The foreign political events of 1805–1808 (the war with France as part of the Third Coalition in 1805 and the Fourth Coalition in 1806–1807, the Russian–French negotiations in Tilsit in June 1807 and in Erfurt in October 1808) diverted Alexander I's attention from affairs of internal management. But it was precisely at this time that Mikhail Speransky, the true author of the report of July 18, 1803, and the note of March 28, 1806, began to take an increasingly active part in the implementation of the ministerial reform.
