The date of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is one of the most dramatic dates in the history of our country. This event gave rise to many myths and points of view regarding the causes, plans of the parties, the number of troops and other important aspects. Let's try to understand this issue and cover Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 as objectively as possible. Let's start with some background.
Background to the conflict
Napoleon's invasion of Russia was not a random and unexpected event. This is in the novel by L. N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" it is presented as "treacherous and unexpected". In fact, everything was natural. Russia has brought disaster upon itself by its military actions. At first, Catherine II, fearing revolutionary events in Europe, helped the First Anti-French Coalition. Then Paul the First could not forgive Napoleon for capturing M alta, an island that was under the personal protection of our emperor.
The main military confrontations between Russia and France began with the Second Anti-French Coalition (1798-1800), in which the Russianstroops, together with Turkish, British and Austrian, tried to defeat the army of the Directory in Europe. It was during these events that the famous Mediterranean campaign of Ushakov and the heroic transition of the many thousands of Russian army through the Alps under the command of Suvorov took place.
Our country then for the first time got acquainted with the "loy alty" of the Austrian allies, thanks to which the Russian armies of many thousands were surrounded. This, for example, happened to Rimsky-Korsakov in Switzerland, who lost about 20,000 of his soldiers in an unequal battle against the French. It was the Austrian troops who left Switzerland and left the 30,000th Russian corps face to face with the 70,000th French corps. And the famous campaign of Suvorov was also forced, since all the same Austrian advisers showed our commander-in-chief the wrong path in the direction where there were no roads and crossings.
As a result, Suvorov was surrounded, but with decisive maneuvers he was able to get out of the stone trap and save the army. However, ten years passed between these events and the Patriotic War. And Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 would not have taken place if not for further events.
Third and Fourth anti-French coalitions. Violation of the Peace of Tilsit
Alexander the First also started a war with France. According to one version, thanks to the British, a coup d'etat took place in Russia, which brought the young Alexander to the throne. This circumstance, perhaps, made the new emperor fight forEnglish.
In 1805, the Third Anti-French Coalition was formed. It includes Russia, England, Sweden and Austria. Unlike the previous two, the new union was designed as a defensive one. No one was going to restore the Bourbon dynasty in France. Most of all, England needed the union, since 200 thousand French soldiers were already standing under the English Channel, ready to land on Foggy Albion, but the Third Coalition prevented these plans.
The climax of the union was the "Battle of the Three Emperors" on November 20, 1805. She received this name because all three emperors of the warring armies were present on the battlefield near Austerlitz - Napoleon, Alexander the First and Franz II. Military historians believe that it was the presence of "high persons" that gave rise to the utter confusion of the allies. The battle ended with the complete defeat of the Coalition forces.
We try to briefly explain all the circumstances without understanding which Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 would be incomprehensible.
In 1806, the Fourth Anti-French Coalition appeared. Austria no longer took part in the war against Napoleon. The new union included England, Russia, Prussia, Saxony and Sweden. Our country had to bear the brunt of the battles, since England helped, mainly only financially, as well as at sea, and the rest of the participants did not have strong land armies. In one day, the entire Prussian army was destroyed in the battle of Jena.
On June 2, 1807, our army was defeated near Friedland, and retreated beyond the Neman - the border river in the western possessions of the Russian Empire.
AfterRussia signed the Treaty of Tilsit with Napoleon on June 9, 1807 in the middle of the Neman River, which was officially interpreted as equality of the parties when signing the peace. It was the violation of the Treaty of Tilsit that became the reason why Napoleon invaded Russia. Let's take a closer look at the contract itself so that the reasons for the events that occurred later are clear.
Terms of the Peace of Tilsit
Tilsit Peace Treaty assumed Russia's accession to the so-called blockade of the British Isles. This decree was signed by Napoleon on November 21, 1806. The essence of the "blockade" was that France creates a zone on the European continent where England was forbidden to trade. Napoleon could not physically block the island, since France did not even have a tenth of the fleet that was at the disposal of the British. Therefore, the term "blockade" is conditional. In fact, Napoleon came up with what today is called economic sanctions. England actively traded with Europe. She exported grain from Russia, so the "blockade" threatened the food security of Foggy Albion. In fact, Napoleon even helped England, as the latter urgently found new trading partners in Asia and Africa, making good money on this in the future.
Russia in the 19th century was an agrarian country that sold grain for export. England was the only major buyer of our products at that time. Those. the loss of a sales market completely ruined the ruling elite of the nobility in Russia. We are seeing something similar today in our country, when counter-sanctions and sanctions are stronglyhit the oil and gas industry, resulting in huge losses for the ruling elite.
