Greek shield

Alexander the Great considered the construction of new cities, most of which were called Alexandria, to be an important matter for the rapprochement of the conquered peoples. Ancient historians numbered about 70 Alexandria. The most famous of them - Egyptian - was founded in 331 BC. The construction order itself is sufficient big city and the selection of a site for it in the Nile Delta ensured future prosperity for this Alexandria.

ARISTOTLE - ALEXANDER'S TEACHER

The Greek philosopher and scientist-encyclopedist Aristotle (384-322 BC) was not a military man. However, when Philip II's son grew up, Aristotle was invited to be his teacher. Philip was thinking about new aggressive campaigns in which Alexander was to command the army. Already in those distant times, they knew that only a person with a good education could successfully lead the army.

Aristotle taught his pupil mathematics, history, logic, pedagogy, natural sciences, music, medicine, and philosophy.

From the age of seventeen, Alexander's training was interrupted more than once, since he, along with his father, participated in campaigns and battles. However, even after his accession to the throne, the young king continued to improve in the sciences for another three years under the guidance of Aristotle, who, apparently, accompanied Alexander on his first campaigns.

The commander who did not know defeat

The military campaigns of Alexander the Great, which lasted about 10 years, demonstrated the flowering of the military art of Ancient Greece. He conquered a huge territory - from the Danube in the west to the Indus in the east, from the Nile in the south to the Amu Darya in the north. The commander Alexander the Great did not suffer a single defeat. The personality of the Macedonian conqueror, his brilliant military successes made a huge impression both on his contemporaries and on subsequent generations. In ancient times, numerous legends were told about Alexander, a whole mythological epic was created, the hero of which was the famous Macedonian.

After a long and difficult campaign against the rebels, Alexander subdued Sogdiana, Spitamenes was killed by his own followers. Alexander married Roxana, daughter of Oxyartes, one of the Sogdian chiefs who fought most valiantly against him, and later became viceroy of the Macedonian emperor. Then Alexander began a campaign in India. His army fought its way through the passes north of the Kabul valley, where it crushed the fierce resistance of the local tribes, and in 327 BC reached the Indus River. And in the spring of 326, his army invaded Central India until it was stopped by the Hydaspes River, fast and swollen with rains. On the other side stood the army of the Indian ruler Pora, numbering about 35 thousand people. With Alexander, about 20,000 troops came here. There was no question of crossing the flooded river in full view of the enemy. Alexander set up camp on the shore and tried to convince Porus that he would not try to cross until the water subsided. In an effort to further confuse the Indians, he undertook a series of feints up and down the river. Tired of being constantly on the lookout for this incessant activity, the Indians eventually began to react casually to the Macedonian manoeuvres.

Noticing this loss of vigilance, Alexander quickly scouted out a crossing site 26 kilometers upstream from his camp. With about half of the army, he made a rush to the chosen place on a rainy night, leaving the other half to continue maneuvers on the coast in view of the Pora camp. The boats were already ready, and the crossing was completed shortly after dawn. Stunned by the news that Alexander was on its shore, Por drew up an army near the camp, bringing about 100 elephants into line in front of the front: he believed that the horses of Alexander's horsemen would not be able to resist them. Alexander appeared before this formidable army with about 6,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry. He sent half of the cavalry under the command of the commander Kena around the right flank of the Indians. He lined up the rest of his small army by the river. His light infantry began to attack the elephants from the front. A fair number of the frenzied animals turned and rushed through their own formations, mixing Porus' ranks. Just as the right wing of the Indians began to advance to encircle the open flank of the Macedonians, a detachment of Kena attacked from the rear, which then rushed along the rear of the entire Indian line, contributing to the general confusion.

At this moment, Alexander led his "comrades" to attack along the coast, and the small phalanx hit the left wing of the Indians. For some time they fought steadfastly, and the losses of both sides were great. But, pressed from the front, flank and rear, the people of Pore finally weakened and turned to flight. The seriously wounded Por was captured.

Now Alexander decided to continue his journey to the northern part of Central India, intending to reach the Ganges River. He reached the Hyphasis River (a tributary of the Indus) when his exhausted, homesick Macedonians simply refused to go any further. “Only a few Macedonians survived, and even those who remained were close to complete despair. The hooves of the horses were worn out from long journeys, numerous battles dulled the weapons of the warriors. Nobody had a Greek dress; rags of barbarian and Indian booty, somehow fastened to each other, covered the scarred bodies of the conquerors ... for 70 days terrible rains poured from the sky, accompanied by whirlwinds and storms. This is how ancient authors described the state of the Macedonian army at the moment when it refused to go deep into India.

Alexander was forced to give in to the demand of the army. He led troops down the Indus, subjugating Indian cities along the way. At the mouth of the river, Alexander divided the army into three parts. Some, under the command of Nearchus, sailed on ships to the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates. Others returned the old way - through North India and Central Asia. Alexander with the rest of his army moved west along the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

On the way, Alexander's army found itself in sultry semi-deserts. Thousands of warriors died from hunger, thirst, bites from poisonous snakes, unbearable heat. With heavy losses, the Macedonian army finally reached fertile Western Persia. The soldiers sent on ships suffered no less suffering. Headwinds hindered rapid progress. The ships ran out of food and fresh water, and on deserted shores, near which the fleet was sailing, it was impossible to replenish them. Many warriors died, and those who made it to the Persian Gulf alive were unrecognisable.

By the time of the conquest of Eastern Persia and Central Asia are the first open manifestations of discontent among the commanders of the Macedonian army. When Alexander was in Egypt, a conspiracy of Philotas, the commander of the Geitars, the son of one of the oldest and most experienced commanders of the Macedonian army, Parmenion, arose. In Eastern Persia, Philotas was arrested, tortured and put on trial, which took place in a meeting of the Macedonian army. Philotas was awarded death penalty and shot with bows. Following the execution of the sentence, Alexander ordered the death of Parmenion. In the autumn of 328 BC, at a royal feast, in a fit of anger, Alexander killed one of his most devoted generals, Cleitus.

Soon, a conspiracy of pages is organized against Alexander. It was a noble Macedonian youth who carried out personal service to protect the person of the king. The pages, having constant access to the king, intended to kill him in bed. The plot was uncovered, the Macedonian court sentenced the conspirators to death, and they were stoned to death.

After the end of hostilities, the subject of special concern of Alexander the Great was the further strengthening of the army - the main pillar of Macedonian domination. By this time, major changes had taken place in the army: 30,000 Persian youths (epigons), equipped with Macedonian weapons and trained in Macedonian, were included in it. The cavalry included the best Persian, Sogdian and Bactrian horsemen. Then Alexander gathered the Macedonian soldiers and gave the order to reward the sick and those who had served, and to send them back to their homeland. This order caused a storm of indignation: the soldiers demanded the dissolution of the entire army, generous rewards and shouted to Alexander that he could continue to fight alone. Protest accepted sharp forms and covered the entire mass of the Greco-Macedonian warriors. Alexander resorted to extreme measures: the instigators were immediately captured and executed. However, at the same time, Alexander was forced to meet the requirements of the troops: a few days later, each soldier was given a payment not only for the past service, but also for the time needed to return home. Ten thousand Macedonians were sent home.

Returning to Mesopotamia in 325 BC, Alexander declared Babylon his capital. Dreaming of new campaigns and conquests, he built a fleet and was going to go around Arabia on it, and then conquer the countries of the West.

But in the summer of 323 BC, Alexander fell ill and died. Shortly after the death of Alexander, his great power, united only by military force, fell apart. The uprisings of the population of the conquered countries of Asia began, strife broke out between the Macedonian military leaders, who, breaking into groups, began to fight among themselves, trying to master the legacy of Alexander. None of them succeeded completely. But some (Ptolemy, Seleucus and others) seized large parts of the power of the Macedonian conqueror and became their rulers. Relying on the Macedonian and Greek warriors, they enslaved the local population. The states thus formed are known in history as the Hellenistic states. They existed for about 300 years, after which they were conquered by Rome.

Indian campaign of the Don army

The reign of Paul I remained in the memory of posterity as a kind of bad anecdote. Like, half-deliriously, he tried to redraw the whole Russian life in the Prussian manner, introduced watch parades, elevated Arakcheev and humiliated Suvorov, exiled some entire regiment to Siberia, and sent the Cossacks to conquer India ... And thank God that they killed him!

Pavel I in the Grandmaster's crown Order of Malta. Artist S. S. Schukin

Count von der Pahlen was at the head of the conspiracy, and the version of the sovereign's madness was, of course, very beneficial to him. But Pavel, who during his lifetime was called the "Russian Hamlet", in the full sense of the word, is a dramatic figure. Therefore, we turn to more reliable sources. For example, to " Stories XIX century” by French professors Lavisse and Rambeau, published in France in the 1920s, and soon translated into Russian. One can read something completely unexpected in it: “Since both rulers (Napoleon and Paul I) had the same irreconcilable enemy, then, naturally, the thought arose of a closer rapprochement between them for the sake of a joint fight against this enemy, in order to finally crush the Indian the power of England main source her wealth and power. Thus arose that great plan (highlighted in the text), the first thought of which, no doubt, belonged to Bonaparte, and the means for execution were studied and proposed by the king.

