Update: on page 1126 of War and Peace (out of 1455) the end is in sight!
The fun part of reading this is reading the various descriptions of Moscow and its geography. Tolstoy mentions places we visited, like Red Square, St. Basil's, the Arbat, some other streets, the Kremlin and its structures. He mentions the Tsar Cannon. We had our picture taken crouching next to it. He describes how Napoleon stopped on this one hill to overlook the city. That hill is now the location of an immense WWII Victory Memorial that we visited. From the descriptions in the book, Napoleon's army approached Moscow from the south and west.
If you've never studied that whole Russian campaign, it's quite the
story. Napoleon's Grand Army just swept through, much like Hitler's
armies would 129 years later. The Russians kept falling back and falling
back, unable to make any kind of defense. The first big battle the
Russians stopped to fight was to defend Smolensk, and then kept
retreating. The only other large-scale battle was then at Borodino, 70
miles from Moscow. Both sides lost heavily. But, the Russian army
survived to fight another day.
Because French losses were so heavy, and the Russians survived, the
battle is considered a Russian victory. (there was bitter fighting in
the area too in 1941). There was a large Borodino panorama in a museum
at that WWII Victory park we visited, but it was closed as we visited on
a Monday. Booo.
The Russian army though was still no match for Napoleon, and so
retreated past Moscow, leaaving the city to Napoleon. The French entered
the city in September. Most of the inhabitants had fled, leaving behind
mostly only rabble, the poor, criminals, etc.. The city burned, it's
never been clear just how the fires got started, whether on purpose,
etc...
When we visited the Kremlin, by the Trinity Gate, there are a number of
French cannon there, pointed back at that gate, where the French
entered, sort of as a thumb in the eye of the French. There's also an
Arch, near that WWII memorial, resembling the Arc de Triumph,
commemorating the Russian victory over Napoleon. Its resemblance to the
one in Paris is another thumb in the eye to the French.
Napoleon stayed a month, but because of the oncoming winter, with little
supplies so deep in Russia, Napoleon decided to leave. The march back
was a cruel one. Napoleon tried to go south, back by a different route,
along one where they could scavenge for supplies. But the Russian army
did make a stand and turn him away, forcing Napoleon to go back the same
route he had first come. That route had been pillaged and denuded
before, so now there was no food along that way, and with the cold
winter, an enormous portion of the army perished. Only a small
percentage of the army that had left Poland made it back there.
A couple years ago in Vilnius, a mass grave was uncovered, I think 3000
bodies were discovered. At first they weren't sure if it was Jews killed
by Nazis, or people killed by Stalin, etc... but they turned out to
soldiers in Napoleon's retreating army.
The fun part of reading this is reading the various descriptions of Moscow and its geography. Tolstoy mentions places we visited, like Red Square, St. Basil's, the Arbat, some other streets, the Kremlin and its structures. He mentions the Tsar Cannon. We had our picture taken crouching next to it. He describes how Napoleon stopped on this one hill to overlook the city. That hill is now the location of an immense WWII Victory Memorial that we visited. From the descriptions in the book, Napoleon's army approached Moscow from the south and west.
If you've never studied that whole Russian campaign, it's quite the
story. Napoleon's Grand Army just swept through, much like Hitler's
armies would 129 years later. The Russians kept falling back and falling
back, unable to make any kind of defense. The first big battle the
Russians stopped to fight was to defend Smolensk, and then kept
retreating. The only other large-scale battle was then at Borodino, 70
miles from Moscow. Both sides lost heavily. But, the Russian army
survived to fight another day.
Because French losses were so heavy, and the Russians survived, the
battle is considered a Russian victory. (there was bitter fighting in
the area too in 1941). There was a large Borodino panorama in a museum
at that WWII Victory park we visited, but it was closed as we visited on
a Monday. Booo.
The Russian army though was still no match for Napoleon, and so
retreated past Moscow, leaaving the city to Napoleon. The French entered
the city in September. Most of the inhabitants had fled, leaving behind
mostly only rabble, the poor, criminals, etc.. The city burned, it's
never been clear just how the fires got started, whether on purpose,
etc...
When we visited the Kremlin, by the Trinity Gate, there are a number of
French cannon there, pointed back at that gate, where the French
entered, sort of as a thumb in the eye of the French. There's also an
Arch, near that WWII memorial, resembling the Arc de Triumph,
commemorating the Russian victory over Napoleon. Its resemblance to the
one in Paris is another thumb in the eye to the French.
Napoleon stayed a month, but because of the oncoming winter, with little
supplies so deep in Russia, Napoleon decided to leave. The march back
was a cruel one. Napoleon tried to go south, back by a different route,
along one where they could scavenge for supplies. But the Russian army
did make a stand and turn him away, forcing Napoleon to go back the same
route he had first come. That route had been pillaged and denuded
before, so now there was no food along that way, and with the cold
winter, an enormous portion of the army perished. Only a small
percentage of the army that had left Poland made it back there.
A couple years ago in Vilnius, a mass grave was uncovered, I think 3000
bodies were discovered. At first they weren't sure if it was Jews killed
by Nazis, or people killed by Stalin, etc... but they turned out to
soldiers in Napoleon's retreating army.
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