In fact, Russia joined the anti-English sanctions in Europe, initiated by France. The latter itself was a major agricultural producer, so there was no possibility of replacing a trading partner for our country. Naturally, our ruling elite could not fulfill the conditions of the Tilsit peace, as this would lead to the complete destruction of the entire Russian economy. The only way to force Russia to comply with the "blockade" demand was by force. Therefore, the invasion of Napoleon's "Great Army" into Russia took place. The French emperor himself was not going to go deep into our country, wanting simply to force Alexander to fulfill the Peace of Tilsit. However, our armies forced the French emperor to move further and further from the western borders to Moscow.
Date
The date of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is June 12, 1812. On this day, enemy troops crossed the border river Neman.
The myth of the invasion
There was a myth that Napoleon's invasion of Russia happened unexpectedly. The emperor held a ball, and all the courtiers had fun. In fact, the balls of all European monarchs of that time took place very often, and they did not depend on the events of politics, but, on the contrary, were an integral part of it. This was an unchanging tradition of monarchical society. It was on them that public hearings on the most important issues actually took place. Even during the periodDuring the First World War, magnificent celebrations were held in the residences of the nobles. However, it is worth noting that Alexander the First Ball in Vilna nevertheless left and retired to St. Petersburg, where he stayed throughout the entire Patriotic War.
Forgotten Heroes
The Russian army was preparing for the French invasion long before. Minister of War Barclay de Tolly did everything possible so that Napoleon's army approached Moscow at the limit of its capabilities and with huge losses. The Minister of War himself kept his army in full combat readiness. Unfortunately, the history of the Patriotic War treated Barclay de Tolly unfairly. By the way, it was he who actually created the conditions for the future French catastrophe, and the invasion of Napoleon's army into Russia ultimately ended in the complete defeat of the enemy.
Minister of War Tactics
Barclay de Tolly used the famous "Scythian tactics". The distance between the Neman and Moscow is huge. Without food supplies, provisions for horses, drinking water, the "Great Army" turned into a huge prisoner of war camp, in which natural death was much higher than losses from battles. The French did not expect the horror that Barclay de Tolly created for them: the peasants went into the forests, taking cattle with them and burning provisions, the wells along the route of the army were poisoned, as a result of which periodic epidemics broke out in the French army. Horses and people fell from hunger, mass desertion began, but there was nowhere to run in an unfamiliar area. In addition, partisan detachments frompeasants were destroyed by separate French groups of soldiers. The year of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is the year of an unprecedented patriotic upsurge of all Russian people united in order to destroy the aggressor. This point was also reflected by L. N. Tolstoy in the novel "War and Peace", in which his characters defiantly refuse to speak French, as it is the language of the aggressor, and also donate all their savings to the needs of the army. Russia has not known such an invasion for a long time. The last time before that our country was attacked by the Swedes almost a hundred years ago. Shortly before this, the entire secular world of Russia admired the genius of Napoleon, considered him the greatest man on the planet. Now this genius threatened our independence and turned into a sworn enemy.
The size and characteristics of the French army
The size of Napoleon's army during the invasion of Russia was about 600 thousand people. Its peculiarity was that it resembled a patchwork quilt. The composition of Napoleon's army during the invasion of Russia consisted of Polish lancers, Hungarian dragoons, Spanish cuirassiers, French dragoons, etc. Napoleon gathered his "Great Army" from all over Europe. She was diverse, speaking different languages. At times, commanders and soldiers did not understand each other, did not want to shed blood for Great France, so at the first sign of difficulty caused by our scorched earth tactics, they deserted. However, there was a force that kept the entire Napoleonic army in fear - the personal guardNapoleon. This was the elite of the French troops, which went through all the difficulties with the brilliant commanders from the first days. It was very difficult to get into it. Guardsmen were paid huge salaries, they got the best food supplies. Even during the Moscow famine, these people received good rations when the rest were forced to look for dead rats for food. The Guard was something like Napoleon's modern security service. She watched for signs of desertion, put things in order in the motley Napoleonic army. She was also thrown into battle in the most dangerous sectors of the front, where the retreat of even one soldier could lead to tragic consequences for the entire army. The guardsmen never retreated and showed unprecedented stamina and heroism. However, they were too few in percentage terms.
In total, Napoleon's army was about half of the French themselves, who showed themselves in battles in Europe. However, now this was a different army - aggressive, occupying, which was reflected in its morale.
