Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills.  Temple of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills Patriotic War of 812

The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian Campaign of 1812, was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. After the campaign, only a small part of their former military power remained at the disposal of France and the allies. The war left a huge mark on culture (for example, “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy) and national identification, so necessary during the German attack in 1941-1945.

We call the French invasion Patriotic War 1812 (not to be confused with the Great Patriotic War, which refers to the attack of Nazi Germany on). In an attempt to gain the support of Polish nationalists by playing on their feelings of nationalism, Napoleon called this war the “Second Polish War” (“The First Polish War” was a war for Polish independence from Russia, Prussia and Austria). Napoleon promised to revive the Polish state in the territories of modern Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.

Causes of the Patriotic War

At the time of the invasion, Napoleon was at the pinnacle of power and virtually crushed the entire continental Europe under his influence. He often left the local government in the defeated countries, which earned him fame as a liberal strategically wise politician, but all local authorities worked to benefit the interests of France.

None of the political forces operating in Europe at that time dared to go against the interests of Napoleon. In 1809, under the terms of a peace treaty with Austria, it undertook to transfer western Galicia under the control of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Russia saw this as an infringement of its interests and the preparation of a springboard for an invasion of Russia.

This is what Napoleon wrote in an attempt to enlist the help of Polish nationalists in his decree of June 22, 1812: “Soldiers, the second Polish war has begun. The first ended in Tilsit. In Tilsit, Russia swore an eternal alliance with France and war with England. Today Russia is breaking its oaths. Russia is led by fate and the destined must be fulfilled. Does this mean that we must be degenerate? No, we will move on, we will cross the Neman River and start a war on its territory. The second Polish war will be victorious with the French army at its head, just as the first war was.”

The First Polish War was a war of four coalitions to liberate Poland from Russian, Prussian, and Austrian rule. One of the officially declared goals of the war was the restoration of an independent Poland within the borders of modern Poland and Lithuania.

Emperor Alexander the First took over the country in an economic hole, since the industrial revolution that was taking place everywhere bypassed Russia. However, Russia was rich in raw materials and was part of Napoleonic strategy to build the economy of continental Europe. These plans made it impossible to trade in raw materials, which was vitally important for Russia from an economic point of view. Russian refusal to participate in the strategy was another reason for Napoleon's attack.

Logistics

Napoleon and the Grande Armée developed the ability to maintain combat effectiveness beyond territories where they were well supplied. This was not so difficult in densely populated and agricultural central Europe with its network of roads and well-functioning infrastructure. The Austrian and Prussian armies were stymied by rapid movements, and this was achieved by timely supplies of fodder.

But in Russia, Napoleon's war strategy turned against him. Forced marches often forced troops to do without supplies, since supply caravans simply could not keep up with the fast-moving Napoleonic army. The lack of food and water in the sparsely populated and undeveloped regions of Russia led to the death of people and horses.

The army was weakened by constant hunger, as well as diseases caused by dirty water, as they had to drink even from puddles and use rotten fodder. The forward detachments received everything they could get, while the rest of the army was forced to starve.

Napoleon made impressive preparations to supply his army. Seventeen convoys, consisting of 6,000 carts, were supposed to provide the Grand Army with supplies for 40 days. A system of ammunition depots was also prepared in the cities of Poland and East Prussia.

At the beginning of the campaign there were no plans to take Moscow, so there were not enough supplies. However, the Russian armies, dispersed over a large area, could not oppose Napoleon's army, consisting of 285,000 thousand people, in one major battle separately and continued to retreat in an attempt to unite.

This forced the Grand Army to advance along muddy roads with bottomless swamps and frozen ruts, which led to the death of exhausted horses and broken wagons. Charles José Minard wrote that the Napoleonic army suffered most of its losses while advancing towards Moscow in the summer and autumn, and not in open battles. Hunger, thirst, typhus and suicide brought French army more losses than all battles with the Russian army combined.

Composition of Napoleon's Grand Army

On June 24, 1812, the Grand Army, numbering 690,000 men (the largest army ever assembled in European history), crossed the Neman River and advanced towards Moscow.

The Grand Army was divided into:

• The army for the main attack numbered 250,000 men under the personal command of the emperor.
  The other two advanced armies were commanded by Eugène de Beauharnais (80,000 men) and Jerome Bonaparte (70,000 men).
• Two separate corps under the command of Jacques Macdonald (32,500 men, mostly Prussian soldiers) and Karl Schwarzenberg (34,000 Austrian soldiers).
• Reserve army of 225,000 people (the main part remained in Germany and Poland).

There was also a National Guard of 80,000 who remained to protect the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Including these, the strength of the French imperial army on the Russian border was 800,000. This huge accumulation of human power greatly thinned out the Empire. Because 300,000 French soldiers, along with 200,000 thousand Germans and Italians, fought in Iberia.

The army consisted of:

• 300,000 French
• 34,000 Austrian corps led by Schwarzenberg
• about 90,000 Poles
• 90,000 Germans (including Bavarians, Saxons, Prussians, Westphalians, Württembergers, Badeners)
• 32,000 Italians
• 25,000 Neapolitans
• 9,000 Swiss (German sources specify 16,000 people)
• 4,800 Spaniards
• 3,500 Croats
• 2,000 Portuguese

Anthony Joes, in the Journal of Conflict Research, wrote: Accounts of how many of Napoleon's soldiers served in the war and how many of them returned vary widely. Georges Lefebvre writes that Napoleon crossed the Niemen with more than 600,000 soldiers, and only half of them were French. The rest were mostly Germans and Poles.

Felix Markham claims that 450,000 soldiers crossed the Niemen on June 25, 1812, of whom less than 40,000 returned in some semblance of an army. James Marshall-Cornwall writes that 510,000 imperial soldiers invaded Russia. Eugene Tarle estimates that 420,000 were with Napoleon and 150,000 followed behind, making a total of 570,000 soldiers.

Richard K. Rhyne gives the following figures: 685,000 people crossed the Russian border, of whom 355,000 were French. 31,000 were able to leave Russia as a united military formation, while another 35,000 people fled individually and in small groups. The total number of survivors is estimated at approximately 70,000.

Whatever the actual exact numbers, everyone agrees that practically the entire Grand Army remained killed or wounded on Russian territory.

Adam Zamoyski estimates that between 550,000 and 600,000 French and Allied soldiers, including reinforcements, took part in the crossing of the Niemen. At least 400,000 soldiers died.

The infamous graphs of Charles Minard (an innovator in the field of graphical methods of analysis) plotted the size of an advancing army by contour map, as well as the number of retreating soldiers as temperatures dropped (the temperature that year dropped to -30 Celsius). According to these charts, 422,000 crossed the Niemen with Napoleon, 22,000 soldiers separated and headed north, only 100,000 survived the journey to Moscow. Of these 100,000, only 4,000 survived and joined with 6,000 soldiers from a collateral army of 22,000. Thus, only 10,000 of the original 422,000 soldiers returned.

Russian Imperial Army

The forces that opposed Napoleon at the time of the attack consisted of three armies totaling 175,250 regular soldiers, 15,000 Cossacks and 938 cannons:

• The First Western Army, under the command of Field Marshal General Michael Barclay de Tolly, consisted of 104,250 soldiers, 7,000 Cossacks and 558 cannons.
• The Second Western Army under the command of Infantry General Peter Bagration numbered 33,000 soldiers, 4,000 Cossacks and 216 cannons.
• The Third Reserve Army, under the command of cavalry general Alexander Tormasov, consisted of 38,000 soldiers, 4,000 Cossacks and 164 cannons.

However, these forces could count on reinforcements, which amounted to 129,000 soldiers, 8,000 Cossacks and 434 cannons.

But only 105,000 of these potential reinforcements could take part in the defense against the invasion. In addition to the reserve, there were recruits and militia, totaling approximately 161,000 men of varying degrees of training. Of these, 133,000 took part in the defense.

