Treaties of Tilsit

dating from the post-Tilsit period. It shows the French and Russian emperors embracing each other. The treaty ended the war between Imperial Russia and the French Empire and began an alliance between the two empires that rendered the rest of continental Europe almost powerless. The two countries secretly agreed to aid each other in disputes. France pledged to aid Russia against the Ottoman Empire while Russia agreed to join the Continental System against the British Empire. Napoleon also convinced Alexander I to enter into the Anglo-Russian War and to instigate the Finnish War against Sweden to force Sweden to join the Continental System. More specifically, the Tsar agreed to evacuate Wallachia and Moldavia, which had been occupied by Russian forces as part of the Russo-Turkish War, 1806–1812. The Ionian Islands and Cattaro (Kotor), which had been captured by Russian admirals Fyodor Ushakov and Dmitry Senyavin, were to be handed over to the French. In recompense, Napoleon guaranteed the sovereignty of the Duchy of Oldenburg and several other small states ruled by the Tsar's German relatives. The decision to meet on a raft on the Neman was the expression of the perfect equality of both emperors. Monarchs, princes, generalsrecently desperate enemies became literally friends. One part of Tilsit was occupied by a battalion of Russian Guardsmen, the other by a French Guard battalion. A richly caparisoned Arabian horse was prepared for Alexander, and he rode along the ranks of French Guardsmen, frozen with their rifles at attention. Alexander, a superb horseman, sat his horse impeccably and responded to the military salutes with a gracious smile, saluting the battalions frozen at attention with his sword. To demonstrate the extent to which both sides respected each other, Napoleon gave orders that the following words would be the daily password, response, and slogan of the French Guard the following day: "Alexander, Russia, Greatness", while the Russian Guard was given the password "Napoleon, France, Prowess". == Franco-Prussian treaty (9 July) ==

, Alexander I of Russia, Queen Louise of Prussia, and Frederick William III in Tilsit, 1807, painted by Nicolas Gosse, c. 1900 '' by Gioacchino Giuseppe Serangeli The treaty with Prussia stripped the country of about half its territory: Cottbus passed to Saxony, the left bank of the Elbe was awarded to the newly created Kingdom of Westphalia, Białystok was given to Russia (which led to the creation of the Belostok Oblast), and most of the Polish lands in Prussian possession since the Second and Third Partitions became the quasi-independent Duchy of Warsaw. Prussia was to reduce the army to 43,000 and on 9 March 1808, France fixed its tribute to be levied from Prussia at 154,500,000 francs (= Prussian dollar 41.73 mio.), deducting 53,500,000, which had been raised so far during the ongoing French occupation. The sum was lowered in two steps to 120 million francs by 1 November 1808. Talleyrand had advised Napoleon to pursue milder terms; the treaties marked an important stage in his estrangement from the emperor. Until 1812, the French occupants requisitioned in money and kind from various corporations and persons, especially by billetting soldiers on cities, further contributions additionally amounting to between 146 and 309 million francs, according to different calculations. The cities' debts, especially those of Berlin often billetted on, were not assumed by the Prussian government. Since the creditors deemed Prussia to be over-indebted in 1817, the 4% state bonds were traded at the bourses with a disagio of 27 to 29%, in 1818 even with a discount of 35%, causing the effective interest to rise to 6.15%. At the restructuring part of the debts in 1818 by a £5 million loan (= thaler 30 million) at 5% at the London financial market, the Prussian government had to accept a disagio of 28⅓%, thus paying an annual effective rate of 6.98%. == Aftermath ==

showing John Bull refreshing the Russian Bear's memory The War of the Fourth Coalition was over. The Peninsular War began on 19 November 1807, and the War of the Fifth Coalition began in 1809. The Neman was crossed at the outset of the 1812 French invasion of Russia. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the Congress of Vienna would restore many Prussian territories. By signing these treaties, France left Persia and the Ottomans, who had previously hoped for France's help under treaties with France (including Finckenstein), in the face of Russian aggression, and established the loss of parts of Persia in the Caucasus, such as the present-day countries Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. == References ==