Patriotic War of 1812 who. Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Vorobyovy Gory

Gallomania, which existed in Russian society at the beginning of the 19th century, i.e. the reverence for all things French, and the firmly ingrained bilingualism where Russian was spoken at home and French was used to write letters and submit official petitions, were seriously undermined by the French invasion of Russia. Perhaps rarely in Russian history has there been such an upsurge of patriotic sentiment. Society was unusually unanimous in its desire to give a worthy rebuff to his “Great Army.”

Causes of the Patriotic War

A Corsican on the French throne, a man with enormous conceit and exorbitant ambitions, Napoleon Bonaparte dreamed of expanding France to the level of the power of Alexander the Great, electing him as his idol. All agreements with Russia and summit meetings between the two emperors - Alexander I and Napoleon, were only diplomatic ploys and delaying the inevitable military conflict. Russia was an obvious obstacle to the expansion of Napoleonic power to the East.

The main battles of the Patriotic War

On a June night in 1812, having crossed the border Neman River, the French invaded Russia. By that time, the French troops were many times superior to the Russian forces, since the latter were dispersed throughout the western border of the empire. The Russian army consisted of three formations. The first was commanded by M.B. Barclay de Tolly, the second by P.I. Bagration, the third by A.P. Tormasov. The emperor tried to lead the army himself, but, being a secular man, he was forced to leave for the capital. Napoleon's plans called for defeating the main Russian forces one by one and preventing their reunification. The French emperor planned to give a general battle near the border. Barclay de Tolly had to adhere to a defensive strategy and retreat deeper into the country, luring the French there as well. The first major battle was Smolensk. The city was surrendered and turned into ruins. However, the French suffered significant damage and lost hope for fodder for horses and food supplies. The Russians even then adhered to the “scorched earth” tactics. In the meantime, M.I. Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief. We must pay tribute to Emperor Alexander - he showed the same respect for the field marshal as his father showed Suvorov, leaving his personal hostility to himself. Kutuzov gave a general battle to Napoleon near the village of Borodino near Moscow. Both sides remained the same. There were no winners or losers. It was hard for Kutuzov to decide to leave Moscow to the French. However, he was firmly convinced that “Russia was not lost with the loss of Moscow,” and subsequent events only confirmed the rightness of his great sacrifice. The bloodless French army entered Moscow. Robberies and fires began. Taking advantage of the respite, Kutuzov’s army retreated to the village of Tarutin, where they set up a camp. On the initiative of the legendary poet and hussar Denis Davydov, a wide partisan movement unfolded, the “club of the people’s war” was raised, in the figurative expression of L.N. Tolstoy. It caused enormous harm to the French. All of Napoleon's appeals to Alexander remained unanswered. Moscow became the grave for the “Great Army”. The French forces were dwindling and there was no need to wait for help. The French moved from Moscow to southern Russia. The strengthened Russian army blocked their way there. Battles took place near Tarutin and Maloyaroslavets, which finally decided the outcome of the war in favor of Kutuzov and his army. The remnants of the once great army crossed the Berezina River with great difficulty. Emperor Napoleon left the army even earlier. Thus, by the end of 1812, the enemy forces were completely defeated and thrown back beyond the borders of Russia, which Kutuzov reported to Alexander I. Soon the field marshal died, covered in unfading glory.

• The town of Borodino, where one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century took place, belonged to the partisan poet D.V. Davydov.
• The French army was called the “army of twelve languages,” because not only the French fought in it, but also Poles, Italians, Austrians, Dutch, etc., and representatives of many of the “languages” that inhabited it rose up to defend Russia: Ukrainians, Belarusians, Tatars, Bashkirs and etc.

By the end of the 18th century, a new historical era full of drama had begun in Europe. With the beginning of the Great French Revolution and the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793, the eternal confrontation between France and England takes on a completely new and deeper meaning.

Emperor of Europe

Republican France begins the transformation of monarchical Europe, encountering resistance not only from England, but also from all European monarchs. The meaning of the wars fought by France is debated. On the one hand, when they entered the territory of other states, the French established the same rules as in France. For example, they introduced a civil code known as the Napoleon Code. In addition, unrealistic duties were abolished, which gives many historians grounds to say that the French army acted as the liberator of Europe from absolutist powers. But this overlooks the fact that the French did come as invaders.

It is the aggressive nature of the Napoleonic wars that allows some historians to believe that Napoleon is a war criminal who started a war throughout Europe. True, many French historians could argue with this, saying that he practically did not declare wars; on the contrary, he was attacked. However, many researchers would reasonably say that he forced them to attack. So the whole policy that Napoleon pursued was the policy of conquering Europe. But he didn’t really hide it. However, the answer to this question is ambiguous. He was a war criminal in the sense that the Russian campaign was a terrible tragedy with colossal losses for both sides. Of course, we need to talk about personal responsibility here. But Napoleon himself still had a crazy dream that he could rebuild Europe in a liberal way.

