THE RUSSO FRENCH CONVENTION OF 1810 FOR THE EXTINCTION OF POLAND
By a diplomatic sleight of hand, Napoleon had doubled the size of the Duchy of Warsaw at the expense of Russia and Austria. He had materialized a recurrent Russian nightmare by recreating a powerful Polish state armed with French rifles which pointed hostilely toward the empire of the tsars. He had inflamed Polish nationalism every where, including the vast former eastern territories, since the eighteenth century partitions under Russian control. Despite his displeasure at the settlement, which was far more decisive and profound than he chose to reveal, Alexander I acceded to a fait accompli, and on the fourth of November, promised to execute the treaty. His promise, however, was accompanied by the demand for a new convention on Poland. Wrote Caulaincourt: