Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/618

468 General History of Europe he went on adding to his dependencies. Consequently, in 1810, France stretched from the confines of Naples to the Baltic. One might travel from Liibeck to Rome without leaving Napoleon's realms. 825. Napoleon marries a Hapsburg Princess. Napoleon was anxious to have an heir to whom he could transmit his vast dominions. As Josephine bore him no children, he decided to divorce her, and, after considering a Russian princess, he married the Archduchess Maria Louisa, the daughter of the Austrian emperor and a grandniece of Marie Antoinette. In this way the former Corsican adventurer gained admission to one of the oldest and proudest of reigning families, the Hapsburgs. His new wife soon bore him a son, who was styled King of Rome. VI. THE FALL OF NAPOLEON 826. Relations between Napoleon and Alexander I. Among the continental states Russia alone was entirely out of Napoleon's control. There were plenty of causes for misunderstanding be- tween the ardent young Tsar Alexander I and Napoleon. Up to this time the agreement of Tilsit had been maintained. Napoleon was, however, secretly opposing Alexander's plans for adding the Danubian provinces and Finland to his possessions. Then the possibility of Napoleon's reestablishing Poland as a national kingdom which might threaten Russia's interests was a constant source of apprehension to Alexander. By 1812 Napoleon believed himself to be in a condition to subdue this doubtful friend, who might at any moment become a dangerous enemy. Against the advice of his more far-sighted counselors, the emperor collected on the Russian frontier a vast army of four hundred thousand men, composed to a great extent of young conscripts and the contingents furnished by his allies. 827. Napoleon's Campaign in Russia (1812). The story of the fearful Russian campaign which followed cannot be told here in detail. Napoleon had planned to take three years to conquer Russia, but he was led on by the desire to proclaim at least one