ABSTRACT
In late September and early October 1853, the normal time of year for Russian, Austrian and Prussian autumn manoeuvres, Nicholas I made his last visits to Austria and Prussia, their sovereigns paid their last calls on him. He also made his final attempt at personal diplomacy to bind Vienna and Berlin to his brand of conservatism in Europe and his policies regarding Turkey. The Tsar, two of his sons and Orlov left St Petersburg for Moscow on 13 September, stopped off at Warsaw, where Nesselrode and Field-Marshall Paskevich joined them, and then picked up Meyendorff en route to Olmütz to be Francis Joseph's guests from the 24th or 26th to the 28th. Next Nicholas hosted the Kaiser and Frederick William IV at Warsaw on 4 October. Finally, as an uninvited visitor, the Tsar followed the Prussian king back to Berlin before returning to St Petersburg on the 13th. 1
