Paul had gone further over the winter,…
May 1801 CE
As France has already closed all of Western and Southern Europe to British trade, Britain, which relies heavily upon imports (especially for timber, naval products, and grain), had felt seriously threatened by Paul's move and reacted fast.
In March 1801, Britain had sent a fleet to Denmark, bombarding Copenhagen and forcing the Danes to surrender in the beginning of April.
Nelson had then sailed towards St. Petersburg, reaching Reval on May 14, 1801, but after the conspiracy assassinated Paul (March 23, 1801), the new Tsar Alexander had opened peace-negotiations shortly after taking the throne.
The most original aspect of Paul I’s foreign policy had been his rapprochement with France after the coalition fell apart.
Several scholars will argue that this change in position, radical though it seemed, made sense, as Bonaparte became First Consul and made France a more conservative state, consistent with Paul’s view of the world.
Even Paul's decision to send a Cossack army to take British India, bizarre as it may seem, makes a certain amount of sense: Britain itself is almost impervious to direct attack, being an island nation with a formidable navy, but the British have left India largely unguarded and would have great difficulty staving off a force that came over land to attack it.
The British themselves consider this enough of a problem that they will sign three treaties with Persia, in 1801, 1809 and 1812, to guard against an army attacking India through Central Asia.
Paul had sought to attack the British where they are weakest: through their commerce and their colonies.
Throughout his reign, his policies had focused reestablishing peace and the balance of power in Europe, while supporting autocracy and old monarchies, without seeking to expand Russia's borders.