I just finished the book “1812”. There is more to the defeat of Napoleon than this video suggests. Probably most important: Napoleon seemed no longer to be the man he once was. He was much less decisive and energetic than in the past. If you look at his picture at that time he is rather unhealthy fat.
It is important to stress that Napoleon did not want to conquer Russia. That would have been a clear goal and he would have a reasonable chance to achieve it. Instead he just wanted to teach Alexander a lesson so that he should behave so as Napoleon wanted him to behave. If he had wanted to conquer Russia he would have tried to engage Turkey and Austria by promising them a part of Russia. He would have tried to engage the Poles by promising them the area that Russia had conquered on Poland a few decades before. And he would have promised the farmers in Russia freedom from their servitude. He did none of those as he wanted Russia to stay as an independent ally.
I’m not sure about that.In those days you don’t amass the largest attacking force in Europe (over 600,000 troops) without meaning to conquer.It is true that Napoleon didn’t intend to permanently occupy Russia.He wanted ,like he did with Prussia and Austria,to beat them and then turn Russia into a vassal state “ally”.As for Turkey and Poland.He did have Poland on his side.Many Polish troops were part of that force invading Russia.And Turkey was very distrustful of Napoleon, and were in the pay of the British.I also don’t think,that in Russia, appealing to the serfs would have worked.The cultural and religious difference between a “modernized” France.And the holy Orthodox Russia of the time,was too great.
I feel like going to the Dome des Invalides and paying my respects every time I think that had Napoleon delayed his invasion for a few more days, I wouldn’t have known how to name the language I speak.
The 1801 Russian invasion of India would be the best. Alexander was a devout Republican (except for Russia which needed an autocrat) and supported Napoleon to the hilt. So Alexander decided to invade India and take over from the British. He assembled an army which disintegrated under its own inadequacy before it left the Russian borders. Not a shot was fired except at deserters. To be fair, learning from this disaster was a key factor in Russian preparedness for 1812.
Alexander had another go at declaring war on Britain later from 1807, I think. Lost badly to the Royal Navy, even with French help. Russia does tend to pick the wrong ally; Sweden 1612, France 1801-12; Germany 1939; before being rescued by Britain from an existential threat.
Despite military posturing against Britain, Russia enjoyed a vigorous trading relationship with Britain as it had since the 1530’s (The Civil War in England excepted, chopping off Monarch’s head was not well regarded by Tsars). One key product was hemp, used for ropes for ships. The British could get this from India but Russian hemp was cheaper and of the right quality for the manufacturing processes. Napoleon wanted complete support from Russia, not just game playing by the Tsar.
Napoleon was haunted by the spectre of Poltava and the fate of his Swedish predecessor from that previous campaign. He understood that his own invasion could end in similar disaster and wasn’t really all that enthusiastic about mounting his own.
One of the most fascinating books to come out in recent years is Stephan Talty’s, The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon’s Greatest Army. What is most astonishing is how Napoleon had become increasingly inured to “the massive detritus of war,” as Talty puts it, and demonstrated in this campaign a shocking callous disregard for the lives of his own troops. In earlier times, he had been very attentive to the welfare and well-being of his soldiers. He became bored with his own success from years of empire, apparently. The thing that finally invigorated him was leaving a gigantic wake of death, mayhem, and destruction behind him when he escaped in his midnight sleigh ride back to Paris and he was confronted with the challenge of his life: trying to keep his empire from unravelling and stay in power in France. Because that was all about him.
Stephan Talty’s book is the most harrowing Halloween story you could ever come across. It’s so grisly. A true horror show. Napoleon and his staff thought nothing of using the frozen corpses of men and horses as tables and chairs out in the field. Read this barnstormer of a book….if you dare!
Napoleon should never have attacked Russia and dissipated his energy and of THE Grand Army -instead he should had concentrated on doing what he was doing in Boulogne in 1805 and killed the evil enemy across the west of channel for ever.
========================
William Napier writes: “In 1811 the Emperor’s power over the continent, as far as the frontier of Russia, was, in fact, absolute; and in France internal prosperity was enjoyed with external glory. But the Emperor of Russia, stimulated by English diplomacy , was plainly in opposition to the ascendency of France .”
