Tauroggeni konventsiooni diplomaatiline eellugu ja tulemused ning tähtsus Euroopa ja Baltimaade ajaloos [Diplomatic Prehistory of the Convention of Tauroggen: its Results and Influence to European and Baltic History]

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse Prussian foreign policy during the Napoleonic Era, focusing on the years 1807–1813. Prussia, one of the most powerful states in Europe during the 18th century, endured difficult times during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In 1792, Prussia joined the first coalition against France but left the union with the Peace of Basel in 1795 after being defeated. Between 1795 and 1805 Prussia practiced diplomatic neutrality, which was more or less successful. After stepping back into European politics in 1806, Prussia nearly ceased to exist because of the heavy defeats in the hands of France delivered in the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, only to be saved by the Russian Emperor Alexander I at the Tilsit peace conference in 1807. The period between 1807 and 1813 was that of rebuilding; it ended with the Battle of Nationsin 1813 and liberation.

(Longer version of the current abstract is included in the article, starting from p 56.)