Napoleon who is he. Brief biography of Napoleon Bonaparte

A short biography of Napoleon Bonaparte for children and adults presented in this article will surely interest you. The name of this has long become a household name, not only because of his talent and intelligence, but also due to incredible ambition, as well as the dizzying career that he managed to make.

The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte is marked by the meteoric rise of his military career. Having entered the service at the age of 16, he became a general at the age of 24. And Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor at the age of 34. Interesting facts from the biography of the French commander are numerous. Among his skills and features were very extraordinary. They say that he read at an incredible speed - about 2 thousand words per minute. In addition, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte could sleep for a long time, 2-3 hours a day. Interesting facts from the biography of this man, we hope, aroused your interest in his personality.

Events in Corsica prior to the birth of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor, was born on August 15, 1769. He was born on the island of Corsica, in the city of Ajaccio. The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte would probably have developed differently if the political situation of that time had been different. For a long time, his home island was in the possession of the Genoese Republic, but Corsica overthrew the rule of Genoa in 1755. After that, for several years it was an independent state ruled by Pasquale Paole, a local landowner. Carlo Buonaparte (his portrait is presented below), Napoleon's father, served as his secretary.

In 1768 she sold the rights to Corsica to France. A year later, after the local rebels were defeated by French troops, Pasquale Paole moved to England. Napoleon himself was not a direct participant in these events and even a witness to them, since he was born only 3 months later. Nevertheless, Paole's personality played a large role in shaping his character. For 20 long years, this man became the idol of such a French commander as Napoleon Bonaparte. The biography for children and adults of Bonaparte presented in this article continues with a story about his origins.

The origin of Napoleon

Letizia Ramalino and Carlo Buonaparte, the parents of the future emperor, were minor nobles. The family had 13 children, of which Napoleon was the second oldest. True, even in childhood, five of his sisters and brothers died.

The father of the family was one of the ardent supporters of the independence of Corsica. He participated in the drafting of the Corsican Constitution. But in order for his children to receive an education, he began to show loyalty to the French. After a while, Carlo Buonaparte even became a representative of the Corsican nobility in the French parliament.

Study in Ajaccio

It is known that Napoleon, as well as his sisters and brothers, received their primary education at the city school in Ajaccio. After that, the future emperor began to study mathematics and writing with the local abbot. Carlo Buonaparte, as a result of interaction with the French, managed to obtain royal scholarships for Napoleon and Joseph, his older brother. Joseph was to make a career as a priest, and Napoleon was to become a military man.

Cadet school

The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte continues in Autun. It was here that the brothers left in 1778 to study the French language. Napoleon entered the cadet school in Brienne a year later. He studied excellently, showed a special talent in mathematics. In addition, Napoleon loved to read books on various topics - philosophy, history, geography. Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great became the favorite historical characters of the future emperor. However, at this time Napoleon did not have many friends. In this, both the Corsican origin and accent played a role (Napoleon never managed to get rid of it), as well as a tendency to loneliness and a complex character.

Father's death

He later continued his studies at the Royal Cadet School. Napoleon finished it ahead of schedule in 1785. His father died at the same time, and he had to take his place as head of the family. The older brother was not suitable for this role, since he did not differ in leadership inclinations, like Napoleon.

Military career

Napoleon Bonaparte began his military career in Valence. The biography, a summary of which is the topic of this article, continues in this city, located in the center of the Rhone Lowland. Here Napoleon served as a lieutenant. After a while, he was transferred to Oxon. The future emperor at this time read a lot, and also tried himself in the literary field.

The military biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, one might say, gained a large scale in the decade that followed the end of the cadet school. In just 10 years, the future emperor managed to go through the entire hierarchy of ranks in the French army of that time. In 1788, the future emperor tried to get into the service and into the Russian army, but he was denied this.

Napoleon met the French Revolution in Corsica, where he was on vacation. He accepted and supported her. Moreover, Napoleon was noted as an excellent commander at the time he was made a brigadier general, and then commander of the Italian army.

Marriage to Josephine

An important event in Napoleon's personal life took place in 1796. It was then that he married the widow of the Count Josephine de Beauharnais.

The beginning of the "Napoleonic wars"

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose full biography is presented in an impressive volume of books, was recognized as the best French commander after inflicting a crushing defeat on the enemy in Sardinia and Austria. It was then that he rose to a new level, starting the "Napoleonic Wars". They lasted almost 20 years, and it was thanks to them that such a commander as Napoleon Bonaparte, a biography, became known to the whole world. A summary of the further path to world fame, traversed by him, is as follows.

The French Directory was unable to preserve the achievements that the revolution brought. This became apparent in 1799. Napoleon with his army was at this time in Egypt. After his return, he dispersed the Directory thanks to the support of the people. On November 19, 1799, Bonaparte proclaimed the regime of the consulate, and 5 years later, in 1804, he declared himself emperor.

Domestic policy of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose biography by this time was already marked by many achievements, in his decided to focus on strengthening his own power, which was supposed to serve as a guarantee of the civil rights of the French population. In 1804, the Napoleon Code, a code of civil rights, was adopted for this purpose. In addition, tax reform was carried out, and the French bank, owned by the state, was created. The French education system was created precisely under Napoleon. Catholicism was recognized as the religion of the majority of the population, but freedom of religion was not abolished.

