French Invasion of Russia

Subject : History

Section: World History

Concept :

Russia asked French President Emmanuel Macron to remember the fate of Napoleon Bonaparte, after he called for Russia’s defeat against Ukraine.
It also accused the president of being duplicitous in his diplomacy with Moscow.

French Invasion under Napolean Bonaparte

After winning the battle of Friedland in 1807, Napoleon signed the Treaties of Tilsit with Russia’s Tsar Alexander I.
It marked the beginning of an alliance between the two empires as they agreed to help each other in disputes.
Notably, the Russians also accepted to become part of Napoleon’s Continental Blockade, which prohibited both neutral parties and French allies from trading with Great Britain.
Tsar broke the agreement in 1810 and start trading with Britain openly, much to France’s displeasure. Tensions escalated quickly and when all the attempts of negotiations failed.
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon to force the Russian Empire back into the continental blockade of the United Kingdom.

Course of war

When the france army reached the Russian territory, the Tsar’s army retreated into the interior regions, compelling the French to cover much longer distances than expected.
This led to a shortage of food and other supplies. Napoleon’s military strategists also realised that restocking was a daunting task in Russia because it had a poor road network.
Moreover, food scarcity was made worse by Russian soldiers, who adopted a scorched earth policy of destroying everything possible as they retreated before the French.
After the Tsar refused to respond to any of Napoleon’s proposed negotiations for weeks, the French emperor begrudgingly ordered his men to return.
By the time the army crossed into Poland in early December, less than 100,000 exhausted, tattered soldiers remained of the 600,000 proud soldiers who crossed the Nieman five months before.

Consequences of the war

Napoleon’s failed conquest of Russia united the rest of Europe against him.
In 1813, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden and a number of German states joined their forces and went to war against France.
Known as the War of the Sixth Coalition, the battle concluded with the defeat of Napoleon, who then went into exile.
He briefly returned to power in France in 1815 but had to abdicate his throne for the second time after he lost the Battle of Waterloo during the War of the Seventh Coalition.
Napoleon was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena in the Atlantic, where he died in 1821.