Who led the Patriotic War in 1812. Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Vorobyovy Gory
Patriotic War of 1812 |
|
Russian empire |
|
Almost complete destruction of Napoleon's army |
|
Opponents |
|
Allies: |
Allies: |
England and Sweden did not participate in the war on Russian territory |
|
Commanders |
|
Napoleon I |
Alexander I |
E. MacDonald |
M. I. Kutuzov |
Jerome Bonaparte |
M. B. Barclay de Tolly |
K.-F. Schwarzenberg, E. Beauharnais |
P. I. Bagration † |
N.-Sh. Oudinot |
A. P. Tormasov |
K.-V. Perrin |
P. V. Chichagov |
L.-N. Davout, |
P. H. Wittgenstein |
Strengths of the parties |
|
610 thousand soldiers, 1370 guns |
650 thousand soldiers, 1600 guns, 400 thousand militias |
Military losses |
|
About 550 thousand, 1200 guns |
210 thousand soldiers |
Patriotic War of 1812- military actions in 1812 between Russia and the army of Napoleon Bonaparte that invaded its territory. In Napoleonic studies the term " Russian campaign of 1812"(fr. campagne de Russie pendant l "année 1812).
It ended with the almost complete destruction of Napoleonic army and the transfer of military operations to the territory of Poland and Germany in 1813.
Napoleon originally called for this war second Polish, because one of his declared goals of the campaign was the revival of the Polish independent state in opposition to the Russian Empire, including the territories of Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. In pre-revolutionary literature there is such an epithet of war as “the invasion of twelve languages.”
Background
Political situation on the eve of the war
After the defeat of Russian troops in the Battle of Friedland in June 1807. Emperor Alexander I concluded the Treaty of Tilsit with Napoleon, according to which he undertook to join the continental blockade of England. By agreement with Napoleon, Russia took Finland from Sweden in 1808 and made a number of other territorial acquisitions; Napoleon had a free hand to conquer all of Europe with the exception of England and Spain. After an unsuccessful attempt to marry the Russian Grand Duchess, in 1810 Napoleon married Marie-Louise of Austria, daughter of the Austrian Emperor Franz, thus strengthening his rear and creating a foothold in Europe.
French troops, after a series of annexations, moved close to the borders of the Russian Empire.
On February 24, 1812, Napoleon concluded an alliance treaty with Prussia, which was supposed to field 20 thousand soldiers against Russia, as well as provide logistics for the French army. Napoleon also concluded a military alliance with Austria on March 14 of the same year, according to which the Austrians pledged to field 30 thousand soldiers against Russia.
Russia also diplomatically prepared the rear. As a result of secret negotiations in the spring of 1812, the Austrians made it clear that their army would not go far from the Austro-Russian border and would not be zealous at all for the benefit of Napoleon. In April of the same year, on the Swedish side, former Napoleonic Marshal Bernadotte (the future King of Sweden Charles XIV), elected crown prince in 1810 and de facto head of the Swedish aristocracy, gave assurances of his friendly position towards Russia and concluded an alliance treaty. On May 22, 1812, the Russian ambassador Kutuzov (the future field marshal and Napoleon's conqueror) managed to conclude a profitable peace with Turkey, ending the five-year war for Moldavia. In the south of Russia, Chichagov’s Danube Army was released as a barrier against Austria, which was forced to be in an alliance with Napoleon.
On May 19, 1812, Napoleon left for Dresden, where he reviewed the vassal monarchs of Europe. From Dresden, the emperor went to the “Great Army” on the Neman River, which separated Prussia and Russia. On June 22, Napoleon wrote an appeal to the troops, in which he accused Russia of violating the Tilsit Agreement and called the invasion the second Polish war. The liberation of Poland became one of the slogans that made it possible to attract many Poles into the French army. Even the French marshals did not understand the meaning and goals of the invasion of Russia, but they habitually obeyed.
At 2 o'clock in the morning on June 24, 1812, Napoleon ordered the start of the crossing to the Russian bank of the Neman through 4 bridges above Kovno.
Causes of the war
The French infringed on the interests of Russians in Europe and threatened the restoration of independent Poland. Napoleon demanded that Tsar Alexander I tighten the blockade of England. The Russian Empire did not respect the continental blockade and imposed duties on French goods. Russia demanded the withdrawal of French troops from Prussia, stationed there in violation of the Treaty of Tilsit.
Armed forces of opponents
Napoleon was able to concentrate about 450 thousand soldiers against Russia, of which the French themselves made up half. Italians, Poles, Germans, Dutch, and even Spaniards mobilized by force also took part in the campaign. Austria and Prussia allocated corps (30 and 20 thousand, respectively) against Russia under alliance agreements with Napoleon.
Spain, having tied up about 200 thousand French soldiers with partisan resistance, provided great assistance to Russia. England provided material and financial support to Russia, but its army was involved in battles in Spain, and the strong British fleet could not influence land operations in Europe, although it was one of the factors that tilted Sweden's position in favor of Russia.
Napoleon had the following reserves: about 90 thousand French soldiers in the garrisons of central Europe (of which 60 thousand in the 11th reserve corps in Prussia) and 100 thousand in the French National Guard, which by law could not fight outside France.
Russia had a large army, but could not quickly mobilize troops due to poor roads and vast territory. The blow of Napoleon's army was taken by the troops stationed on the western border: Barclay's 1st Army and Bagration's 2nd Army, a total of 153 thousand soldiers and 758 guns. Even further south in Volyn (northwest Ukraine) was located the 3rd Army of Tormasov (up to 45 thousand, 168 guns), which served as a barrier from Austria. In Moldova, Chichagov’s Danube Army (55 thousand, 202 guns) stood against Turkey. In Finland, the corps of the Russian General Shteingel (19 thousand, 102 guns) stood against Sweden. In the Riga area there was a separate Essen corps (up to 18 thousand), up to 4 reserve corps were located further from the border.
According to the lists, the irregular Cossack troops numbered up to 110 thousand light cavalry, but in reality up to 20 thousand Cossacks took part in the war.
Infantry, |
Cavalry, |
Artillery |
Cossacks, |
Garrisons, |
Note |
|
35-40 thousand soldiers, |
110-132 thousand in Barclay’s 1st Army in Lithuania, |
|||||
1370 guns |
190 |
450 thousand invaded Russia. After the start of the war, another 140 thousand arrived in Russia in the form of reinforcements. In the garrisons of Europe up to 90 thousand + National Guard in France (100 thousand) |
Strategic plans of the parties
From the very beginning, the Russian side planned a long, organized retreat in order to avoid the risk of a decisive battle and the possible loss of the army. Emperor Alexander I told the French ambassador to Russia, Armand Caulaincourt, in a private conversation in May 1811:
|
« If Emperor Napoleon starts a war against me, then it is possible and even probable that he will beat us if we accept the battle, but this will not yet give him peace. The Spaniards were beaten repeatedly, but they were neither defeated nor subjugated. And yet they are not as far from Paris as we are: they have neither our climate nor our resources. We won't take any risks. We have vast space behind us, and we will maintain a well-organized army. […] If the lot of arms decides the case against me, then I would rather retreat to Kamchatka than cede my provinces and sign treaties in my capital that are only a respite. The Frenchman is brave, but long hardships and bad climate tire and discourage him. Our climate and our winter will fight for us.» |
However, the original campaign plan developed by the military theorist Pfuel proposed defense at the Driss fortified camp. During the war, Pfuel's plan was rejected by the generals as impossible to implement in the conditions of modern maneuver warfare. Artillery warehouses for supplying the Russian army were located in three lines:
- Vilna - Dinaburg - Nesvizh - Bobruisk - Polonnoe - Kyiv
- Pskov - Porkhov - Shostka - Bryansk - Smolensk
- Moscow - Novgorod - Kaluga
Napoleon wished to conduct a limited campaign for 1812. He told Metternich: “ Triumph will be the lot of the more patient. I will open the campaign by crossing the Neman. I will finish it in Smolensk and Minsk. I'll stop there.“The French emperor hoped that the defeat of the Russian army in the general battle would force Alexander to accept his conditions. Caulaincourt in his memoirs recalls Napoleon’s phrase: “ He started talking about Russian nobles who, in the event of war, would fear for their palaces and, after a major battle, would force Emperor Alexander to sign peace.»
Napoleon's offensive (June–September 1812)
At 6 a.m. on June 24 (June 12, old style), 1812, the vanguard of the French troops entered Russian Kovno (modern Kaunas in Lithuania), crossing the Neman. The crossing of 220 thousand soldiers of the French army (1st, 2nd, 3rd infantry corps, guards and cavalry) near Kovno took 4 days.
On June 29-30, near Prena (modern Prienai in Lithuania) a little south of Kovno, another group (79 thousand soldiers: 6th and 4th infantry corps, cavalry) under the command of Prince Beauharnais crossed the Neman.
At the same time, on June 30, even further south near Grodno, the Neman was crossed by 4 corps (78-79 thousand soldiers: 5th, 7th, 8th infantry and 4th cavalry corps) under the overall command of Jerome Bonaparte.
North of Kovno near Tilsit, the Neman crossed the 10th Corps of the French Marshal MacDonald. In the south of the central direction from Warsaw, the Bug River was crossed by a separate Austrian corps of Schwarzenberg (30-33 thousand soldiers).
Emperor Alexander I learned of the start of the invasion late in the evening of June 24 in Vilna (modern Vilnius in Lithuania). And already on June 28, the French entered Vilna. Only on July 16, Napoleon, having arranged state affairs in occupied Lithuania, left the city following his troops.
From Neman to Smolensk (July - August 1812)
Northern direction
Napoleon sent Marshal MacDonald's 10th Corps, consisting of 32 thousand Prussians and Germans, to the north of the Russian Empire. His goal was to capture Riga, and then, uniting with the 2nd Corps of Marshal Oudinot (28 thousand), attack St. Petersburg. The core of MacDonald's corps was a 20,000-strong Prussian corps under the command of General Gravert (later York). Macdonald approached the fortifications of Riga, however, lacking siege artillery, he stopped at the distant approaches to the city. The military governor of Riga, Essen, burned the outskirts and locked himself in the city with a strong garrison. Trying to support Oudinot, Macdonald captured the abandoned Dinaburg on the Western Dvina and stopped active operations, waiting for siege artillery from East Prussia. The Prussians of Macdonald's corps tried to avoid active military clashes in this foreign war, however, if the situation threatened the “honor of the Prussian arms,” the Prussians offered active resistance, and repeatedly repulsed Russian forays from Riga with heavy losses.
Oudinot, having occupied Polotsk, decided to bypass Wittgenstein’s separate corps (25 thousand), allocated by Barclay’s 1st Army during the retreat through Polotsk, from the north, and cut it off from the rear. Fearing Oudinot's connection with MacDonald, on July 30 Wittgenstein attacked Oudinot's 2/3 corps, which was not expecting an attack and was weakened by a march on the 2/3 corps, in the battle of Klyastitsy and threw it back to Polotsk. The victory allowed Wittgenstein to attack Polotsk on August 17-18, but Saint-Cyr's corps, timely sent by Napoleon to support Oudinot's corps, helped repulse the attack and restore balance.
Oudinot and MacDonald were stuck in low-intensity fighting, remaining in place.
Moscow direction
Units of Barclay's 1st Army were scattered from the Baltic to Lida, with headquarters located in Vilna. In view of Napoleon's rapid advance, the divided Russian corps faced the threat of being defeated piecemeal. Dokhturov's corps found itself in an operational environment, but was able to escape and arrive at the Sventsyany assembly point. At the same time, Dorokhov’s cavalry detachment found itself cut off from the corps and united with Bagration’s army. After the 1st Army united, Barclay de Tolly began to gradually retreat to Vilna and further to Drissa.
On June 26, Barclay's army left Vilna and on July 10 arrived at the Drissa fortified camp on the Western Dvina (in northern Belarus), where Emperor Alexander I planned to fight off Napoleonic troops. The generals managed to convince the emperor of the absurdity of this idea put forward by the military theorist Pfuel (or Ful). On July 16, the Russian army continued its retreat through Polotsk to Vitebsk, leaving Lieutenant General Wittgenstein’s 1st Corps to defend St. Petersburg. In Polotsk, Alexander I left the army, convinced to leave by persistent requests from dignitaries and family. An executive general and cautious strategist, Barclay retreated under the pressure of superior forces from almost all of Europe, and this greatly irritated Napoleon, who was interested in a speedy general battle.
