The foreign affairs of Paul I and the idea of the “Russian Constantinople”

The article is dedicated to the specifics of the Russia’s foreign affairs in the reign of Paul I. The article focuses on the possibility of the political rapprochement of Russia and France in 1800-1801s. The article specifically deals with the international situation on the eve of the Russian-French rapprochement - during the Italian and Swiss campaigns of A. V. Suvorov in 1799. The article analyzes the conception of foreign affairs of Russia elaborated by F. V. Rostopchin as the ideologist of the Russian-French alliance and of “Russian Constantinople”. The text of the “Note on the political relations of Russia in the last months of the Paul’s reign”, which set out the basic principles of the new foreign policy of Russia, is considered in detail. In conclusion, we consider the reasons why Russia’s ambitious foreign policy plan has not been implemented. The article notes the role that the “English party” played in the resignation and exile of F. V. Rostopchin, the murder of Paul I in March 1801 and the change of the course of foreign policy of the Russian Empire with the accession of Emperor Alexander I.