Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars
- The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars
- The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Key to maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I The Nature of Warfare in the Napoleonic Era
- Part II The State of the Armed Forces
- Part III Raising and Supplying the Armies
- Part IV Napoleon’s Military Campaigns in Europe
- 17 Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns, 1796–1800
- 18 The Ulm and Austerlitz Campaigns, 1805
- 19 The Campaigns of 1806–7 in Prussia and Poland
- 20 The Peninsular War, 1808–14
- 21 The 1809 Campaign against Austria
- 22 The Russian Campaign of 1812
- 23 The 1813 Campaign in Central Europe
- 24 The Campagne de France of 1814
- 25 The Hundred Days and Waterloo, 1815
- Part V Other Spheres of War
- Bibliographical Essays
- Index
22 - The Russian Campaign of 1812
from Part IV - Napoleon’s Military Campaigns in Europe
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2022
- The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars
- The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars
- The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Key to maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I The Nature of Warfare in the Napoleonic Era
- Part II The State of the Armed Forces
- Part III Raising and Supplying the Armies
- Part IV Napoleon’s Military Campaigns in Europe
- 17 Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns, 1796–1800
- 18 The Ulm and Austerlitz Campaigns, 1805
- 19 The Campaigns of 1806–7 in Prussia and Poland
- 20 The Peninsular War, 1808–14
- 21 The 1809 Campaign against Austria
- 22 The Russian Campaign of 1812
- 23 The 1813 Campaign in Central Europe
- 24 The Campagne de France of 1814
- 25 The Hundred Days and Waterloo, 1815
- Part V Other Spheres of War
- Bibliographical Essays
- Index
Summary
Napoleon’s decision to invade Russia in the summer of 1812 was his last and greatest effort to secure the French imperium in continental Europe. It resulted in war on a colossal scale and produced results diametrically opposite to those the French emperor wished to attain. This six-month long campaign furnished numerous episodes of triumph and hardship, transcendent courage and wanton depravity, but it offered many military lessons as well. In the grandeur of its conception, its execution, and its abysmal end, this war had no analogy until the German invasion of the USSR in 1941. The campaign had a profound impact on political situation in Europe. Its direct result was the general uprising against Napoleon in northern Germany and the complete overthrow within one year of the French imperium in Central Europe.
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- The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars , pp. 449 - 470Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023