The 2nd Russian Army (up to 45 thousand) under the command of Bagration at the beginning of the invasion was located near Grodno in western Belarus, approximately 150 kilometers from Barclay’s 1st Army. At first Bagration moved to join the main 1st Army, but when he reached Lida (100 km from Vilno), it was too late. He had to escape from the French to the south. To cut Bagration off from the main forces and destroy him, Napoleon sent Marshal Davout with a force of up to 50 thousand soldiers to cross Bagration. Davout moved from Vilna to Minsk, which he occupied on July 8. On the other hand, from the west, Jerome Bonaparte attacked Bagration with 4 corps, which crossed the Neman near Grodno. Napoleon sought to prevent the connection of the Russian armies in order to defeat them piece by piece. Bagration, with swift marches and successful rearguard battles, broke away from Jerome's troops, and now Marshal Davout became his main opponent.
On July 19, Bagration was in Bobruisk on the Berezina, while Davout on July 21 occupied Mogilev on the Dnieper with advanced units, that is, the French were ahead of Bagration, being in the northeast of the Russian 2nd Army. Bagration, having approached the Dnieper 60 km below Mogilev, sent General Raevsky’s corps against Davout on July 23 with the goal of pushing the French back from Mogilev and taking a direct road to Vitebsk, where according to plans the Russian armies were to unite. As a result of the battle near Saltanovka, Raevsky delayed Davout's advance east to Smolensk, but the path to Vitebsk was blocked. Bagration was able to cross the Dnieper in the town of Novoye Bykhovo without interference on July 25 and headed towards Smolensk. Davout no longer had the strength to pursue the Russian 2nd Army, and the troops of Jerome Bonaparte, hopelessly behind, were still crossing the wooded and swampy territory of Belarus.
On July 23, Barclay's army arrived in Vitebsk, where Barclay wanted to wait for Bagration. To prevent the advance of the French, he sent the 4th Corps of Osterman-Tolstoy to meet the enemy vanguard. On July 25, 26 versts from Vitebsk, the battle of Ostrovno took place, which continued on July 26.
On July 27, Barclay retreated from Vitebsk to Smolensk, having learned about the approach of Napoleon with the main forces and the impossibility of Bagration breaking through to Vitebsk. On August 3, the Russian 1st and 2nd armies united near Smolensk, thus achieving their first strategic success. There was a short respite in the war; both sides were putting their troops in order, tired of continuous marches.
Upon reaching Vitebsk, Napoleon stopped to rest his troops, frustrated after a 400 km offensive in the absence of supply bases. Only on August 12, after much hesitation, Napoleon set out from Vitebsk to Smolensk.
South direction
The 7th Saxon Corps under the command of Rainier (17-22 thousand) was supposed to cover the left flank of Napoleon’s main forces from the 3rd Russian Army under the command of Tormasov (25 thousand under arms). Rainier took a cordon position along the Brest-Kobrin-Pinsk line, spreading out an already small body over 170 km. On July 27, Tormasov was surrounded by Kobrin, the Saxon garrison under the command of Klengel (up to 5 thousand) was completely defeated. Brest and Pinsk were also cleared of the French garrisons.
Realizing that the weakened Rainier would not be able to hold Tormasov, Napoleon decided not to attract Schwarzenberg’s Austrian corps (30 thousand) to the main direction and left it in the south against Tormasov. Rainier, gathering his troops and linking up with Schwarzenberg, attacked Tormasov on 12 August at Gorodechny, forcing the Russians to retreat to Lutsk (northwest Ukraine). The main battles take place between the Saxons and the Russians, the Austrians try to limit themselves to artillery shelling and maneuvers.
Until the end of September, sluggish operations were carried out in the southern direction. fighting in a sparsely populated swampy area in the Lutsk region.
In addition to Tormasov, in the southern direction there was the 2nd Russian reserve corps of Lieutenant General Ertel, formed in Mozyr and providing support to the blocked garrison of Bobruisk. To blockade Bobruisk, as well as to cover communications from Ertel, Napoleon left Dombrowski's Polish division (10 thousand) from the 5th Polish Corps.
From Smolensk to Borodin (August-September 1812)
After the unification of the Russian armies, the generals began to persistently demand from Barclay a general battle. Taking advantage of the scattered position of the French corps, Barclay decided to defeat them one by one and marched on August 8 to Rudnya, where Murat’s cavalry was quartered.
However, Napoleon, taking advantage of the slow advance of the Russian army, gathered his corps into a fist and tried to go to Barclay’s rear, bypassing his left flank from the south, for which he crossed the Dnieper west of Smolensk. On the path of the vanguard of the French army was the 27th division of General Neverovsky, covering the left flank of the Russian army near Krasnoye. Neverovsky's stubborn resistance gave time to transfer General Raevsky's corps to Smolensk.
By August 16, Napoleon approached Smolensk with 180 thousand. Bagration instructed General Raevsky (15 thousand soldiers), into whose 7th corps the remnants of Neverovsky's division joined, to defend Smolensk. Barclay was against a battle that was unnecessary in his opinion, but at that time there was actual dual command in the Russian army. At 6 a.m. on August 16, Napoleon began the assault on the city with a march. The stubborn battle for Smolensk continued until the morning of August 18, when Barclay withdrew his troops from the burning city to avoid a major battle without a chance of victory. Barclay had 76 thousand, another 34 thousand (Bagration’s army) covered the retreat route of the Russian army to Dorogobuzh, which Napoleon could cut with a roundabout maneuver (similar to the one that failed at Smolensk).
Marshal Ney pursued the retreating army. On August 19, in a bloody battle near Valutina Gora, the Russian rearguard detained the marshal, who suffered significant losses. Napoleon sent General Junot to go behind the Russian rear in a roundabout way, but he was unable to complete the task, running into an impassable swamp, and the Russian army left in good order towards Moscow to Dorogobuzh. The battle for Smolensk, which destroyed a large city, marked the development of a nationwide war between the Russian people and the enemy, which was immediately felt by both ordinary French suppliers and Napoleon’s marshals. Settlements along the route of the French army were burned, the population left as far as possible. Immediately after the Battle of Smolensk, Napoleon made a disguised peace proposal to Tsar Alexander I, so far from a position of strength, but did not receive an answer.
Relations between Bagration and Barclay after leaving Smolensk became more and more tense with each day of retreat, and in this dispute the mood of the nobility was not on the side of the cautious Barclay. On August 17, the emperor assembled a council, which recommended that he appoint infantry general Prince Kutuzov as commander-in-chief of the Russian army. On August 29, Kutuzov received the army in Tsarevo-Zaimishche. On this day the French entered Vyazma.
Continuing the general strategic line of his predecessor, Kutuzov could not avoid a general battle for political and moral reasons. The battle required Russian society, although it was unnecessary from a military point of view. By September 3, the Russian army retreated to the village of Borodino; further retreat implied the surrender of Moscow. Kutuzov decided to give a general battle, since the balance of power had shifted in the Russian direction. If at the beginning of the invasion Napoleon had a threefold superiority in the number of soldiers over the opposing Russian army, now the numbers of the armies were comparable - 135 thousand for Napoleon versus 110-130 thousand for Kutuzov. The problem of the Russian army was the lack of weapons. While the militia provided up to 80-100 thousand warriors from the Russian central provinces, there were no guns to arm the militia. The warriors were given pikes, but Kutuzov did not use people as “cannon fodder.”
On September 7 (August 26, Old Style) near the village of Borodino (124 km west of Moscow), the largest battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 took place between the Russian and French armies.
After almost two days of battle, which consisted of an assault by French troops on the fortified Russian line, the French, at the cost of 30-34 thousand of their soldiers, pushed the Russian left flank out of position. The Russian army suffered heavy losses, and Kutuzov ordered a retreat to Mozhaisk on September 8 with the firm intention of preserving the army.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon on September 13, in the village of Fili, Kutuzov ordered the generals to gather for a meeting on the further plan of action. Most of the generals spoke in favor of a new general battle with Napoleon. Then Kutuzov interrupted the meeting and announced that he was ordering a retreat.
On September 14, the Russian army passed through Moscow and reached the Ryazan road (southeast of Moscow). Towards evening, Napoleon entered empty Moscow.
Capture of Moscow (September 1812)
On September 14, Napoleon occupied Moscow without a fight, and already on the night of the same day the city was engulfed in fire, which by the night of September 15 intensified so much that Napoleon was forced to leave the Kremlin. The fire raged until September 18 and destroyed most of Moscow.
Up to 400 lower-class townspeople were shot by a French court-martial on suspicion of arson.
There are several versions of the fire - organized arson when leaving the city (usually associated with the name of F.V. Rostopchin), arson by Russian spies (several Russians were shot by the French on such charges), uncontrolled actions of the occupiers, an accidental fire, the spread of which was facilitated by general chaos in an abandoned city. The fire had several sources, so it is possible that all versions are true to one degree or another.
Kutuzov, retreating from Moscow south to the Ryazan road, performed the famous Tarutino maneuver. Having knocked off the trail of Murat's pursuing cavalrymen, Kutuzov turned west from the Ryazan road through Podolsk onto the old Kaluga road, where he reached on September 20 in the Krasnaya Pakhra area (near the modern city of Troitsk).
Then, convinced that his position was unprofitable, by October 2, Kutuzov transferred the army south to the village of Tarutino, which lies along the old Kaluga road in the Kaluga region not far from the border with Moscow. With this maneuver, Kutuzov blocked Napoleon’s main roads to the southern provinces, and also created a constant threat to the rear communications of the French.
Napoleon called Moscow not a military, but a political position. Hence, he makes repeated attempts to reconcile with Alexander I. In Moscow, Napoleon found himself in a trap: it was not possible to spend the winter in a city devastated by a fire, foraging outside the city was not going well, the French communications stretched over thousands of kilometers were very vulnerable, the army, after suffering hardships, began to disintegrate. On October 5, Napoleon sent General Lauriston to Kutuzov for passage to Alexander I with the order: “ I need peace, I need it absolutely at all costs, save only honor" Kutuzov, after a short conversation, sent Lauriston back to Moscow. Napoleon began to prepare for a retreat not yet from Russia, but to winter quarters somewhere between the Dnieper and Dvina.
Napoleon's retreat (October-December 1812)
Napoleon's main army cut deep into Russia like a wedge. At the time when Napoleon entered Moscow, Wittgenstein's army, held by the French corps of Saint-Cyr and Oudinot, hung over his left flank in the north in the Polotsk region. Napoleon's right flank trampled near the borders of the Russian Empire in Belarus. Tormasov's army connected with its presence the Austrian corps of Schwarzenberg and the 7th corps of Rainier. French garrisons along the Smolensk road guarded the communication line and Napoleon's rear.
From Moscow to Maloyaroslavets (October 1812)
On October 18, Kutuzov launched an attack on the French barrier under the command of Murat, who was monitoring the Russian army near Tarutino. Having lost up to 4 thousand soldiers and 38 guns, Murat retreated to Moscow. The Tarutino battle became a landmark event, marking the transition of the Russian army to a counteroffensive.
On October 19, the French army (110 thousand) with a huge convoy began to leave Moscow along the old Kaluga road. Napoleon, in anticipation of the coming winter, planned to get to the nearest large base, Smolensk, where, according to his calculations, supplies were stocked for the French army, which was experiencing hardships. In the Russian off-road conditions, it was possible to get to Smolensk by a direct route, the Smolensk road, along which the French came to Moscow. Another route led south through Kaluga. The second route was preferable, since it passed through unravaged areas, and the loss of horses from the lack of forage in the French army reached alarming proportions. Due to the lack of horses, the artillery fleet was reduced, and large French cavalry formations practically disappeared.
The road to Kaluga was blocked by Napoleon's army, positioned near Tarutino on the old Kaluga road. Not wanting to break through a fortified position with a weakened army, Napoleon turned in the area of the village of Troitskoye (modern Troitsk) onto the new Kaluga road (modern Kyiv highway) to bypass Tarutino.
However, Kutuzov transferred the army to Maloyaroslavets, cutting off the French retreat along the new Kaluga road.
On October 24, the battle of Maloyaroslavets took place. The French managed to capture Maloyaroslavets, but Kutuzov took a fortified position outside the city, which Napoleon did not dare to storm. By October 22, Kutuzov's army consisted of 97 thousand regular troops, 20 thousand Cossacks, 622 guns and more than 10 thousand militia warriors. Napoleon had up to 70 thousand combat-ready soldiers at hand, the cavalry practically disappeared, and the artillery was much weaker than the Russian one. The course of the war was now dictated by the Russian army.
On October 26, Napoleon ordered a retreat north to Borovsk-Vereya-Mozhaisk. The battles for Maloyaroslavets were in vain for the French and only delayed their retreat. From Mozhaisk, the French army resumed its movement towards Smolensk along the road along which it advanced on Moscow.