It is the coward English who plotted Russian invasion by the great Napoleon.
Napoleon’s attack on Russia plotted by england (to which
Napoleon the Great himself admitted).
What happened was this as admitted by a british author himself who was responsible for all the troubles in the north caucus in 1840s.
When the emperor napoleon was meeting the czar in the river Niemen on a barge , a british spy was hiding inside one of the boat and he heard all the talk which happened between two emperors. And that information was used to malign the Russian czar in front of napoleon who out of insecurity from that false rumour attacked Russia.
Now the same spy was the one who a generation later was working agasint russia in north caucus and was inflaming the Muslims population against the Russians –that was just before the Crimean war. So you see the English bastards have been let go easily by the Russians despite what they have done to the Russia.one thing more-who so ever is an ally of the English they English back stab them in 25 years alter without fail.
We won’t publish any more of this, until you start accounting for USA and EU actions. You must secretly admire the English, as you credit them with doing everything single-handed. Give us evidence and facts,not just claims.
Saker herself seems in awe of the English. The Saker view seems to credit the Anglozionist conspiracy with mighty intelligence leading to inevitable results for their evil plots that only Russia can see and resist. The English are amazing; but that amazing? I am British. I have never worked in an organization with such formidable people, certainly I never saw them in Cambridge. Unless they are all educated in Oxford I really don’t know where they come from. That said, Trinity College Cambridge has produced more Nobel prize winners than most countries. Hmm? It is often said that the most powerful man in England is the admissions tutor to Trinity.
Give in; surrender. Germany, Italy and Japan are rich and prosperous and the people are free. Why not Russia?
Here is the latest thrust……..Down is up…Up is Down…..yawn
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/05/u-s-pressures-nobel-committee-to-declare-ukraines-president-a-peace-prize-nominee.html
Porky for the Nobel Peace Prize ….war what war?…it’s an ATO!
I wanted to vomit when I first heard about that.I really don’t think that even the Europeans could stomach something that repulsive.But we shall see.
If things continue as they are.We may very well see a repeat of the Russian army entering Paris,and signing a peace treaty over the corpse of NATO.
lets hope that…
I just finished the book “1812”. There is more to the defeat of Napoleon than this video suggests. Probably most important: Napoleon seemed no longer to be the man he once was. He was much less decisive and energetic than in the past. If you look at his picture at that time he is rather unhealthy fat.
It is important to stress that Napoleon did not want to conquer Russia. That would have been a clear goal and he would have a reasonable chance to achieve it. Instead he just wanted to teach Alexander a lesson so that he should behave so as Napoleon wanted him to behave. If he had wanted to conquer Russia he would have tried to engage Turkey and Austria by promising them a part of Russia. He would have tried to engage the Poles by promising them the area that Russia had conquered on Poland a few decades before. And he would have promised the farmers in Russia freedom from their servitude. He did none of those as he wanted Russia to stay as an independent ally.
I’m not sure about that.In those days you don’t amass the largest attacking force in Europe (over 600,000 troops) without meaning to conquer.It is true that Napoleon didn’t intend to permanently occupy Russia.He wanted ,like he did with Prussia and Austria,to beat them and then turn Russia into a vassal state “ally”.As for Turkey and Poland.He did have Poland on his side.Many Polish troops were part of that force invading Russia.And Turkey was very distrustful of Napoleon, and were in the pay of the British.I also don’t think,that in Russia, appealing to the serfs would have worked.The cultural and religious difference between a “modernized” France.And the holy Orthodox Russia of the time,was too great.
I feel like going to the Dome des Invalides and paying my respects every time I think that had Napoleon delayed his invasion for a few more days, I wouldn’t have known how to name the language I speak.
Cool Video…thanks South Front !~!! now we have to get a better video provider for you.
Effective short documentary.
Great video. Hope a future installment will be about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Russo-Japanese war of 1905 would also be great.
