foreign the Treaty of tilset between France and Russia had held for five years but cracks were beginning to appear both Napoleon and Tsar Alexander the first had Grand personal Ambitions and neither was too scrupulous about the methods he would use to fulfill them [Music] in 1807 a tillset Napoleon and Alexander the first in effect had done a deal and that was that Napoleon would dominate Western central and southern Europe and Alexander the first would dominate the East with a view to looking to the conquest of Constantinople in other words they treated each other on the surface at least as equals despite the fact that Napoleon had just defeated Alexander the first he was offering a as it were a partition of the world but with every year the Past after 1807 it became clear that Napoleon simply couldn't tolerate that kind of relationship and he regarded Alexander the first as a vassal not as an equal or as an ally thank you in 1810 following his divorce from the empress Josephine Napoleon had contemplated a marriage to the tsar's sister Anna instead he had contracted a union with Mari Louise of Austria much to the tsar's displeasure Noah was Alexander pleased at Napoleon's unwillingness to help him take Constantinople he also feared Napoleon's plans to enlarge the grand duchy of Warsaw and revive an independent Poland Poland in 1807 was only a fraction of its former self it had been a massive Kingdom stretching fee a fair way down into Russia across into the Ukraine and gradually over the preceding Century it had been whittled away into Political insignificance Napoleon recognized that there was a pool of ardent Manpower support to be drawn from the poles he created the Grand duchy of Warsaw which he gave to the king of Saxony to look after for him um this was on the western borders of Russia and the Tsar was not happy about this Recreation because he could see that at some point somebody might take it in their minds to say okay from my granddachi of Warsaw you're now again the kingdom of Poland and we'll have half of Western Russia to make you up a small section of the Grand Army was still stationed east of the Elba Prince Joseph Anton ponietowski one of the marshals Napoleon later called Intrepid Heroes warned the emperor that Alexander planned a preemptive strike against them I thought that the French Empire which I had created by so many victories would be dismembered at my death and the scepter of Europe would pass into the hands of Azar unless I drove back the Russians beyond the Nipa and raised up the Throne of Poland the natural barrier of the empire Napoleon very much knew that the Russians always objected to polish nationalism and the fact that he maintained the ditch of water they even Incorporated aspects of the Polish Army in his own Army was a continual thorn in the side of the of the Russian czar history hit is an award-winning streaming platform built by history fans for history fans our goal is to bring you award-winning documentaries that cover the events and figures that have shaped our world all in one place travel with us to the fascinating world of prehistoric Scotland or uncover the lives of the people who called Pompeii home we also aim to bring you the stories and legends that shaped our world through our award-winning podcast Network sign up now for a free trial and timeline fans get 50 of their first three months just be sure to use the code timeline at checkout on 15th of August 1811 the Russian Ambassador kirakin had an audience with a Napoleon at the tweelery he put forward Alexander's proposal that France should hand over part of the duchy of Warsaw Napoleon was Furious even though your armies were to camp on the heights of mon Matra I wouldn't yield an inch of Warsaw not a village not a mill don't you know that I have 800 000 troops if you're counting on allies where are they Napoleon is increasingly looking to First intimidation and to then Conquest it's fair to say that his advisors cautioned him against conquest or cautioned him against invasion they argued that it was militarily a difficult task but also that it diplomatically was in many senses would be foolish Napoleon however was having none of this for reasons that I don't completely understand Napoleon seems to have ignored or refused to understand several warnings of the nature of the campaign of 1812. the Czar himself told Colin core Napoleon's foreign secretary that he would draw the French into Mother Russia and they would face the Wrath of the weather and of the peasantry he said your French soldier is brave and fights well but he has never had to experience the kind of campaign that he will have if he tries to come into Mother Russia the reason that uh Napoleon went for Russia despite having been reminded of the catastrophes which overtook Charles at 12 of Sweden when he tried it were that he believed his own propaganda by this point he thought that if he bent his mind to a problem long enough and worked at it hard enough he would break it and thus regardless of all the voices raised against it he pushed ahead Napoleon was never a person to take advice at least to fall about military matters he'd always been proved right in