It turns out that the plan of the Indian campaign is not at all the fruit of the sick imagination of the insane Russian tsar, and in general it belonged to the brilliant commander Bonaparte. Is this allowed? Undoubtedly. This version does not even require special evidence - they, as they say, lie on the surface.

Let's open the "Essays on the History of France": "On May 19, 1798, the army under the command of Bonaparte (300 ships, 10,000 people and a 35,000th expeditionary force) left Toulon ... and on June 30 began landing in Alexandria."

When asked what exactly the French needed in Egypt, the same publication answers as follows: “After the collapse of the first (anti-French) coalition, England alone continued the war against France. The Directory intended to organize the landing of troops on British Isles, but this had to be abandoned due to lack of necessary forces and means. Then there was a plan to strike at the communications linking England with India, a plan to seize Egypt.

By the way, the idea of ​​a French landing in Egypt in its original version belonged to the Duke of Choiseul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of King Louis XV, who ruled until 1774.

So it starts to line up logical circuit"Napoleonic" (in direct and figuratively) plans: first cut communications, then move troops along these roads to the “pearl of the English crown”, as India has long been called.

And indeed, the same Dmitry Merezhkovsky writes about these plans in his biography novel “Napoleon”: “Through Egypt to India, in order to inflict a mortal blow on England’s world domination - such is the gigantic plan of Bonaparte, a crazy chimera that came out of a sick brain.”

Confirming this version, the modern French historian Jean Tulard, the author of the most famous monograph in foreign Napoleonic studies - the book "Napoleon, or the Myth of the" Savior "", which our reader met in the publication of the ZhZL series, is much less expressive: "The occupation of Egypt made it possible to decide immediately three strategic objectives: to capture the Isthmus of Suez, thereby blocking one of the routes connecting India with England, to get a new colony ... to seize an important foothold that opens access to the main source of prosperity for England - India, where Tippo Sahib waged a war of liberation with the British colonialists.

January 12, 1801. Rescript of Paul I to the ataman of the Don Cossacks, cavalry general V.P. Orlov on the preparation Cossack army to go to India.

St. Petersburg

The English are preparing to make an attack by fleet and troops on me and on my allies, the Swedes and Danes; I am ready to accept them, but they themselves must be attacked, and where their blow can be more sensitive and where they are less expected. Establishing them in India is the best thing for this. It's three months from us to India, from Orenburg, and a month from you, and only four months. I entrust this entire expedition to you and your army, Vasily Petrovich. Get together with him and start a campaign to Orenburg, from where any of the three roads or all of them go and with artillery directly through Bukharia and Khiva to the Indus River and on the English institution lying along it, the troops of that region of their same kind as yours, and so having artillery you have a complete advantage; get everything ready for the trip. Send your scouts to prepare or inspect the roads, all the wealth of India will be our reward for this expedition. Gather an army to the rear villages and then notify me; wait for the command to go to Orenburg, where you have come, expect another to go further. Such an enterprise will crown you all with glory, earn my special favor as it deserves, acquire wealth and trade, and strike the enemy in his heart. Here I enclose the cards, how many I have of them. God bless you.

Esme your supportive

My maps go only as far as Khiva and the Amur Darya River, and then it’s up to you to get information about Aglin institutions and Indian peoples subject to them.

RGVIA, f. 846, op. 16, d. 323, l. 1–1 vol. Copy.

So the plan for the invasion of India is presented objective reality. But did Russia need all this?

The war in Europe lasted a good ten years and showed the approximate equality of the parties - France and England. This is a confrontation with success variables could have continued for quite a long time if there had not been a third great state on the continent - our Fatherland. The Russian tsar, no matter how he was portrayed during his lifetime and later, understood that, firstly, it was necessary to be friends with the winner and, secondly, that it was Russia that should determine the winner.

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

British in India during the war 1752–1804 19th century engraving

We add that this was the case until the 1990s, and therefore our country has always been considered in the world. But let's get back to Manfred's Napoleon: “In 1799-1800, Russia's decisive role on the stage of European politics was shown with complete clarity. Didn't Suvorov's Italian campaign in three months cross out all the victories and conquests of the famous French commanders? Didn't he put France on the brink of defeat? And then, when Russia withdrew from the coalition, didn't the scales tip again in favor of France?