Economic blockade of England

England was the main enemy of the industry and capital of France in the European market. This country financed military action against it on the continent. England attracted major European powers such as Austria and Russia to its side. Thanks to a series of military operations by France against Russia, Austria and Prussia, Napoleon was able to annex to his country the lands that previously belonged to Holland, Belgium, Italy and Northern Germany. The defeated countries had no choice but to conclude peace with France. Napoleon announced an economic blockade of England. He banned trade with this country. However, this measure also hit the French economy. France was unable to replace British products on the European market. This could not have been foreseen by Napoleon Bonaparte. A short biography in an abbreviation should not dwell on this in detail, so we will continue our story.

Decline in authority, birth of an heir

The economic crisis and protracted wars led to a decrease in the authority of Napoleon Bonaparte among the French, who had previously supported him. In addition, it turned out that no one threatens France, and Bonaparte's ambitions are due only to concern for the state of his dynasty. In order to leave an heir, he divorced Josephine, since she could not give him a child. In 1810 Napoleon married Marie-Louise, daughter of the Emperor of Austria. The long-awaited heir was born in 1811. However, the public did not approve of marriage with a woman from the Austrian royal family.

War with Russia and reference to the Elbe

In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte decided to start a war with Russia, whose short biography, largely due to this, interests many of our compatriots. Like other states, Russia at one time supported the blockade of England, but did not seek to comply with it. This step was fatal for Napoleon. Defeated, he abdicated the throne. The former French emperor was sent to the island of Elba, located in the Mediterranean Sea.

Revenge of Napoleon and final defeat

After the abdication of Bonaparte, representatives of the Bourbon dynasty returned to France, as well as their heirs, who sought to regain their position and state. This caused discontent among the population. Napoleon fled from Elba on February 25, 1815. He returned to France in triumph. Only a very short biography of Napoleon Bonaparte can be presented in one article. Therefore, we will only say that he resumed the war, but France could no longer bear this burden. Napoleon was finally defeated at Waterloo after 100 days of revenge. This time he was exiled to the island of St. Helena, which is much further away, so that it was more difficult to escape from it. Here the former emperor spent the last 6 years of his life. He never saw his wife and son again.

Death of the former emperor

Bonaparte's health began to deteriorate rapidly. He died on May 5, 1821, presumably from cancer. According to another version, Napoleon was poisoned. It is widely believed that the former emperor was given arsenic. However, were they poisoned? The fact is that Napoleon was afraid of this and voluntarily took small doses of arsenic, thus trying to develop immunity to it. Of course, such a procedure would certainly end tragically. Be that as it may, even today it is impossible to say with complete certainty why Napoleon Bonaparte died. His brief biography, presented in this article, ends there.

It should be added that he was first buried on the island of St. Helena, but in 1840 his remains were reburied in Paris, in the Les Invalides. The monument on the grave of the former emperor is made of Karelian porphyry, which was presented to the government of France by Nicholas I, the Russian emperor.

The famous emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte, despite the fact that he was an ambitious politician, a good statesman and a wise commander who conquered half of the world, was never able to conquer the main enemy - Russia.

Today we gave different examples from different sources, and it's up to you “ Why Bonaparte was unable to conquer Russia “.

1 source- moiarussia.ru

REASONS OF NAPOLEON'S DEFEAT IN RUSSIA

Once, the great commander of France was asked: "What is the reason for the defeat of the invincible army of the emperor in the war with Russia in 1812?"

From the revelations of Napoleon:

"Cold, early cold and Moscow fire," Napoleon answered. “I was wrong for a few days. I calculated the [Russian] weather for fifty years, and never severe frosts began before December 20, [they always came] twenty days later than they started this time. During my stay in Moscow it was three degrees of cold, Bonaparte continued, and the French bore it with pleasure. But on the way (retreat from Moscow. - Author's note) the temperature dropped to eighteen degrees, and almost all the horses died. Due to the lack of horses, we could neither do reconnaissance, nor send a cavalry vanguard to find out the way. The soldiers were discouraged and confused. Instead of sticking together, they roamed in search of fire. Those who were appointed scouts left their posts and went to their homes to warm up. They scattered in all directions and easily fell into the hands of enemies. Others lay down on the ground, fell asleep and, sleepy, died. Thousands of soldiers died like that. "

A little later - in his diaries, he will note the most unpredictable circumstances that he encountered in Russia, and which literally shocked the great commander of France. Here are some of them:

1. The tactics of the Russian army

Napoleon was defeated by the tactics of the Russian army both literally and figuratively. The Russian army under the leadership of General Barclay de Tolly adhered to the tactics of constant retreat. The troops left Vitebsk, Smolensk, Moscow. Before the castling of Tolly and Kutuzov, the French had only two battles.

Napoleon was ambivalent about the retreat of the Russian troops. At the beginning of the campaign, such behavior of the enemy was in the hands of the French emperor, he dreamed of reaching Smolensk with small losses. The French did not capture Smolensk, but received it in a completely unpresentable form. It turned out to be pointless to stop in the city, it was scary to move on. The army, hoping for a blitzkrieg, moved farther and deeper into the vast country.