From Maloyaroslavets to Berezina (October-November 1812)
From Maloyaroslavets to the village of Krasny (45 km west of Smolensk), Napoleon was pursued by the vanguard of the Russian army under the command of Miloradovich. Platov's Cossacks and partisans attacked the retreating French from all sides, not giving the enemy any opportunity for supplies. Kutuzov's main army slowly moved south parallel to Napoleon, performing the so-called flank march.
On November 1, Napoleon passed Vyazma, on November 8 he entered Smolensk, where he spent 5 days waiting for the stragglers. On November 3, the Russian vanguard severely battered the closing corps of the French in the battle of Vyazma. Napoleon had at his disposal in Smolensk up to 50 thousand soldiers under arms (of which only 5 thousand were cavalry), and about the same number of unfit soldiers who were wounded and lost their weapons.
Units of the French army, greatly thinned out on the march from Moscow, entered Smolensk for a whole week with the hope of rest and food. There were no large supplies of food in the city, and what was there was plundered by crowds of uncontrollable soldiers of the Great Army. Napoleon ordered the shooting of the French intendant Sioff, who, faced with resistance from the peasants, failed to organize the collection of food.
Napoleon's strategic position had deteriorated greatly, Chichagov's Danube Army was approaching from the south, Wittgenstein was advancing from the north, whose vanguard captured Vitebsk on November 7, depriving the French of the food reserves accumulated there.
On November 14, Napoleon and the guard moved from Smolensk following the vanguard corps. Ney's corps, which was in the rearguard, left Smolensk only on November 17. The column of French troops was greatly extended, since the difficulties of the road precluded a compact march of large masses of people. Kutuzov took advantage of this circumstance, cutting off the French’s route of retreat in the Krasnoye area. On November 15-18, as a result of the battles near Krasny, Napoleon managed to break through, losing many soldiers and most of the artillery.
The Danube Army of Admiral Chichagov (24 thousand) captured Minsk on November 16, depriving Napoleon of its largest rear center. Moreover, on November 21, Chichagov's vanguard captured Borisov, where Napoleon planned to cross the Berezina. The vanguard corps of Marshal Oudinot drove Chichagov from Borisov to the western bank of the Berezina, but the Russian admiral with a strong army guarded possible crossing points.
On November 24, Napoleon approached the Berezina, breaking away from the pursuing armies of Wittgenstein and Kutuzov.
From Berezina to Neman (November-December 1812)
On November 25, through a series of skillful maneuvers, Napoleon managed to divert Chichagov’s attention to Borisov and south of Borisov. Chichagov believed that Napoleon intended to cross in these places in order to take a shortcut to the road to Minsk and then head to join the Austrian allies. Meanwhile, the French built 2 bridges north of Borisov, along which on November 26-27 Napoleon crossed to the right (western) bank of the Berezina, throwing off the weak Russian guards.
Realizing the mistake, Chichagov attacked Napoleon with his main forces on November 28 on the right bank. On the left bank, the French rearguard defending the crossing was attacked by Wittgenstein's approaching corps. Kutuzov's main army fell behind. Without waiting for the entire huge crowd of French stragglers, consisting of the wounded, frostbitten, those who had lost their weapons and civilians, to cross, Napoleon ordered the bridges to be burned on the morning of November 29. The main result of the battle on the Berezina was that Napoleon avoided complete defeat in conditions of significant superiority of Russian forces. In the memories of the French, the crossing of the Berezina occupies no less place than the largest Battle of Borodino.
Having lost up to 30 thousand people at the crossing, Napoleon, with 9 thousand soldiers remaining under arms, moved towards Vilna, joining along the way French divisions operating in other directions. The army was accompanied by a large crowd of unfit people, mainly soldiers from the allied states who had lost their weapons. The course of the war at the final stage, a 2-week pursuit by the Russian army of the remnants of Napoleonic troops to the border of the Russian Empire, is outlined in the article “From the Berezina to the Neman.” Severe frosts that struck during the crossing finally exterminated the French, already weakened by hunger. The pursuit of Russian troops did not give Napoleon the opportunity to gather at least some strength in Vilna; the flight of the French continued to the Neman, which separated Russia from Prussia and the buffer state of the Duchy of Warsaw.
On December 6, Napoleon left the army, going to Paris to recruit new soldiers to replace those killed in Russia. Of the 47 thousand elite guards who entered Russia with the emperor, six months later only a few hundred soldiers remained.
On December 14, in Kovno, the pitiful remnants of the “Great Army” in the amount of 1,600 people crossed the Neman into Poland, and then into Prussia. Later they were joined by remnants of troops from other directions. The Patriotic War of 1812 ended with the almost complete destruction of the invading “Grand Army”.
The last stage of the war was commented on by the impartial observer Clausewitz:
Northern direction (October-December 1812)
After the 2nd battle for Polotsk (October 18-20), which took place 2 months after the 1st, Marshal Saint-Cyr retreated south to Chashniki, bringing Wittgenstein’s advancing army dangerously closer to Napoleon’s rear line. During these days, Napoleon began his retreat from Moscow. Marshal Victor's 9th Corps, which arrived in September as Napoleon's reserve from Europe, was immediately sent to help from Smolensk. The combined forces of the French reached 36 thousand soldiers, which approximately corresponded to the forces of Wittgenstein. An oncoming battle took place on October 31 near Chashniki, as a result of which the French were defeated and rolled back even further to the south.
Vitebsk remained uncovered; a detachment from Wittgenstein’s army stormed the city on November 7, capturing 300 garrison soldiers and food supplies for Napoleon’s retreating army. On November 14, Marshal Victor, near the village of Smolyan, tried to push Wittgenstein back across the Dvina, but was unsuccessful, and the parties maintained their positions until Napoleon approached the Berezina. Then Victor, joining the main army, retreated to the Berezina as Napoleon's rearguard, holding back Wittgenstein's pressure.
In the Baltic states near Riga, a positional war was fought with rare Russian forays against MacDonald's corps. General Steingel's Finnish corps (12 thousand) came to the aid of the Riga garrison on September 20, but after a successful sortie on September 29 against the French siege artillery, Steingel was transferred to Wittgenstein in Polotsk to the theater of the main military operations. On November 15, Macdonald, in turn, successfully attacked Russian positions, almost destroying a large Russian detachment.
Marshal MacDonald's 10th Corps began to retreat from Riga towards Prussia only on December 19, after the pitiful remnants of Napoleon's main army had left Russia. On December 26, MacDonald's troops had to engage in battle with Wittgenstein's vanguard. On December 30, Russian General Dibich concluded an armistice agreement with the commander of the Prussian corps, General York, known at the place of signing as the Taurogen Convention. Thus, Macdonald lost his main forces, he had to hastily retreat through East Prussia.
Southern direction (October-December 1812)
On September 18, Admiral Chichagov with an army (38 thousand) approached from the Danube to the slow-moving southern front in the Lutsk region. The combined forces of Chichagov and Tormasov (65 thousand) attacked Schwarzenberg (40 thousand), forcing the latter to leave for Poland in mid-October. Chichagov, who took over the main command after the recall of Tormasov, gave the troops a 2-week rest, after which on October 27 he moved from Brest-Litovsk to Minsk with 24 thousand soldiers, leaving General Sacken with a 27 thousand-strong corps against the Austrians Schwarzenberg.
Schwarzenberg pursued Chichagov, bypassing Sacken's positions and covering himself from his troops with Rainier's Saxon corps. Rainier was unable to hold off Sacken's superior forces, and Schwarzenberg was forced to turn towards the Russians from Slonim. With joint forces, Rainier and Schwarzenberg drove Sacken south of Brest-Litovsk, however, as a result, Chichagov’s army broke through to Napoleon’s rear and occupied Minsk on November 16, and on November 21 approached Borisov on the Berezina, where the retreating Napoleon planned to cross.
On November 27, Schwarzenberg, by order of Napoleon, moved to Minsk, but stopped in Slonim, from where on December 14 he retreated through Bialystok to Poland.
Results of the Patriotic War of 1812
Napoleon, a recognized genius of military art, invaded Russia with forces three times greater than the Western Russian armies under the command of generals not marked by brilliant victories, and after just six months of the campaign, his army, the strongest in history, was completely destroyed.
The destruction of almost 550 thousand soldiers is beyond the imagination of even modern Western historians. A large number of articles are devoted to searching for the reasons for the defeat of the greatest commander and analyzing the factors of the war. The most frequently cited reasons are bad roads in Russia and frost; there are attempts to explain the defeat by the poor harvest of 1812, which is why it was not possible to ensure normal supplies.
The Russian campaign (in Western names) received the name Patriotic in Russia, which explains the defeat of Napoleon. A combination of factors led to his defeat: popular participation in the war, mass heroism of soldiers and officers, the leadership talent of Kutuzov and other generals, skillful use natural factors. The victory in the Patriotic War caused not only a rise in national spirit, but also a desire to modernize the country, which ultimately led to the Decembrist uprising in 1825.
Clausewitz, analyzing Napoleon’s campaign in Russia from a military point of view, comes to the conclusion:
According to Clausewitz's calculations, the invasion army in Russia, together with reinforcements during the war, numbered 610 thousand soldiers, including 50 thousand soldier of Austria and Prussia. While the Austrians and Prussians, operating in secondary directions, mostly survived, only Napoleon's main army had assembled across the Vistula by January 1813. 23 thousand soldier. Napoleon lost over 550 thousand trained soldiers, the entire elite guard, over 1200 guns.
According to the calculations of the Prussian official Auerswald, by December 21, 1812, 255 generals, 5,111 officers, 26,950 lower ranks had passed through East Prussia from the Great Army, “in a pitiful condition and mostly unarmed.” Many of them, according to Count Segur, died of disease upon reaching safe territory. To this number must be added approximately 6 thousand soldiers (who returned to the French army) from the Rainier and Macdonald corps, operating in other directions. Apparently, from all these returning soldiers, 23 thousand (mentioned by Clausewitz) later gathered under the command of the French. Relatively a large number of The surviving officers allowed Napoleon to organize a new army, calling up the recruits of 1813.
In a report to Emperor Alexander I, Field Marshal Kutuzov estimated the total number of French prisoners at 150 thousand man (December, 1812).
Although Napoleon managed to gather fresh forces, their fighting qualities could not replace the dead veterans. The Patriotic War in January 1813 turned into the “Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army”: the fighting moved to the territory of Germany and France. In October 1813, Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Leipzig and in April 1814 abdicated the throne of France (see article War of the Sixth Coalition).
The historian of the mid-19th century M.I. Bogdanovich traced the replenishment of the Russian armies during the war according to the statements of the Military Scientific Archive of the General Staff. He counted the reinforcements of the Main Army at 134 thousand people. By the time of the occupation of Vilna in December, the main army numbered 70 thousand soldiers in its ranks, and the composition of the 1st and 2nd Western armies at the beginning of the war was up to 150 thousand soldiers. Thus, the total loss by December is 210 thousand soldiers. Of these, according to Bogdanovich’s assumption, up to 40 thousand wounded and sick returned to duty. The losses of the corps operating in secondary directions and the losses of the militias could amount to approximately the same 40 thousand people. Based on these calculations, Bogdanovich estimates the losses of the Russian army in the Patriotic War at 210 thousand soldiers and militias.
Memory of the War of 1812
On August 30, 1814, Emperor Alexander I issued a Manifesto: “ December 25, the day of the Nativity of Christ, will henceforth be a day of thanksgiving celebration under the name in the church circle: the Nativity of our Savior Jesus Christ and the remembrance of the deliverance of the Church and the Russian Empire from the invasion of the Gauls and with them the twenty tongues».
