How Napoleon came to be RESPECTED in Russia
RBTH
06 May 2021, 04:54 GMT+10
It s 200 years since the death of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was an enemy to Russians. So how did he end up as one of their most revered figures?
In 1806, the Most Holy Synod declared Napoleon Bonaparte the enemy of peace and blessed serenity and added him to the list of persecutors of the Church of Christ. This took place against the background of the formation of the Third Coalition against Napoleon s France and the impending collision of the Russian and French armies. In these circumstances, Russian ideologists decided to sell the coming conflict as a sacred war. However, in 1807, Russia and France signed the Treaty of Tilsit, and until 1812, Russia officially forgot about Napoleon the Antichrist . That didn t mean the Russians did, however.