The soldiers entered the empty cities, finished their last supplies and panicked. Bonaparte, sitting on the island of Saint Helena, recalled: "My regiments, amazed that after so many difficult and murderous transitions the fruits of their efforts are constantly removed from them, began to look with concern at the distance separating them from France."

2. Thick walls

The story of the impenetrable walls of Smolensk takes a whole page from Napoleon. From describing the beautiful view of the city, Napoleon turns to senseless attempts to capture it: “I used my entire artillery reserve to breach a gap in the curtain, but in vain - our cannonballs got stuck in incredibly thick walls, without producing any action. There was only one way to make a break: direct all our fire against two round towers, but the difference in the thickness of the walls was unknown to us. "

3. Fires

If it were not for the published memoirs of Bonaparte, one would think that it was the French who brought fire to the Russian land. The movement of Napoleon's troops was accompanied by fires - cities and roads were on fire. In Smolensk, Gzhatsk, Maliy Yaroslavets, the French themselves put out the fires. The Russians burned everything - houses, shops, streets, crops. In the middle of Moscow, Napoleon wondered - why is it burning? And then, sadly, but beautifully, he wrote: “Moscow turned into a fiery sea. The view from the Kremlin balcony would be worthy of Nero setting Rome on fire, as for me, I have never looked like this monster, and when I looked at this terrible picture my heart was bleeding. "

4. Cities

The art of Russian architects admired Napoleon, in his memoirs he described the towers of Smolensk, distracting himself from the battering failures. Moscow, on the other hand, completely defeated the French emperor: “Built like Rome, on seven hills, Moscow presents a very picturesque view. You have to see the picture that this city, half-European, half-Eastern, with its two hundred churches and a thousand multi-colored chapters towering above them represents, in order to understand the feeling that we experienced when we saw Moscow in front of us from the height of Poklonnaya Gora ”.

5. Roads

Napoleon traveled many Russian roads, and none satisfied him. The reason is not the weather, the emperor had a separate opinion about it. In his memoirs, Bonaparte called the Russian roads extremely impassable: "The lack of information about the condition of the roads, incomplete and unreliable maps of the region, were the reason that I did not dare to send the corps in different directions, since nothing proved the existence of easily passable roads."

6. Weather

Napoleon invaded Russia in early summer, and got out of it closer to spring. The Emperor of France managed to form his opinion about the weather in Russia, for example, autumn became "the most beautiful, unusual in these harsh regions." Napoleon had to face the harsh cold weather at the most unfavorable moment, on the way home: "From November 7, the cold increased and with terrifying speed developed the degree of the army's disorder, which had already begun near Vyazma."

7. Partisans

It is pleasant to realize that most of all Napoleon was shocked and delighted by the behavior of the Russian people. Napoleon said about the people's war: “The most formidable army cannot successfully wage a war against an entire people who have decided to win or die. We were no longer dealing with the inhabitants of Lithuania, indifferent spectators of the great events taking place around them. The entire population, made up of natural Russians, left their homes at our approach. On our way, we met only abandoned or burnt-out villages. The fleeing residents formed gangs that acted against our foragers. They did not bother the troops themselves anywhere, but captured all the marauders and stragglers. "

2 source - inosmi.info

Why Napoleon was unable to conquer Russia in 1812

Napoleon Bonaparte would probably have conquered Russia in 1812 if it had not been for the brain surgery performed by a French surgeon that saved the life of the Russian commander Mikhail Kutuzov, scientists have found out. “This is the story of how medicine changed the course of civilization,” said Mark Preul, research director at the American Neurological Institute, Barrow.

For more than two centuries, historians have studied the incredible history of Kutuzov, researchers say.

He survived severe head wounds in 1774 and 1788 and later became one of the legendary heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812. After examining various sources in Russian and French, the researchers found that French surgeon Jean Massot played a pivotal role in this drama, using techniques that heralded the emergence of modern neurosurgery to save Kutuzov, who allegedly had a fatal wound. We wanted to find out what really happened and who was this surgeon who saved the life of Mikhail Kutuzov, ”said Preul.

Researchers have found evidence that the first bullet wound received in the battle with the Turks in the Crimea in 1774 destroyed the frontal lobe of Kutuzov's brain.

This explains his strange behavior after being wounded, and possibly points to the origins of the brilliant strategy he used to defeat Napoleon and his seemingly invincible Grand Army.

The injuries likely affected Kutuzov's decision-making ability. Eyewitnesses note changes in his personality after the first gunshot wound.

Therefore, instead of openly confronting the superior forces of Napoleon in the fall of 1812, Kutuzov leaves Moscow and withdraws the army to a safe place to the east of the capital.

Napoleon's army, pursuing him, invades Moscow, but is faced with a shortage of food, a disruption in logistics supplies and the harsh conditions of the Russian winter. Napoleon left the army in December and returned to Paris defeated.

“Other military leaders thought Kutuzov was crazy, and perhaps he was. Brain surgery saved Kutuzov's life, but his brain and eye were severely damaged, ”said Preul.

“However, ironically, the healing process allowed him to make what turned out to be the best decision. If he had not been wounded, he could have fought openly with Napoleon and lost, ”the researcher believes.