Although the total number of all formations was 488,000 people, only approximately 428,000 of them opposed the Grand Army from time to time. Also, more than 80,000 Cossacks and militias and about 20,000 soldiers garrisoned fortresses in the combat zone did not take part in the open confrontation with Napoleon’s army.

Sweden, Russia's only ally, did not send reinforcements. But the alliance with Sweden allowed 45,000 soldiers to be transferred from Finland and used in subsequent battles (20,000 soldiers were sent to Riga).

Beginning of the Patriotic War

The invasion began on June 24, 1812. Shortly before, Napoleon sent the last peace proposal to St. Petersburg on terms favorable to France. Having received no answer, he gave the order to advance to Russian part Poland. At first, the army did not encounter resistance and quickly advanced through enemy territory. The French army at that time consisted of 449,000 soldiers and 1,146 artillery pieces. They were opposed by Russian armies consisting of only 153,000 soldiers, 15,000 Cossacks and 938 guns.

The central army of French forces rushed to Kaunas and crossings were made by the French Guards, numbering 120,000 soldiers. The crossing itself was carried out to the south, where three pontoon bridges were built. The crossing location was chosen by Napoleon personally.

Napoleon had a tent set up on a hill from where he could watch the crossing of the Niemen. The roads in this part of Lithuania were little better than just muddy ruts in the middle of a dense forest. From the very beginning, the army suffered, as supply trains simply could not keep up with the marching troops, and the rear formations experienced even greater hardships.

March on Vilnius

On June 25, Napoleon's army, crossing along an existing crossing, met an army under the command of Michel Ney. The cavalry under the command of Joachim Murat was in the vanguard along with Napoleon's army, Louis Nicolas Davout's First Corps followed. Eugene de Beauharnais with his army crossed the Niemen to the north, MacDonald's army followed and crossed the river on the same day.

The army under the command of Jerome Bonaparte did not cross the river with everyone and only crossed the river on June 28 in Grodno. Napoleon rushed to Vilnius, not giving rest to the infantry, languishing under the torrential rains and unbearable heat. The main part covered 70 miles in two days. Ney's Third Corps marched along the road to Suterva, while on the other side of the Vilnia River marched the corps of Nikola Oudinot.

These maneuvers were part of an operation whose purpose was to encircle the army of Peter Wittgenstein with the armies of Ney, Oudinot and Macdonald. But MacDonald's army was delayed and the opportunity for encirclement was missed. Then Jerome was assigned to march against Bagration in Grodno, and Jean Rainier's Seventh Corps was sent to Bialystok for support.

On June 24, Russian headquarters were located in Vilnius, and messengers rushed to notify Barclay de Tolly that the enemy had crossed the Neman. During the night, Bagration and Platov received orders to go on the offensive. Emperor Alexander I left Vilnius on June 26, and Barclay de Tolly took command. Barclay de Tolly wanted to fight, but assessed the situation and realized that there was no point in fighting, due to the numerical superiority of the enemy. Then he ordered the ammunition depots to be burned and the Vilnius bridge to be dismantled. Wittgenstein and his army advanced towards the Lithuanian town of Perkele, breaking away from the encirclement of MacDonald and Oudinot.

It was not possible to avoid the battle completely, and Wittgenstein’s detachments following behind nevertheless came into conflict with Oudinot’s advanced detachments. On the left flank of the Russian army, Dokhturov's corps was threatened by Phalen's third cavalry corps. Bagration was given the order to advance to Vileika (Minsk region) to meet the army of Barclay de Tolly, although the meaning of this maneuver remains a mystery to this day.

On June 28, Napoleon, almost without battles, entered Vilnius. Replenishment of fodder in Lithuania was difficult, since the land there was mostly unfertile and covered with dense forests. Forage supplies were poorer than in Poland, and two days of non-stop marching only made the situation worse.

The main problem was the ever-increasing distances between the army and the supply region. In addition, not a single convoy could keep up with the infantry column during the forced march. Even the weather itself became a problem. This is what historian Richard K. Rhine writes about it: Thunderstorms with lightning and heavy rains on June 24 washed out the roads. Some argued that there are no roads in Lithuania and there are bottomless swamps everywhere. Carts sat on their bellies, horses fell exhausted, people lost their shoes in puddles. Stuck convoys became obstacles, people were forced to go around them, and forage and artillery columns could not go around them. Then the sun came out and baked the deep potholes, turning them into concrete canyons. In these ruts, horses broke their legs and carts broke their wheels.