The highest manifesto, about bringing thanksgiving to the Lord God for the liberation of Russia 12/25/1812
|
God and the whole world are witnesses to this with what desires and strength the enemy entered our beloved Fatherland. Nothing could avert his evil and stubborn intentions. Firmly relying on his own and the terrible forces he had collected against Us from almost all European Powers, and driven by the greed of conquest and the thirst for blood, he hastened to burst into the very breast of Our Great Empire in order to pour out on it all the horrors and disasters that were not generated by chance, but from ancient times the all-devastating war prepared for them. Knowing from experience the boundless lust for power and the impudence of his enterprises, the bitter cup of evils prepared for Us from him, and seeing him already entering Our borders with indomitable rage, We were forced with a painful and contrite heart, calling on God for help, to draw our sword, and promise to Our Kingdom that We will not put it into the vagina, until at least one of the enemies remains armed in Our land. We placed this promise firmly in Our hearts, hoping for the strong valor of the people entrusted to Us by God, in which we were not deceived. What an example of courage, courage, piety, patience and firmness Russia has shown! The enemy who had broken into her chest with all the unheard of means of cruelty and frenzy could not achieve the point that she would sigh even once about the deep wounds inflicted on her by him. It seemed that with the shedding of her blood, the spirit of courage increased in her, with the fires of her cities, love for the Fatherland was inflamed, with the destruction and desecration of the temples of God, faith was confirmed in her and irreconcilable vengeance arose. The army, the nobles, the nobility, the clergy, the merchants, the people, in a word, all government ranks and fortunes, sparing neither their property nor their lives, formed a single soul, a soul together courageous and pious, as much flaming with love for the Fatherland as with love for God . From this universal consent and zeal, consequences soon arose that were hardly incredible, hardly ever heard of. Let those gathered from 20 Kingdoms and nations, united under one banner, imagine the terrible forces with which the power-hungry, arrogant, and fierce enemy entered Our land! Half a million foot and horse soldiers and about one and a half thousand cannons followed him. With such a huge militia, he penetrates into the very middle of Russia, spreads, and begins to spread fire and devastation everywhere. But six months have barely passed since he entered Our borders, and where is he? Here it is appropriate to say the words of the sacred Songsinger: “I have seen the wicked exalted and towering like the cedars of Lebanon. And I passed by, and behold, I sought him, and his place was not found.” Truly this lofty saying was fulfilled in all the power of its meaning over Our proud and wicked enemy. Where are his troops, like a cloud of black clouds driven by the winds? Scattered like rain. A great part of them, having watered the earth with blood, lies covering the space of Moscow, Kaluga, Smolensk, Belarusian and Lithuanian fields. Another great part in various and frequent battles was taken prisoner with many military leaders and generals, and in such a way that after repeated and severe defeats, finally their entire regiments, resorting to the generosity of the victors, bowed their weapons before them. The rest, an equally great part, driven in their swift flight by Our victorious troops and greeted by scum and famine, covered the path from Moscow itself to the borders of Russia with corpses, cannons, carts, shells, so that the smallest, insignificant part of the exhausted ones remaining from all their numerous forces and unarmed warriors, hardly half-dead, can come to their country, in order to inform them, to the eternal horror and trembling of their fellow countrymen, since a terrible execution befalls those who dare with abusive intentions to enter the bowels of powerful Russia. Now, with heartfelt joy and ardent gratitude to God, We announce to Our dear loyal subjects that the event has surpassed even Our very hope, and that what We announced at the opening of this war has been fulfilled beyond measure: there is no longer a single enemy on the face of Our land; or better yet, they all stayed here, but how? dead, wounded and prisoners. The proud ruler and leader himself could barely ride away with his most important officials, having lost all his army and all the cannons he brought with him, which, more than a thousand, not counting those buried and sunk by him, were recaptured from him and are in Our hands. The spectacle of the death of his troops is incredible! You can hardly believe your own eyes! Who could do this? Without taking away worthy glory either from the famous Commander-in-Chief of our troops, who brought immortal merit to the Fatherland, or from other skillful and courageous leaders and military leaders who distinguished themselves with zeal and zeal; nor in general for all of Our brave army, we can say that what they did is beyond human strength. And so, let us recognize God’s providence in this great matter. Let us prostrate ourselves before His Holy Throne, and seeing clearly His hand, punishing pride and wickedness, instead of vanity and arrogance about Our victories, let us learn from this great and terrible example to be meek and humble doers of His laws and will, not like these defilers who have fallen away from the faith temples of God, Our enemies, whose bodies in countless numbers are strewn as food for dogs and corvids! Great is the Lord Our God in His mercy and in His wrath! Let us go by the goodness of our deeds and the purity of our feelings and thoughts, the only path leading to Him, to the temple of His holiness, and there, crowned by His hand with glory, let us give thanks for the generosity poured out on us, and let us fall to Him with warm prayers, that He may extend His mercy over By Us, and ceasing wars and battles, He will send victory to Us; desired peace and silence. |
The Christmas holiday was also celebrated as the modern Victory Day until 1917.
To commemorate the victory in the war, many monuments and memorials were erected, of which the most famous are the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the ensemble of Palace Square with the Alexander Column. A grandiose project has been implemented in painting, the Military Gallery, which consists of 332 portraits of Russian generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812. One of the most famous works of Russian literature was the epic novel “War and Peace,” where L. N. Tolstoy tried to comprehend global human issues against the backdrop of war. The Soviet film War and Peace, based on the novel, won an Academy Award in 1968; its large-scale battle scenes are still considered unsurpassed.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the victorious Patriotic War of 1812 for Russian weapons. At first glance, there are no problems regarding its duration in historiography. Nevertheless, I would like to suggest thinking about one fundamental question: when did the famous war in our history end?
The war continued
There is no ambiguity in determining the date of its beginning. As you know, this is June 24, 1812 - the day Napoleon's Great Army crossed the border river Neman. And to the question of when the war ended, I am sure there will be a clear answer: since it was in 1812, then it ended, accordingly, in 1812. But is this generally accepted statement consistent with historical truth? Let's figure it out.
In December 1812, the remnants of the French troops were expelled from Russia. But the war is not over yet! No peace was concluded between Russia and France. Military operations did not stop, and the Russian army, following the retreating enemy, crossed the border of its country and invaded Poland (at that time the Grand Duchy of Warsaw) and East Prussia. Soon Russia was joined first by the Kingdom of Prussia, and then by the Austrian Empire and a number of other small German states.
During 1813, after the bloody battles of Lützen, Bautzen, Dresden and Leipzig, the Allies worked together to oust Napoleon from Germany. Once again, no peace was signed with France. The war still continued.
At the beginning of 1814, the armies of the anti-French coalition entered French territory and occupied Paris. It was only then that the Patriotic War of Russia against Napoleon, which lasted from June 1812, was completed - in April 1814.
Foreign campaign of the Russian army
However, historiography divides this single war, which was actually fought for almost two years, into several years.
Its initial period was isolated in the “Patriotic War of 1812”. Subsequent periods of the war do not have a generally accepted name and are called differently in Russian historical studies: “The foreign campaign of the Russian army of 1813 and 1814”, “The Campaign of 1813”, “The Campaign of 1814”, etc.
The Russian army really had a foreign campaign and campaigns in 1813 and 1814, but why are they considered separate wars? They did not have any independent character, but were only a chronological continuation of the Patriotic War, which began on June 24, 1812, during which the time and territory of military operations changed.
Second Patriotic War
Let us turn to an analogy in our military history, where in addition to the Patriotic War of 1812 there was another national war - the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. But historians did not divide this war into several independent wars.
If we apply to this war the same obscure historical framework that measures the duration and date of completion of the First Patriotic War, then the picture would be simply fantastic!
The Great Patriotic War should have been considered over not on May 9, 1945, but somewhere in the summer of 1944, when almost the entire territory of the USSR, except for a small part of Latvia (Courland), was cleared by the Red Army from the Nazi invaders. The subsequent liberation from fascism of the countries of Eastern Europe and Germany itself, following this “historical” approach, should not be attributed to the Great Patriotic War, but should be declared as some separate wars - “The Foreign Campaign of the Red Army of 1944-1945” or the “Campaign of 1944” ", "The 1945 Campaign". But, fortunately, the historiography of the Great Patriotic War did not reach such an absurdity and preserved its historical integrity.
Taking into account the above analysis of the course and development of Russia's military actions against France and guided by historical logic, we believe that the Patriotic War with Napoleon is more correct to recognize not as the war of 1812 alone, but as the Patriotic War of 1812-1814.
Sergey Ivanovich GLUSHKO,
Pskov
On June 24 (June 12, old style), 1812, the Patriotic War began - the liberation war of Russia against Napoleonic aggression.
The invasion of the troops of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte into the Russian Empire was caused by the aggravation of Russian-French economic and political contradictions, the actual refusal of Russia to participate in the continental blockade (a system of economic and political measures applied by Napoleon I in the war with England), etc.
Napoleon strove for world domination, Russia interfered with the implementation of his plans. He calculated by inflicting main blow along the right flank of the Russian army in the general direction of Vilna (Vilnius), defeat it in one or two general battles, capture Moscow, force Russia to capitulate and dictate a peace treaty to it on terms favorable to itself.
On June 24 (June 12, old style), 1812, Napoleon’s “Great Army”, without declaring war, crossed the Neman and invaded the Russian Empire. It numbered over 440 thousand people and had a second echelon, which included 170 thousand people. The "Grand Army" included troops from all countries conquered by Napoleon Western Europe(French troops made up only half of its strength). It was opposed by three Russian armies, far apart from each other, with a total number of 220-240 thousand people. Initially, only two of them acted against Napoleon - the first, under the command of infantry general Mikhail Barclay de Tolly, covering the St. Petersburg direction, and the second, under the command of infantry general Peter Bagration, concentrated in the Moscow direction. The Third Army of cavalry general Alexander Tormasov covered the southwestern borders of Russia and began military operations at the end of the war. At the beginning of hostilities, the general leadership of the Russian forces was carried out by Emperor Alexander I; in July 1812, he transferred the main command to Barclay de Tolly.
Four days after the invasion of Russia, French troops occupied Vilna. On July 8 (June 26, old style) they entered Minsk.
Having unraveled Napoleon's plan to separate the Russian first and second armies and defeat them one by one, the Russian command began a systematic withdrawal of them to unite. Instead of gradually dismembering the enemy, French troops were forced to move behind the escaping Russian armies, stretching communications and losing superiority in forces. While retreating, the Russian troops fought rearguard battles (a battle undertaken with the aim of delaying the advancing enemy and thereby ensuring the retreat of the main forces), inflicting significant losses on the enemy.
To help the active army to repel the invasion of the Napoleonic army on Russia, on the basis of the manifesto of Alexander I of July 18 (July 6, old style) 1812 and his appeal to the residents of the “Mother See of our Moscow” with a call to act as initiators, temporary armed formations began to form - popular militia. This allowed the Russian government to mobilize large human and material resources for the war in a short time.
Napoleon sought to prevent the connection of Russian armies. On July 20 (July 8, old style), the French occupied Mogilev and did not allow the Russian armies to unite in the Orsha region. Only thanks to stubborn rearguard battles and the high art of maneuver of the Russian armies, which managed to frustrate the enemy’s plans, did they unite near Smolensk on August 3 (July 22, old style), keeping their main forces combat-ready. The first big battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 took place here. The battle of Smolensk lasted three days: from August 16 to 18 (from August 4 to 6, old style). The Russian regiments repelled all French attacks and retreated only on orders, leaving the enemy a burning city. Almost all the inhabitants left it with the troops. After the battles for Smolensk, the united Russian armies continued to retreat towards Moscow.
The retreat strategy of Barclay de Tolly, unpopular neither in the army nor in Russian society, leaving significant territory to the enemy forced Emperor Alexander I to establish the post of commander-in-chief of all Russian armies and on August 20 (August 8, old style) to appoint infantry general Mikhail Golenishchev to it. Kutuzov, who had extensive combat experience and was popular both among the Russian army and among the nobility. The emperor not only placed him at the head of the active army, but also subordinated to him the militias, reserves and civil authorities in the war-affected provinces.
Based on the demands of Emperor Alexander I, the mood of the army, which was eager to give battle to the enemy, Commander-in-Chief Kutuzov decided, based on a pre-selected position, 124 kilometers from Moscow, near the village of Borodino near Mozhaisk, to give the French army a general battle in order to inflict as much damage as possible on it and stop the attack on Moscow.
By the beginning of the Battle of Borodino, the Russian army had 132 (according to other sources 120) thousand people, the French - approximately 130-135 thousand people.
It was preceded by the battle for the Shevardinsky redoubt, which began on September 5 (August 24, old style), in which Napoleon’s troops, despite more than three times superiority in strength, managed to capture the redoubt only by the end of the day with great difficulty. This battle allowed Kutuzov to unravel the plan of Napoleon I and timely strengthen his left wing.
The Battle of Borodino began at five o'clock in the morning on September 7 (August 26, old style) and lasted until 20 o'clock in the evening. During the entire day, Napoleon failed to either break through the Russian position in the center or bypass it from the flanks. The partial tactical successes of the French army - the Russians retreated from their original position by about one kilometer - did not become victorious for it. Late in the evening, the frustrated and bloodless French troops were withdrawn to their original positions. The Russian field fortifications they took were so destroyed that there was no longer any point in holding them. Napoleon never managed to defeat the Russian army. In the Battle of Borodino, the French lost up to 50 thousand people, the Russians - over 44 thousand people.
