VII
There is a curious and uncanny similarity between the character and the reign of Peter III and the character and reign of his son, Paul I. Both reigns were brief, yet both reigns had an incalculable influence on European affairs. Both rulers sacrificed national interests to dynastic interests. Both rulers were insane and both engaged in insane enterprises. Both rulers were murdered with the complicity or connivance of their own family. The Russian armies on the advent of Peter III had secured and achieved a dramatic victory over Prussia, but the admiration of Peter III for Frederick the Great prevented Russia from reaping the fruits of victory. Suvorov crossed the Alps and achieved an equally sensational victory over France, but Paul I was prevented from taking advantage of his victories by his admiration for Napoleon.
VIII
The reign of Alexander I once more strikingly illustrates the enormous part which subterranean German influences have played in the foreign policy of Russia. After the costly vic-