Lieutenant Mertens, a subject of Württemberg who served in Ney's third corps, wrote in his diary that the oppressive heat that followed the rain killed the horses and forced them to set up camp practically in the swamps. Dysentery and influenza raged in the army, despite field hospitals designed to protect against the epidemic, hundreds of people were infected.

He reported the time, place and events that took place with high accuracy. So on June 6 there was a strong thunderstorm with thunder and lightning, and already on the 11th people began to die from sunstroke. Crown Prince Württemberg reported 21 dead in the bivouac. The Bavarian corps reported 345 seriously ill people by June 13th.

Desertion was rampant in the Spanish and Portuguese formations. Deserters terrorized the population, stealing everything they could get their hands on. The areas where the Grand Army passed remained destroyed. A Polish officer wrote that people abandoned their houses, and the area was depopulated.

The French light cavalry were shocked at how vastly outnumbered they were by the Russians. The superiority was so noticeable that Napoleon ordered infantry to support his cavalry. This even applied to reconnaissance and reconnaissance. Despite thirty thousand cavalry, they were unable to locate Barclay de Tolly's troops, forcing Napoleon to send columns in all directions in the hope of identifying the enemy's position.

Chasing the Russian Army

The operation, which was intended to prevent the unification of the armies of Bagration and Barclay de Tolly near Vilnius, cost the French army 25,000 dead from minor skirmishes with Russian armies and disease. Then it was decided to move from Vilnius in the direction of Nemencine, Mihalishka, Oshmyany and Maliata.

Eugene crossed the river at Prenn on June 30, while Jerome was leading his Seventh Corps to Bialystok along with units crossing to Grodno. Murat advanced to Nemenchin on July 1, pursuing Dokhturov's Third Cavalry Corps on the way to Dzhunashev. Napoleon decided that this was Bagration's second army and rushed in pursuit. Only after 24 hours of infantry chasing the cavalry regiment, reconnaissance reported that it was not Bagration’s army.

Napoleon then decided to use the armies of Davout, Jerome and Eugene to catch Bagration's army between a rock and a hard place in an operation covering Oshmyana and Minsk. The operation failed on the left flank, where MacDonald and Oudinot did not make it. Dokhturov, meanwhile, moved from Dzhunashev to Svir to meet Bagration’s army, avoiding battles with the French army. 11 French regiments and a battery of 12 artillery pieces were too slow to stop him.

Conflicting orders and lack of intelligence almost brought Bagration's army between the armies of Davout and Jerome. But even here Jerome was late, stuck in the mud and experiencing the same problems with food supplies and weather as the rest of the Grand Army. Jerome's army lost 9,000 men during the four days of pursuit. Disagreements between Jerome Bonaparte and General Dominique Vandamme further aggravated the situation. Meanwhile, Bagration linked his army with Dokhturov's corps and had 45,000 men at his disposal in the area of ​​the village of Novy Sverzhen by July 7th.

Davout lost 10,000 men during the march to Minsk and did not dare to engage in battle without the support of Jerome's army. Two French cavalry corps were defeated, outnumbered by the corps of Matvey Platov, leaving the French army without intelligence. Bagration was also not sufficiently informed. So Davout believed that Bagration had about 60,000 soldiers, while Bagration believed that Davout's army had 70,000 soldiers. Armed with false information, both generals were in no hurry to engage in battle.

Bagration received orders from both Alexander I and Barclay de Tolly. Barclay de Tolly, out of ignorance, did not provide Bagration with an understanding of the role of his army in global strategy. This stream of conflicting orders created disagreements between Bagration and Barclay de Tolly, which later had consequences.