3 source- otvet.mail.ru

Napoleon did not at all strive to conquer Russia in the classical sense. The main enemy of France at this moment was England. After the defeat of the French fleet at Trafalgar, Napoleon was unable to land troops in England. He tried to defeat England economically - he declared a "Continental Blockade". That is, he forbade the states dependent on France (at that time practically all of Europe) to trade with England. After the defeat of Russia in the war of 1806-1807, Alexander I was forced to join the blockade. However, this caused serious economic damage to Russia. France could not replace Britain either in exports or imports of Russia. Russia increasingly violated the terms of the Continental Blockade. Napoleon did not seek to conquer Russia, he wanted to defeat the Russian army and put Russia in a dependent position, and this was quite possible. Since the Russian army would have been defeated, Napoleon would have been able to force Alexander to fulfill any of his demands. This was precisely the main goal of the war.

4 source- banopart-napoleon.com

The defeat of Napoleon, the reasons

French prospectors learned that lice or, more precisely, the ailments carried by them played a significant role in the defeat of Napoleon's army in 1812.

Scientists conducted a dental pulp test on a Napoleonic army soldier killed during the Russian campaign and noticed that typhoid fever and trench fever, carried by lice, were rampant among the French army.

The conclusions of experts from some institutes in Marseille are published in the scientific print edition of the Journal of Infections Diseases.

Napoleon set foot on Russian territory in 1812 with an army of 500 thousand. Only a few, wounded, weakened from cold and disease, managed to return to France.

So, in 1812, only 25 thousand French came to Vilnius, and only 3 you managed to endure all the hardships. soup from them.

The dead were buried in joint graves. In 2001, master builders accidentally unearthed one of these burials. In it, they found the remains from 2 to the one who was coming up.

Scientists, among other things, analyzed the pulp of 72 teeth extracted from the remains of 35 Napoleonic fighters.

DNA of the causative agent of trench fever was observed in 7 fighters. Three more have DNA from the causative agent of typhoid. In the aggregate difficulty, the researchers concluded, judging by the remains, 29% of the fighters suffered from some kind of disease.

Researchers say that one of the main reasons for Napoleon's defeat in the Russian Federation was directly the lice and ailments that they spread.

Scientists think that a similar study of DNA extracted from the pulp of killed fighters has every chance of being a relevant device in the hands of historians trying to unravel the root causes of the defeat of an army.

Medical scientist Carol Reeves sees delicate ridicule in hiring personal staff. The fact is that in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo, the teeth of the killed French fighters were collected as trophies and then used for the production of dentures.

“Wherever war ensues, there is disease,” she said. “Until the First World War, soldiers often died specifically from disease, and not during the course of hostilities.”

5 source- inosmi.ru

Apoleon was not defeated by the Russians

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture exaggerates the role of cannons. Joe Knight

History teaches us that Napoleon, who invaded Russia in 1812, reached Moscow, keeping most of the soldiers intact, and retreated only because Muscovites burned three-quarters of their city, leaving the army without food and supplies. On the way back, the army was destroyed by the harsh Russian winter. The defeat inflicted on Napoleon by the Russians, to which Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is dedicated, was one of the greatest in military history.

However, until now no one has paid tribute to the factor that, in fact, played a key role in this war.

In the winter of 2001, workers in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius dug a trench for a telephone cable at the site of demolished Soviet barracks that had stood for decades. The bulldozer dug out something white. The bulldozer came out of the cockpit to take a look at what it was and - to his surprise - discovered a skull and other parts of a human skeleton. Another worker later said, "There were a whole bunch of these things, just thousands." Eight years earlier, a grave was found in the city with the remains of 700 people killed by the Soviet State Security Committee (KGB). Could this also be one of those secret places where the KGB got rid of its victims? Or maybe the workers found a mass grave of Jews who were killed by the Nazis?

Archaeologists from Vilnius University arrived and found that the bodies were laid in three rows in trenches that were apparently dug out as defensive positions. Apparently the skeletons belonged to soldiers. In total, 2,000 skeletons were found, as well as belt buckles with regiment numbers. Among the bones were also discovered 20-franc coins from the early 1800s. This led scientists to the idea that they were in front of the remains of the soldiers of the French Great Army. Napoleon, intending to conquer Russia, brought 600 thousand people into it. Of these, only about 30 thousand survived, less than a thousand of whom were able to return to service in the future.

But what incredible circumstances caused the defeat of one of the greatest armies on the European continent, led by one of the greatest military leaders in history? Strangely enough, it was not enemy soldiers or the usual deprivations of a marching life that killed her. Most of Napoleon's soldiers were young people, battle-hardened and quite capable of withstanding cold, hunger, long marches and fatigue. The end of Napoleon's great plans of conquest was put by a microorganism that destroyed and destroyed his army. It was a typhus germ carried by lice.

Initially, Napoleon had no real reason to invade Russia. In June 1807, he defeated the Russian army in the battle of Friedland, and on July 7, 1807, he signed the Peace of Tilsit with the Tsar of Russia Alexander I, which made Russia and France allies (and also, among other things, prohibited Russia from trading with England). Oddly enough, Napoleon did not take the land from Russia and did not demand reparations. By early 1812, Napoleon controlled most of the territory between Spain and Russia. However, England controlled the seas, and Napoleon wanted to seize India, which was then an English colony. He could get to it only by land, and for this he had to take Russia under his control.