French soldiers, entering the land of other states, behaved not as liberators, but as robbers and marauders. What advanced order did Napoleon want to bring if the soldiers of his army raped women, robbed property, and behaved provocatively with the local population?
The creation of anti-French coalitions, of which there were seven during the Napoleonic wars, became a natural reaction of European monarchs to Napoleon’s aggressive actions. England was the main and constant participant in all anti-French coalitions. The English newspaper “Morning Chronicle” wrote: “Napoleon wants to wash clothes in the Black Sea, bathe horses in the Mediterranean, fish in the Baltic, walk along the Atlantic Ocean, and look in the Pacific instead of a mirror.”

Napoleon, who led republican France and took up the banner of the fight against monarchism, himself became an emperor and achieved absolute power not only in his country, but in almost all of Europe. He became Emperor of Europe. Beginning in 1799, over the course of twelve years, the territory of France increased significantly due to the annexation of the Netherlands and part of the Italian provinces, the creation of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807, and the unification of numerous German principalities into the Union of the Rhine, controlled by Napoleon. And Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Prussia, Austria, Denmark and Norway were forced by Napoleon into allied relations.

Russia was very concerned about the expansion of the French empire and the weakening of other European powers, so it took part in the creation of several anti-Napoleonic coalitions. In 1805, a third coalition was formed, where Russia, together with England and Austria, fought against Napoleon, but the war ended sadly for our country - with defeat at Austerlitz. Russian and Austrian troops were defeated.
In 1805, the famous meeting of Napoleon and Alexander I took place in the middle of the Neman River. It was then that the Peace of Tilsit was concluded. This agreement in Tilsit was some kind of misunderstanding. Alexander went to Tilsit in order, through these negotiations, to achieve the most favorable conditions for Russia and save the situation of his country, which had lost the war. Napoleon offers him an alliance, and Emperor Alexander resigns himself to this situation. But in the depths of his soul he never sought such an alliance with France, this is clearly seen from his private correspondence
It is interesting that popular rumor gave this meeting on the Neman a special significance. Thus, in the notebook of Peter Vyazemsky, a famous Russian poet, there is evidence of a conversation between two peasants, where one is indignant: “How did it happen that Alexander the First went to meet this infidel! This is a big sin! And the second one says: “It’s okay, the meeting took place on the river. Our king specially ordered the construction of a raft in order to first baptize Bonaparte in the water, and only after that allowed him to appear before his clear eyes.”

So, judging by external attributes, we can say that the alliance could have taken place, since both emperors, Napoleon and Alexander, understood each other. They were seen in each other's arms on a raft in Tilsit, they were seen communicating in the city, applauding each other. But all the documents indicate that Alexander the First was simply playing a comedy in front of Bonaparte. And Napoleon did not have tender feelings for him.

War was inevitable

In 1808, in Erfurt, the provisions of the Tilsit agreements were confirmed, the main of which were our country’s recognition of all Napoleon’s conquests, including the Duchy of Warsaw, as well as the accession of the Russian state to the continental blockade of Britain.

The Peace of Tilsit freed the hands of the ambitious Bonaparte throughout Europe. But Russia also received relative freedom of action against Sweden in the northwest and against Turkey and Persia in the south. In no case did Alexander view this union as final; this was not the state of affairs he was striving for. For him, Napoleon remains a usurper, an outlaw. It should be noted that he never called him "Napoleon", but only "Bonaparte" or even "Buonaparte", emphasizing his Corsican origins.

It was the violation of the provisions of the Tilsit agreement - both on the part of Russia and on the part of France - that became the formal cause of the war of the 12th year. Both countries began preparing for war at about the same time, from 1810. The main reason was that Russia did not want to comply with the conditions of the continental blockade. Our country did not want to harm its own economy. But the essence of this blockade was to stop the entire continent from trading with England.

The cessation of trade with Great Britain, which was the main buyer of Russian goods, was unacceptable for our country. Imagine if today Russia lost the opportunity to sell gas to the West. The loss of the English market undermined the Russian economy. And when Paul I agreed to rapprochement with Napoleon and actually broke off relations with Great Britain, this became a small rehearsal for the future continental blockade: huge problems immediately arose in the Russian economy. The nobility was very dissatisfied, and we know that for Paul the First everything ended very sadly.

France's attempts to replace England, that is, to create favorable opportunities for French entrepreneurs to trade with Russia, were met in 1810 by a strict prohibitive tariff introduced by the Russian government. Why is this done?

Russia is prohibited from trading with England; it suffers losses. But Alexander learns that in France Napoleon is introducing the practice of licensing virtually smuggled trade. Everyone is prohibited from trading with the British, but an entrepreneur can buy a license from the state to import a certain amount of English goods into France and Europe. That is, Napoleon assigned himself an exclusive, monopoly right to trade with Great Britain. Not everyone can do it, but some people can.

The personal relationship between Alexander the Great and Napoleon did not work out either. The latter already had an alliance in Tilsit, which he would like to extend, strengthen and develop through marital ties. It is reliably known that he proposed to the Tsar’s sister Catherine, and then to his younger sister Anna. This happened at the end of 1809.

Officially, Alexander I did not refuse. But he immediately married one sister to the Duke of Oldenburg. As for the younger one, he stated that according to the laws of the Russian Empire, he does not have the right to dispose of his sister’s wishes. Only Anna’s mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, had such a right. And she couldn't stand Napoleon.

Napoleon Bonaparte wrote: “The alliance of France with Russia has always been the object of my desires.” Paradoxically, even in his youth Napoleon could connect his future with Russia. Who knows how history would have turned out if in 1788 the young artilleryman, Lieutenant Napoleon Buonaparte, had not been refused entry into the Russian service. Our country invited volunteers for the war with Turkey. Young Bonaparte, having learned about this, volunteered to serve in the Russian army, but did not agree with the conditions of recruitment. The nineteen-year-old lieutenant could not accept the conditions under which every foreigner was accepted into the Russian service with a reduction by one rank.

What would have happened if Napoleon had entered Russian service? One can only guess here. He probably would have been a good officer in the Russian army. Like many Frenchmen who entered Russian service.

However, some historians doubt that such a fact took place at all. Besides, it probably wouldn't have changed anything. If there had been no Napoleon, there would have been someone else. After all, there is a certain dominant along which the country develops.

War, meanwhile, became inevitable. Napoleon originally intended to invade Russia in May 1812, but the shift in timing gave him fodder for his horses, more time to campaign in the warmer months, and so on. The French emperor expected that he would finish the campaign in late autumn at the latest.

In 1811, Napoleon took advantage of the fact that Alexander I was showing dissatisfaction with the strengthening of the Duchy of Warsaw. He presented this discontent as a threat from the Russian emperor to the Polish state, which was actually part of the Napoleonic empire. After this, he moved his troops east, citing the protection of the Poles.

The concept of the "Grand Army" arose in 1805 just during Napoleon's war against the third coalition. The word "Grande" in French meant both "great" and "great". Unlike the Grand Army of the fifth year, the army of the twelfth year was already multinational, and not purely French.

The size of Napoleon's Grand Army was approximately 700,000 men in 1812. And only every second of them was French. The Great Army of 12 should be considered as a kind of military prototype of a united Europe. And within this army, people of different languages ​​and nationalities somehow got used to each other. So the composition of the invasion army was very good, and in some aspects it was superior to the Russian army.
In a prayer service written by Moscow Metropolitan Philaret, Napoleon's army will be called the “army of twenty tongues.” It was this army that approached the Russian border in 1812.

Russian mythologists have always and everywhere pointed out that the war of 1812 against Russia was unleashed by Napoleon. Which is actually a lie!
The first war, which in Russia is called the Patriotic War, did not happen in 1941, as many people think. The first war to receive the status of "Patriotic" was the War of 1812.

First, let's figure it out what is "Patriotic War".
A patriotic war is a war when it comes to protecting the country - the fatherland. In the entire history of Russia there have been two such wars: 1812 and 1941.
Russia initiated all other wars itself and waged them on the territory of countries that it subsequently occupied.

Concerning war of 1812, then Russian mythologists always and everywhere pointed out that Napoleon unleashed it against Russia. Which is actually a lie!

In fact, it was the other way around!

To our surprise, it was Russian Emperor Alexander I who started the war with Napoleon, but let's talk about everything in order.

First, let's understand who Napoleon is?
Napoleon was elected and proclaimed Emperor of France by the will of the Senate on March 18, 1804!
I emphasize: Napoleon was elected by popular vote, almost unanimously; only 0.07% voted against his candidacy!
Moreover, on December 2, Napoleon was crowned by the Pope himself!

That is, Napoleon was both the people's favorite and the chosen one, possessing full legal and religious power.

Was Napoleon deservedly considered the leader of the nation?

More than yes! Napoleon was a great reformer, and it is to him that France owes such great transformations as:
The Civil Code, the "Napoleonic Code", by which all of Europe lives today
The French bank that saved France from inflation
Reform of all areas of management
Legal documents of property rights issued to all citizens
Dozens of highways
Improvement of all spheres of life
New administrative system
New system of universal education
He also introduced the Empire style into fashion. Developed a sane numbering system for houses divided into even and odd sides! He abolished internal customs duties, introduced local self-government in backward feudal countries, and abolished the Inquisition! And many many others!

Pushkin formulated the historical role of Napoleon as follows:
... "And he bequeathed to the world eternal freedom from the darkness of exile"!

Who was he Alexander, Tsar of Russia? And is it Russian? The parents of this “Russian soul and Orthodox Tsar Alexander” were: his father Pavel - son of the German Catherine II, nee: Sophia Augusta Frederika von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg and the German Peter the Third, aka: Peter Karl Ulrich Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, mother Maria Feodorovna, maiden name: Sophia Maria Dorothea Augusta Louise von Württemberg.

Even Alexander's wife - Louise Maria Augusta of Baden, was “Russian” until she lost her pulse.

Alexander came to power as a result of a coup d'etat. A coup financed by an enemy state - Great Britain! In particular. It is reliably known that the money for preparing the coup was transferred by Ambassador Lord Whitworth through his mistress, socialite Zherebtsova, a relative of the Zubov conspirators.

Later, the Decembrist Nikita Muravyov wrote bluntly: “In 1801, a conspiracy led by Alexander deprives Paul of the throne and life without benefit for Russia.”