Napoleon reached Vilnius on June 28th, leaving behind 10,000 dead horses. These horses were vital to supplying an army that so desperately needed them. Napoleon assumed that Alexander would sue for peace, but to his disappointment this did not happen. And this was not his last disappointment. Barclay continued to retreat to Verkhnedvinsk, deciding that the unification of the 1st and 2nd armies was the highest priority.

Barclay de Tolly continued his retreat and, with the exception of an accidental skirmish between the rearguard of his army and the vanguard of Ney's army, the advance took place without haste or resistance. The Grand Army's usual methods now worked against it.

Rapid forced marches caused desertion, starvation, forced the troops to drink dirty water, there was an epidemic in the army, and logistics convoys lost horses in the thousands, which only exacerbated the problems. 50,000 stragglers and deserters became an uncontrollable mob fighting the peasants in full scale guerrilla warfare, which only worsened the situation with supplies for the Grand Army. By this time, the army had already been reduced by 95,000 people.

March on Moscow

Supreme Commander-in-Chief Barclay de Tolly refused to join the battle, despite Bagration's calls. Several times he attempted to prepare a powerful defensive position, but Napoleon's troops were too fast, and he did not have time to complete the preparations and retreated. The Russian army continued to retreat inland, adhering to tactics developed by Karl Ludwig Pfuel. Retreating, the army left behind scorched earth, which caused even more serious problems with forage.

Political pressure was put on Barclay de Tolly, forcing him to give battle. But he continued to reject the idea of ​​a global battle, which led to his resignation. The boastful and popular Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov was appointed to the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Despite Kutuzov's populist rhetoric, he continued to adhere to Barclay de Tolly's plan. It was obvious that attacking the French in open battle would lead to the pointless loss of the army.

After an indecisive clash near Smolensk in August, he finally managed to create a decent defensive position at Borodino. The Battle of Borodino took place on September 7 and became the most bloody battle Napoleonic wars. By September 8, the Russian army was halved and was again forced to retreat, leaving the road to Moscow open. Kutuzov also ordered the evacuation of the city.

By this point, the Russian army had reached its maximum strength of 904,000. Of these, 100,000 were in the immediate vicinity of Moscow and were able to join Kutuzov's army.

Capture of Moscow

On September 14, 1812, Napoleon entered an empty city, from which, by order of Governor Fyodor Rostopchin, all supplies were removed. According to the classic rules of warfare of the time, aimed at capturing the enemy's capital, although the capital was St. Petersburg, Moscow remained the spiritual capital, Napoleon expected Emperor Alexander I to announce surrender on Poklonnaya Hill. But the Russian command did not even think about surrender.

As Napoleon prepared to enter Moscow, he was surprised that he was not met by a delegation from the city. When a victorious general approached, local authorities usually greeted him at the gates with the keys to the city in an attempt to protect the population and city from plunder. Napoleon sent his assistants to the city in search of official authorities with whom it would be possible to conclude agreements on the occupation of the city. When no one could be found, Napoleon realized that the city was unconditionally abandoned.

In a normal capitulation, city officials were forced to make arrangements to house and feed the soldiers. In this case, the situation forced the soldiers to look for a roof over their heads and food for themselves. Napoleon was secretly disappointed at the lack of adherence to customs, as he believed it robbed him of his traditional victory over the Russians, especially after taking such a spiritually significant city.

Before the order to evacuate Moscow, the city's population was 270,000 people. After most of the population left the city, those who remained robbed and burned food so that the French would not get it. By the time Napoleon entered the Kremlin, no more than a third of its inhabitants remained in the city. Those who remained in the city were mainly foreign traders, servants and people who could not or did not want to evacuate. The remaining people tried to avoid the troops and the large French community, numbering several hundred people.

Burning of Moscow

After the capture of Moscow, the Grand Army, dissatisfied with the conditions of detention and the honors not given to the victors, began to plunder what was left of the city. The fires started that evening and only grew over the following days.

Two-thirds of the city was made of wood. The city was burned almost to the ground. Four-fifths of the city was burned, leaving the French homeless. French historians believe the fires were sabotaged by the Russians.