After the Peace of Tilsit, France and Russia became allies, but their alliance was unreliable. Russia violated the treaty by trading with England. In the end, Napoleon got tired of this state of affairs and used the violation of the treaty as a pretext to start a war. In June 1812, Napoleon's army assembled in eastern Germany. On June 22, 1812, Napoleon held a review of his troops on the western bank of the Niemen with great fanfare. Its engineers built a pontoon bridge across the river, and the next day the army entered Russian-controlled Poland. Everything was going well. In the summer, although it was hot and dry, it was easy to march on the roads. The supply columns were kept slightly ahead of the troops, so provisions were available and the soldiers were healthy. Although military hospitals were set up on the way to Poland - in Magdeburg, Erfurt, Posen and Berlin - they were not needed. The army reached Vilnius in four days without encountering resistance.

However, it was in Poland that Napoleon got into trouble. The region turned out to be incredibly dirty. The peasants were unwashed, their matted hair was infested with lice and fleas, and the wells were dirty. On enemy territory, the convoys were forced to stay behind the troops. The roads were monstrously dusty or deeply dug by spring rains, and as a result, the transports lagged more and more, which meant difficulties with water and provisions. The army was so large that it could not hold the line, and a large part of it turned into randomly scattered crowds. Many soldiers ravaged peasant houses and fields, and took away livestock. Almost 20 thousand army horses died on the way to Vilnius from lack of water and forage. The houses of the peasants were so dirty that they seemed alive due to the abundance of cockroaches. Typical army diseases began to appear - dysentery and other intestinal ailments - and although new hospitals were created in Danzig, Konigsberg and Thorn, they could not cope with the influx of sick soldiers, whom the authorities sent to the rear.

But that was only the beginning.

A few days after crossing the Neman, many soldiers developed fever. A red rash appeared on their bodies. The faces of some of them turned blue, after which the patients quickly died. This is how the Great Army met typhus.

Typhus existed in Poland and Russia for many years, but after the retreating Russian army to Napoleon's forces devastated Poland, the situation worsened. Poor sanitary conditions, combined with unusually hot summers, provided an ideal environment for lice to spread. Typhoid is caused by the microorganism Rickettsia prowazekii. Only a century after the campaign of 1812, scientists will find out that the causative agent of typhus must be looked for in the feces of lice.

The typical French soldier was dirty and sweaty and rarely changed his clothes. Thanks to this, it was easy for the lice to feed on his body and hide in the seams of his clothes. When clothes and skin are contaminated with lice excrement, the slightest scratch or abrasion is enough for the typhus pathogen to enter the body. The situation was aggravated by the fact that, for security reasons, soldiers, fearing Russian attacks or Poles' revenge, slept in large groups in a tight space. This allowed the lice to move onto the bodies of those who had not yet been infected. In just a month of the campaign, Napoleon lost 80,000 soldiers who died or became incapable of serving from typhus. Chief surgeon Baron D.J. Larrey had established the best medicine and sanitation in the world in the French army, but an epidemic of this magnitude was impossible to curb. A witness reports how one of the soldiers encountered lice.

“Bourgogne fell asleep on a bed of reeds, but he was quickly awakened by lice. Finding himself literally covered in them, he kicked off his pants and shirt and threw them into the fire. They exploded with such a crash, as if two lines of infantry had fired a volley. He couldn't get rid of the lice for two months. All his companions were also lice, many were bitten and fell ill with spotted fever (typhus). "

On July 28, three generals told Napoleon that the war with the Russians was taking a dangerous turn. Losses from disease and desertions have actually halved the combat strength. In addition, it was difficult to establish supplies in hostile territory. Napoleon listened to their arguments and agreed to end the campaign, but two days later he changed his mind and said to his generals: “The very danger is pushing us towards Moscow. Die is cast. Victory will save us and justify us. "

So Napoleon moved on with his sick and tired soldiers. On 17 August he took Smolensk, shortly thereafter Valutino. The Russians retreated, pulling Napoleon, who divided the army into three parts, deep into their territory. By August 25, from his 265,000-strong main army, Napoleon lost 105 thousand people. Thus, he had only 160 thousand soldiers left. Two weeks later, due to typhus, there were already 103,000 of them.

The troops of Russian General Mikhail Kutuzov took up defensive positions at Borodino, about 70 miles west of Moscow. On September 7, the French army entered the battle with the Russians. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. Napoleon approached Moscow, but his victory turned out to be Pyrrhic - only about 90 thousand French soldiers remained in the ranks. Napoleon expected the Russians to surrender, but the townspeople simply left Moscow for him. By the time Napoleon arrived, three quarters of the city had been burned, and the French had no food or other supplies. Fifteen thousand reinforcements approached the city, but 10 thousand of these soldiers died of disease. The Russian winter was rapidly approaching, and Napoleon decided to retreat to France - he had no other choice. With the remnants of the army, he limped to Smolensk, where he hoped to find provisions and shelter. However, having reached the city on November 8, the commander found that the hospitals were already overflowing with the sick and wounded. Discipline in the army was falling, and the last blow was that the supplies, which Napoleon had hoped for, had already been spent in the reserve. On November 13, the army left Smolensk and on December 8 reached Vilnius. By this time, only 20 thousand soldiers could fight in it. Upon learning of the coup attempt undertaken in France by General Claude François de Male, Napoleon left General Joachim Murat in his place and hurried to Paris. Murat did not defend Vilnius and, leaving the artillery and loot looted in Moscow to the advancing Russians, retreated to the Neman. On December 14, when he crossed the river, he had less than 40 thousand people, mostly non-combatant. This is how Napoleon's great dream of a march to India through Russia ended.