Alexander's achievements are phenomenal:

Drawing Russia into a bloody and useless military conflict,
Complete failure of reforms, Arakcheevshchina,

Causes of the war

In fact, Russia and France could not have, and did not have, any geopolitical, historical, or economic claims against each other.
Alexander I started a war against Napoleon, not even for ideological reasons, but solely based on mercantile considerations. Alexander was well paid for the war with France!

For every 100,000 Continental troops Great Britain paid Russia a huge sum of £1,250,000 or 8,000,000 rubles, which for Russia, incapable of effective economic development due to the slave-feudal regime, was salvation.
England, in turn, waged an active war against France both on land and at sea, and through agents provocateurs in Spain

Great Britain not only paid Russia for the deaths of its sons, but also:

sent 150,000 guns under Lend-Lease (write for nothing) (there was no weapons production in Russia)
sent military specialists
wrote off all Russian loans, including a huge Dutch loan of 87,000,000 guilders!
In many respects, if not entirely, all Russian victories both in the campaign of 1812 and in the foreign campaigns of 1813–1814 were won thanks to the timely supply of military materials: gunpowder, lead and guns, as well as direct British financial assistance.

Russia imported from England:

gunpowder - 1100 tons were imported between 1811 and 1813
lead - only in the summer of 1811, the British, under a special secret agreement, supplied 1000 tons of lead to Russia after a long break in such supplies due to the continental blockade.
This lead should have been enough for six Russian corps to conduct combat operations for several months.
It must be said that the supply of 1000 tons of lead in 1811 saved Russia from defeat in 1812.

In addition to all this, England actually paid for Russia's entire military campaign!

In 1812–1814, England provided Russia with subsidies totaling 165,000,000 rubles, which more than covered all military expenses.

Thus, according to the report of the Minister of Finance Kankrin, the Russian treasury spent 157,000,000 rubles on the war in 1812–1814. Hence the net “income” is 8,000,000 rubles!

And this is all without taking into account British “humanitarian” assistance.

Only for the restoration of burned Moscow:

the English merchants donated 200,000 pounds sterling to Russia, which is approximately 1.8 million rubles
private donations from the English society amounted to about 700,000 pounds, which is more than 6,000,000 rubles
War

In 1804, Alexander persuaded the Austrian Emperor to enter into a coalition with him, and already in 1805 he set out to intervene in France through Austria, but the French drove the Russian army from their borders, and then on December 2, 1805 they defeated the Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz.

The allied army under the overall command of General Kutuzov numbered about 85,000 people, of which 60,000 were the Russian army, the 25,000-strong Austrian army with 278 guns outnumbered Napoleon's army of 73,500 people.

For the first time since the time of Peter the Great, the Russian army lost a general battle, and the victorious fervor of the Russian emperor gave way to complete despair:

“The confusion that gripped the allied Olympus was so great that the entire retinue of Alexander I scattered in different directions and joined him only at night and even the next morning. In the very first hours after the disaster, the tsar rode several miles with only a doctor, a groom, a stable boy and two lifeguards. -hussars, and when the life hussar remained with him, the king, according to the hussar, got off his horse, sat down under a tree and began to cry.”

The shameful defeat did not stop Alexander, and already on November 30, 1806, Alexander announced the convocation of the militia, and he demanded no less than 612,000 people as recruits! The landowners were obliged to allocate peasants beyond the recruitment quota not in order to protect their huts and fields, but for a new campaign across Europe with another intervention in France because of the paranoid ambitions of the tsar!

Also in 1806, he convinced the Prussian king Frederick William III to once again unite in a coalition and declare war on France.

War was declared. Napoleon was again forced to defend his country. Thanks to his genius, the French emperor was able to defeat the outnumbered Prussian and Russian armies.

But this time Napoleon did not pursue the treacherous Russians!

He didn’t even cross the borders of Russia, and in vain! The country was absolutely not protected by anyone.

But Napoleon was not interested in victory over Russia, he pursued another goal - an alliance!

For this purpose, he equipped 6,732 soldiers and 130 generals and staff officers captured by the Russian army at the expense of the French treasury. The same ones that Suvorov brought. And on July 18, 1800, he sent them free of charge and without exchange home to their homeland.

Moreover, for the sake of an alliance with Russia, Napoleon did not demand indemnity in Tilsit from Russia, which he had twice defeated. Moreover, the Bialystok region was donated to Russia from his generosity! Napoleon did everything to stop Russian aggression.

How did Alexander behave?

The Orthodox Tsar behaved like a politician; during numerous dates in Tilsit, he kissed and hugged the “Antichrist” Napoleon, and then for five years he regularly wrote letters to him, beginning with the words: “Sovereign, my brother”…. Not forgetting to simultaneously send letters to his mother, Maria Feodorovna, whose maiden name was Sophia Maria Dorothea Augusta Louise von Württemberg, with the following content: “Tilsit is a temporary respite in order to gather an even larger army and start the war again!”