Leo Tolstoy, in his work War and Peace, states that the fires were not caused by Russian sabotage or French looting. The fires were a natural result of the fact that the city was filled with strangers during the winter season. Tolstoy believed that the fires were a natural consequence of the invaders lighting small fires for heating, cooking and other domestic needs. But they soon got out of control, and without an active fire service there was no one to put them out.

Retreat and defeat of Napoleon

Sitting in the ashes of a ruined city, having failed to receive Russian surrender and facing a rebuilt Russian army driving him out of Moscow, Napoleon began his long retreat by mid-October. At the Battle of Maloyaroslavets, Kutuzov was able to force the French army to use the same Smolensk road for retreat that they used to march to Moscow. The surrounding area had already been deprived of food supplies by both armies. This is often presented as an example of scorched earth tactics.

Continuing to blockade the southern flank to prevent the French from returning via another route, Kutuzov again deployed guerrilla tactics to constantly hit the French procession at its most vulnerable points. Russian light cavalry, including mounted Cossacks, attacked and destroyed the scattered French troops.

Supplying the army became impossible. The lack of grass weakened the already few horses, which were killed and eaten by starving soldiers back in Moscow. Without horses, the French cavalry disappeared as a class and were forced to march on foot. In addition, the lack of horses meant that the cannons and supply trains had to be abandoned, leaving the army without artillery support or ammunition.

Although the army quickly rebuilt its artillery arsenal in 1813, thousands of abandoned military trains created logistical problems until the end of the war. As fatigue, hunger, and the number of sick people grew, so did the number of desertions. Most of the deserters were captured or killed by the peasants whose lands they plundered. However, historians mention cases when soldiers were pitied and warmed up. Many remained to live in Russia, fearing punishment for desertion, and simply assimilated.

Weakened by these circumstances, the French army was beaten three more times in Vyazma, Krasnoye and Polotsk. The crossing of the Berezina River was the last disaster of the war for the Great Army. Two separate Russian armies defeated the remnants of Europe's greatest army in their attempt to cross the river on pontoon bridges.

Losses in the Patriotic War

In early December 1812, Napoleon finds out that General Claude de Male attempted a coup in France. Napoleon abandons the army and returns home on a sleigh, leaving Marshal Joachim Murat in command. Murat soon deserted and fled to Naples, of which he was king. So Napoleon's stepson Eugene de Beauharnais became commander-in-chief.

In the following weeks, the remnants of the Grand Army continued to dwindle. On December 14, 1812, the army left Russian territory. According to popular belief, only 22,000 of Napoleon's army survived the Russian campaign. Although some other sources claim no more than 380,000 dead. The difference can be explained by the fact that almost 100,000 people were captured and that about 80,000 people returned from subsidiary armies not under Napoleon's direct command.

For example, most Prussian soldiers survived thanks to the Taurogen Neutrality Convention. The Austrians also escaped, having withdrawn their troops in advance. Later, the so-called Russian-German Legion was organized from German prisoners and deserters in Russia.

Russian casualties in open battles were comparable to French ones, but civilian casualties greatly exceeded military casualties. In general, early estimates suggested that several million people died, but historians now believe that losses, including civilians, amounted to about a million people. Of these, Russia and France lost 300,000 each, about 72,000 Poles, 50,000 Italians, 80,000 Germans, 61,000 residents of other countries. In addition to the loss of life, the French also lost approximately 200,000 horses and over 1,000 artillery pieces.

It is believed that winter was the decisive factor in Napoleon's defeat, but this is not so. Napoleon lost half his army in the first eight weeks of the campaign. Losses were due to the abandonment of garrisons in supply centers, disease, desertion, and minor skirmishes with Russian armies.

In Borodino, Napoleon's army no longer numbered more than 135,000 people and the victory with losses of 30,000 people became Pyrrhic. Stuck 1000 km deep in enemy territory, having declared himself the winner after the capture of Moscow, Napoleon humiliatingly fled on October 19th. According to historians, the first snow that year fell on November 5th.

Napoleon's attack on Russia was the deadliest military operation of its time.