the past and again we have a a very striking analogy between the Napoleon's attitude towards advice of this guide and that of Hitler after 1939 it was constantly ignoring advice from his advisors not least about the possibility the feasibility of a campaign in Russia in after 1941. so I think it's it's it's it can be explained only in terms of Napoleon's peculiar psychology especially after it has enjoyed now what a decade or more of apparently unbroken unbroken success [Music] foreign Napoleon set about organizing provisions this time he would not repeat the mistake of Spain and rely on living off the land [Music] he gave orders to his director of War Administration to supply enough Provisions to last four hundred thousand men fifty days as well as the basics of bread and rice he requisitioned six thousand wagons to carry enough flour for 200 000 men for two months and two million bushels of oats for his horses this was on 13th January 1812 and Napoleon expected it to be ready in time for what he referred to as the second polish War [Applause] in April 1812 Alexander issued an ultimatum to Napoleon evacuate all troops from Prussia and the grand duchy for Napoleon though there was no going back the Grand Army consisted of three groups the first Army group comprised 250 000 men the second 150 000 and the third 165 000.
Small Wonder he thought himself invincible in 1812 prior to the invasion which occurs in late June begins in late June he organizes a formidable Coalition and calls on troops from throughout Napoleonic Europe both the prussians and the austrians are dragooned into supporting The Invasion and large numbers of men are deployed for example from Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy from the various German principalities large numbers of poles now the size of the resulting Army as a matter of some controversy we do not have an accurate figure the usual figure given is about 600 000 men I think it's certainly fair to say that we're probably talking of over half a million men in the invading Force in 1812 Austria Prussia Germany Switzerland and Italy marched under the French Eagles was it not natural that I should think the moment had come to consolidate the great edifice I had raised but on which Russia would lean with all her weight as long as she could send her numerous armies at pleasure to the odor on 24th June 1812 the Grand Army crossed the river Nieman at kovno Napoleon traveled in a green four-wheeled covered carriage pulled by six limousine horses Marshall Bertier traveled with him acting almost as his private secretary as the emperor dictated his dispatches to him so fast did they travel the water regularly had to be poured over the wheels to cool them Napoleon was a stickler for the tiniest detail when it came to the care of his men finding on one occasion that there was a shortage of medical dressings he berated his Quartermaster on average a wounded man needs 33 dressings these Brave fellows are going to face death for me the Grand Army had everything it needed for the campaign that it was undertaking the problem was getting the supplies to these soldiers in the front it was such an enormous Army that it absolutely clogged the roadway such as they were and the baggage train in the rear could never get up to the front and keep the men supplied so there were some serious problems that way there is such a thing as an army that is simply too big for the task at hand and I think you can argue very successfully that the Grand Army of 1812 going into Russia probably should have been about half the size of it that it was Napoleon's Hope was that he could lure the Russians into a position from which he could split them up and defeat them he believed he could force the Tsar in designing a peace treaty in just nine weeks what Napoleon really wanted to do is do what he had done against Austria in 1805 and Prussia in 1806 which is to advance on the opponent's capital and to dictate terms a short quick war is what his army was prepared for and what his resource base permitted and that was what he invaded Russia for he hoped to envelop the opposing armies close to the frontier and having destroyed them or defeated them to then have a rapid advance in other words to have the equivalent of his Alm and then his Advance on Vienna and that was what he hoped for in 1812 and that meant that was one of the reasons why the French Advance on the French allies Advanced on such a broad front in order to give them a basis for envelopment to the north the Russian first Army was under the command of Barclay de tolly it consisted of 125 000 men and 600 guns to the South Prince progration led the second Army comprising another 47 000 soldiers it is easy sometimes to overestimate the strength and power of the Russian army that Napoleon faced it also was a divided Army under de tole and the grazian it didn't always have as good a communication amongst its leaders in fact those two generals really didn't like each other at all and so there wasn't nearly the cooperation between them that there might have been two or three times Napoleon's soldiers should have been able to trap or encircle one or the other of those two