After the conclusion of peace, Alexander took an unprecedented step in meanness; only the next year he doubled spending on the military industry: from 63,400,000 rubles in 1807 to 118,500,000 rubles in 1808! After this, the military budget increased more than once, which gave Alexander the opportunity to deploy an even larger army in 1810.

In 1810, Alexander's armies had already deployed on the borders of the Duchy of Warsaw.

Intelligence reported to Napoleon about the unusual activity of the Russians, but he stubbornly refused to believe in Alexander’s treachery and did not listen to his advisers, who argued that he could not be trusted.

And all because Napoleon lived by logic: if an alliance is beneficial to both powers, then both powers will preserve it!

Moreover, to show his loyalty to Russia, the French commander began to withdraw his troops from German lands!

We must pay tribute to Alexander, again with British money, putting together a sixth anti-French coalition, and by mid-1811 he was persuading the Prussian and Swedish rulers to start a war with France!

On October 27 and 29, 1811, a series of “highest orders” were signed to the corps commanders, which ordered them to prepare for an operation right on the Vistula River!

But after the Emperor of Austria, with whom secret negotiations were held, did not enter the coalition, the King of Prussia left it, who refused to openly fight Napoleon and agreed only to the conditions that in the event of war they would not seriously act against Russia.

It must be said that his former marshal J.B. played against Napoleon. Bernadotte, who advised Alexander, in view of his inability to fight the French, to use space and climate.

On April 26, 1812, Napoleon was still in Paris, and Alexander was already prancing with the army in Vilna, having left St. Petersburg on the 20th.

Napoleon sent a parliamentarian with a proposal not to enter the war, Alexander did not agree.

The diplomatic declaration of war took place, and according to all the rules.

On June 16, 1812, the head of the French Foreign Ministry, the Duke de Bassano, certified a note on the cessation of diplomatic relations with Russia, officially notifying European governments of this.

On June 22, 1812, the French ambassador J. A. Lauriston informed the head of the Russian foreign policy department about the following: “My mission ended, since Prince A. B. Kurakin’s request to issue him passports meant a break, and his imperial and royal majesty from now on considers himself in a state of war with Russia."

In other words: Russia was the first to declare war on France, Napoleon accepted the challenge.

You can easily find a huge amount of indisputable evidence that Napoleon not only did not intend to cross the border, moreover, he was even preparing to defend against Alexander’s aggression, as he had done in all previous years.

Moreover, Napoleon did not declare war on Russia, and therefore Napoleon did not and could not have had any plans for either the capture or invasion of Russia.

And the French crossed the Neman only because they could no longer stand opposite each other and wait “by the sea for weather.” They couldn’t because such a repetition of standing on the Ugra did not play into the hands of France, which had Austria and Prussia in the rear, undecided about their position.

This change of position in his memoirs was quite interestingly outlined by the Polish general Desidery Khlapovsky:

“So late the march and the entire disposition of the troops clearly showed that Napoleon only wanted to intimidate Emperor Alexander.”

That is, the French military campaign of 1812 is a classic example of self-defense, and the whole genius of the plan collapsed solely due to poor intelligence.

Napoleon largely counted on the psychological effect that his advancing army would produce, but he simply was not ready for such a turn of events!

As soon as the French army went on the offensive, the “Orthodox Emperor”’s nerves gave way and he fled! And as soon as Alexander left the army, it began to retreat chaotically, if not to say “scrape”!

Napoleon simply could not even imagine that the Russians who attacked him, at the time of the outbreak of hostilities, had neither a strategic plan nor even a commander in chief!

The French were simply following on the heels, one cannot raise one’s hand to write about the retreating, fleeing Russian army! This is precisely what explains the fact why Napoleon did not go to the capital, to St. Petersburg.

Napoleon was a master of counterattack, he masterfully learned to fight off the aggressions coming against France one after another, in this he was an unsurpassed master.

That is why in 1805 Napoleon did not wait for the Russians and Austrians in Paris, but defeated the coalition aggressors in Austria!

That is why Napoleon did not expect Russians, Prussians, Swedes, British and Austrians in Paris in 1812!

At the same time, all this time Napoleon was building France! Carry out reforms that have never been equaled in importance by anyone else! He managed to make France a new, most advanced country in the world!

Napoleon did everything right. But he could not imagine the hellish, inhuman conditions in which the Russian people lived, he simply did not even mean that eternal hunger and endless poverty, and not frost, could save Russia!

Entering its territory, Napoleon was faced with the fact that he could not provide his soldiers with food, because he was not going to pull up the carts, thinking that he could buy food from the local peasants for money! It is to buy, and not to take away, since robbing peasants is a truly Russian - Moscow tradition.

So, on the territory of Russia, Napoleon was opposed not by the army or the weather, but by the poverty of the people, unable to feed even themselves!

Poverty in alliance with devastation became terrible enemies that stopped the most powerful army in the world at that time!

The unwillingness to understand that people in Russia live in bestial conditions has prevailed. Napoleon was forced to retreat. His troops were simply not ready to eat bark from trees, and what general (unlike the Russian ones) does not love his soldiers, whom, let me remind you, Napoleon knew by name!