Historical assessment

The Russian victory over the French army in 1812 dealt a huge blow to Napoleon's ambitions for European dominance. The Russian campaign was the turning point of the Napoleonic Wars, and ultimately led to Napoleon's defeat and exile on the island of Elba. For Russia, the term "Patriotic War" formed a symbol of national identity that had a huge influence on Russian patriotism in the nineteenth century. An indirect result of the Russian patriotic movement was a strong desire to modernize the country, which led to a series of revolutions, starting with the Decembrist uprising and ending February revolution 1917.

Napoleon's Empire was not completely defeated by the lost war in Russia. IN next year he would assemble an army of some 400,000 French, supported by a quarter of a million French-allied soldiers, to contest control of Germany in an even larger campaign known as the War of the Sixth Coalition.

Although outnumbered, he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Dresden (August 26-27, 1813). Only after the decisive battle of Leipzig (Battle of the Nations, October 16-19, 1813) was he finally defeated. Napoleon simply did not have the necessary troops to prevent a coalition invasion of France. Napoleon proved himself to be a brilliant commander and still managed to inflict heavy losses on the vastly superior Allied armies at the Battle of Paris. The city was nevertheless captured and Napoleon was forced to abdicate in 1814.

However, the Russian campaign showed that Napoleon was not invincible, ending his reputation as an invincible military genius. Napoleon foresaw what this would mean, so he quickly fled to France before news of the disaster became known. Feeling this and enlisting the support of Prussian nationalists and Russian Emperor, German nationalists rebelled against the Confederation of the Rhine and. The decisive German campaign would not have taken place without defeating the most powerful empire in Europe.

The Patriotic War of 1812, the reasons for which were Napoleon’s desire to dominate the whole world by capturing all states, became a significant milestone in the history of our country. At that time, of all the European countries, only Russia and England continued to maintain independence. Napoleon felt particular irritation towards to the Russian state, which continues to oppose the expansion of its aggression and systematically violate

Entering into confrontation with the French, Russia acted as the intercessor of the monarchical states of Europe.

They had been preparing for war since 1810. Russia and France understood that military action was inevitable.

The French emperor sent troops to create weapons depots there. Russia felt threatened and began to increase the size of the army in the western provinces.

The Patriotic War of 1812 began with Napoleon's invasion on June 12. The 600,000-strong French army crossed the Neman.

Along with this Russian government developed a plan to resist the invaders. It was created by the theorist Ful. According to the plan, the entire Russian army was composed of three parts. Bagration, Tormasov, and Barclay de Tolly were chosen as commanders. According to Fuhl's assumption, the Russian troops were supposed to retreat to fortified positions systematically and, having united, repulse the onslaught of the French. However, the Patriotic War of 1812 began to develop differently. The Russian army was retreating, and Napoleon was approaching Moscow. Despite Russian resistance, the French soon found themselves close to the capital.

The situation that began to develop required immediate action. Post of Commander-in-Chief Russian troops On August 20, Kutuzov took over.

The general battle took place on August 26 near the village of Battle). This battle was the bloodiest one-day battle in the entire history of the country. There was no winner in this battle. But there were no losers either. However, after assessing the situation, Kutuzov decides to retreat after the battle. It was decided to give up Moscow without a fight. All residents were removed from the capital, and the city itself was burned.

On September 2, Napoleonic soldiers entered Moscow. The French commander-in-chief assumed that the Muscovites would bring him the keys to the city. But the city was burned, all the barns with ammunition and provisions burned down.

The next battle took place near Maloyaroslavets. There were fierce battles, during which the French army wavered. Napoleon had to retreat along the same road along which he came (along Old Smolenskaya).

The next battles took place near Krasnoye, Vyazma, near the crossing of the Berezina. The Russian army drove the French out of their land. Thus, the Napoleonic invasion of Russia ended.

The Patriotic War of 1812 ended on December 23, about which Alexander 1 signed a manifesto. However, the Napoleonic campaign continued. The battles were fought until 1814.

Patriotic War of 1812. Results

Military operations at that time began in Russia. This war caused a surge in the national consciousness of the Russian people. Absolutely the entire population, regardless of age, took part in the battle with Napoleon.

Victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 confirmed Russian heroism and courage. This battle gave birth to the stories of great people: Kutuzov, Raevsky, Bagration, Tormasov and others whose names will forever be remembered in history. The war with the Napoleonic army was a striking example of the self-sacrifice of the people in the name of saving their Motherland.

The Patriotic War of 1812 is an important page in the history of not only our country, but also the whole of Europe. Having entered a series of “Napoleonic wars,” Russia acted as the intercessor of monarchical Europe. Thanks to Russian victories over the French, the global revolution in Europe was delayed for some time.

War between France and Russia was inevitable, and on June 12, 1812, having gathered an army of 600 thousand, Napoleon crossed the Neman and invaded Russia. The Russian army had a plan to counter Napoleon, which was developed by the Prussian military theorist Fuhl, and approved by Emperor Alexander I.

Fuhl divided the Russian armies into three groups:

• The 1st was commanded by Barclay de Tolly;
• 2nd Bagration;
• 3rd Tormasov.

Fuhl assumed that the armies would systematically retreat to fortified positions, unite, and hold back Napoleon’s onslaught. In practice, it was a disaster. Russian troops retreated, and soon the French found themselves not far from Moscow. Fuhl's plan completely failed, despite the desperate resistance of the Russian people.

The current situation required decisive action. So, on August 20, the post of commander-in-chief was taken by Mikhail Kutuzov, who was one of the best students of the Great Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. During the war with France, Kutuzov will utter an interesting phrase: “To save Russia, we must burn Moscow.”

Russian troops will give a general battle to the French near the village of Borodino. There was a Great Slaughter, called the Battle of Borodino. No one emerged victorious. The battle was brutal, with many casualties on both sides. A few days later, at the military council in Fili, Kutuzov will decide to retreat. On September 2, the French entered Moscow. Napoleon hoped that Muscovites would bring him the key to the city. No matter how it is... Deserted Moscow did not greet Napoleon solemnly at all. The city burned down, barns with food and ammunition burned down.

Entering Moscow was fatal for Napoleon. He didn't really know what to do next. The French army was harassed by partisans every day, every night. The War of 1812 was truly a Patriotic War. In Napoleon's Army, confusion and vacillation began, discipline was broken, the soldiers began to drink. Napoleon stayed in Moscow until October 7, 1812. The French army decided to retreat south, to grain-producing regions that were not devastated by the war.

The Russian army gave battle to the French at Maloyaroslavets. The city was mired in fierce fighting, but the French wavered. Napoleon was forced to retreat along the Old Smolensk Road, the same one along which he had come. The battles near Vyazma, Krasny and at the crossing of the Berezina put an end to the Napoleonic intervention. The Russian army drove the enemy from its land. On December 23, 1812, Alexander I issued a manifesto on the end of the Patriotic War. The Patriotic War of 1812 was over, but the campaign of the Napoleonic Wars was only in full swing. The fighting continued until 1814.

Patriotic War of 1812 - important event V Russian History. The war caused an unprecedented surge of national self-awareness among the Russian people. Everyone, young and old, defended their Fatherland. By winning this war, the Russian people confirmed their courage and heroism, and showed an example of self-sacrifice for the good of the Motherland. The war gave us many people whose names will be forever inscribed in Russian history, these are Mikhail Kutuzov, Miloradovich, Dokhturov, Raevsky, Tormasov, Bagration, Seslavin, Gorchakov, Barclay-De-Tolly, Ermolov. And how many still unknown heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, how many forgotten names. The Patriotic War of 1812 is a Great Event, the lessons of which should not be forgotten today.

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 hoped, having delivered the main blow to the right flank of the Russian army in the general direction of Vilno (Vilnius), to 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 himself.

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 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 - the people's 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 with army forces partisan detachments. During this time, the peasantry of the Great Russian provinces, engulfed in war, 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 were actually 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 remained convoys and crowds of lagging 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.

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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 of transition Great Army Napoleon of 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. The hostilities 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.
Her initial period was isolated during 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 the 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