branches of the Russian army but they always managed to slip out more because of problems on the French side than because of Any Brilliance on their side the fact of the matter was that the Russian army was not all that great and had they ever stopped to give full battle they almost certainly would have been defeated the ocean Army was a badly LED Army of robots the Russian soldier was a peasant it was press scanned effectively into into the army he had no say in the matter he wasn't a volunteer and he just did as he told it was indicative of the peasant system that was prevalent in Russia at the time and indeed went on being prevalence into the middle of the 19th century and the Russian peasant was very much programmed to fight as he was directed all that the officer Corps had to do was to push the Russian soldier in the right direction and he would go or tell him to stop there and he would stop the Russian soldier had no initiative whatsoever um he wouldn't run away unless he was told to run away and he wouldn't Advance unless he was told to advance Napoleon was in good spirits on 9th June he wrote to Marie Louise from Danzig my health is very good despite my cares and exhaustion I feel there is something missing the sweet habit of seeing you several times a day Napoleon hoped to fight Barclay at vilna but the Tsar had already ordered his Commander to withdraw from there with 180 000 men Barclay marched to vitepsk from there he moved on to Smolensk where he joined up with progression's second Army Napoleon pursued them it was then that I executed the fine maneuver which was the counterpart of one I directed at land shoot in 1809 using the forest of babanarinsky as a shield I turned the left of the Russian army crossed the niper and advanced on Smolensk I reached the city 24 hours before the Russians who happened to be in smellense succeeded in defending it for one day which gave Barclay detoli time to reach it progression accused Barclay of cowardice when the latter ordered the evacuation of Smolensk after two days of fierce fighting immigration's eyes it was tantamount to treason and the Betrayal of the heroic Russians who had died on the night of 17th 18th August the fleeing Russians burned Smolensk there's no doubt that during the early stages of the campaign in 1812 the Russians were in no position to face the overwhelming might of the uh of the Grand Army and so they did the sensible thing and retreated and it remains a point of some controversy as to whether this was a deliberate strategy on their part luring Napoleon ever further into the wastes of Russia where they could perish of their own accord or uh whether it was something they did because they could do no other they couldn't stand and fight because they would get crushed so they keep moving backwards until eventually they have to stop for the good reason that Moscow as the ancient Capital could not be abandoned without a fight as the French army Advanced deeper into Russia they found Villages burnt and additional food unobtainable thousands of horses died the Russians devise what turned out to be the best policy which was using the space of Russia to pull back and of course it ensured that by the time that Napoleon's forces met the major Russian Field Army he had lost large numbers of men Napoleon though had lost little of his confidence I have a good job ruling the Empire I could be in Paris enjoying myself blazing about instead Here I Am with You camping out and in action like anyone else I can be hit with a bullet I'm trying to rise above myself everyone in his own station must do the same that's what greatness means when it comes to the Russian campaign the most important Battle of course was the battle of borodino but we need to remember that Napoleon never should have been at borodino to begin with the absolute furthest he had ever any intention of going with smallinsk and before Smolensk was vilna at vilna and again at small landscape almost was able to force the battle that he needed and each time the Russians managed to escape now it's melence the question was do you stay here for the winter or do you go forward You could argue very successfully I think that this was one of Napoleon's major miscalculations in going forward but he still didn't have that battle it was so close and yet still so far and so he determined that he would pursue the Army all the way to Moscow if necessary under pressure from his ministers Alexander halted the withdrawal and concentrated on saving Moscow Barclay de Tully was replaced by General kutusov who was still smarting from his defeated austellites on 6 September the two armies faced each other near the village of borodino Napoleon was unwell the dazuria still troubled him and he had a feverish chill his spirits lifted with the arrival of a package a portrait of his young son the king of Rome he proudly showed it to his fellow officers gentlemen if my son were 15 believe me he would be here in person that night he had only two hours sleep at 3 am in the biting Wind and Rain he reconnoited the surrounding Countryside the area was heavily wooded making it unsuitable for cavalry also the Russians were dug in on sloping