Since the losses in the battle were enormous and their reserves exhausted, the Russian army withdrew from the Borodino field, retreating to Moscow, while fighting a rearguard action. On September 13 (September 1, old style) at the military council in Fili, a majority of votes supported the decision of the commander-in-chief “for the sake of preserving the army and Russia” to leave Moscow to the enemy without a fight. The next day, Russian troops left the capital. Most of the population left the city with them. On the very first day of the entry of French troops into Moscow, fires began that devastated the city. For 36 days, Napoleon languished in the burnt-out city, waiting in vain for an answer to his proposal to Alexander I for peace, on terms favorable to him.
The main Russian army, leaving Moscow, made a march maneuver and settled in the Tarutino camp, reliably covering the south of the country. From here, Kutuzov launched a small war using army partisan detachments. During this time, the peasantry of the war-torn Great Russian provinces rose up in a large-scale people's war.
Napoleon's attempts to enter into negotiations were rejected.
On October 18 (October 6, old style) after the battle on the Chernishna River (near the village of Tarutino), in which the vanguard of the “Great Army” under the command of Marshal Murat was defeated, Napoleon left Moscow and sent his troops towards Kaluga to break into the southern Russian provinces rich in food resources. Four days after the French left, advanced detachments of the Russian army entered the capital.
After the battle of Maloyaroslavets on October 24 (October 12, old style), when the Russian army blocked the enemy’s path, Napoleon’s troops were forced to begin a retreat along the devastated old Smolensk road. Kutuzov organized the pursuit of the French along the roads south of the Smolensk highway, acting with strong vanguards. Napoleon's troops lost people not only in clashes with their pursuers, but also from partisan attacks, from hunger and cold.
Kutuzov brought troops from the south and north-west of the country to the flanks of the retreating French army, which began to actively act and inflict defeat on the enemy. Napoleon's troops actually found themselves surrounded on the Berezina River near the city of Borisov (Belarus), where on November 26-29 (November 14-17, old style) they fought with Russian troops who were trying to cut off their escape routes. The French emperor, having misled the Russian command by constructing a false crossing, was able to transfer the remaining troops across two hastily built bridges across the river. On November 28 (November 16, old style), Russian troops attacked the enemy on both banks of the Berezina, but, despite superior forces, were unsuccessful due to indecision and incoherence of actions. On the morning of November 29 (November 17, old style), by order of Napoleon, the bridges were burned. On the left bank there were convoys and crowds of stragglers of French soldiers (about 40 thousand people), most of whom drowned during the crossing or were captured, and the total losses of the French army in the battle of the Berezina amounted to 50 thousand people. But Napoleon managed to avoid complete defeat in this battle and retreat to Vilna.
The liberation of the territory of the Russian Empire from the enemy ended on December 26 (December 14, old style), when Russian troops occupied the border cities of Bialystok and Brest-Litovsk. The enemy lost up to 570 thousand people on the battlefields. The losses of Russian troops amounted to about 300 thousand people.
The official end of the Patriotic War of 1812 is considered to be the manifesto signed by Emperor Alexander I on January 6, 1813 (December 25, 1812, old style), in which he announced that he had kept his word not to stop the war until the enemy was completely expelled from Russian territory. empires.
The defeat and death of the "Great Army" in Russia created the conditions for the liberation of the peoples of Western Europe from Napoleonic tyranny and predetermined the collapse of Napoleon's empire. The Patriotic War of 1812 showed the complete superiority of Russian military art over the military art of Napoleon and caused a nationwide patriotic upsurge in Russia.
(Additional
The Patriotic War of 1812 began on June 12 - on this day Napoleon's troops crossed the Neman River, unleashing wars between the two crowns of France and Russia. This war lasted until December 14, 1812, ending with the complete and unconditional victory of the Russian and allied forces. This is a nice page Russian history, which we will consider, referring to the official history textbooks of Russia and France, as well as to the books of bibliographers Napoleon, Alexander 1 and Kutuzov, who describe in great detail the events taking place at that moment.
➤ ➤ ➤ ➤ ➤ ➤ ➤Beginning of the war
Causes of the War of 1812
The causes of the Patriotic War of 1812, like all other wars in the history of mankind, must be considered in two aspects - the causes on the part of France and the causes on the part of Russia.
Reasons from France
In just a few years, Napoleon radically changed his own ideas about Russia. If, upon coming to power, he wrote that Russia was his only ally, then by 1812 Russia had become a threat to France (consider the emperor) a threat. In many ways, this was provoked by Alexander 1 himself. So, this is why France attacked Russia in June 1812:
- Violation of the Tilsit agreements: easing of the continental blockade. As you know, the main enemy of France at that time was England, against which the blockade was organized. Russia also participated in this, but in 1810 the government passed a law allowing trade with England through intermediaries. This effectively rendered the entire blockade ineffective, which completely undermined France's plans.
- Refusals in dynastic marriage. Napoleon sought to marry into the Russian imperial court in order to become “God’s anointed.” However, in 1808 he was denied marriage to Princess Catherine. In 1810 he was denied marriage to Princess Anna. As a result, in 1811 the French emperor married an Austrian princess.
- Transfer of Russian troops to the border with Poland in 1811. In the first half of 1811, Alexander 1 ordered the transfer of 3 divisions to the Polish borders, fearing an uprising of Poland, which could spread to Russian lands. This step was regarded by Napoleon as aggression and preparation for war for Polish territories, which by that time were already subordinate to France.
Soldiers! A new, second Polish war begins! The first ended in Tilsit. There, Russia promised to be an eternal ally for France in the war with England, but broke its promise. The Russian emperor does not want to give explanations for his actions until the French eagles cross the Rhine. Do they really think that we have become different? Are we really not the winners of Austerlitz? Russia presented France with a choice - shame or war. The choice is obvious! Let's go ahead, let's cross the Neman! The second Polish howl will be glorious for French arms. She will bring a messenger to the destructive influence of Russia on European affairs.
Thus began a war of conquest for France.
Reasons from Russia
Russia also had compelling reasons for participating in the war, which turned out to be a liberation war for the state. The main reasons include the following:
- Large losses for all segments of the population from the break in trade with England. The opinions of historians on this point differ, since it is believed that the blockade did not affect the state as a whole, but exclusively its elite, who, as a result of the lack of opportunity to trade with England, lost money.
- France's intention to recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1807, Napoleon created the Duchy of Warsaw and sought to recreate ancient state in true size. Perhaps this was only in the event of the seizure of its western lands from Russia.
- Napoleon's violation of the Peace of Tilsit. One of the main criteria for signing this agreement was that Prussia should be cleared of French troops, but this was never done, although Alexander 1 constantly reminded about this.
For a long time, France has been trying to encroach on Russia's independence. We always tried to be meek, hoping to deflect her attempts to seize us. With all our desire to maintain peace, we are forced to gather troops to defend our Motherland. There are no possibilities for a peaceful resolution of the conflict with France, which means there is only one thing left - to defend the truth, to defend Russia from invaders. I don't need to remind commanders and soldiers about courage, it's in our hearts. The blood of the victors, the blood of the Slavs, flows in our veins. Soldiers! You defend the country, defend the religion, defend the fatherland. I'm with you. God is with us.
Balance of forces and means at the beginning of the war
Napoleon's crossing of the Neman occurred on June 12, with 450 thousand people at his disposal. Around the end of the month, another 200 thousand people joined him. If we take into account that by that time there were no large losses on both sides, then the total number of the French army at the start of hostilities in 1812 was 650 thousand soldiers. It is impossible to say that the French made up 100% of the army, since the combined army of almost all European countries fought on the side of France (France, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Prussia, Spain, Holland). However, it was the French who formed the basis of the army. These were proven soldiers who had won many victories with their emperor.
Russia after mobilization had 590 thousand soldiers. Initially, the army numbered 227 thousand people, and they were divided on three fronts:
- Northern - First Army. Commander: Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly. Number of people: 120 thousand people. They were located in the north of Lithuania and covered St. Petersburg.
- Central - Second Army. Commander - Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration. Number of people: 49 thousand people. They were located in the south of Lithuania, covering Moscow.
- Southern - Third Army. Commander - Alexander Petrovich Tormasov. Number of people: 58 thousand people. They were located in Volyn, covering the attack on Kyiv.
Also in Russia, partisan detachments were active, the number of which reached 400 thousand people.
The first stage of the war - The offensive of Napoleon's troops (June-September)
At 6 o'clock in the morning on June 12, 1812, the Patriotic War with Napoleonic France began for Russia. Napoleon's troops crossed the Neman and headed inland. The main direction of the attack was supposed to be on Moscow. The commander himself said that “if I capture Kyiv, I will lift the Russians by the feet, if I capture St. Petersburg, I will take them by the throat, if I take Moscow, I will strike the heart of Russia.”
The French army, commanded by brilliant commanders, was looking for a general battle, and the fact that Alexander 1 divided the army into 3 fronts was very beneficial to the aggressors. However, at the initial stage, Barclay de Tolly played a decisive role, who gave the order not to engage in battle with the enemy and to retreat deeper into the country. This was necessary to combine forces, as well as to strengthen reserves. Retreating, the Russians destroyed everything - they killed livestock, poisoned water, burned fields. In the literal sense of the word, the French moved forward through the ashes. Later, Napoleon complained that the Russian people were carrying out a vile war and did not behave according to the rules.
Northern direction
Napoleon sent 32 thousand people led by General MacDonald to St. Petersburg. The first city on this route was Riga. According to the French plan, MacDonald was supposed to capture the city. Connect with General Oudinot (he had 28 thousand people at his disposal) and move on.
The defense of Riga was commanded by General Essen with 18 thousand soldiers. He burned everything around the city, and the city itself was very well fortified. By this time, MacDonald had captured Dinaburg (the Russians abandoned the city at the beginning of the war) and did not take further active action. He understood the absurdity of the assault on Riga and waited for the arrival of artillery.
General Oudinot occupied Polotsk and from there tried to separate Wittgenstein's corps from the army of Barclay de Tolly. However, on July 18, Wittgenstein launched an unexpected blow on Oudinot, who was saved from defeat only by the arrival of Saint-Cyr's corps. As a result, balance came and no more active offensive operations were carried out in the northern direction.
South direction
General Ranier with an army of 22 thousand people was supposed to act in the southern direction, blocking the army of General Tormasov, preventing it from connecting with the rest of the Russian army.
On July 27, Tormasov surrounded the city of Kobrin, where Ranier’s main forces gathered. The French suffered a terrible defeat - in 1 day 5 thousand people were killed in the battle, which forced the French to retreat. Napoleon realized that the southern direction in the Patriotic War of 1812 was in danger of failure. Therefore, he transferred General Schwarzenberg’s troops there, numbering 30 thousand people. As a result of this, on August 12, Tormasov was forced to retreat to Lutsk and take up defense there. Subsequently, the French did not undertake active offensive actions in the southern direction. The main events took place in the Moscow direction.
The course of events of the offensive company
On June 26, the army of General Bagration advanced from Vitebsk, whose task Alexander 1 set to engage in battle with the main forces of the enemy in order to wear them down. Everyone realized the absurdity of this idea, but only by July 17 was it possible to finally dissuade the emperor from this idea. The troops began to retreat to Smolensk.
On July 6, the large number of Napoleon's troops became clear. To prevent the Patriotic War from dragging on for a long time, Alexander 1 signed a decree on the creation of a militia. Literally all residents of the country are enrolled in it - there are about 400 thousand volunteers in total.
On July 22, the armies of Bagration and Barclay de Tolly united near Smolensk. The command of the united army was taken over by Barclay de Tolly, who had 130 thousand soldiers at his disposal, while the front line of the French army numbered 150 thousand soldiers.
On July 25, a military council was held in Smolensk, at which the issue of accepting the battle was discussed in order to launch a counteroffensive and defeat Napoleon with one blow. But Barclay spoke out against this idea, realizing that an open battle with an enemy, a brilliant strategist and tactician, could lead to a monumental failure. As a result, the offensive idea was not implemented. It was decided to retreat further - to Moscow.
On July 26, the retreat of the troops began, which General Neverovsky was supposed to cover by occupying the village of Krasnoye, thereby closing the bypass of Smolensk for Napoleon.
On August 2, Murat with a cavalry corps tried to break through the defenses of Neverovsky, but to no avail. In total, more than 40 attacks were launched with the help of cavalry, but it was not possible to achieve the desired result.
August 5 is one of the important dates in the Patriotic War of 1812. Napoleon began the assault on Smolensk, capturing the suburbs by evening. However, at night he was driven out of the city, and the Russian army continued its massive retreat from the city. This caused a storm of discontent among the soldiers. They believed that if they managed to drive the French out of Smolensk, then it was necessary to destroy it there. They accused Barclay of cowardice, but the general implemented only one plan - to wear down the enemy and take a decisive battle when the balance of forces was on the side of Russia. By this time, the French had all the advantage.
