War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide

Prince Andrei and his pregnant wife (Lise) arrive Andrei’s father’s Smolensk estate known as “Bald Hills.” Andrei only plans to spend the night, as he is rushing toward the career path of his father, Nikolai, who performed a lifetime of (fictional) military service. Nikolai Bolkonsky (nicknamed “The King of Prussia”) is symbolic of the era of expansion and colonization under Catherine the Great. West of Moscow, this involved partitions of Poland, which was split between Russia, Prussia and Habsburg-Austria. A good portion of the territory of modern Ukraine was moved from Polish to Russian influence. These partitions motivated many Poles to join Napoleon’s army. This period also involved Russians battling the Ottoman Empire, where Russia gained control of territory north of the Black Sea. The elder Bolkonsky would have internalized all this “glory.” With this epic age passing, Andrei is experiencing a new world ushered in by Napoleon, where Russia is on the precipice of major change. Tolstoy questions whether