As a major European power, Russia could not escape the wars involving revolutionary and Napoleonic France.Dominic Lieven, Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace (2010). Paul became an adamant opponent of France, and Russia joined Britain and Austria in a war against France. In 1798–1799 Russian troops under one of the country's most famous generals, Aleksandr Suvorov, performed brilliantly, driving the French from Italy. On December 18, 1800, Paul unilaterally declared the neighboring kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti annexed to the Russian Empire.