Many of the dead soldiers were buried in defensive trenches dug during the retreat. It was in one of these trenches that the builders stumbled upon the remains of Napoleon's Great Army two centuries later.

Didier Raoult, a researcher at the Mediterranean University of Marseille, analyzed the pulp of 72 teeth taken from the remains of 35 soldiers found in Vilnius. Seven soldiers had DNA in the pulp of the microorganism Bartonella Quintana, which causes trench fever, another lice-borne disease common during World War I. The pulp of three other soldiers contained DNA segments from R. prowazekii, which causes epidemic typhus. In total, traces of the presence of R. prowazekii or B. quintana were found in 29% of the remains, which means that lice were one of the important factors contributing to Napoleon's defeat.

Most Americans are familiar with the finale of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, commissioned by Russia to commemorate the victory over Napoleon. It ends with cannon shots and the ringing of bells, however, if Tchaikovsky wanted to capture the true sounds of Napoleon's defeat, we would only hear the soft and quiet rustle of lice biting into human flesh. An organism that is too small to be visible to the human eye has changed the course of human history.

6 source- dic.academic.ru

The Patriotic War of 1812 (French Campagne de Russie pendant l’ann? E 1812 - the war between Russia and Napoleonic France in Russia in 1812.

The reasons for the war were Russia's refusal to actively support the continental blockade, which Napoleon saw as the main weapon against Great Britain, as well as Napoleon's policy towards European states.

At the first stage of the war (from June to September 1812), the Russian army retreated with battles from the borders of Russia to Moscow, having fought the Battle of Borodino in front of Moscow.

At the second stage of the war (from October to December 1812), the Napoleonic army first maneuvered, trying to go to winter quarters in areas not ravaged by the war, and then retreated to the borders of Russia, pursued by the Russian army, hunger and frost.

The war ended with the almost complete destruction of the Napoleonic army, the liberation of Russian territory and the transfer of hostilities to the lands of the Duchy of Warsaw and Germany in 1813 (see War of the Sixth Coalition). Among the reasons for the defeat of Napoleon's army, the Russian historian N. Troitsky calls the nationwide participation in the war and the heroism of the Russian army, the unpreparedness of the French army for combat operations in large areas and in the climatic conditions of Russia, the military leadership talents of the Russian commander-in-chief M.I.Kutuzov and other generals.

Why Napoleon Bonaparte was unable to conquer Russia in 1812 - reasons, research, history updated:

He portrayed Napoleon as a man with a comical appearance and behavior: a short man, taking majestic poses. The emperor was indeed short, but not so tall as to be considered the subject of ridicule. If we shift his height - 5 feet and 2 inches - to our metric system, it turns out almost 170 cm. Today we would call such a man small, but at the turn of the 18-19 centuries, such growth was quite normal.

Napoleon is not only an emperor, but also an academician. He became a member of the French Academy of Sciences for mathematical research: in particular, for the fact that he deduced "his" theorem.

The emperor was a rather fearless man, but he was very afraid of cats.

Napoleon was considered a fan of good opera, especially Italian. But he showed no emotions either before or after the performance. The performers on the stage did not expect a single clap from him. It is clear that the rest of the audience, seeing that the emperor was not applauding, did not do it themselves. One can only imagine what the actors felt after finishing the performance and hearing the deathly silence ...

Napoleon, willy-nilly, enriched our Russian language. After all, it was his captive soldiers, hungry and chilled to the bone, who asked the Russians for help, addressing them "dear friend!" (in French - "sher ami"). This is how another apt word appeared in our vocabulary, meaning a rogue, a swindler and a crook - "skier".

Any ordinary person who finds himself in a stressful situation is unlikely to sleep a wink of worries. But for Napoleon, the most decisive moments in his life were an occasion to “reload the program” in his head: this was the case during the battles both at Austerlitz and at Wagram. The emperor fell asleep instantly - as if he were shutting down. Although he slept very little: about three hours a day was enough for him to have a good rest.

Napoleon was known not only for fearlessness (in everything except cats), but also for cruelty. Once, when a shell, which was about to explode, fell nearby, all the "brave men" surrounding the commander fled. To teach them a lesson in courage, the emperor rode up to the shell on a horse and stood so that the deadly weapon was right above her belly. There was a deafening explosion, the horse with its entrails blown to shreds fell dead, and the rider was alive and well and demanded a new horse.

Napoleon could boast of excellent health: he never received any serious treatment for anything. And only during the last exile - to the island of St. Helena - did he fall ill with an incomprehensible disease that destroyed him a few years later. But there is an opinion that it was not a disease, but small portions of arsenic, which were daily mixed into the food of the disgraced emperor by his ill-wisher ...

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There is very little in common between the biographies of Napoleon and Hitler. But the magic of numbers is really amazing. Many significant events in their lives - happened with a difference of 129 years.