On August 17, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov arrived in the army and took command. This candidacy did not raise any questions, since Kutuzov (a student of Suvorov) was highly respected and was considered the best Russian commander after the death of Suvorov. Having arrived in the army, the new commander-in-chief wrote that he had not yet decided what to do next: “The question has not yet been resolved - either lose the army, or give up Moscow.”
On August 26, the Battle of Borodino took place. Its outcome still raises many questions and disputes, but there were no losers then. Each commander solved his own problems: Napoleon opened his way to Moscow (the heart of Russia, as the Emperor of France himself wrote), and Kutuzov was able to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, thereby making the initial turning point in the battle of 1812.
September 1 is a significant day, which is described in all history textbooks. A military council was held in Fili, near Moscow. Kutuzov gathered his generals to decide what to do next. There were only two options: retreat and surrender Moscow, or organize a second general battle after Borodino. Most of the generals, on the wave of success, demanded a battle in order to defeat Napoleon as soon as possible. Kutuzov himself and Barclay de Tolly opposed this development of events. The military council in Fili ended with Kutuzov’s phrase “As long as there is an army, there is hope. If we lose the army near Moscow, we will lose not only the ancient capital, but also all of Russia.”
September 2 - following the results of the military council of generals, which took place in Fili, it was decided that it was necessary to leave the ancient capital. The Russian army retreated, and Moscow itself, before the arrival of Napoleon, according to many sources, was subjected to terrible looting. However, this is not even the main thing. Retreating, the Russian army set the city on fire. Wooden Moscow burned down almost three-quarters. The most important thing is that literally all food warehouses were destroyed. The reasons for the Moscow fire lie in the fact that the French would not get anything that could be used by the enemies for food, movement or in other aspects. As a result, the aggressor troops found themselves in a very precarious position.
The second stage of the war - Napoleon's retreat (October - December)
Having occupied Moscow, Napoleon considered the mission completed. The commander's bibliographers later wrote that he was faithful - the loss of the historical center of Rus' would break the victorious spirit, and the country's leaders had to come to him asking for peace. But this did not happen. Kutuzov settled down with his army 80 kilometers from Moscow near Tarutin and waited until the enemy army, deprived of normal supplies, weakened and itself made a radical change in the Patriotic War. Without waiting for a peace offer from Russia, the French emperor himself took the initiative.
Napoleon's quest for peace
According to Napoleon's original plan, the capture of Moscow was to be decisive. Here it was possible to establish a convenient bridgehead, including for a campaign against St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia. However, the delay in moving around Russia and the heroism of the people, who fought for literally every piece of land, practically thwarted this plan. After all, a trip to the north of Russia in winter for the French army with irregular food supplies actually amounted to death. This became clearly clear towards the end of September, when it began to get colder. Subsequently, Napoleon wrote in his autobiography that his biggest mistake was the campaign against Moscow and the month spent there.
Realizing the gravity of his situation, the French emperor and commander decided to end the Patriotic War of Russia by signing a peace treaty with it. Three such attempts were made:
- September 18. A message was sent through General Tutolmin to Alexander 1, which stated that Napoleon revered the Russian emperor and offered him peace. All he demands from Russia is to give up the territory of Lithuania and return to the continental blockade again.
- September 20. Alexander 1 received a second letter from Napoleon with a peace proposal. The conditions offered were the same as before. The Russian emperor did not respond to these messages.
- The 4th of October. The hopelessness of the situation led to Napoleon literally begging for peace. This is what he writes to Alexander 1 (according to the major French historian F. Segur): “I need peace, I need it, at all costs, just save your honor.” This proposal was delivered to Kutuzov, but the Emperor of France never received a response.
Retreat of the French army in the autumn-winter of 1812
It became obvious to Napoleon that he would not be able to sign a peace treaty with Russia, and that staying for the winter in Moscow, which the Russians had burned while retreating, was reckless. Moreover, it was impossible to stay here, since constant raids by militias caused great damage to the army. So, during the month that the French army was in Moscow, its strength decreased by 30 thousand people. As a result, the decision was made to retreat.
On October 7, preparations began for the retreat of the French army. One of the orders on this occasion was to blow up the Kremlin. Fortunately, this idea did not work out for him. Russian historians attribute this to the fact that due to high humidity, the wicks got wet and failed.
On October 19, the retreat of Napoleon's army from Moscow began. The purpose of this retreat was to reach Smolensk, since it was the only major nearby city that had significant food supplies. The road went through Kaluga, but Kutuzov blocked this direction. Now the advantage was on the side of the Russian army, so Napoleon decided to bypass. However, Kutuzov foresaw this maneuver and met the enemy army at Maloyaroslavets.
On October 24, the battle of Maloyaroslavets took place. During the day, this small town passed from one side to the other 8 times. In the final stage of the battle, Kutuzov managed to take fortified positions, and Napoleon did not dare to storm them, since the numerical superiority was already on the side of the Russian army. As a result, the French plans were thwarted, and they had to retreat to Smolensk along the same road along which they went to Moscow. It was already a scorched land - without food and without water.
Napoleon's retreat was accompanied by heavy losses. Indeed, in addition to clashes with Kutuzov’s army, we also had to deal with partisan detachments that daily attacked the enemy, especially his rear units. Napoleon's losses were terrible. On November 9, he managed to capture Smolensk, but this did not bring a fundamental change in the course of the war. There was practically no food in the city, and it was not possible to organize a reliable defense. As a result, the army was subjected to almost continuous attacks by militias and local patriots. Therefore, Napoleon stayed in Smolensk for 4 days and decided to retreat further.
Crossing the Berezina River
The French were heading to the Berezina River (in modern Belarus) to cross the river and cross to the Neman. But on November 16, General Chichagov captured the city of Borisov, which is located on the Berezina. Napoleon's situation became catastrophic - for the first time, the possibility of being captured was actively looming for him, since he was surrounded.
On November 25, by order of Napoleon, the French army began to imitate a crossing south of Borisov. Chichagov bought into this maneuver and began transferring troops. At this point, the French built two bridges across the Berezina and began crossing on November 26-27. Only on November 28, Chichagov realized his mistake and tried to give battle to the French army, but it was too late - the crossing was completed, albeit at the loss of a huge number of human lives. 21 thousand French died while crossing the Berezina! The “Grand Army” now consisted of only 9 thousand soldiers, most of whom were no longer capable of combat.
It was during this crossing that unusually severe frosts occurred, to which the French emperor referred, justifying huge losses. The 29th bulletin, which was published in one of the newspapers in France, said that until November 10 the weather was normal, but after that very severe cold came, for which no one was prepared.
Crossing the Neman (from Russia to France)
The crossing of the Berezina showed that Napoleon's Russian campaign was over - he lost the Patriotic War in Russia in 1812. Then the emperor decided that his further stay with the army did not make sense and on December 5 he left his troops and headed to Paris.
On December 16, in Kovno, the French army crossed the Neman and left Russian territory. Its strength was only 1,600 people. The invincible army, which terrified all of Europe, was almost completely destroyed by Kutuzov's army in less than 6 months.
Below is a graphical representation of Napoleon's retreat on the map.
Results of the Patriotic War of 1812
The Patriotic War between Russia and Napoleon was of great importance for all countries involved in the conflict. Largely thanks to these events, England's undivided dominance in Europe became possible. This development was foreseen by Kutuzov, who, after the flight of the French army in December, sent a report to Alexander 1, where he explained to the ruler that the war needed to be ended immediately, and the pursuit of the enemy and the liberation of Europe would be beneficial to strengthening the power of England. But Alexander did not listen to the advice of his commander and soon began a campaign abroad.
Reasons for Napoleon's defeat in the war
When determining the main reasons for the defeat of Napoleonic army, it is necessary to dwell on the most important ones, which are most often used by historians:
- A strategic mistake by the Emperor of France, who sat in Moscow for 30 days and waited for representatives of Alexander 1 with pleas for peace. As a result, it began to get colder and provisions ran out, and constant raids by partisan movements brought a turning point in the war.
- Unity of the Russian people. As usual, in the face of great danger, the Slavs unite. It was the same this time. For example, the historian Lieven writes that the main reason for the defeat of France lies in the massive nature of the war. Everyone fought for the Russians - women and children. And all this was ideologically justified, which made the morale of the army very strong. The Emperor of France did not break him.
- The reluctance of Russian generals to accept a decisive battle. Most historians forget about this, but what would have happened to Bagration’s army if he had accepted a general battle at the beginning of the war, as Alexander 1 really wanted? 60 thousand of Bagration's army against 400 thousand of the aggressor army. It would have been an unconditional victory, and they would hardly have had time to recover from it. Therefore, the Russian people must express words of gratitude to Barclay de Tolly, who, by his decision, gave the order for the retreat and unification of the armies.
- The genius of Kutuzov. The Russian general, who received excellent training from Suvorov, did not make a single tactical miscalculation. It is noteworthy that Kutuzov never managed to defeat his enemy, but managed to tactically and strategically win the Patriotic War.
- General Frost is used as an excuse. To be fair, it must be said that the frost did not have any significant impact on the final result, since at the time the abnormal frosts began (mid-November), the outcome of the confrontation was decided - the great army was destroyed.
The War of 1812, in short, became the most difficult and important event of the 19th century for the Russian Empire. In Russian historiography it was called the Patriotic War of 1812.
How did it happen that France and Russia, which had friendly relations and were allies for many years, became adversaries and began military operations against each other?
The main reason for all the military conflicts of that time involving France, including the Patriotic War of 1812, in short, was associated with the imperial ambitions of Napoleon Bonaparte. Having come to power thanks to the Great French Revolution, he did not hide his desire to extend the influence of the French Empire to as many countries as possible. Great ambition and excellent qualities as a commander and diplomat made him short term Napoleon was the ruler of almost all of Europe. Dissatisfied with this state of affairs, Russia left the alliance with France and joined England. So former allies became enemies.
Then, during the unsuccessful wars of the Allies with Napoleon's troops, the Russian Empire was forced to agree to a peace agreement with France. This is how the Peace of Tilsit was signed. His main condition was that Russia maintain the continental blockade of England, which Napoleon wanted to weaken in this way. The authorities of the Russian Empire wanted to use this truce as an opportunity to accumulate forces, since everyone understood the need to further fight Napoleon.
But the blockade threatened the Russian economy, and then the Russian authorities resorted to a trick. They began to trade with neutral countries, through which they continued to trade with England, using them as intermediaries. At the same time, Russia did not formally violate the terms of peace with France. She was indignant, but could not do anything.
War of 1812, briefly about the reasons
There were many reasons why it became possible to conduct military operations directly between France and Russia:
1. Failure by Russia to fulfill the terms of the Tilsit Peace Treaty;
2. Refusal to marry first Alexander I’s sister Catherine, and then Anna, to the Emperor of France;
3. France violated the agreements of the Tilsit Peace by continuing the occupation of Prussia.
By 1812, war became inevitable for both countries. Both France and Russia hastily prepared for it, gathering allies around them. Austria and Prussia were on France's side. Russia's allies are Great Britain, Sweden and Spain.
Patriotic War of 1812 - The course of its military operations
The war began on June 12, 1812 with the transfer of Napoleon's army across the border river Neman. The Russian troops were divided into three parts, since the exact location of the border crossing by the enemy was not known. French troops crossed it in the area of the army under the command of Barclay de Tolly. Seeing the enormous numerical superiority of the enemy and trying to preserve his strength, he ordered a retreat. The armies of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration managed to unite near Smolensk. The first battle of this war took place there. Russian troops failed to defend the city, and they continued their retreat deeper into the country in August.
After the failure of the Russian troops near Smolensk, the people entered the fight against Napoleon's army. Active partisan actions of the country's inhabitants against the enemy began. The partisan movement provided enormous support to the army in the fight against French troops.
In August, General M. Kutuzov became commander-in-chief of the Russian troops. He approved of the tactics of his predecessors and continued the army's orderly retreat towards Moscow.
Near Moscow, near the village of Borodino, the most significant battle of this war took place, which completely debunked the myth of Napoleon's invincibility - the Battle of Borodino. The strengths of the two armies by that time were almost identical.
Following the Battle of Borodino Neither side could call itself the winner, but the French troops were greatly exhausted.
In September, according to the decision of Kutuzov, with which Alexander I agreed, Russian troops left Moscow. Frosts began, to which the French were not accustomed. Virtually locked in Moscow, Napoleon's army was completely demoralized. Russian troops, on the contrary, rested and received support with food, weapons and volunteers.
Napoleon decides to retreat, which soon turns into flight. Russian troops force the French to retreat along the Smolensk road, which they had completely destroyed.
