Napoleon: The Campaign of Russia

Since his victory over Tsar Alexander in 1807 and the Treaty of Tilsit, France and Russia are officially allies. But Alexander doesn’t support Napoleon’s expansionist strategy. To Napoleon, Russia’s behavior makes it an enemy of France. Ignoring calls for caution, Napoleon invades Russia in 1811. On 26th August, 1812, two huge armies were doing the last preparations to one of the bloodiest battle of the epoch near the village of Borodino, 124 kilometers away from Moscow. A quarter of million soldiers, over a thousand cannons. Here the fate of all the military campaign, the fate of Moscow, the fate of all Russia was being decided.

Surrounded by two Russian armies and with Kutozov's main army on the way, the French had to cross the river at all costs. Since the battle "Bérézina" has been used in French as a synonym for "disaster." This episode details the hardships and deprivations suffered by Napoleon's Grande Armee as they await the surrender of the Tsar, which never comes. And with problems in France and his popularity waning, Napoleon begins the long, death-filled retreat from Russia with his exhausted, starving troops.