Army Composition
The "Great Army" was deployed in two echelons. The main forces - about 500 thousand people and about 1 thousand guns - consisted of three groups. The right wing under the command of Jerome Bonaparte - 78 thousand people and 159 guns - was supposed to move to Grodno and divert the main Russian forces. The central grouping led by Beauharnais - 82 thousand people and 200 guns - was supposed to prevent the connection of the two main Russian armies of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration. Napoleon himself,new forces moved to Vilna. His task was to defeat the Russian armies separately, but he also allowed them to join. A reserve army of 170 thousand people and about 500 guns of Marshal Augereau remained in the rear. According to the military historian Clausewitz, in total, Napoleon involved up to 600 thousand people in the Russian campaign, of which less than 100 thousand people crossed the border river Neman back from Russia.
Napoleon planned to impose battles at the western borders of Russia. However, Baklay de Tolly forced him to play cat and mouse. The main Russian forces all the time evaded the battle and retreated into the interior of the country, dragging the French farther and farther from the Polish reserves, and depriving him of food and provisions on his own territory. That is why the invasion of Napoleon's troops in Russia led to the further disaster of the "Great Army".
Russian Forces
Russia had at the time of the aggression about 300 thousand people with 900 guns. However, the army was divided. The Minister of War himself commanded the First Western Army. Grouping Barclay de Tolly, there were about 130 thousand people with 500 guns. It stretched from Lithuania to Grodno in Belarus. The Second Western Army of Bagration numbered about 50 thousand people - it occupied the line east of Bialystok. The third army of Tormasov - also about 50 thousand people with 168 guns - stood in Volhynia. Also, large groups were in Finland - shortly before that there was a war with Sweden - and in the Caucasus, where traditionally Russia waged wars with Turkey and Iran. There was also a grouping of our troops on the Danube under the command of Admiral P. V. Chichagov in the amount of 57 thousand people with 200 guns.
Napoleon's invasion of Russia: beginning
On the evening of June 11, 1812, a detachment of the Life Guards of the Cossack Regiment discovered suspicious movement on the Neman River. With the onset of darkness, enemy sappers began to build crossings three miles up the river from Kovno (modern Kaunas, Lithuania). Forcing the river with all forces took 4 days, but the vanguard of the French was already in Kovno on the morning of June 12. Alexander the First at that time was at a ball in Vilna, where he was informed about the attack.
From Neman to Smolensk
As far back as May 1811, assuming Napoleon's possible invasion of Russia, Alexander the First told the French ambassador something like this: "We'd rather reach Kamchatka than sign peace in our capitals. Frost and territory will fight for us."
This tactic was put into practice: Russian troops rapidly retreated from the Neman to Smolensk with two armies, unable to connect. Both armies were constantly pursued by the French. Several battles took place in which the Russians frankly sacrificed entire rearguard groups in order to hold the main French forces for as long as possible in order to prevent them from catching up with our main forces.
On August 7, the battle took place near Valutina Gora, which was called the battle for Smolensk. Barclay de Tolly had teamed up with Bagration by this time and even made several attempts to counterattack. However, all these were just false maneuvers that made me thinkNapoleon about the future general battle near Smolensk and regroup the columns from marching formation to attacking. But the Russian commander-in-chief remembered the emperor’s order “I don’t have an army anymore”, and did not dare to give a pitched battle, rightly predicting a future defeat. Near Smolensk, the French suffered huge losses. Barclay de Tolly himself was a supporter of a further retreat, but the entire Russian public unfairly considered him a coward and a traitor for his retreat. And only the Russian emperor, who had already fled from Napoleon once near Austerlitz, still continued to trust the minister. While the armies were divided, Barclay de Tolly could still cope with the wrath of the generals, but when the army was united near Smolensk, he still had to make a counterattack on Murat's corps. This attack was needed more to calm the Russian commanders than to give a decisive battle to the French. But despite this, the minister was accused of indecision, procrastination, and cowardice. There was a final discord with Bagration, who zealously rushed to attack, but could not give an order, since formally he was subordinate to Barkal de Tolly. Napoleon himself, with annoyance, spoke out that the Russians did not give a general battle, since his ingenious detour maneuver with the main forces would lead to a blow to the rear of the Russians, as a result of which our army would be completely defeated.
Change of commander-in-chief
Under public pressure, Barcal de Tolly was nevertheless removed from the post of commander in chief. Russiansthe generals in August 1812 already openly sabotaged all his orders. However, the new commander-in-chief M. I. Kutuzov, whose authority was enormous in Russian society, also ordered a further retreat. And only on August 26 - also under public pressure - did he give a general battle near Borodino, as a result of which the Russians were defeated and left Moscow.
Results
Summarize. The date of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is one of the tragic in the history of our country. However, this event contributed to the patriotic upsurge in our society, its consolidation. Napoleon was mistaken that the Russian peasant would choose the abolition of serfdom in exchange for the support of the invaders. It turned out that military aggression turned out to be much worse for our citizens than internal socio-economic contradictions.
