Napoleon's Invasion of Russia

Podcast Transcript

There are many lessons we are supposed to know in life: pick up after yourself, never bet against a Sicilian when death is on the line, and most importantly, don’t invade Russia in the winter.

Known as one of the greatest military disasters in history, Napoleon’s invasion of Russia is often cited as a key factor in the emperor’s eventual defeat.

Although the campaign actually started in June, the brutal impact of General Winter led to the devastation of the French army and ultimately contributed to the downfall of one of the greatest generals in history.

Learn more about Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia and the devastation of the French Army on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Napoleon Bonaparte came into power at the end of the French Revolution, becoming First Consul, a position he created in 1799, and later crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804.

Historically known as one of, if not the, greatest military generals of all time, Napoleon led the French army to decisive victories over multiple European powers during the Napoleonic Wars. Additionally, he radically reshaped the political landscape of France through the implementation of the Napoleonic Code.

For all his accomplishments, the beginning of the end for him was his decision to invade Russia.

A few things to put the invasion of Russia into context…

The French had been in constant wars against other European powers since the Revolution, with six different European coalitions being formed to defeat the French up to this point in Napoleon’s Reign.

The first five Coalition wars will be skipped over for the sake of brevity, but the ultimate result of each war was a French victory, with Napoleon gaining more and more control and influence over mainland Europe.

There was one pesky enemy that was able to avoid direct military defeat by Napoleon and the French Army: Great Britain. You might’ve heard the phrase “Britannia Rules the Waves,” and for Napoleon, this was especially true, with the Emperor being unable to reach the island due to the superiority of the British navy.

The result of this was Napoleon’s imposition of an embargo on the United Kingdom, known as the Continental System, which prohibited all trade between mainland Europe and Britain.

The goal of the Continental System was to cripple the British economy and force the British to sue for peace; however, this system was difficult to enforce.

The first notable example of enforcing the continental system was in Spain.

Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808 in a brutal military campaign lasting until Napoleon’s Fall in 1814. The Peninsular War, known as Napoleon’s Vietnam, will be its own future episode, but for now, know that it was a massive drain on French resources and manpower.

However, the big hole in the Continental System was Russia.

The Russians also refused to follow the Continental System, with Tsar Alexander I withdrawing in December 1810 and openly trading with Britain while simultaneously imposing a heavy tax on French products.

This was due to the Continental System destroying the Russian Economy, tanking the value of the ruble.

To retaliate, Napoleon began to prepare for an invasion of Russia. Despite popular perceptions, this campaign was planned over a long period, with preparations beginning as early as January 1811.

On June 24, 1812, Napoleon and his army of about 600,000 men marched into Russia. The Invasion was not one to conquer territory per se, but rather one for control. Napoleon’s goal was to punish Russia and force it to rejoin the Continental system.

Napoleon had hoped to defeat Russia in three weeks, but this didn’t happen. Napoleon’s military tactics typically relied on speed and outmaneuvering the enemy, or using massive encircling movements to demolish the army in one fell swoop.

The strategy of the Russians was essentially, “Don’t fight Napoleon.”

The Russians retreated into their vast territory and scorched the Earth behind them. Russia adopted a Fabian strategy, if you remember back to the previous episode on the subject. They knew they probably couldn’t win, so they fought not to lose.

Russia was able to enact this strategy due to the country’s massive size and the leadership of General Barclay de Tolly.

Scorched Earth is an effective military strategy because it destroys anything the enemy army could use from your land. In a country like Russia, this strategy is effective due to its vast size, which forces the enemy’s supply line to stretch across a large territory, leaving them vulnerable to sneak attacks and starvation.

This was incredibly effective because if Napoleon couldn’t live off the land, he couldn’t use strategies that were dependent on speed. If he couldn’t move as quickly, he couldn’t encircle your army, and if he couldn’t encircle your army, he couldn’t land a decisive victory, and if he couldn’t land a decisive victory, you weren’t defeated.

You can see why this would be so effective.

The first battle of the Invasion was in the city of Vilina on June 27. I say battle, but there was very little fighting as the Russians quickly retreated.

The conditions after taking the city were immediately brutal, with the first night having a massive electrical storm with large amounts of rain, hail, and sleet, resulting in some troops and horses dying.

Napoleon did not take this foreshadowing seriously and continued through the Russian countryside confident in his eventual victory.

By late July, the Russians abandoned another city, Vitebsk, leaving the French nothing but its burned-out remains. Along the way, peasants would burn their crops as they evacuated, refusing to let the crops fall into French hands.

Though we often talk about the brutality of the Russian Winter, the summer is not much better. The conditions were brutal. There was no food, oppressive heat, and insect and waterborne diseases running rampant.

The Russians eventually fought Napoleon at the Battle of Smolensk in August 1812. An important historical city, Napoleon had hoped the Russians would defend it, and they did. Though it was a French Victory, it was not the decisive victory Napoleon had hoped for.

Napoleon was unable to destroy the Russians, who managed to retreat from the city using bridges at nightfall and burning them after they escaped, preventing the French from following.

After the retreat at Smolensk, the Russians replaced their commander, instating General Mikhail Kutuzov as the new Commander of the Russian Army. His strategy was similar to that of General Barclay de Tolly, who also employed scorched Earth and tactical retreats as his primary military tactics.

However, General Kutuzov was forced to take a stand at Borodino. Located just 120 kilometers or 75 miles outside of Moscow, the Russians decided to fight here in an attempt to block the French advance to Moscow.

The Russians hastily worked to reinforce the city before engaging in battle with the French.

The Battle of Borodino was the decisive battle Napoleon had wanted, but he paid a massive price.

