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The military machine Napoleon the artilleryman had created was perfectly suited to fight short, violent campaigns, but whenever a long-term sustained effort was in the offing, it tended to expose feet of clay. [...] In the end, the logistics of the French military machine proved wholly inadequate. The experiences of short campaigns had left the French supply services completed unprepared for ...
[125] Schroeder says Poland was "the root cause" of Napoleon's war with Russia, but Russia's refusal to support the Continental System was also a factor. [126] In 1812, at the height of his power, Napoleon invaded Russia with a pan-European Grande Armée, consisting of 450,000 men (200,000 Frenchmen, and many soldiers of allies or subject areas).
A week of close escapes on the part of the Russian army followed. Napoleon and Kutuzov even slept on the same bed in the manor of Bolshiye Vyazyomy just one night apart, as the French chased the Russians down. Napoleon and his army entered Moscow on 14 September. To Napoleon's surprise, Kutuzov had abandoned the city, and it fell without a fight.
Since the disaster in Russia and the start of the war, the French populace had become increasingly war-weary. [3] France had been exhausting itself at war for 25 years, and many of its men had died during the wars Napoleon had fought until then, making conscription there increasingly unpopular.
Parker, Harold T. "Why Did Napoleon Invade Russia? A Study in Motivation and the Interrelations of Personality and Social Structure," Journal of Military History (1990) 54#2 pp 131–46 in JSTOR. Pope, Stephen (1999). The Cassel Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. Cassel. ISBN 0-304-35229-2. Riley, Jonathon P. Napoleon as a General (Hambledon ...
In the War of the Sixth Coalition (French: Guerre de la Sixième Coalition) (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (German: Befreiungskriege), a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Sardinia, and a number of German States defeated France and drove Napoleon into exile on Elba.
Sources also differ on casualties, with figures ranging from as few as 200 to as many as 2,000 dead. Because Napoleon exaggerated this incident in his report of the battle, the low numbers may be more accurate, although doubt remains as to whether they are fully correct. Many regard this incident as one of Napoleon's cruelest acts in war.
Conspicuously absent were the Prussians, Alexander's allies, who Napoleon relegated to a minor role in the proceedings despite the fact that Tilsit was in East Prussia. Although in reality the meeting was coreographed so that the two rulers arrived on the raft at the same time, the painting shows Napoleon waiting for the Russian in a position ...