] at the onset of winter, even though he had lost most of his men. Instead, the Russians retreated, burning crops and food supplies in a scorched earth policy that multiplied Napoleon's logistic problems: 85%–90% of Napoleon's soldiers died from disease, cold, starvation or ambush by peasant guerrillas. As Napoleon's forces retreated, Russian troops pursued them into Central and Western Europe, defeated Napoleon's army in the [[Battle of the Nations]] and finally captured Paris.<ref>Esdaile, ''Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803–1815'' (2007) pp. 460–480</ref><ref>{{cite book|first = Alan|last = Palmer|title = Alexander I: Tsar of War and Peace|publisher = Faber & Faber|date = 2014 |isbn=9780571305872}}</ref> Of a total population of around 43 million people,<ref>{{cite book|first = W.H. |last = Parker|title = An historical geography of Russia|date = 1968|page = 193|publisher = University of London Press|isbn = 978-0340069400}}</ref> Russia lost about 1.5 million in the year 1812; of these about 250,000 to 300,000 were soldiers and the rest peasants and serfs.<ref>Geoffrey Best, ''War and Society in Revolutionary Europe, 1770–1870'' (1998) p. 187</ref>

After the defeat of Napoleon, Alexander presided over the redrawing of the map of Europe at the [[Congress of Vienna]] (1814–1815), which made him the king of [[Congress Poland]]. He formed the [[Holy Alliance]] with Austria and Prussia, to suppress revolutionary movements in Europe that he saw as immoral threats to legitimate Christian monarchs. He helped Austria's [[Klemens von Metternich]] in suppressing all national and liberal movements.<ref>Henry A. Delfiner, "Alexander I, the holy alliance and Clemens Metternich: A reappraisal." ''East European Quarterly'' 37.2 (2003): 127+.</ref>

Although the Russian Empire would play a leading role on behalf of conservatism as late as 1848, its retention of serfdom precluded economic progress of any significant degree. As West European economic growth accelerated during the Industrial Revolution, sea trade and colonialism which had begun in the second half of the 18th century, Russia began to lag ever farther behind, undermining its ability to field strong armies.