War And Peace

11 this is Herder’s doctrine: J. G. Herder (1744—1803) was a German historian and philosopher who argued the merits of intuition and irrationalism.

12 Platov’s division: General M. I. Platov (1751—1818) was a distinguished Cossack commander who had served alongside Suvorov and Kutuzov.

13 the battle of Friedland: This was fought in East Prussia on 14 June 1807. The French, with their superior artillery, defeated the Russians.

PART III

1 Speransky: Count M. M. Speransky (1772 – 1839) was a close adviser toto Alexander I on home affairs. He was a would-be reformer, but his ideas offended the conservative aristocracy, and he was dismissed in 1812.

2 Montesquieu: Baron de la Brède et de Charles Louis de Secondat (1689-1755) was a French lawyer, philosopher and man of letters whose most famous work, L’Esprit des lois (1748), analyses the relationship between human and natural law.

3 Illuminism: A secret, pseudoscientific movement of the late eighteenth century founded in Germany. Among its wide-ranging beliefs was a clear strain of republicanism, which led to its suppression.

4 Finnish campaign: Russia occupied Finland in February-May 1808. At home the war was unpopular.

5 ‘ein Mann zu sein’: ‘Being a man’.

6 a brother killed in Turkey: Russia had been at war with Turkey on and off since 1806 and hostilities would continue until 1812.

PART IV

1 pas de châle: A French shawl dance, given here as an example of Natasha’s training in western formal dance routines.

2 fetch me a cockerel . . . oats: This would be for fortune-telling based on the way the fowl pecked up the oats.

3 The Water-Carrier: This is a reference to Cherubini’s opera Les Deux Journées (1804).

4 my favourite nocturne, the one by Mr Field: Born in Dublin in 1782, John Field settled in Russia and died in Moscow 1837. A composer of piano music, he devised the style and name of the nocturne, handing it on to its greatest exponent, Chopin.

PART V

1 the Astraea lodge . . . the ‘Manna Seekers’: Masonic lodges in Petersburg.

2 Napoleon’s seizure . . . sent to every European court: The seizure of the Duchy of Oldenburg in north-west Germany in 1810 was a breach of the Tilsit agreement. Tsar Alexander circulated a strong protest against it.

3 Peter the Great’s old cudgel: Peter the Great, Tsar 1682—1725, oversaw Russia’s emergence as a major European power. Despite introducing many reforms, Peter was an authoritarian ruler who imposed swift, often cruel, punishments on all wrongdoers.

4 Mademoiselle George: A French actress, whose real name was Marguerite-Joséphine Weimer (1787 – 1867), celebrated for her beauty and accomplished performances on stage.

5 they all sat down: It is still a Russian tradition to sit down for a few moments of reflection before starting out on a journey.

VOLUME III

PART I

1 Continental System: An embargo on trade with England announced by Napoleon in 1806 and imposed on all of Europe.

2 Metternich, Rumyantsev or Talleyrand: Prince Clemens von Metternich (1773—1859) was the Austrian Foreign Minister; Count N. P. Rumyantsev (1754—1826) was a Russian diplomat; Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (1754—1838) was a French statesman and Foreign Minister (1797—1807), who opposed Napoleon’s Russian campaign.

3 Each of the three armies: The western army under Barclay de Tolly (1761—1818), the southern one under Bagration (1765—1812) and a reserve force being built up near the Austrian frontier.

4 Shishkov: The conservative Admiral Shishkov had replaced Speransky as Foreign Secretary.

5 The King of Naples: General Joachim Murat had been appointed King of Naples by Napoleon in 1808.

6 Bal-macheve: This mispronunciation of Balashev’s not-too-difficult name has an amusing ring, suggesting ‘a ball (bullet) that finishes me off’ (‘balle m’achève’).

7 Bernadotte: Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (1763—1844) founded the Swedish royal family in 1818 as Karl XIV. In 1812 he was crown prince.

8 the road to Poltava chosen by Charles XII: A century before, in 1709, Charles XII of Sweden had invaded Russia only to be roundly defeated by Peter the Great.

9 Thermopylae: A narrow pass in eastern Greece, the scene of a famous defence by Leonidas during the Persian invasion of 480 BC.

10 champignon . . . German toadstool: Champignon is French for mushroom.