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Why did Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand secretly urge Tsar Alexander I to oppose Napoleon at Erfurt?
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Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, prince de Bénévent
French diplomat Talleyrand, portrait by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, 1817.
At the Congress of Erfurt in 1808, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand secretly urged Tsar Alexander I to oppose Napoleon because he had become deeply alarmed by the Emperorâs insatiable ambition.12
Talleyrand recognized that Napoleonâs relentless pursuit of power would inevitably lead to disaster for France. His opposition was shared by the minister of police, Joseph FouchĂ©, who supported Talleyrandâs clandestine efforts to undermine Napoleonâs policies. By encouraging the Tsar to resist, Talleyrand sought to curb the Emperor's influence and eventually facilitate a return to stability, which he later believed could only be guaranteed by the restoration of the Bourbons.21