Treaty of Paris (1812) Treaty of Paris (1812) The Treaty of Paris of 5 March 1812 between Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia established a Franco-Prussian alliance directed against Russia. On 24 June, Prussia joined the French invasion of Russia. The unpopular alliance broke down when the Prussian contingent in French service signed a separate armistice, the Convention of Tauroggen, with Russia on 30 December 1812. On 17 March 1813, Frederick William declared war on France and issued his famous proclamation "To My People". In East German historiography, the Franco-Prussian alliance strengthened the hand of the monarchy and nobility against
French invasion of Russia historians writing that it was Russia that played the greatest role in the victory; and Prussian and later German historians writing that it was Prussia that made the difference. In such a context, various historians liked to diminish the contributions of their allies. Leo Tolstoy was not a historian, but his extremely popular 1869 historical novel "War and Peace" which depicted the war as a triumph of what Lieven called the "moral strength, courage and patriotism of ordinary Russians" with military leadership a negligible factor has shaped the popular understanding of the war in both Russia and abroad from the