Russia Campaign

Question 1

What issues caused friction between the 2 countries?

Answer 1

• Mutual distrust of hostile expansionist aims in the Baltic, Central Europe and the Balkans
• Napoleon’s refusal to support the Tsar’s ambitions to seize Constantinople - he had similar aspirations of his own
• Austrian marriage annoyed the Tsar, as did Napoleons annexation of the North German coastal state of Oldenburg. Tsar’s sister was married to the ruler of it and its independence had been secured at Tilsit in 1807
• Alexander attacked Sweden with support from Napoleon however seized and annexed Swedish Finland
• Arguments over the future of the grand duchy of Warsaw
• Tsar withdrew from the Continental blockade - last day of 1810 new trade tariff introduced that discriminated against France

Question 2

What did the Grande Armee consist of and why was it formed?

Answer 2

• 600,000 overall people - Germans, Swiss, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, Poles and Lithuanians
• 270,000 Frenchmen
• Enforce his dominance over the Tsar and to reinforce the continental blockade

Question 3

What were the main events of the Russian Campaign?

Answer 3

• Marched into Russian territory without a declaration of war 22nd June 1812 - lost 100,000 men due to conditions and cossacks
• 7th September 1812 Battle of Borodino - French lost 30,000 and Russia lost 50,000
• 14th September 1812 Napoleon arrived in Moscow for it to be burnt, deserted and empty 2 days later
• 19th October 1812 Napoleon and his army retreated from Moscow - 107,000

Question 4

What strategies were used in the Russia Campaign?

Answer 4

• Scorched earth policy by Russia made it difficult for Napoleon to feed his men as they were unable to live off the land. In addition all supplies Napoleon could possibly use were destroyed. 1000 cavalry horses died from unripe corn
• Use of Cossacks (fierce Russian mounted soldiers from the southern region of Ukraine)
• Napoleon’s Pyrrhic victory at Borodino
• Tsar refused to negotiate, burning everything in his path

Question 5

How many people died in the Russia Campaign?

Answer 5

• Roughly 575,000 did not return home out of the 600,000

Question 6

Why was the retreat such a failure?

Answer 6

• Soldiers suffering from disease, hunger, exhaustion as well as the brutal winter
• Russians destroyed the bridges at river beresina, causing the French to have to build bridges and drown many men after hastily destroying them in fear of a Russian pursuit
• Only 25,000 men survived