One can argue in detail why the Russian tsar preferred the resurgent French monarchy to self-serving England, which in every business strives to achieve its own benefit to the detriment of others. It can be recalled that close Russian-French relations existed during certain periods of the reigns of both Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II ...

However, those who believe that the Indian campaign was launched solely to please the new French friends are mistaken.

“A little later, there will be talk about the insanity of Paul, who sent the Cossacks on a campaign against India,” writes historian A.N. Arkhangelsky in the book “Alexander I”.

The fact that the plan was developed jointly with Napoleon, as well as Catherine's long-standing plans to fight the banks of the Ganges and Peter's Persian campaign, was somehow forgotten.

So what caused sharply negative ratings majority of Russians, and after them Soviet historians « Indian plan» Sovereign Pavel Petrovich?

Here, for example, is what the famous Russian historian, Lieutenant General Nikolai Karlovich Schilder, author of the books Emperor Paul I, Emperor Alexander I and Emperor Nicholas I, reports: “Paul did not do without the usual fantastic hobbies: a trip to India was planned . Although the first consul also dreamed of the joint action of the Russian troops with the French in this direction, plotting the final defeat of England, and for this purpose he developed a project for a campaign in India, but Emperor Paul set out to solve this difficult task on his own, with the help of some Cossacks.

Yes, the role of the “court historian” is difficult, because he should not only look into the past, but also constantly look back at the present. It is possible to write about the emperor, who was killed with the tacit consent of his son, only in the strictest accordance with the highest approved version ... And this version says: "the madman who destroyed Russia." And there is no need that the parricide heir later concluded with the same Napoleon the Treaty of Tilsit, shameful for Russia, and the other son of the murdered emperor, again, shamefully lost the Eastern War to the same French and British ... It is interesting to what stage Russia would ascend in alliance with Napoleonic France and what place would England have got in that world divided into two spheres of influence, if not for regicide?

Let's try to impartially restore the events of more than two hundred years ago. So, on January 12 (24), 1801, Emperor Pavel sent several rescripts to the ataman of the Don Army, cavalry general V.P. .

Twenty thousand Cossacks -

To India, on a hike! -

Paul I ordered

In your last year.

Cossacks - 22,507 sabers with 12 unicorns and the same number of cannons, forty-one regiments and two cavalry companies - went, breaking 30-40 miles a day. Their path turned out to be very difficult due to insufficient preparation, bad roads and weather conditions, including unforeseen early opening of rivers. “If ... the detachment had to overcome incredible difficulties when moving along own land, then it is easy to imagine the deplorable fate of the Donets during their further movement, especially beyond Orenburg! - General Schilder literally exclaims in his book.

Didn't grumble, did

The king's will.

The Cossacks, of course, knew

That it's all in vain.

If you believe him and other "traditional" historians, then the campaign turned out to be incredible stupidity, and nothing more. But it’s better not to believe it and take Natan Yakovlevich Eidelman’s book “The Edge of Ages” published in 1982. Based on previously unknown documents, it truly shocked readers. From it you can learn about the existence next plan: "35 thousand French infantry with artillery led by one of the best French generals, Massena, must move along the Danube, across the Black Sea, Taganrog, Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan ... At the mouth of the Volga, the French must unite with the 35,000th Russian army (of course, not counting the Cossack army, which goes "its own way" through Bukharin). The combined Russian-French corps will then cross the Caspian Sea and land at Astrabad.

Napoleon in Egypt. Artist J.-L. Jerome

Russia withdrew from the Second Anti-French Coalition due to contradictions with its allies. The failure of the joint invasion of the Netherlands with Great Britain marked the beginning of the gap, and the British occupation of Malta angered Paul I, Russian emperor, who at that time held the title of Grand Master of the Order of Malta. He hastily broke off the alliance with Britain and entered into an alliance with Napoleon, who proposed a plan for a joint expedition to capture India.

February 15, 1801. Report of the cavalry general V.P. Orlov to Pavel I on the need to second translators to the Cossack army Oriental languages and medical personnel.

Kochetovskaya station.

Most Merciful Sovereign.

Your Most High Imperial Majesty I have been honored to receive the rescript dated the 3rd of this month, and I most humbly convey to Your Imperial Majesty that from the assembly places of the troops, by order of the revision, I will hasten to set out on a campaign from the first of next March. I dare Your Imperial Majesty to most humbly ask if it would not be pleasing to all-mercifully order to attach to me those who know the national translations of those places, if such can be found. Therefore, the Most Merciful Sovereign considers it necessary to have them, that you can rely on their loyalty, rather than found in places obliged to live. And also, most humbly, Your Imperial Majesty, I also ask for medical ranks, which, just in case, the army will need.