In December 1812, the army under the command of Napoleon finally left Russian territory, and the War of 1812 ended with the complete victory of the Russian people. Thus ended the Patriotic War of 1812
Patriotic War of 1812 - DETAILED VERSION
Patriotic War of 1812
CONTENT:
- Background to the conflict
- Diplomacy, intelligence
- Armed forces of opponents
- Strategic plans of the parties
- Napoleon's offensive
- From Neman to Smolensk
- From Smolensk to Moscow
- Attempts to achieve peace
- People's War
- Tarutino maneuver
- Napoleon's retreat
- Plans of the parties
- From Moscow to Maloyaroslavets
- From Maloyaroslavets to Berezina
- From Berezina toNeman
- Northern direction
- South direction
- Results of the Patriotic War
- Causes of defeat us
- Early consequences of war
- Memory of the war
- 100th anniversary of Victory
- 200th anniversary of the Victory
BRIEFLY about the main thing
- The war was fought between Russia and France, on Russian soil. The reason for the war was that Russia refused to participate in the blockade of Great Britain. And also France’s policy towards European countries, without Russian participation.
- At first, the Russian army continuously retreated all the way to Moscow.
- Then Napoleon's army, retreating from Moscow, undertook various maneuvers, wanting to get to the apartments prepared in advance, but it had to move all the way to the border, constantly pursued by Russian troops. On the Russian side there was severe frost and famine that broke out in Napoleon's army.
- The war ended with the complete victory of the Russian army. The territory of Russia was completely liberated, military operations moved to Germany and Warsaw.
- The reasons for the defeat of the French were: the unification of the people in the face of the enemy; brave and heroic actions of Russian soldiers and officers; poor preparation of Napoleon's army for war in a vast territory and winter frosts. Kutuzov's military and strategic talent.
Background to the conflict
As a result of the Great French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte came to power. Russia and several other large countries created anti-French coalitions. Their goal was the desire to restore the monarchy of the Bourbon dynasty. In 1807, Russia was defeated in the Fourth Coalition, and Alexander I was forced to make peace with Napoleon, pledging to participate in the blockade of Great Britain. This Tilsit peace was completely disadvantageous for Russia. The conditions were simply humiliating for the state. The Russian government began to prepare for war with France.And Napoleon was ready to conquer Europe; he moved his troops to the Russian borders.
Causes of the war
From France
Napoleon considered Great Britain his main enemy. She interfered with free trade by sea, taking over the American and Indian colonies. It was possible to create a continental blockade of England only with the help of other European countries. Russia did not want to take part in this.
The Russian government began trading through intermediaries, and significantly increased customs duties on imported goods from France.
In 1808, Napoleon first received a refusal to propose marriage to the Russian princess Catherine. The second offer to Princess Anna was also rejected. This caused the relationship to deteriorate. In 1810, Bonaparte finally married Marie-Louise, she was the daughter of the Austrian emperor.
From Russia
Participation in the continental blockade of Great Britain had a negative impact on Russia's agriculture and trade, which in turn significantly reduced the financial power of the state. Bread exports decreased and prices immediately fell. If earlier a pound of bread cost 40 kopecks, now it could be bought for 22 kopecks. Gold began to be exported from the country at a rapid pace, and the Russian ruble depreciated. Measures were taken to save the state's economy. Trade through neutral countries and increased customs duties on French wines and luxury items.
There is another opinion that merchants and peasants did not suffer large losses from the blockade of England. On the contrary, during this period they paid much more taxes, and a decrease in exports led to the development of Russian industry.
Napoleon created the Duchy of Warsaw from Polish lands in 1807. The Poles dreamed of independence; for this they needed to take part of their lands from Russia. Napoleon began to occupy Prussian territories, Alexander was categorically against this.
At the end of 1810 it became clear that war was inevitable.
Diplomacy, intelligence
In 1812, France and Austria drew up an agreement according to which an Austrian army under actual French command would be deployed against Russia. Napoleon, in case of victory, had to compensate for all military losses.
In February 1812, Prussia contributed 20,000 soldiers and supplied Napoleon's troops with everything they needed. For this she demanded Courland and Livonia.
Napoleon began an in-depth study of the political situation and economic condition of Russia. French spies infiltrated various areas of Russian life. They worked as tutors, teachers, doctors, artists, and merchants. In addition to the French, Poles and Prussians spied. A lot of important information Napoleon knew about the Russian army before the war, including the size of the army.
Russia did not lag behind in terms of intelligence activities. It was possible to find out that the Austrians do not plan to conduct active operations at the front and will not move far from their border.
Napoleon promised the Swedes, in exchange for entering the war, to give Finland. And Alexander I undertook to give up Norway for similar actions against France. The Prince of Sweden accepted Russia's offer and concluded an alliance treaty with it.
In May, Kutuzov signed a peace treaty with Turkey.
Successful reconnaissance actions bore fruit. Twice every month the French minister sent Alexander a report on changes in affairs in the army.
Armed forces of opponents
| Parties to the conflict | Infantry (soldier) |
Cavalry |
TOTAL (soldiers) |
Artillery |
Cossacks |
| Russian army | 405.000 | 75.000 | 480.000 |
40,000 soldiers |
117.000 |
| Grand French Army | 492.000 | 96.000 | 588.000 |
21,000—35,000 soldiers, almost 1.4 thousand guns |
---- |
On the side of France
- By the beginning of the war, Napoleon's army numbered approximately 430 thousand people. There were 30,000 Austrians, 20,000 Prussians, 20,000 Lithuanians. And also soldiers from 16 countries. According to other sources, more than 650 thousand people were prepared for the invasion of Russia. In addition, there were about 200,000 more in reserve in Central Europe and about 100,000 in Prussia.
- Large warehouses of food and ammunition were created along the banks of the Vistula River, which could supply an army of 400 thousand for more than a month.
- The army was divided into 3 groups. Napoleon led the left.
- The advantages of Napoleon's army were:
- . huge numbers;
- . good training of soldiers;
- . fanatical belief in victory;
- . technical support.
- The downside was multinationality.
On the side of Russia
- The troops of Barclay de Toll were the first to take the French blow. The second army was commanded by Bagration and had just over 150,000 soldiers and 758 guns. The Third Army, under the command of Tormasov, stood in the south of Volyn and had 45,000 soldiers and 168 guns. Admiral Chichagov, with his troops, settled in Moldova. Essen building - in Riga.
- Weapons production in Russia was well established. Approximately 1,200 guns were produced per year. The Tula and Izhevsk factories alone could supply up to 96,000 guns annually. In France, approximately 100,000 guns were produced per year. The technical data of Russian weapons were no worse than their French counterparts. But the capacity was not enough for the entire army, so the regiments had Austrian and English guns.
- The artillery was armed with 6-pounder cannons and a small number of 12-pounder guns.
- Russia did not lag behind France in numbers and technical weapons. But theft and embezzlement of higher ranks on pay flourished in the army.
Reform in the army
- The Minister of Military Affairs, Barclay de Toll, began to carry out reform in March 1811. The experience of other countries, especially France, was studied.
- All troops were subordinate to the General Staff, headed by the commander-in-chief. Measures began to form army headquarters.
- Allies of Russia
- Great Britain signed a peace agreement with Russia, which provided for mutual assistance in the event of an attack by another country.
- Spain helped Russian troops by waging a guerrilla war with the French.
Strategic plans of the parties
Napoleon
- Napoleon's goals were:
- . strict blockade of England;
- . the revival of Poland and the expansion of its borders;
- . military campaign in India, together with Russia.
- He hoped that Russia would attack first, military operations would take place on Polish territory and the war would end with a quick victory for the French army. When the Russians began to retreat, Napoleon was very puzzled; his plans did not include a deep invasion of enemy territory.
Russian command
- Russian plans provided for both offensive and defensive tactics. To prevent heavy losses during the battles, there were plans for a long retreat. Fortified points were created as the battle progressed. A bet was placed on winter frosts.
- Based on Pfuel's plan, battles could be fought by 3 armies at once. The 1st should be part of the front, the 2nd should reliably protect the rear, the third should work on all flanks and behind enemy lines. But during the war, this plan turned out to be impossible; the military operations of the armies turned out to be too maneuverable.
- Bagration's plan was offensive, but Alexander rejected it, because the 200,000th French army was already concentrated at the border.
Napoleon's offensive
On June 22, 1812, Napoleon voiced appeals to his army. Russia was accused of violating the treaty and the need to attack it.
On June 24, using the built bridges, the French crossed to the Russian coast and entered the Kovno fortress. This was immediately reported to the emperor.
The four-day crossing ended, and 220,000 French soldiers found themselves on the Russian side near Kovno. 67,000 - near Prena, 79,000 - near Grodno.
On June 28, when Vilna fell, Alexander I sent General Balashov to Napoleon. It was proposed to make peace and withdraw the army from Russian territory. Napoleon refused.
From Neman to Smolensk
North direction
Marshal MacDonald's corps was sent to capture St. Petersburg. It was necessary to first occupy Riga and, uniting with the second corps, move on. Macdonald did not have siege weapons and, approaching a well-fortified city, the marshal stopped. The governor of Riga, having destroyed nearby villages, closed himself within the city. Prussian soldiers were afraid of direct clashes with the enemy.
Moscow direction
The First Western Army was scattered over a vast area. It was commanded by Barclay de Tolly. The French were advancing, and there was a threat of destroying it piece by piece. The retreat to Vilna began. Alexander's ineptitude in commanding the army became apparent. Confidants convinced him to leave for the capital, supposedly to create reserves.
The Second Western Army was located near Grodno. It was commanded by Bagration. He wanted to unite the two armies, but realizing that this was impossible, he retreated to the south. The rear of the army, which began to retreat, was covered by the Cossacks.
Napoleon really wanted to destroy Bagration, for this he sent 50,000 soldiers. But the rapid march allowed Bagration to break away from his pursuers. Now the armies of Bagration and Davout were separated by 60 kilometers. There was a battle near Saltanovka. The Russians headed towards Smolensk, Davout could not pursue her.
The 1st Army, under the leadership of Barclay de Tolly, was supposed to connect with the first. But as a result of the battle at Ostrovno, he had to retreat to Smolensk. And only on August 3 they managed to unite, this was the first success. The armies of both opponents needed a respite. The soldiers were tired of rapid marches and battles. Napoleon has already covered more than 400 km.
South direction
The army of General Tormasov fought with the right flank of the French. He managed to return Brest and Pinsk. Napoleon sent Schwarzenberg's corps against him. On August 12, the Russians retreated to Lutsk. Throughout September there were minor battles in the Lutsk swamps.
Ertel's reserve was located in the south. The Polish division of Dombrowski stood against him.
From Smolensk to Moscow
The Russian armies united, and the command began to demand a decisive battle from Barclay. At this time, Napoleon's troops were scattered from each other. Taking advantage of the situation, the general decided to defeat them.
Napoleon tried to gather all his strength into a fist and, going behind the Russian rear, crossed the Dnieper. Neverovsky's division stood in his way. The general's decisive actions allowed General Raevsky to arrive at Smolensk on time.
On August 16, the French, who numbered 180,000, approached the city. The defense of Smolensk was entrusted to Raevsky, who had 15,000 soldiers under his command. Early in the morning the assault on the city began. The bloody battle went on for 2 days. The city was burning, and Barclay de Toly decided to withdraw his troops to Dorogobuzh. Bagration covered the retreat.
Ney began to pursue the rapidly retreating Russian army. But in the battle at Valutina Mountain he suffered heavy losses. General Junot was sent to the Russian rear, but he did not carry out Napoleon’s orders. The Russians went to the Dorogobuzh side.
The destruction of Smolensk marked the beginning of the war of the Russian people against the French. All villages in the path of the invading army were burned, and the residents became partisans. Napoleon tried to make a peace proposal to Alexander, but how strong point. The Russian Tsar did not answer.
Management reorganization
The king did not leave the commander-in-chief in the troops after his departure. Bagration and Barclay could not find a common language after the retreat from Smolensk. An Emergency Committee was created, at a meeting of which Field Marshal Kutuzov was elected commander-in-chief. He immediately formed the army headquarters.
Borodino
Kutuzov's political and moral principles did not allow him to avoid the decisive battle. On September 3, the Russians retreated to Borodino. It was impossible to retreat further, and Kutuzov decided to fight. In order to have time to build fortifications at the battle site, General Gorchakov was ordered to pin down the French troops near Shevardino.
On September 7, the famous Battle of Borodino took place. There was approximately the same number of troops, but the Russian militias were poorly armed. They attacked with pikes.