So the myth about the victory of Russian weapons, about partisan resistance, about the fact that Russians can or know how to fight remains a myth. The Russians lost all the battles with Napoleon, and the root of their “strength” lies not at all in tactics or strategy, much less in the noble spirit of the Orthodox army, but in poverty, hunger, devastation and destroyed roads, which the French army did not encounter, lost Britain would have its most efficient servant.

For those who doubt the validity of my statements, I recommend listening to Evgeniy Ponasenkov, who told a lot of interesting things about Napoleon himself, and about the shameful war of 1812 for Russia.

The number of combined troops of the French army for the campaign against Russia was 685,000, 420,000 crossed the border with Russia. It included troops from Prussia, Austria, Poland and the countries of the Rhineland.

As a result of the military campaign, Poland was supposed to receive the territory of modern Ukraine, Belarus and part of Lithuania. The territory of present-day Latvia, partly Lithuania and Estonia was ceded to Prussia. In addition, France wanted Russia's help in the campaign against India, which at that time was the largest British colony.

On the night of June 24, according to the new style, the advanced units of the Great Army crossed the Russian border in the area of ​​the Neman River. The Cossack guard units retreated. Alexander I made a last attempt to conclude a peace agreement with the French. The personal message of the Russian Emperor to Napoleon contained a demand to clear Russian territory. Napoleon gave the emperor a categorical refusal in an insulting manner.

Already at the beginning of the campaign, the French encountered the first difficulties - shortages of fodder, which led to mass deaths. The Russians, under the leadership of generals Barclay de Tolly and Bagration, due to the large numerical advantage of the enemy, were forced to retreat deep into the country without fighting a general battle. Near Smolensk, the 1st and 2nd armies united and stopped. On August 16, Napoleon ordered the assault on Smolensk. After a fierce battle that lasted 2 days, the Russians blew up the powder magazines, set fire to Smolensk and retreated to the east.

The fall of Smolensk gave rise to the murmur of the entire Russian society against the commander-in-chief Barclay de Tolly. He was accused of surrendering the city: “The minister is taking the guest straight to Moscow,” they wrote angrily from Bagration’s headquarters in St. Petersburg. Emperor Alexander decided to replace the commander-in-chief, General Barclay, with Kutuzov. Arriving on August 29, Kutuzov, to the surprise of the entire army, gave the order to retreat further to the east. Taking this step, Kutuzov knew that Barclay was right, Napoleon would be destroyed by a long campaign, the distance of troops from supply bases, etc., but he knew that the people would not allow him to give up Moscow without a fight. Therefore, the Russian army stopped near the village of Borodino. Now the ratio of the Russian and French armies was almost equal: 120,000 people and 640 guns for Kutuzov and 135,000 soldiers and 587 guns for Napoleon.

August 26 (September 7), 1812, according to historians, was the turning point of the entire Napoleonic campaign. The Battle of Borodino around 12 o'clock, the losses on both sides were colossal: Napoleon's army lost about 40,000 soldiers, Kutuzov's army about 45,000. Despite the fact that the French managed to push back the Russian troops and Kutuzov was forced to retreat to Moscow, the Battle of Borodino was not actually lost was.

September 1, 1812 took place in Fili, at which Kutuzov took responsibility and gave the order to the generals to leave Moscow without a fight and retreat along the Ryazan road. The next day, the French army entered empty Moscow. At night, Russian saboteurs set the city on fire. Napoleon had to leave the Kremlin and give orders to partially withdraw troops from the city. Within a few days, Moscow burned almost to the ground.

Partisan detachments, led by commanders Davydov, Figner and others, destroyed food warehouses and intercepted convoys with fodder on the way of the French. Famine began in Napoleon's army. The Kutuzov army turned away from the Ryazan direction and blocked the approach to the Old Kaluga Road, along which Napoleon hoped to pass. This is how Kutuzov’s brilliant plan “to force the French to retreat along the Old Smolensk Road” worked.

Exhausted by the coming winter, hunger, and the loss of guns and horses, the Grand Army suffered a crushing defeat at Vyazma, during which the French lost about 20 thousand more people. In the Battle of the Berezina that followed on November 26, Napoleon's army was reduced by another 22,000. On December 14, 1812, the remnants of the Great Army crossed the Neman, and then retreated to Prussia. Thus, the Patriotic War of 1812 ended with a crushing defeat for the army of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The official cause of the war was the violation of the terms of the Tilsit Peace by Russia and France. Russia, despite the blockade of England, accepted its ships under neutral flags in its ports. France annexed the Duchy of Oldenburg to its possessions. Napoleon considered Emperor Alexander's demand for the withdrawal of troops from the Duchy of Warsaw and Prussia to be offensive. The War of 1812 was becoming inevitable.

Here is a brief summary of the Patriotic War of 1812. Napoleon, at the head of a huge 600,000-strong army, crossed the Neman on June 12, 1812. The Russian army, numbering only 240 thousand people, was forced to retreat deeper into the country. In the battle of Smolensk, Bonaparte failed to win a complete victory and defeat the united 1st and 2nd Russian armies.