I place myself at the most sanctified feet of Your Imperial Majesty, Your Imperial Majesty, Most Merciful Sovereign, Most Submissive Vasily Orlov.

(marked on the document) Write to the Prosecutor General and send twelve doctors with one staff doctor to the Don army. Wrote a letter to Gagarin from himself. Received on February 23, 1801 with field huntsman Zimnyakov.

RGVIA, f. 26, op. 1/152, d. 104, l. 683. Original.

The secret plan of the expedition called for joint operations of two infantry corps - one French (with artillery support) and one Russian. Each infantry corps consisted of 35 thousand people, the total number of people was to reach 70 thousand, not counting artillery and Cossack cavalry. Napoleon insisted that the command of the French corps be entrusted to General Massena. According to the plan, the French army was supposed to cross the Danube and the Black Sea, pass through South Russia, stopping in Taganrog, Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan.

The French were supposed to unite with the Russian army at the mouth of the Volga. After that, both corps crossed the Caspian Sea and landed in the Persian port of Astrabad. The entire journey from France to Astrabad was estimated to take eighty days. The next fifty days were occupied by a campaign through Kandahar and Herat, and by September of that year it was planned to reach India.

According to the plans, the Indian campaign was supposed to resemble the Egyptian campaign of Bonaparte - engineers, artists, scientists went along with the soldiers.

Portrait of the Cossack ataman V. P. Orlov. Unknown artist

You can laugh at an attempt to capture India with a 20,000-strong Cossack horde, but if you add 70,000 regular Russian and French infantry, representing the two best armies in the world, then someone will not even want to smile. But in Egypt, there were still forces of the army that Napoleon led to the pyramids in 1798! And from Kamchatka to Indian Ocean three Russian frigates were supposed to come up, which could compete with the English ships located there ...

By the way, with the notorious Cossack campaign, the situation is also far from being as simple as it seems at first glance. After all, it was very restless on the Don at that time. The mere fact that in the autumn of 1800, in Cherkassk, Colonel of the Life Guards of the Cossack regiment Yevgraf Gruzinov, from the former Gatchina, that is, from the most faithful, devoted, who served under Paul when he was Grand Duke, were executed "for rebellious plans" - and Evgraf's brother, retired Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr Gruzinov, testifies to many things. The emperor has repeatedly expressed a desire to "shake up the Cossacks", so he sent them "in his own way" - for the purpose of "military education". It is no coincidence, then, that General Platov and other officers, released before the campaign from the fortress, returned to their regiments.

More than two decades will pass, and after the Semyonov History, Tsar Alexander Pavlovich intends to "ventilate the guards."

One of the best French generals A. Massena

Since there was no war, the king sent her on a campaign to the western provinces. It seems that staying in unsettled places caused the guards aristocracy no less inconvenience than the hardened Cossacks march through the winter steppe.

Where are the Indian diamonds

Spices, carpets?

Where are the luxurious gifts:

Cargo from Bukhara? -

asks the poet.

March 12, 1801. Rescript of Alexander I to the cavalry general V.P. Orlov on the termination of the campaign in India and the return of the Cossacks to the Don.

Petersburg.

To Mr. General of the Cavalry Orlov 1st Upon receipt of this, I command you with all the Cossack regiments that are now following you along secret expedition, return to the Don and send them home.

Foreign policy Russia XIX and the beginning of the 20th century. Documentation Russian Ministry foreign affairs. T. 1. M., 1960. S. 11.

In general, as it turns out, everything in the actions of the Russian Tsar had its own clear, deep meaning. And then it suddenly became uncomfortable in the British Isles, and the British government became worried, and more secret channels went to Russia through secret channels. more money, which ... However, this already applies to other sad events.

There is no doubt that, from the point of view of French interests, a military invasion of Asia with ultimate goal the conquest of Hindustan would be strategically important step. This would lead to the complete collapse of Great Britain and change the geopolitical balance of power in the world. The idea of ​​an Indian campaign was first expressed by Bonaparte in 1797, even before his expedition to Egypt. Later, having come to power, he persistently inspired the idea of ​​a joint campaign in India to Emperor Paul I. And he managed to achieve some success. True, the Russian sovereign, without even concluding an alliance with the first consul of France, wanted to solve this problem on his own and gave the order to send Cossack regiments to find ways to a country then unfamiliar to Russians. It had to be performed by units of the Donskoy army. His 41st regiment and two companies of artillery (22 thousand people) set out in February 1801 - through a deserted Orenburg steppe- to conquer Central Asia. From this foothold it was easier for them to reach India - the main pearl in the crown of the British Empire. But, having covered 700 miles in three weeks, the Cossacks received from St. Petersburg one of the first orders from the young Alexander I, who had ascended the throne, to return to the Don.