Comparison table of dates:

(For verification, exactly the facts were taken to which most sources refer)

	Napolen 1	Adolf Gitler	Difference in years ...
Dates of birth
Came to power
Graduated from participating in a military campaign
Began serving in the army

Attack on the Russian Empire / USSR

- For some reason, many people confuse the year of Napoleon's birth, hence a number of absurdities with numbers. (By chance or on purpose, this is a completely different story);
- Coming to power, a very flexible concept (It depends in which country and in what position);
- Confusion in different styles of calendars.

(* Conclusion: It is quite indirect to talk about coincidences (they are), because this way you can adjust many dates in the biographies of many successful adults (For example: Today, many go to school for the first time at the age of 7 - direct mysticism))

Similar patterns were observed in the biographies of the 16th and 35th President of the United States: Abraham Lincoln / John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

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He was short. There is even an expression "Napoleon's complex", the meaning of which is that a short person, in order to compensate for the lack of growth, seeks to dominate in society. In fact, Napoleon was by no means short! He could be complex because of his poverty or provinciality, because of the ridiculous Corsican accent or disproportionate physique - for various reasons, but not because of his height!

Napoleon was a very famous historical figure, he lived relatively recently, and many documentary sources have survived about him. Why is the misconception about its growth so widespread?

Reason 1: Feet and Meters

One of the distorting factors was the incorrect translation of the growth of the legendary emperor of the French into the metric system. The height of Napoleon, officially recorded after his death - "5 feet 2 inches 4 lines." If you translate English feet and inches into centimeters, you get about 157 cm. Indeed, for a man, this is a small stature.

But what kind of "lines" appear in the number denoting the length of the body?

The fact is that feet and inches in which his height was indicated, not English but French used before the introduction of the metric system in France. One French foot was 0.3248 m, one inch was 0.0270 m, and one line was 0.002 255 m.Thus, Napoleon's real height was 1.6879 m (see, for example :), i.e. rounded 169 cm.But this is at the age of 51, and by this time a person's height decreases by at least 1 cm.Therefore, most likely, real growth of Napoleon - not less than 170 cm... Most of the soldiers and officers in his army were lower! Such a person, neither then nor today, can in any way be called undersized.

However, the named reason is clearly not the only one, because the myth that the great emperor - a short man - appeared during his lifetime.

Reason 2: evil tongues

Napoleon became famous at a fairly young age, and then he looked even younger than his years. Using this fact for propaganda purposes, political opponents of Bonaparte often tried to belittle him, they called him a boy, an upstart youth. For example, when commanding troops in Italy, he was nicknamed "little corporal", and although "small" in this case is because of age (26 years), and not because of body size, such derogatory epithets contributed to the understatement his height.

However, the propaganda of political opponents is also not the least of the reasons for the emergence of the myth of Napoleon's small stature. Having taken his place at the pinnacle of power, he often showed himself to large masses of the people, so why did people, as a rule, do not notice that he is very tall?

Reason 3: erroneous visual perception

Apparently, from the outside, Napoleon did not look so tall compared to the people around whom he appeared in public. Yes, next to the dashing hussars, he would have stood out for his good growth (see the picture below). But the elite grenadier soldiers accompanying him were on average 10 cm taller than their emperor. Among those close to Napoleon, there were also extremely tall people (for example, the height of Marshal Ney was 178 cm, Marshal Murat - 190 cm, and Marshal Marshal Mortier - as much as 195 cm). By the way, the main opponent of Napoleon in the military campaign of 1812-1813, Field Marshal Kutuzov, with a height of 171 cm from the side, also seemed low, because the average height of the Russian grenadier was about 182 cm, and there were also enough tall people among the Russian generals.

The Russian Emperor Alexander I was also significantly taller than Napoleon: 178 cm. The meeting of the two emperors at the conclusion of the Tilsit Peace in 1807 was captured in images and verbal descriptions, and it is not surprising that Russian eyewitnesses, talking about that meeting, especially emphasized that “our tsar above the French Bonaparte. "

Let's not forget that Napoleon was famous as an invincible warrior. Of course, in the imagination of people who had not met him before, he seemed to be a strong man of enormous growth, and therefore, seeing a man of average physical data in front of him, many were disappointed that the famous hero was not as huge as they expected.

Another factor of perception that affects the assessment of a person's height is physique, body proportions. The disproportionately large head of Napoleon visually reduced his height, and having reached great heights, he became stout, because of which he could also seem somewhat lower than he really was.

Hello to all. Today I will share with you the recipe for the legendary Napoleon cake. I think many people associate this dessert with childhood, and also with the New Year. Because, more often than not, it was on this holiday that our mothers and grandmothers pampered us with this masterpiece.

There are two camps of people who are divided according to the type of finished product into “wet” and “dry” versions, or, more precisely, into saturated and crispy ones. I prefer the "wet" version of Napoleon more. With a lot. Recently, I began to prepare a light version of the cream -. Aside from these classic options, you can cook with and with, it's insanely delicious. With these creams, the cake just melts in your mouth.

Well, if you are a fan of "crunching", then just replace the custard with butter, and you will be happy. For example, or

In general, what is Napoleon cake? This is a puff pastry product. I will tell you in detail how to make this very puff pastry at home. Of course, you can buy a ready-made version of puff pastry. But, as you can imagine, the taste will be completely different.