In August, M.I. Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief. He not only had talent strategist, but also enjoyed respect among soldiers and officers. He decided to give a general battle to the French near the village of Borodino. The positions for the Russian troops were chosen most successfully. The left flank was protected by flushes (earthen fortifications), and the right flank by the Koloch River. The troops of N.N. Raevsky were located in the center. and artillery.

Both sides fought desperately. The fire of 400 guns was directed at the flashes, which were courageously guarded by the troops under the command of Bagration. As a result of 8 attacks, Napoleonic troops suffered huge losses. They managed to capture Raevsky's batteries (in the center) only at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, but not for long. The French attack was contained thanks to a bold raid by the lancers of the 1st Cavalry Corps. Despite all the difficulties of bringing the old guard, the elite troops, into battle, Napoleon never risked it. Late in the evening the battle ended. The losses were enormous. The French lost 58, and the Russians 44 thousand people. Paradoxically, both commanders declared victory in the battle.

The decision to leave Moscow was made by Kutuzov at the council in Fili on September 1. This was the only way to maintain a combat-ready army. On September 2, 1812, Napoleon entered Moscow. Waiting for a peace proposal, Napoleon stayed in the city until October 7. As a result of fires, most of Moscow was destroyed during this time. Peace with Alexander 1 was never concluded.

Kutuzov stopped 80 km away. from Moscow in the village of Tarutino. He covered Kaluga, which had large reserves of fodder and the arsenals of Tula. The Russian army, thanks to this maneuver, was able to replenish its reserves and, importantly, update its equipment. At the same time, French foraging detachments were subjected to partisan attacks. The detachments of Vasilisa Kozhina, Fyodor Potapov, and Gerasim Kurin launched effective strikes, depriving the French army of the opportunity to replenish food supplies. The special detachments of A.V. Davydov also acted in the same way. and Seslavina A.N.

After leaving Moscow, Napoleon's army failed to get through to Kaluga. The French were forced to retreat along the Smolensk road, without food. Early severe frosts worsened the situation. The final defeat of the Great Army took place in the battle of the Berezina River on November 14–16, 1812. Of the 600,000-strong army, only 30,000 hungry and frozen soldiers left Russia. The manifesto on the victorious end of the Patriotic War was issued by Alexander 1 on December 25 of the same year. The victory of 1812 was complete.

In 1813 and 1814, the Russian army marched, liberating European countries from Napoleon's rule. Russian troops acted in alliance with the armies of Sweden, Austria, and Prussia. As a result, in accordance with the Treaty of Paris on May 18, 1814, Napoleon lost his throne and France returned to its 1793 borders.

24.

Decembrist revolt of 1825

Revolutionary ideas appeared in Russia in the 1st quarter of the 19th century. The progressive society of that time was often disillusioned with the rule of Alexander 1. However, the best people of the country sought to end the backwardness of society in Russia.

During the period of liberation campaigns, having become familiar with Western political movements, the advanced Russian nobility realized that serfdom was the most important reason for the backwardness of the fatherland. The harsh reactionary policy in the field of education, Russia's participation in the suppression of European revolutionary events only strengthened confidence in the urgent need for change. Russian serfdom was perceived as an insult to the national dignity of everyone who considered himself an enlightened person. The ideas of Western national liberation movements, Russian journalism and educational literature had a serious influence on the formation of the views of future Decembrists. Thus, we can highlight the following most important reasons for the Decembrist uprising. This is the strengthening of serfdom, the difficult socio-economic situation in the country, the refusal of Alexander 1 to carry out liberal reforms, the influence of the works of Western thinkers.

The first political secret society was formed in St. Petersburg in February 1816. His goal was to adopt a constitution in the country and abolish serfdom. It included Pestel, Muravyov, S.I. Muravyov-Apostles. and M.I. (total 28 members).

Later, in 1818, a larger organization, the Union of Welfare, was created in Moscow, which numbered up to 200 members. It also had councils in other cities of Russia. The purpose of the secret society was the idea of ​​promoting the abolition of serfdom. The officers began preparing for a coup. But the “Union of Welfare”, having never achieved its goal, disintegrated due to internal disagreements.

“Northern Society”, created on the initiative of N.M. Muravyov. in St. Petersburg, there was a more liberal attitude. Nevertheless, for this society, the most important goals were the proclamation of civil liberties, the destruction of serfdom and autocracy.

The conspirators were preparing for an armed uprising. And the opportune moment for implementing the plans came in November 1825, after the death of Emperor Alexander. Despite the fact that not everything was ready, the conspirators decided to act, and the Decembrist uprising took place in 1825. It was planned to carry out a coup, seize the Senate and the monarch, on the day Nicholas 1 took the oath.

On December 14, in the morning on Senate Square there was the Moscow Life Guards Regiment, as well as the Life Guards Grenadier and Guards Marine Regiments. In total, about 3 thousand people gathered in the square.

But Nicholas 1 was warned that a Decembrist uprising was being prepared on Senate Square. He swore in the Senate in advance. After this, he was able to gather the remaining loyal troops and surround Senate Square. Negotiations were started. They did not bring any results. From the government side, Metropolitan Seraphim and Miloradovich M.A., the governor of St. Petersburg, took part in them. Miloradovich was wounded during the negotiations, which became fatal. After this, by order of Nicholas 1, artillery was used. The Decembrist uprising of 1825 failed. Later, on December 29, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol was able to raise the Chernigov regiment. This rebellion was also suppressed by government troops on January 2. The results of the Decembrist uprising turned out to be far from the plans of the conspirators.