The Russian expedition to Central Asia then seriously worried the British, and not without their help, the Russian Emperor Paul I was killed by the conspirators.

... The chronicle of the Pavlovian reign turned out to be so hidden or distorted over more than half a century of the reign of the two Pavlovichs that they simply got used to it in this form. Meanwhile, these times are still waiting for their researchers, who must not only resurrect the forgotten events of the past, but also understand how and why legends are created, who benefits from replacing them genuine pages our national history.

In Russia there was Civil War. At a time when the fall of the German Reich in the November Revolution and the hasty flight of the German invaders did not bring the Bolsheviks control over the South of Russia, when Volunteer army went to Moscow through Kyiv and Kharkov, the commander of the Turkestan Front M. V. Frunze began the formation cavalry corps for a "march on India" to "strike at British imperialism, which is the strongest enemy Soviet Russia". The corps was supposed to have 40 thousand horsemen. Approximately the same number of "sabers" Don Cossacks consisted of the corps of General Matvey Platov under the sovereign Pavel Petrovich, in 1800 "abandoned to India." But even in 1919, things did not go beyond the project.

Commander of the Turkestan Front M. V. Frunze

(Based on materials by A. Bondarenko.)

From the book Pictures of the former Quiet Don. Book one. author Krasnov Petr Nikolaevich

The distant past of the land of the Don army Widely, in the freedom of the green steppes, the Don flows. Like a mirrored ribbon of brilliant silver, it meanders among the fields, between the white huts of the villages, between the green gardens, along the wide expanse of the steppe. And slowly and smoothly its course. Doesn't boil anywhere

From the book Pictures of the former Quiet Don. Book one. author Krasnov Petr Nikolaevich

The total militia of the Donskoy troops in 1812. At the end of August, on Quiet Don Ataman Platov galloped up. Now, messengers went to all the villages. They gathered the Cossacks in a circle and announced to them that the enemy in myriad numbers had come to ruin Russia. - He boasts, - they said

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According to popular literature, the Russian emperor Paul I was half tyrant, half crazy. As an example of his madness, an attempt to organize a campaign is most often cited. Russian troops to India. Indeed, what could Emperor Paul I forget in a country located “beyond three seas” from Russia?
But if you take a closer look at the reasons for organizing the Indian campaign, it becomes clear that it is not at all a figment of the imagination of a mad emperor, but a carefully designed strategic operation.

For a common fight

The transfer of troops to capture India was conceived by Napoleon I and approved by Paul I. Both emperors wanted to compete with their common enemy - England. The mistress of the seas was a natural opponent of the two states, seeking to supplement their powerful ground forces maritime. Therefore, it was necessary to undermine the economic power of England.

“Naturally, the thought arose of a close rapprochement between the two states for the sake of a joint struggle in order to finally conquer India - the main source of wealth and military power England. Thus arose a great plan, the first thought of which, no doubt, belonged to Bonaparte, and the means for execution were studied and proposed by Paul I, ”write the French professors Ernest Lavisse and Alfred Rambaud in their History of the 19th Century.
The Egyptian campaign of the first consul can be considered the beginning of preparations for a campaign in India. On May 19, 1798, the army under the command of Bonaparte, which included 300 ships, 10 thousand people and a 35,000th expeditionary force, left Toulon, and on June 30 its landing in Alexandria began. What did the French need in Egypt? After the collapse of the first anti-French coalition, England alone continued the war against France. The Directory intended to organize the landing of troops in the British Isles, but this had to be abandoned due to the lack of the necessary forces and means. Then there was a plan to strike at the communications linking England with India, a plan to capture Egypt.
Famous Russian historian and the writer Dmitri Merezhkovsky wrote with admiration in his biographical novel Napoleon: “Through Egypt to India, in order to inflict a mortal blow on the world domination of England - such is the gigantic plan of Bonaparte.”
And here is what you can read in the book “Napoleon, or the Myth of the “Savior”” by the modern French historian Jean Tularave: “The occupation of Egypt made it possible to solve three strategic tasks at once: to capture the Isthmus of Suez, thereby blocking one of the routes connecting India with England, to get a new colony ... to seize an important foothold that opens access to the main source of England's prosperity - India.