The 1801 Russian invasion of India would be the best. Alexander was a devout Republican (except for Russia which needed an autocrat) and supported Napoleon to the hilt. So Alexander decided to invade India and take over from the British. He assembled an army which disintegrated under its own inadequacy before it left the Russian borders. Not a shot was fired except at deserters. To be fair, learning from this disaster was a key factor in Russian preparedness for 1812.
Alexander had another go at declaring war on Britain later from 1807, I think. Lost badly to the Royal Navy, even with French help. Russia does tend to pick the wrong ally; Sweden 1612, France 1801-12; Germany 1939; before being rescued by Britain from an existential threat.
Despite military posturing against Britain, Russia enjoyed a vigorous trading relationship with Britain as it had since the 1530’s (The Civil War in England excepted, chopping off Monarch’s head was not well regarded by Tsars). One key product was hemp, used for ropes for ships. The British could get this from India but Russian hemp was cheaper and of the right quality for the manufacturing processes. Napoleon wanted complete support from Russia, not just game playing by the Tsar.
Napoleon was haunted by the spectre of Poltava and the fate of his Swedish predecessor from that previous campaign. He understood that his own invasion could end in similar disaster and wasn’t really all that enthusiastic about mounting his own.
One of the most fascinating books to come out in recent years is Stephan Talty’s, The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon’s Greatest Army. What is most astonishing is how Napoleon had become increasingly inured to “the massive detritus of war,” as Talty puts it, and demonstrated in this campaign a shocking callous disregard for the lives of his own troops. In earlier times, he had been very attentive to the welfare and well-being of his soldiers. He became bored with his own success from years of empire, apparently. The thing that finally invigorated him was leaving a gigantic wake of death, mayhem, and destruction behind him when he escaped in his midnight sleigh ride back to Paris and he was confronted with the challenge of his life: trying to keep his empire from unravelling and stay in power in France. Because that was all about him.
Stephan Talty’s book is the most harrowing Halloween story you could ever come across. It’s so grisly. A true horror show. Napoleon and his staff thought nothing of using the frozen corpses of men and horses as tables and chairs out in the field. Read this barnstormer of a book….if you dare!
Napoleon should never have attacked Russia and dissipated his energy and of THE Grand Army -instead he should had concentrated on doing what he was doing in Boulogne in 1805 and killed the evil enemy across the west of channel for ever.
========================
William Napier writes: “In 1811 the Emperor’s power over the continent, as far as the frontier of Russia, was, in fact, absolute; and in France internal prosperity was enjoyed with external glory. But the Emperor of Russia, stimulated by English diplomacy , was plainly in opposition to the ascendency of France .”
It is the coward English who plotted Russian invasion by the great Napoleon.
Napoleon’s attack on Russia plotted by england (to which
Napoleon the Great himself admitted).
What happened was this as admitted by a british author himself who was responsible for all the troubles in the north caucus in 1840s.
When the emperor napoleon was meeting the czar in the river Niemen on a barge , a british spy was hiding inside one of the boat and he heard all the talk which happened between two emperors. And that information was used to malign the Russian czar in front of napoleon who out of insecurity from that false rumour attacked Russia.
Now the same spy was the one who a generation later was working agasint russia in north caucus and was inflaming the Muslims population against the Russians –that was just before the Crimean war. So you see the English bastards have been let go easily by the Russians despite what they have done to the Russia.one thing more-who so ever is an ally of the English they English back stab them in 25 years alter without fail.
We won’t publish any more of this, until you start accounting for USA and EU actions. You must secretly admire the English, as you credit them with doing everything single-handed. Give us evidence and facts,not just claims.
Saker herself seems in awe of the English. The Saker view seems to credit the Anglozionist conspiracy with mighty intelligence leading to inevitable results for their evil plots that only Russia can see and resist. The English are amazing; but that amazing? I am British. I have never worked in an organization with such formidable people, certainly I never saw them in Cambridge. Unless they are all educated in Oxford I really don’t know where they come from. That said, Trinity College Cambridge has produced more Nobel prize winners than most countries. Hmm? It is often said that the most powerful man in England is the admissions tutor to Trinity.
Give in; surrender. Germany, Italy and Japan are rich and prosperous and the people are free. Why not Russia?