The French attacked Russian fortifications using artillery. At noon the eighth attack began. The battle lasted about 12 hours. Napoleon lost 30,000 killed, but he managed to break through the defenses on the left flank. The Russians had 45,000 killed. Kutuzov decided to retreat.
Council in Fili
By September 13, the army concentrated near Moscow. The front line stretched for 4 km. Poor communication between units made this position unacceptable.
A Military Council was assembled in the village of Fili. Barclay expressed the difficult decision to surrender Moscow. Bennigsen was strongly opposed to this turn of events. But Suvorov ordered the troops to begin retreating. It was decided to leave Moscow and go along the Ryazan road. Kutuzov was very worried and did not sleep at all.
Surrender of Moscow
Moscow was left without a fight. And at night in the city it began terrible fire. Napoleon could not stay in the Kremlin. The civilian population was blamed for the arson, and 400 people were shot.
The arson could have been organized by:
. people of Rostopchin;
. criminals;
. Russian spies;
. chaos in the city.
Several fires were discovered. In 5 days, a significant part of the city was destroyed. Of the 30,000 houses, less than 5,000 remain.
Attempts to achieve peace
Napoleon understood perfectly well that the capture of Moscow was more of a political victory. Next in his plans was a campaign against St. Petersburg. All French marshals were against this. They were afraid of the coming winter and deep behind enemy lines.
- On September 18, Napoleon made the first attempt at a truce with Russia.
- On September 20, he made a second attempt, but again there was no answer.
- On October 4 there was another one, but Alexander remained silent.
People's War
At first, upon learning of the French advance, rumors spread among the peasants that Napoleon wanted to free them from serfdom and give them land. There were attacks by peasants on troops. In some regions, peasants handed over their landowners to the French.
As Napoleon's army advanced, violence began against the local population, looting populated areas, robberies, and fires in cities. This was the impetus for the start of the guerrilla war.
Army partisan units
In pursuit of the retreating Russian army, the French covered about 1,200 km in 3 months. Its divisions and communications have expanded significantly. Russian commanders decided to create mobile units to operate behind enemy lines. The task was set to destroy communications and deprive the advanced combat detachments of supplies. Such units received all kinds of help from the local population.
Peasant partisan units
Partisan detachments were formed by escaped captured soldiers and local volunteers. Such detachments acted very cruelly towards the enemy. The partisans destroyed 25,000 soldiers stationed in Moscow.
The peasants did not want to give food and fodder to the enemy. Napoleon's plan to replenish the army with everything necessary at the expense of the local population failed.
Militia
In July 1812, according to the manifesto, the nobles and their peasants were supposed to join the ranks of the militia. Muscovites also created their own militia. The first ring surrounding Moscow was the partisans, the second - the militia warriors. While Kutuzov's army was preparing for new battles, they created a ring around Napoleonic troops located in Moscow.
Tarutino maneuver
- When the French army was already entering Moscow, the last Russian convoys were just leaving it. In addition to the soldiers, the convoy included local residents. While retreating, Kutuzov maneuvered all the time, and Napoleon had no idea where the Russian army was now located.
- The Russians stopped near the village of Tarutino. The location was not chosen by chance. The Tula, Kaluga and bread-rich southern regions were under cover, and on the other hand, the army became a threat to the French rear.
- While in Moscow, Napoleon's army fell into a trap. It was impossible to stay in the burned-out city for the winter. Food and fodder were running out, communications were badly damaged by the partisans. Disobedience and sabotage began in the army. Napoleon decided to retreat. The apartments prepared for winter were very far away, near the Dnieper
- On October 18, a battle took place near Tarutino, as a result the French lost 4,000 soldiers. There was a turning point in the war.
Napoleon's retreat
Napoleon went far into Russia. On his left flank was Wittgenstein's army. The right flank is stuck in Belarus. Its rear was protected by garrisons stretched along the Smolensk road.
Plans of the parties
Napoleon
There is no reliable information about Napoleon's plans after the capture of Moscow. He said that it was impossible to stay in the city for the winter, we had to look for other acceptable positions and move to St. Petersburg.
Kutuzov
Based on the testimony of French prisoners, Kutuzov concluded that Napoleon would move along the Smolensk road. He ordered all possible escape routes from Moscow to be placed under round-the-clock surveillance. At this time, the northern borders were being strengthened. Detailed analysis Kutuzov presented all the events taking place on the fronts to the Tsar. He provided a plan to expel Napoleon from Russian territory. Showing ingenuity and foresight, the commander-in-chief guessed Napoleon's intentions.
From Moscow to Maloyaroslavets
- In October, a convoy of the French army stretched along the Kaluga road to Smolensk. Napoleon was leaving Moscow. There was a large food base in Smolensk. But the path was blocked by Kutuzov’s army.
- The French had very few horses left, respectively, artillery and cavalry. Realizing that it was impossible to break through the Russians, Napoleon decided to bypass the Russians near the village of Troitsky. But Kutuzov managed to cut off this route of retreat.
- A heavy battle took place in the Maloyaroslavets area. As a result, the city was occupied by the French. Kutuzov created fortified lines outside the city. The advantage in the number of soldiers, equipment, and cavalry was on the side of Russia.
- The Cossacks continued to raid French convoys. As a result of one of them, Kutuzov himself almost suffered. He circled his positions. Realizing that there was no way to delay, the French began a meeting on the army's further actions. Murat suggested going back. Opinions differed and Napoleon, after thinking for a long time, nevertheless ordered a retreat. We had to return along the already ruined, plundered road. We walked along the road along which we had previously moved with victories.
From Maloyaroslavets to Berezina
The Russians, under the command of Miloradovich, pursued the French all the way to Krasnoye Selo. The Cossacks and partisans did not give them a break. The supply of troops has deteriorated greatly. Kutuzov at this time was moving south. The next battle took place near Vyazma. The units bringing up the rear of the retreating army suffered greatly.
On November 8, the army stopped in Smolensk for 5 days. The lagging troops were waiting. There were about 45,000 combat-ready soldiers left, and the same number of wounded and unarmed. Napoleon's hope of replenishing food supplies in Smolensk collapsed. Crowds of hungry soldiers destroyed everything that remained in the city. The army quartermaster was shot. The second quartermaster justified himself, citing the legendary Praskovya, the commander of the partisan detachment.
The partisan detachments defeated the Augereau brigade. More than 60 officers and 1,500 soldiers were captured.
The position of Napoleon's army was getting worse every day. The Danube Army was concentrated in the south, and General Wittgenstein was in the north. Vitebsk was captured, where food supplies remained.
If the vanguard of the French army left Smolensk on November 14, the rearguard left the city only on November 17. Kutuzov was able to take advantage of the greatly stretched enemy army. The battle on November 18 ended with a breakthrough of Napoleonic soldiers. But their losses were enormous.
The Danube Army, having liberated Minsk, completely deprived the French of a rear center. The crossing of the Berezina was in doubt. Admiral Chigarov with his army controlled all approaches to possible crossing points.
On November 24, the French, having broken away from the Russians, stood by the river.
From Berezina to Neman
Northern direction
As a result of the battles for Polotsk, Wittgenstein's army came dangerously close to the rear of the French. Napoleon was already retreating from Moscow. Victor's corps went to his aid from the city of Smolensk. He was just transferred from European countries as a reserve. The number of soldiers in both armies was almost equal. On October 31 a battle took place and the French were forced to retreat south.
On November 7, Wittgenstein took Vitebsk. 300 French surrendered. All food intended for the retreating troops was captured.
Marshal Victor attempted to attack Wittgenstein's soldiers, trying to drive them beyond the Dvina, but this was unsuccessful. The troops remained in their positions until Napoleon's approach. The French armies united, and Victor took up the rearguard.
MacDonald's corps was located near Riga. The Russians, being in their positions, only occasionally made forays behind enemy lines. But on November 15, MacDonald suddenly attacked and inflicted heavy damage on the Russian detachment. The corps headed to Prussia only after Napoleon had completely left Russian territory.
South direction
Chichagov's army, which numbered 38,000 people, arrived on the southern front. Teaming up with General Tormasov, they forced Schwarzenberg to retreat from Lutsk. The army, after a two-week rest, moved to Minsk. Schwarzenberg began pursuit. After conducting several successful skirmishes with the French, he managed to get behind Napoleon's rear and occupy Minsk. He approached the Berezina River, where he marked Napoleon's crossing.
Collaborationism in the War of 1812
There were cases of collaboration on Russian soil during the occupation. The Archbishop from Mogilev immediately at the end of July 1812 swore an oath of allegiance to Napoleon. Most of the clergy swore allegiance to him. In the territories where partisan detachments were created, there were also cases of betrayal. Russian officers very rarely went over to the enemy’s side. The cornet of the dragoon regiment began to collaborate with the French in the summer of 1812. When he was captured by the Russians, he was shot.
Results of the Patriotic War
The main result of the war was the absolute victory of the Russian army over Napoleon's army. Military historian Clausewitz believes that an army of 610,000 soldiers entered Russia. Only about 30,000 reached Prussia. All were in deplorable condition, many soon died from various diseases.
Those officers who remained alive in the Russian company joined the French army in 1813.
Napoleon's losses amounted to approximately 580,000 soldiers, more than 1.2 thousand guns.
Russian losses amounted to approximately 210,000 soldiers.
At the very beginning of 1913, hostilities continued in Germany. Napoleon was finally defeated near Leipzig in October.
April 1814 was marked by Napoleon's abdication of the throne.
Causes of defeat
Most often called:
. a manifestation of the heroism and steadfastness of the Russian army;
. the vast territory of Russia;
. severe frost;
. the intelligence and foresight of Kutuzov and the Russian generals.
Another very important reason for Napoleon’s defeat was the unification of the entire Russian people to defend their homeland.
The fact that the Russians abandoned the plan to give battle near their border forced Napoleon to urgently change his plans. And the offensive deep into Russian territories, beyond the borders of supply bases, was fatal for Napoleon.
Russian generals, led by Kutuzov, tried to preserve the army. Napoleon's plans for a quick victory near the Russian borders did not come true.
The further the French army moved from the Neman, the worse the supply became. The army was overstretched and the foraging teams were undisciplined. The Russian population did not want to give food to the French. Guerrilla warfare played a role in the collapse of the supply system. Famine began, which made a pitiful semblance of a combat-ready army.
Frost continued the destruction of soldiers and officers. The Russian army, retreating almost all the time, took the French to its border.
Early consequences of war
- Russia's victory over Napoleon helped the coalition defeat France. Russia's prestige in international politics has risen to a high level. It enabled Russia to influence Europe.
- But if everything was fine at the foreign policy level, the internal state left much to be desired. The socio-economic system has not been changed. But the peasants who passed through Europe saw that there was no longer serfdom anywhere. The year 1812 ended, and serfdom was still not abolished. Peasant uprisings began. The formation of an opposition began among the progressive nobility.
- After the victory, the people's desire for freedom intensified. This led to the Decembrist uprising.
- During Napoleon's invasion, culture began to develop in Russia. Pushkin might not have existed if there had not been the War of 1812.
- Many prisoners of war from Napoleon's army remained on Russian territory. They accepted citizenship and began to work for the benefit of Russia. Former captured Poles became Siberian Cossacks. They were given the opportunity to return to Poland, but many remained on Russian soil and started families. Later they were able to obtain the ranks of officers. There were also those who had a good European education. They began teaching in the cadet corps. The descendants of former prisoners of war did not stand out from the mass of the population. Only the surname could give away the origin.
- The Patriotic War remains in the memory of the Russian people. She helped during the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, when it was hard. When they retreated and died, especially in the first years of the war.
Memory of the war
Alexander I issued a decree that Christmas, which is celebrated on December 25, will simultaneously be Victory Day.
The war was reflected in various ways in works of art, architecture, and scientific works. 15,000 books have already been written on the topic of the War of 1812. Monuments have been erected throughout the country. The Winter Palace displays portraits of more than 300 generals who took part in the war. Historical reconstructions of the battle are shown on the Borodino field. It is difficult to overestimate the novel “War and Peace” and the film of the same name by S. Bondarchuk. The Central Bank of Russia issued a silver coin in honor of the victory in the War of 1812.
100th anniversary of Victory
In 1912 Russian government found 25 eyewitnesses of the hostilities. 14 of them were direct participants in the fighting. 1 ruble was issued for the solemn date.
200th anniversary of the Victory
The grand opening of the Museum of the Patriotic War took place in Moscow. The Don Cossacks rode on horseback from Moscow to Paris, repeating the glorious campaign of their ancestors. Walking through the battlefields, they bowed to the graves of fallen Russian soldiers and officers.
More wars, battles, battles, riots and uprisings in Russia: