484

PRINCE POTEMKIN.

[Book VI. Catherine II. He had flattered her vanity by paying her a visit at St. Petersburg in 1780, when it had been verbally agreed that, in case of a rupture with the Porte, Russia and Austria should aggrandise themselves at its expense. Magnificent projects were discussed. Catherine inflamed Joseph with the idea of seizing Italy and Rome, and establishing a real Empire of the West, while she should found at Constantinople a new Empire of the East.29 This suggestion only struck an old chord in the traditional policy of Austria; but it was an apt snare for the restless and short-sighted ambition of Joseph, while the hope of more immediate and practical advantage lay on the side of Catherine. The friendship of the two Courts was cemented by a family alliance. Joseph's nephew, Francis, afterwards Emperor, was married to the younger sister of the Grand Duchess of Russia, and thus the presumptive heirs of two imperial thrones became brothersin-law.

The King of Prussia, to efface the impression of the Emperor's visit, sent his nephew and heir, Prince Frederick William, to Petersburg. But a new and adverse influence reigned at that Court. After a long enjoyment of Catherine's favour, Gregory Orloff had been disgraced in 1772, and dismissed with presents of untold value. He was succeeded in his office by Alexander Wassiltschikoff, an officer in the guards. But Catherine soon grew tired of a man whose only recommendation was his handsome person, and in 1774 Wassiltschikoff was superseded by Potemkin. Gregory Alexandrowitsch Potemkin was the son of a Russian noble, and had played a subordinate part in the revolution which placed Catherine on the throne. His countenance was manly, but not prepossessing; his figure gigantic, but not well proportioned; his temper violent and overbearing. He is said to have been the only man, except Orloff, who continued to retain his influence over Catherine after connections of a more tender nature had ceased. He obtained the conduct of affairs soon after his promotion, and continued to retain it till his death, though compelled in 1776 to resign his office to another. His brutal energy, which kept all the nobles in awe, was useful to the Czarina.

Potemkin had long set his heart upon a war with Turkey, with the design of seizing the Tartar countries which had been declared independent by the Peace of Kutschuk Kainardji. With this view he employed himself in exciting disturbances in the Crimea. He compelled the Porte to restore the Khan Sahim Gherai, whom

29 We learn this fact from Joseph himself. See Dohm, Denkwürdigkeiten, B. i.

S. 420.

it had deposed, and who was in the Russian interest; and when the Turks assumed a menacing attitude against Sahim, supported him by sending an army under Suvaroff into the Crimea (1778). The Porte on its side had indeed afforded grounds for complaint, and especially it had infringed the Peace of Kainardji by opposing the passage of Russian vessels from the White Sea, or Egean, into the Black Sea. The war that seemed imminent was, however, averted by the mediation of France, and a new Convention had been executed at Constantinople in March 1779.30

Frederick II., with a view to maintain the peace of Europe, had proposed a quadruple alliance between Russia, Prussia, Poland, and the Porte. But he soon discovered that the Court of St. Petersburg regarded the Peace of Kainardji only as a steppingstone to greater enterprises, and Catherine abandoned an ally on whom she could no longer reckon. Thus was terminated the Russian and Prussian alliance. The breach, perhaps, was not quite complete till the death of Count Panin, in 1783, who had always favoured the alliance; but Potemkin was the decided adversary of Prussia; and when in 1782 the Grand Duke Paul and his wife made the tour of Europe, they were not permitted to visit Berlin.

After the Convention of 1779 further disputes arose between Russia and the Porte, which, however, were amicably terminated till the final explosion in 1789. Potemkin gradually induced Sahim Gherai, after renouncing his religion, even to abdicate his dominions in favour of Catherine, and to pass his life, as her lieutenant, in ease and luxury. A Russian manifesto appeared in April 1783, declaring the Crimea, the Isle of Taman, and the province of Kuban on the other side of the straits subject to the Russian sceptre, and Prince Potemkin took possession of them. Potemkin had diverted the pension assigned to the Khan to his own use; and when Sahim Gherai naturally complained of this usage, he was banished from the Crimea,31 which, together with the other Tartar lands, was occupied by Russian soldiers. The unfortunate inhabitants, who rose to assert their freedom, were put down with a terrible massacre, in which 30,000 persons perished, of all ages and both sexes. The Turks at first acquiesced in these proceedings; and by a Convention between Russia and the Porte,32

30 Called the Convention of Ainali Karak, from a Garden-palace near the arsenal, where it was signed.

31 He subsequently sought refuge in Turkey, where he was strangled as a traitor a few years after.

32 This Convention will be found in Zink isen, Gesch. des osm. Reiches, B. v. S. 933 sq. The English resident had contributed to persuade the Porte to consent to the Russian demands.

486

CATHERINE II. VISITS CHERSON.

[BOOK VI. signed at Constantinople January 8th 1784, the domination of the Tartars was terminated; but it was easy to see that a war would ensue so soon as an opportunity should arise.

Catherine now seemed to have made a step towards realising her project of a new Eastern Empire. She adopted Voltaire's idea of erecting a new Greek kingdom on the coasts of the Black Sea. The recently-acquired possessions received the names of Tauria and Caucasia, and Cherson was erected in the midst of a desert as the capital of the new kingdom, but on a site so ill chosen that it was soon eclipsed by Odessa. Potemkin, who was honoured with the pompous name of the "Taurian," was made Governor-General of the conquered provinces, and Grand-Admiral of the Black Sea. But under Russian government the Tartar provinces began rapidly to decline. Such were Potemkin's injustice and violence that the greater part of the inhabitants fled the country. Two years after their union with Russia, these provinces counted no more than 17,000 males; while in former times, the Khan of Tartary had often appeared in the field with 50,000 horsemen.

The relations between Russia and the Porte continued to be uneasy. Disputes arose respecting the Turkish Government in Georgia, Moldavia, and Wallachia, and on other points; whilst the Porte on its side accused the Cabinet of St. Petersburg of frequent violations of the Peace of Kainardji. Catherine II. resolved in 1787 to visit her new possessions, and to receive at Cherson the homage of her Tartar subjects, during a grand festival in honour of the founding of that metropolis. After a visit to Kieff, she embarked on the Dniepr with her suite in a flotilla of twenty-two richlydecorated galleys (May 3rd). At Kanieff she had an interview with the King of Poland, her former lover, now her creature and victim. At Koidok she was met by the Emperor Joseph II., who, as usual, travelled incognito under the title of Count Falkenstein. Joseph had devotedly attached himself to her fortunes. Louis XVI. had endeavoured to dissuade his brother-in-law from the alliance; but Joseph had declared to the Court of Versailles, in August 1783, that he would support the Czarina against the Turks with 120,000 men. The present position of his affairs bad, however, somewhat cooled his ardour. As the two sovereigns approached Cherson, large bonfires were kindled at every fifty rods, to enable them to travel by night. To give her new dominions an air of prosperity, Potemkin caused temporary villages to be erected along the route, which were peopled with inhabitants brought from afar, and dressed in holiday attire; while vast herds

of cattle were grazing in the pastures. But after Catherine had passed, villages, peasants, and herds vanished like a scene in a play, and left the country in its native solitude. At Cherson, one of the gates of which bore the ambitious inscription "The road to Constantinople," Joseph paid assiduous court to the Czarina, and every morning attended her levée as a private individual. Future projects against Turkey were cautiously and suspiciously discussed during this journey, but no definite plans were formed, and neither sovereign desired immediate war.33 Catherine feared a diversion on the side of Prussia and Sweden, while Joseph received at Cherson alarming tidings respecting the state of Belgium. This position of affairs was favourable to Turkey, and the Divan listened to the exhortations of the English and Prussian residents not to let slip the opportunity of taking vengeance upon Catherine. The Czarina, who had been scared from continuing her journey to Kinburn by the apparition of a Turkish fleet in the Liman, had scarcely returned to St. Petersburg, when the Russian minister at Constantinople was arrested and confined in the Seven Towers, August 10th 1787. At the same time war was declared against Russia. Chabaz Gherai was proclaimed Khan of the Tartars, and the Emperor was required to declare his views. Joseph replied that he was bound by treaties to Russia; and that he should repel force by force. But he offered to mediate a reconciliation; and he accompanied this declaration by placing a cordon of troops on the Hungarian frontier.

The war began with a fruitless attack of the Turkish fleet upon Kinburn, heroically defended by Suvaroff, September 24th. The winter was passed in negociations. France attempted to mediate a peace, and would probably have succeeded, had not a courier of M. de Ségur, the French minister at St. Petersburg, who was the bearer of Catherine's approval of a scheme of conciliation, been assassinated on the road. In June 1788, Potemkin crossed the Bog and invested Oczakoff. The Turkish fleet, which had attacked the Russians in the Liman near that place, was totally defeated and destroyed, June 26th. Oczakoff was taken by assault December 17th, the day of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of Russia, after a furious resistance. A dreadful massacre ensued, in which 40,000 persons are said to have lost their lives. Meanwhile Joseph II. had declared war against the Porte, February 9th 1788. Two fruitless attempts to surprise Belgrade before the declaration threw a shade over the Austrian policy. The plan of the campaign was bad. The Austrian forces were weakened by being spread in five 33 Zinkeisen, B. vi. S. 622. 34 Ségur, Tableau hist. et pol. de l'Europe, t. i. p. 93.

488

SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY.

[Book VI. divisions over an extent of 800 or 900 miles from the Bukovina to the Adriatic. The Emperor led his division against Belgrade, but failed through dilatoriness. Prince Liechtenstein attempted Dubitza with the same result, which place, however, was taken by Loudon, August 26th 1788. On the left wing Prince Coburg took Choczin, September 19th, and occupied a considerable part of Moldavia; but, on the whole, the campaign was unfavourable. The Grand Vizier Yussuf broke the Austrian centre and penetrated as far as Temesvar. The Turks were indeed compelled to evacuate the Banat before the end of autumn; but, on the whole, the campaign must be regarded as a failure; and the Emperor returned to Vienna ill and dispirited.

One cause of this failure was the inefficiency of the Russians, hampered by an attack of Gustavus III. of Sweden. But to explain this event it will be necessary to take a brief review of the Scandinavian kingdoms.

During the Seven Years' War, the faction of the Hats had reigned supreme in Sweden; but they lost their influence after the Peace, and in the Diet which assembled in 1765, the Caps contrived to seize the government. To the people, however, this change was of little benefit. They were still oppressed by an oligarchy differing but little from that which had been supplanted except in its views of foreign policy. The old King, Adolphus Frederick, was too fond of peace and tranquillity to attempt any changes in the state; but his son, the Crown Prince Gustavus, a nephew by his mother of Frederick the Great, had already begun to appear in public as the defender of the people against the oppressions of the nobles, and by his talents and popular qualities excited much admiration and enthusiasm. He had compelled the Council to convoke the States, before the usual period of assembly, in April 1769; a step, however, which only resulted in the establishment of the Hats.

In 1771 the Crown Prince made a journey to Paris; and he was in that metropolis when he heard of his father's death, on Feb. 12th. Gustavus III., while at Paris, entered into a solemn engagement with the French Ministry to bring about a monarchical revolution in Sweden. Yet at this very time he signed, at the demand of the Swedish Council, an Act of Security which they had forwarded to him, by which he promised to take on his return a solemn oath to the constitution of 1720, and to regard as enemies of their country all who should attempt to restore the Kingly power.35

35 For this period of Swedish history see Sheridan, Hist. of the late Revolution in Sweden (Sheridan was secretary to

the English Embassy in that country); Posselt, Leben Gustavs III.