To understand why Napoleon was waiting for the keys to the Kremlin as an offering from the defeated people, and did not take them himself, it is worth highlighting the events that took place earlier than September 2, 1812.
At one of the auctions in Fontainebleau, a lot with a unique letter from 1812 was sold for 187 thousand euros. It is dated the twentieth of October. Its author is Napoleon, and he writes about his intention to blow up the Kremlin. But even a month ago, after so many victories in Europe, he could not even imagine that the Russian savages would not only put an end to his triumphant wars, but for the sake of victory they would not even spare the holy capital. Moscow was burned, so the only thing left for the emperor was to blow up the Kremlin that survived the fire. But why did he make such a decision when his army had already left the lifeless city and the inevitability of defeat was obvious?
Maybe because he never had a chance to experience the sweet heaviness of the weighty keys to the Kremlin in his palms? But it's more like an act of revenge. Not solid for an emperor with claims to the world crown. Just the Kremlin for him isthat last straw that a drowning man grabs. He believed that, having left Russia without a heart, i.e. without the Kremlin, having thus broken the Russian spirit, he will still be able to subdue this barbaric country and return to France again as a winner.
Why did an exceptionally intelligent person and a brilliant commander so easily succumb to self-deception? And why did Napoleon wait for the keys to the Kremlin six weeks earlier? For the same reason that he so naively and smugly expected the Russian delegation not just with keys, but with bread and s alt and the traditional Russian bow. He wanted more than just the obedience of the vanquished, he needed recognition.
It was the second self-deception. No one but crows flying from all sides to the place of fire. But the crows could not tell what awaits Napoleon in the city. But the delegation never showed up. But why did Napoleon wait for the keys to the Kremlin, but the Russians did not bring them? The significance of Poklonnaya Gora for the Russians explains why. Napoleon was waiting for the keys to the Kremlin there. But even a Russian scout could not advise him a more inappropriate place. The name of the mountain is not accidental. Since ancient times, it has been worshiped as the holy dwelling place of the gods. To come here with a bow to Napoleon would mean betraying not the city, not the country, but faith, and recognizing the usurper as almost a god. No Russian could have imagined such blasphemy.
Perhaps this is not the only explanation why Napoleon waited for the keys to the Kremlin, but never did. This man was remembered not only as a commander who lost the war and a disgraced emperor. He entered eternity as a great personality, capable of making history and changing its course. And if I may say so, then France does not have an exclusive right to the Napoleon brand today. There is no country where there would not be at least one bust of Napoleon. Fans of historical reconstruction again and again recreate episodes of battles, which this ruler had a lot of.
Napoleonic death masks continue to appear in museums around the world. Bronze, copper, plaster… Most of them are doubtful authenticity. And outwardly, they sometimes differ not only in small details. For museum employees, for historians, this is an unfortunate phenomenon. On the other hand, this is eloquent evidence that the role of Napoleon in history is enormous, that he still managed to conquer the world. Not geographically, not politically, but in the minds of people. He will no longer be forgotten, because his name has acquired a nominal meaning. And it is hardly possible to find another such person in the history of mankind, whose great name did not diminish even a great defeat, similar to that suffered by Napoleon in Russia.