The Battle was one of the bloodiest of the Napoleonic Wars, involving approximately 300,000 men. Lasting for just 12 hours, the casualty numbers for both sides were massive, with 35,000 French and 45,000 Russians dead or injured.

Although it was a significant win, it was not the decisive victory that Napoleon had sought, as the Russian army remained intact and managed to retreat, continuing its war of attrition.

The most notorious part of Napoleon’s Invasion was his taking of Moscow.

Napoleon entered Moscow on September 14, 1812, and found the city deserted and in flames.

Reportedly, Napoleon was horrified by the fire, shocked that the Russians would burn their own city.

This fire was crucial in depriving the French of vital resources inside Moscow. Because the Russians had evacuated all the fire equipment with them, there was no way for the French to put the flames out, resulting in no food or shelter for the French army, which had to resort to pillaging.

After reaching Moscow, Napoleon had expected Tsar Alexander to make peace, as Moscow was Russia’s largest city and held a large cultural and historical significance. At this point, he had also held a massive amount of Russian territory, though it was rendered useless by the scorched Earth tactics.

Napoleon had sent a letter to Tsar Alexander asking for his surrender, but crucially, the Tsar did not respond.

After waiting for 36 days, Napoleon realized that a response was not coming. Not wanting to get stuck in Moscow in the Winter, on October 18th, he ordered a retreat from Russia.

But at this point, it was too late.

At the time the retreat began, Napoleon and his army had only a portion of his original 600,000 men.

The Russian autumn experienced heavy rainfall, turning the dirt roads into thick patches of mud, which completely stalled the army and left them vulnerable to guerrilla attacks from the Cossacks.

This allowed the main Russian army to begin pursuing the French, resulting in the Battle of Maloyaroslavets on October 24, 1812.

Again, although this Battle was technically a French victory, crucially, the Russians were able to prevent the French from retreating to the southern provinces, which still held important resources like food, forcing the Russians to retreat along the same destroyed path they had taken to invade.

The retreat soon became a chaotic endeavor. Morale plummeted across the French army as they were forced to traverse previous battlefields, including the field of Borodino, making the soldiers come face-to-face with their previous, unburied, frozen dead comrades.

In early November, the Russian winter finally hit, causing devastation to the French army.

The weather dropped to -30 degrees Celsius or -22 Fahrenheit. To put this into perspective, icicles would form from their breadth, and many soldiers became blind from the snow, while others simply dropped dead from the cold, freezing to death.

These conditions led to the morale of the army quickly dropping, with fights breaking out due to a lack of food and water, and cannibalism even taking place.

By the time the French again reached Smolensk on November 9th, Napoleon had already suffered 40,000 more casualties and had lost almost all of his horses and most of his artillery.

This did not stop the Russians from continuing their pursuit.

The Battle of Krasnoi led to another 30,000 French killed, wounded, and taken prisoner as they attempted to leave Smolensk.

During these skirmishes, the French Army was divided, and the Russians were able to surround Napoleon at Borisov on the Berezina River. However, the French engineers were able to build bridges rapidly across the river before the Russians destroyed it.

After this, Napoleon appointed a new head of the army to overseen the rest of the retreat and returned to Paris ahead of the army to oversee problems in the city.

Overall, of the roughly 600,000 men who invaded Russia, fewer than 100,000 returned. Those who did survive were crippled, suffering from frostbite, or starving. The Russians also faced massive amounts of death between civilians and soldiers. While their numbers are unknown, they likely surpass one million total people, making the Invasion one of the deadliest operations in military history.

The Invasion of Russia is perceived as setting the stage for Napoleon’s last defeat. The invasion was a massive strategic blunder, leaving the French vulnerable to the forces of the Sixth Coalition.

Russia did not halt its advance after the invasion, continuing to march into Europe, and was quickly joined by Britain, Prussia, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, and Austria. Just two years after his invasion began, Napoleon would fall to the 6th Coalition in 1814.

Napoleon was forced to abdicate as Emperor of the French and was sent into exile to the island of Elba.

He did, of course, eventually escape and succeeded in retaking power in France. I’ve previously done an episode on the 100 Days War, which covers his return from Elba to his defeat at Waterloo.

Overall, Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia was a military disaster, one of the worst in all of history, despite his success in many individual battles during the campaign. The massive amounts of death and the horrific conditions the soldiers faced played a large part in the eventual defeat of one of the greatest military commanders of all time.

It provides proof of the old adage that you can win the battle, but still lose the war.

The Executive Producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The Associate Producers are Austin Oetken and Cameron Kieffer.

Research and writing for this episode were provided by Olivia Ashe.

A reminder that I will be hosting the Everything Everywhere Daily 5th anniversary event on July 19th in Appleton, Wisconsin. If you would like to attend, information and an RSVP link are available in the show notes.

If we can get a decent turnout maybe I’ll consider coming to a town near you.

Today’s review comes from listener Mostly Evil Penguin over on Apple Podcasts in the United States. They write.

Just Incredible!

I love listening to your show, and I know that everyone here appreciates all the effort you pour into it. Every morning, I wake up, and I check Apple Podcasts!

It’s a great learning experience, and even with encore episodes, I learn even more. Thanks Gary! Always happy to hear from you!

-Hurricane

(BTW: Very sad the Packers didn’t make it to the Super Bowl)

Thanks, Hurricane! I, too, am sad that the Packers didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. However, I prefer to be realistic about it. There are 32 teams in the NFL. On average, that means a team should win a Super Bowl once every 32 years.

So far, during my lifetime, the Packers are slightly ahead of the game, and if I had been born a bit sooner, they’d be well ahead of the game.

Certainly, much better than every other team in the NFC North.

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