Arrests of participants and organizers of the uprising took place throughout Russia. 579 people were charged in this case. 287 were found guilty. Five were sentenced to death. These were S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, K.F. Ryleev, P.G. Pestel, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, P. G. Kakhovsky. 120 people were exiled to hard labor or to settlement in Siberia.

The Decembrist uprising, a summary of which is outlined above, failed not only because of the inconsistency of the actions of the conspirators, the unpreparedness of society for such radical changes, and the lack of support from the broad masses. However, the historical significance of the Decembrist uprising is difficult to overestimate. For the first time, a fairly clear political program was put forward, and an armed uprising took place against the authorities. And, although Nicholas 1 called the conspirators only crazy rebels, the consequences of the Decembrist uprising turned out to be extremely significant for the further history of Russia. And the brutal reprisal against them aroused sympathy in wide sections of society and forced many progressive people of that era to awaken.

25. Abolition of serfdom in Russia

The prerequisites for the abolition of serfdom arose at the end of the 18th century. All layers of society considered the serfdom an immoral phenomenon that disgraced Russia. In order to stand on a par with European countries free from slavery, the Russian government was faced with the issue of abolishing serfdom.

The main reasons for the abolition of serfdom:

Serfdom became a brake on the development of industry and trade, which hampered the growth of capital and placed Russia in the category of secondary states;

The decline of the landowner economy due to the extremely ineffective labor of the serfs, which was expressed in the obviously poor performance of the corvee;

The increase in peasant revolts indicated that the serf system was a “powder keg” under the state;

The defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) demonstrated the backwardness of the political system in the country.

Alexander I tried to take the first steps in resolving the issue of abolishing serfdom, but his committee did not figure out how to bring this reform to life. Emperor Alexander limited himself to the law of 1803 on free cultivators.

Nicholas I in 1842 adopted the law “On Obligated Peasants”, according to which the landowner had the right to free the peasants by giving them a land allotment, and the peasants were obliged to bear duties in favor of the landowner for the use of the land. However, this law did not take root; the landowners did not want to let the peasants go.

In 1857, official preparations began for the abolition of serfdom. Emperor Alexander II ordered the establishment of provincial committees, which were supposed to develop projects to improve the life of serfs. Based on these projects, the drafting commissions drew up a bill, which was transferred to the Main Committee for consideration and establishment.

On February 19, 1861, Emperor Alexander II signed a manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and approved the “Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom.” Alexander remained in history with the name “Liberator”.

Although liberation from slavery gave peasants some personal and civil freedoms, such as the right to marry, go to court, trade, enter the civil service, etc., they were limited in freedom of movement, as well as economic rights. In addition, peasants remained the only class that bore conscription duties and could be subject to corporal punishment.

The land remained the property of the landowners, and the peasants were allocated a settled estate and a field allotment, for which they had to serve duties (in money or work), which were almost no different from serfs. According to the law, peasants had the right to buy out an allotment and an estate, then they received complete independence and became peasant owners. Until then, they were called “temporarily obligated.” The ransom amounted to the annual quitrent amount multiplied by 17!

To help the peasantry, the government organized a special “redemption operation.” After the establishment of the land allotment, the state paid the landowner 80% of the value of the allotment, and 20% was assigned to the peasant as a government debt, which he had to repay in installments over 49 years.

Peasants united into rural societies, and they, in turn, united into volosts. The use of field land was communal, and to make “redemption payments” the peasants were bound by a mutual guarantee.

Household people who did not plow the land were temporarily obliged for two years, and then could register with a rural or urban society.

The agreement between landowners and peasants was set out in the “statutory charter”. And to sort out emerging disagreements, the position of peace mediators was established. The general management of the reform was entrusted to the “provincial presence for peasant affairs.”

The peasant reform created the conditions for the transformation of labor into goods, and market relations began to develop, which is typical for a capitalist country. The consequence of the abolition of serfdom was the gradual formation of new social strata of the population - the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

Changes in the social, economic and political life of Russia after the abolition of serfdom forced the government to undertake other important reforms, which contributed to the transformation of our country into a bourgeois monarchy.

Tsar Alexander 2, son of Nicholas 1, was born on April 29, 1818. Since he was the heir to the throne, he received an excellent education and had deep, versatile knowledge. Suffice it to say that the education of the heir was carried out so different people like combat officer Merder and Zhukovsky. His father Nicholas 1 had a great influence on the personality and subsequent reign of Alexander 2.

Emperor Alexander 2 ascended the throne after the death of his father in 1855. It must be said that the young emperor already had quite serious management experience. He was entrusted with the duties of the sovereign during periods of absence from the capital of Nicholas 1. A brief biography of this man, of course, cannot include all the most important dates and events, but it is simply necessary to mention that the internal policy of Alexander 2 brought with it serious changes in the life of the country.