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The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (French: Campagne de Russie), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (Russian: Оте́чественная война́ 1812 го́да, romanized: Otéchestvennaya voyná 1812 góda), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian ...
French invasion of Russia, (June 24–December 5, 1812), invasion of the Russian Empire by Napoleon I’s Grande Armée. The Russians adopted a Fabian strategy, executing a prolonged withdrawal that largely denied Napoleon a conclusive battle. Although the French ultimately captured Moscow, they could.
The forces immediately facing Napoleon consisted of three armies, [43] operating around the Western Dvina, the Dnieper and the Bug (river), comprising 175–250,000 Russians and 15,000 Cossacks, with 938 guns as follows:
Russian forces had inflicted thousands of combat losses on Napoleon's main army, but the primary cause in the reduction of his force was strategic consumption—the need to garrison cities, towns, fortresses and forward supply depots.
On June 24, 1812, the Grande Armée, led by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, crossed the Neman River, invading Russia from present-day Poland. The result was a disaster for the French. The Russian army refused to engage with Napoleon’s Grande Armée of more than 500,000 European troops.
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia was his biggest and deadliest campaign, but it put an end to his army and reign. Here are 4 reasons why Bonaparte attacked the Russian Empire.
Napoleon’s specific demand was closure of Russian ports to English vessels, thus plugging the hole in his exclusive, anti-English economic bloc. His strategic aims,