Who ruled in 1812: Russia, France and the rest of the world

In 1812 Russia was ruled by Tsar Alexander I, Emperor of Russia from 1801 until his death in 1825, so the whole of Napoleon's invasion fell within his reign. His opponent was Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French since 1804. That is the short answer. Below is who else ruled the world that year and how they were connected to the war. Open the world map of 1812

Rulers of 1812: the table

Alexander I: the tsar of 1812

At the start of 1812 Alexander was 34. He had come to the throne after the murder of his father, Paul I, began with liberal plans, and in 1807 made peace with Napoleon at Tilsit. The alliance did not last: Russia suffered from the Continental Blockade against Britain, and Napoleon had set up the Duchy of Warsaw on its border.

On 24 June 1812 (12 June in the old Russian calendar) the Grande Armée crossed the Niemen and the invasion of Russia began. Alexander stayed with the army for only the first weeks, then left for St Petersburg and did not take command. In August he reluctantly appointed Mikhail Kutuzov commander-in-chief. After the Battle of Borodino and the burning of Moscow, the tsar refused to negotiate, and that decided the campaign: the French left the ruined city with nothing, and most of the army was lost in the retreat.

Reluctant allies: Austria and Prussia

In 1812 both powers fought on Napoleon's side, and not by choice. Francis I had lost several wars to France and had married his daughter Marie Louise to Napoleon. Frederick William III had lost half his kingdom after the defeat of 1806. Austria supplied a corps under Schwarzenberg, and Prussia one under Yorck.

Once the Grande Armée was destroyed, the alliance fell apart. In December 1812 Yorck signed the Convention of Tauroggen with the Russians on his own authority, and in 1813 Prussia and then Austria changed sides. That October the three monarchs, Alexander, Francis and Frederick William, stood together at the Battle of Leipzig.

Britain and the United States: a separate war

King George III no longer governed in 1812: since 1811, because of his mental illness, his son had ruled as Prince Regent. On 11 May 1812 Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was shot in the House of Commons, the only British prime minister ever assassinated.

Britain was fighting Napoleon in Spain, in the Peninsular War. Then in June 1812 President Madison declared war on Britain over the impressment of American sailors and trade restrictions. This was the War of 1812, largely unconnected with the Russian campaign, although the two took place in the same year.

Spain, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire

Spain had two kings. Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte had been put on the throne by the French, while the legitimate king, Ferdinand VII, was held in France. In his name the Cortes of Cádiz adopted a liberal constitution in March 1812.

Sweden was formally ruled by the ageing Charles XIII, but the heir to the throne was a French marshal, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. Against all expectations, in spring 1812 he allied with Russia against his former commander.

The Ottoman sultan Mahmud II had been at war with Russia since 1806. On 28 May 1812 Kutuzov concluded the Treaty of Bucharest just in time: Russia gained Bessarabia, and the Army of the Danube was freed to march against Napoleon.

Asia: a different world

The Jiaqing Emperor ruled China and the shogun Tokugawa Ienari ruled Japan, which remained almost closed to outsiders. Neither took much notice of the war in Europe. Fath-Ali Shah's Iran was at war with Russia in the Caucasus, a conflict that ended with the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813. For more on that year around the world, see what was happening at the same time; for Alexander's family, see the Romanov dynasty.

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