Rake up the heat with your bare hands

But back to Russia. The reign of Paul I was for the country a period of reassessment of enemies and friends. On the turn of the XVIII and XIX centuries. Russia has become a decisive force in Europe. The Italian campaign of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov crossed out all the victories and conquests of France in three months.

It seemed that Napoleon would be finished, but... Russia unexpectedly went over to the side of France and confused all the European "political cards".
Many historians accuse Paul I of the fact that his foreign policy was contradictory and inconsistent. They explain the reason for this by the imbalance of his character. But it's not. It is a real and effective policy, as opposed to far-fetched and dogmatic, that must take into account changing circumstances. Therefore, it looks contradictory and inconsistent from the outside.
Abrupt change foreign policy Paul I was not accidental. Historians studying the period when Napoleon Bonaparte came to power write about at least four reasons that contributed to the convergence of the interests of the Russian and French emperors.
The first reason can be called emotional. After the defeat of Korsakov's corps in the fall of 1789, Napoleon informed Paul I that he wanted to release all Russian prisoners to their homeland. In December 1800, in Paris, Bonaparte not only ordered the release of 6,000 Russian prisoners, but also ordered that new uniforms be sewn to all of them at the expense of the French treasury, new shoes were issued, and weapons were returned. Paul replied to Bonaparte with a message that he agreed to peace, as he would like to return "peace and peace" to Europe.
The second reason for the change in the policy of Paul I was the desire of the allies in the anti-Napoleonic coalition to achieve their own benefit to the detriment of Russian interests. According to historian Anastasia Golovanchenko, Russian-French alliance was needed by Russia: "We would get rid of the need to rake in the heat with bare Russian hands for Austria."

Path to the southeast

In September 1799, Suvorov made the famous crossing of the Alps. However, already in October of the same year, Russia broke off the alliance with Austria due to the failure of the Austrians to fulfill their allied obligations, and Russian troops were withdrawn from Europe.

But not only the treacherous behavior of the allies in the anti-French coalition influenced the decision of Paul I. The third and very serious reason was the long-standing close Russian-French relations that existed during the reigns of Elizabeth I and Catherine II.
The last reason was the organization of a joint Indian campaign, in the success of which both emperors were equally interested.
Here it is necessary to remember that the rulers Russian Empire more than once glanced towards India. It was Peter I who began to "trail the road". True, this attempt ended tragically. Here is what Lieutenant General V.A. writes about her. Potto in the book Caucasian war”: “Peter transferred his thoughts to the Caspian coast and decided to undertake a study eastern shores of this sea, whence he was going to seek trade route to India. Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky was chosen as the executor of this powerful idea. In 1716, Bekovich sailed from Astrakhan and began to concentrate a strong detachment near the very mouth of the Yaik. From the Caucasus, the five-hundred horse regiment of the Grebenskys and part of Terek Cossacks". But the detachment of Prince Cherkassky died in battles with the Khivans.
The Russian rulers continued to “blaze” the path to the southeast. Catherine II tried to continue the case of Peter I.
Finally, the turn came to Paul I, who, even before the conclusion of an agreement with Napoleon on a joint campaign against India, tried to begin to "pave" his way there along the road marked french emperor. The purpose of the occupation of Egypt by Napoleon's troops was to capture the Isthmus of Suez and block the shortest route for England to India. Paul I tried to get a sea fortress in the very center mediterranean sea, on one of the routes of the British to their richest colony of the East Indies. Some historians believe that the main reason that prompted the Russian Orthodox tsar to become the grand master of the Catholic Maltese Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Maltese) was not so much romantic dreams of the revival of chivalry as receiving the island of Malta without war - an important strategic object in the Mediterranean Sea.

New information changes the big picture

On January 12 (24), 1801, the ataman of the Donskoy army, cavalry general V.P. Orlov received an order from Emperor Paul I to move "straight through Bukharia and Khiva to the Indus River and to the English establishments lying along it." V.P. Orlov did not have much big forces: about 22 thousand Cossacks, 12 guns, 41 regiments and 2 cavalry companies. The path was not easy due to insufficient preparation, bad roads and weather conditions. According to the general opinion that prevailed among pre-revolutionary historians, "an incredible stupidity came out of the campaign."
But in our time, after finding out additional data on real action Paul I and Napoleon I to organize a military campaign in India, the attitude to the "stupidity" of the Indian campaign of the chieftain of the Donskoy V.P. Orlov began to change. In the book The Edge of the Ages, historian Nathan Eidelman writes about the plan to conquer India, which became known, from which it follows that the detachment of the ataman of the Don army was an insignificant part of the Russian- French troops: “35 thousand French infantry with artillery, led by one of the best French generals, Massin, must move along the Danube, across the Black Sea, Taganrog, Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan ... At the mouth of the Volga, the French must unite with the 35,000th Russian army (of course, not considering that Cossack army, which goes its own way through Bukhara). The combined Russian-French corps will then cross the Caspian Sea and land at Astrabad.
The reality of just such a development of events in Central Asia can be read in the book "Napoleon" by the famous historian E.V. Tarle: “Thoughts about India never left Napoleon, from the Egyptian campaign to recent years reign ... After making peace with Russia, Napoleon considered a combination based on the campaign of the French troops under his command to South Russia, where they would join the Russian army, and he would lead both armies through Central Asia to India.