I will not write about the preparation of custard here, I just give links to two creams, the choice is yours - and. Well, for those who like to crunch -.

So, how to make Napoleon cake at home. By the way, I want to note that the weight of the cake according to my recipe is 2-2.5 kg., If you want a smaller size, feel free to halve the ingredients.

Napoleon cake recipe step by step with photos.

Ingredients:

450 gr. flour
250 g butter 82.5%
1 egg
150 ml. ice water
1 tbsp. l. vinegar 6% (I have white wine)
1 tsp salt (no slide)

Preparation:

We send butter and a glass of water to the freezer for 30 minutes. I usually put butter in the chamber in the evening, and in the morning I start cooking.

Sift flour into a bowl.

There we rub our well-chilled butter on a coarse grater, all the time stirring the butter with flour.

We quickly rub the grated butter with flour with our hands, spend no more than 2-3 minutes on this.

Add the egg, salt and vinegar to the chilled water.

Mix with a fork. Vinegar can be any, only not more than 6%. In my case, it is white wine.

Pour this liquid into the butter and flour mixture and collect the dough into a ball. Here it is not necessary to knead the dough for a long time until smooth. It is ideally made with large chunks of non-melted butter.

We divide our dough into 13-15 parts. This time my diameter was 19 cm. 15 cakes came out, before that the diameter was 22 cm. 12-13 cakes came out. We remove the dough in a container sprinkled with flour, either in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, or in the freezer for an hour.

During this time, we will prepare the cream. I have recipes for two types of cream on my website that are perfect for the interlayer of this cake. and its lite version -. You can choose the cream of your choice. In these articles, the amount of ingredients is calculated specifically for this recipe.

After our dough has cooled, we start rolling. If the dough was in the freezer, then transfer it to the refrigerator. Each time we take the balls out of the refrigerator one at a time, do not take out the rest of the dough, so that it does not melt prematurely.

I used my miracle purchase - a silicone mat, it has markings with different diameters. In one of the articles I already told you about its benefits, then I was cooking.

Here is my silicone mat. If you haven't found one in your city, then you can order in the Bakerstore store using this link - Silicone mat.

If you do not have this device, then I suggest rolling out the dough on parchment, where you draw a circle of the diameter you need in advance (just do not forget to turn the parchment to the other side before rolling, so that you do not later eat the dough with pencil particles). So, you will at least roughly understand what to strive for.

The dough must be rolled out as thinly as possible, constantly sprinkling a rolling pin with flour. Of the specified number of cakes, the thickness will be just the minimum. Roll out the dough a little more than the outlined circle. Firstly, the dough will shrink during baking, well, and secondly, we will make the final coating of our cake from the scraps.

After you have rolled out the dough, you need to prick it with a fork. This will prevent the crust from rising too much when baking.

I baked the cakes directly on the rug, if it is not there, then we transfer the rolled cakes to a baking sheet covered with parchment and bake at 200 ° for 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Try to fit 2 cakes on a baking sheet at once, so the baking time will be significantly reduced.

As soon as the cake is ready, you must cut it off immediately! This is a very important point, since the cakes from the oven are still pliable, as they cool down, they become brittle and will simply crumble. We cut it in the same way, focusing on the saucer, carefully with a knife. And it's even easier to cut with a lid, you just need to scroll it left and right half a turn, and no knife is needed, and the circle turns out to be perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lid of the diameter I needed, and I used a plate.

Put the cut cake on the wire rack and let it cool.

We do this with each cake.

During baking, our cream will just cool down and will be ready for use.

We collect the cake.

Put a couple of tablespoons of cream on a dish so that the cake does not slip.

Place the cake on top.

Lubricate it with cream. Do not regret the cream, according to my recipe a sufficient amount comes out (2-3 tablespoons can be safely taken). We do this with all the cakes. If you wish, you can put some kind of filling in the layer, my mother always puts walnuts, you can add jam or Kurdish, boiled condensed milk. This time I smeared every 3 cake, I just had a jar after cooking. Or you don't have to add anything, our dessert already tastes great.

After we have collected the whole cake, we press it down a little with our hand on top and send it to the refrigerator for a couple of hours. During this time, the cakes will be slightly saturated with cream and the cake will settle. You can put a load on top of the cakes for 30 minutes, so the cakes will become even softer.

We send the cake to the refrigerator for half an hour, so that the cream will set.

At this time, we put our scraps of cakes in a blender and grind them. I do not like to grind too much into a crumb, it seems to me it is more suitable for. But you can choose a different size for yourself. By the way, you can grind it simply with your hands or with a rolling pin if there is no blender in use.

Sprinkle these scraps on our cake.

We put it in the refrigerator to soak. Best for the night. You can decorate the top with berries, or you can not decorate and leave it that way.

That's how handsome it turns out. A large amount of cakes and cream make this cake a truly royal dessert. The recipe for this cake was borrowed from Victoria Melnik, for which many thanks to her.

And, after such a delicate and feminine cake, I will soon tell you a recipe for a real masculine, brutal handsome man - cakes with dark beer, chocolate cream and ganache ... And all this splendor of taste will be gathered in. Your men should appreciate. Do not miss!

Good appetite.