On June 26, 1813, Clement de Metternich, Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, came to meet Napoleon I at his headquarters in Dresden, capital of the Kingdom of Saxony. The previous winter, for the first time, the Grande Armée had been defeated and decimated during the disastrous Russian campaign. Since then, even if he still dominates Europe, warning signs are multiplying in the huge French Empire: while in the south Spain was lost, in the north Prussia rallied to Russia to wage war against him, with the financial support of the British crown, his longtime enemy. Even though in May he won two successive battles against his opponents, the emperor was worried.