Treacherous conspiracy

For England, unification in late XVII in. Russia and France could have a terrible result - the loss of India, which made Foggy Albion prosperous maritime power. Therefore, England did everything possible so that the plans for the conquest of India by Russian-French troops collapsed. English Ambassador financed the head of the conspiracy against Paul I - Count Palen - and gave him gold to organize the assassination.
The assassination of the Russian emperor took place on the night of March 11-12, 1801.
Historical literature proves that the campaign of Russian troops in India failed. In fact, Alexander I, having ascended the throne, immediately ordered the troops to be withdrawn back.
The truth about the reign of Paul I is still distorted. Many believe in the madness of the emperor, who tried to increase the glory of Russia. Meanwhile, it is time to resurrect the forgotten events of the past and understand: who benefits from replacing the true pages of Russian history with fiction.

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At the beginning of the 19th century, under the influence of Napoleon Bonaparte, who at that time maintained allied relations with Russia, the Russian Emperor Paul I (1754-1801) came up with a plan for a campaign in India, the most important English colony, Britain's source of income.

At the suggestion of the Russian emperor, it was planned to strike at British interests in India by the forces of a joint Russian-French corps.

The plan was to cross the whole of Central Asia in two months, cross the Afghan mountains and fall on the British. Ally Napoleon at that time was supposed to open a second front, land on the British Isles, strike from Egypt, where French troops were then stationed.

Implementation covert operation Paul I instructed the ataman of the Don Cossacks Vasily Orlov-Denisov. In support of the chieftain, in view of his already advanced years, Paul I appointed officer Matvey Platov (1751-1818), the future chieftain of the Don Army and the hero of the war of 1812. Platov was mobilized directly from the cell of the Alekseevsky ravelin, where he was imprisoned as accused of harboring fugitive serfs.

In a short time, 41 cavalry regiments and two companies of horse artillery were prepared for the Indian campaign. Matvey Platov commanded the largest column of thirteen regiments on the campaign.

In total, about 22 thousand Cossacks gathered. The treasury allocated more than 1.5 million rubles for the operation.

On February 20 (March 3, according to a new style), Orlov reported to the sovereign that everything was ready for action. The vanguard under the command of Andrian Denisov, who walked with Suvorov through the Alps, moved east. Yesaul Denezhnikov went to explore the route to Orenburg, Khiva, Bukhara and further to India.

On February 28 (March 11, according to a new style), the approval of the emperor came to the Don, and Platov with the main forces set out from the village of Kachalinskaya to the east. The direction was to Orenburg, where local authorities hastily prepared camels and provisions for a journey through the desert.

The time of the offensive was calculated incorrectly. A thaw set in, and the Cossack horses sank into the mud of the Russian impassability, and the artillery almost stopped moving.

Because of the flooding of the rivers, the Cossack regiments had to change routes so that the food warehouses organized along the route of the troops remained far away. The commanders had to purchase everything they needed from their own funds or issue receipts, according to which the treasury had to pay the money.

In addition to all other troubles, it turned out that local population, due to food purchases from which the expeditionary force was supposed to eat, there are no food supplies. The previous year turned out to be dry and lean, so that the troops began to starve along with the Volga peasants.

Having lost their way several times, the Cossacks reached the settlement of Mechetnaya (now the city of Pugachev Saratov region). Here, on March 23 (April 4, according to a new style), a courier from St. Petersburg caught up with the army with an order to immediately return home in view of the sudden death of Paul I. Emperor Alexander I did not support his father's undertakings, and the campaign was no longer resumed.

The operation was strictly classified. In St. Petersburg, it was only known that the Cossacks had gone somewhere. The Cossacks themselves, except for five senior officers, thought that they were going to "fight Bukhara". They learned about India when Paul I was already dead.

Vasily Orlov, upon returning home, died of a stroke, and Matvey Platov became the new chieftain.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources