1812 – In the steps of the Russian army

Capodistrias stayed in Bucharest for three months in 1812, before moving together with the Russian headquarters to the battlefield, in one of the last theatres of war of the allies against Napoleon. He worked for the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest, which ended the war between Russia and Turkey. Following the Russian army in its campaign against the French, Capodistrias became acquainted with life in the battlefield and acquired first hand impressions of the poverty plaguing the population of Bessarabia (modern Ukraine). His reports helped to alleviate some of the financial and social problems facing the inhabitants of this new acquisition of the Russian Empire.

The following piece ‘The Ruins of Athens’ (Die Ruinen von Athen) Op. 113, was composed by L. v. Beethoven (1770-1827) in 1811.