ground their batteries protected by redoubts the armies were almost equally matched in numbers the Russians had 120 000 men and 640 guns the French 133 000 men and 587 guns Napoleon's plan was that his stepson Eugene would attack the village of borodino making the Russians think that the main French thrust was coming from their right instead Napoleon planned to send his main Force against the Russian Center and left Davao would attack Prince progression whilst Prince ponyitowsky's Cavalry would circle behind progression's lines borodino was a very disappointing battle from the point of view of the admirers of Napoleon there was none of the clever preliminary diplomatic political maneuvering to get the enemy into the right position this was just going to be a bloody slogging match davu suggested that there should be a great sweep around the southern flank unfortunately for davu he was shot down in flames by Napoleon who considered it to be too complicated what Napoleon wanted was something very simple we'll just go and crush them on the morning of the battle Napoleon's officers were arrayed in their most glittering uniforms on the face of it this was Folly they would be sitting targets on the other hand their deeds of Glory would be more visible still unwell Napoleon took up position a mile from the southern Russian redoubts with a view of the central third of the battlefield and the main French batteries in front of him at 5 30 a. m Napoleon ordered them to open fire the Russians replied once the Earth trembled [Music] borodino is one of the great battles of the century more than a thousand Cannon I think about 1227 at about 233 000 men fought on that day and that was a pretty unprecedented force it also incidentally therefore caused unprecedented problems for command and control it's very difficult for armies after all they don't have radios I mean instructions are sent by men on Horseback attempts at signaling instructions are not easy on the battlefield of that type particularly once you've got you've fired the cannon and you've got a lot of smoke up it's very difficult to control and command what's going on and I think it's fair to say that Napoleon did not show his best side as generalship as planned Eugene launched his assault on borodino Davao attacked the redoubt known as the three arrows where Prince migration and 30 000 Russians were waiting the valve's horse was killed under him and he was swiftly replaced by Jean Rapp Napoleon's aide who was himself wounded foreign in the meantime Marshall nay had captured the southernmost gun emplacement mura and the Cavalry were sent to help him hold it the Russians refused to surrender Napoleon determined to root them out they are citadels that have to be demolished with Canon Napoleon remained behind his own lines listless and indecisive nay was Furious why is the Emperor in the rear of the army if he is no longer a general then he should go back to the twilery and let us be generals for him by 10 o'clock Eugene had taken borodino and Prince progression lay mortally wounded ponyitowsky though was unable to take the three arrows from behind shortly after 10 nay begged Napoleon to attack the three Arrows with his guard Napoleon consulted martial bessier commander of the Guard bessier Council prudence will you risk your last reserves 800 miles from Paris no suppose there's another battle tomorrow instead Napoleon said a fresh division under General freon it was not enough for nay to be able to force a victory action was centered on the great redoubt this was defended by Barclay de Tully with 75 000 men and 27 guns amongst those who attacked the great without was Captain Francois of the first division when we reached the crest of the ravine we were riddled with case shot from this battery and others flanking it but nothing stopped us despite my wounded leg I did as well as any voltiger in jumping away from roundshot as it ricocheted into our ranks whole files half platoons even went down under the enemy's fire and left huge gaps General bonami at the head of the 30th halted Us in the middle of the grape shot he rallied us and we charged again a Russian line tried to stop us but at 30 yards range we fired a volley and pass through then we Dash towards the redoubt and clambered through the embrages Francois and his division were driven from the redoubt Francois fainted from loss of blood and was taken from the field to have his wounds tended the surgeons were kept busy Dominique Larry the senior surgeon amputated 200 limbs during the course of the battle the great redoubt was finally captured in the late afternoon following a fierce assault from Prince Eugene nay and mura the Russians were allowed to withdraw towards Moscow in good order Napoleon wins the Battle of borodino technically because the Russians leave but the Russians leave because they are most of all wanting to keep their army intact and since they do that you have to argue that it was at best a draw one side wins holds the battlefield and goes on to Moscow but the other side keeps the Army intact to fight yet another day after the battle the dead were counted the Russians had lost 44 000 men the French 33 000.
