“Oh, how this young Bonaparte walks!
He is a hero, he is a giant, he is a sorcerer!
He conquers both nature and people."
Russia - the gravedigger of Napoleon's empire
It was Russia that stood in the way of the possible world empire of Napoleon.
The ruler of France conquered and subjugated almost all of Western Europe, except England. In fact, he created a prototype of the present united Europe. Bonaparte threatened England, intending to move her from the place of the leader of the Western project and civilization. He had chances, and good ones.
However, in the struggle for Europe under Emperor Alexander I, Russia acted as "cannon fodder" of London (How Russia became a figure of England in the big game against France; Part 2), Vienna and Berlin (the Anglo-Saxon and German worlds).
Russia and France did not have any fundamental contradictions - historical, territorial, economic or dynastic. France claimed leadership in Western Europe. The French, even under ideal conditions, would never have been able to "digest" the German world (Austrian Empire, Prussia, other German states) and the Anglo-Saxons (England). They would always have strong opposition even within the Romanesque world - in the Iberian and Apennine peninsulas (Spain, Portugal and Italy). That is, even without the Russians, Napoleon's empire would have lasted only until his death and would have collapsed after the departure of this great statesman and military leader. Napoleon would have been killed on the battlefield or poisoned.
Russia at this time, while the great powers of the West grappled with each other, could solve its strategic tasks. Complete the defeat of Turkey, occupy Constantinople and the straits, strengthen positions in the Balkans and the Caucasus. Go south and east, waste material and human resources not on senseless wars with the French, but on internal development. To become the dominant force in the North Pacific Ocean - to create military and economic centers-cities in Russian America, in California. Occupy Hawaii, take Korea under your protectorate, and become the most important partner of China and Japan.
Sovereign Paul I realized the whole pointlessness of the war with France, realized that the main enemy of Russia is England. But he was killed by Russian traitors, aristocrats, behind whom was England. His son and successor, Alexander Pavlovich, did not dare to continue his father's line, he got involved in a destructive and alien war for us. For the sake of personal ambitions, the German and British parties in Russia neglected national interests. As a result, Napoleon's "Great Army" ended up in Russia, the state and the people suffered colossal human, cultural and economic losses.
Napoleon himself, who more than once declared that Russia could be his only ally, made a fatal mistake. Wanting to punish Alexander, he zoomed in and invaded deep into Russia. The people's war began. The Russians have once again broken the best war machine in the West. Russia marked the end of the glorious career of a former petty Corsican nobleman, an artillery lieutenant who was enthroned by the French Revolution, a lucky star and his own talents. Russia and the Russians destroyed the "Great Army", in essence, these united forces of Europe, defeated the best strategist of the West and his magnificent marshals and generals.
Moreover, Russia did not allow Napoleon to keep even a part of his conquests in Europe. The Russians went to Europe, and the Prussians and Austrians, who hated the "frogs", went over to their side. The new armies of Napoleon, despite his desperate resistance and military successes, were beaten and Russian troops entered Paris in March 1814. The French generals, no longer seeing the possibility of resistance, forced Napoleon to surrender.
A monster or a great statesman and commander?
The myth of Napoleon was created during his lifetime. His opponents created the "black" myth of the "Corsican monster". Napoleon was credited with sins of which he was not guilty, although there were quite enough real crimes. The emperor of the French himself took part in creating a positive myth about himself, especially worked on this in exile on the island of St. Helena. A very attractive image emerges in his memories.
At the grassroots level, the positive myth was created by his soldiers. Hundreds of thousands of "grumblers" went with him all over Europe, from Lisbon to Moscow, saw the Egyptian pyramids and the great Nile. Returning to their villages and towns, where the locals saw nothing and knew nothing outside the immediate vicinity, they had something to tell. It is clear that for ordinary soldiers, many officers, the era of Napoleon was the best in their life. Youth and adventures, comrades, captured and drunken goods, new countries and peoples. Therefore, Napoleon seemed to them an incomprehensible, fabulous creature. Suffice it to recall how he returned power in France for 100 days in 1815 and frightened all of Europe. Then the army just went over to his side.
In France, the people revered him as a saint. This happened even in the era of the restoration of the monarchy, and the "white" terror began. During the July Revolution of 1830, which led to the overthrow of Charles X and the enthronement of his distant cousin Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the new King Louis Philippe made extensive use of the Napoleonic legend to justify his rule. The government under him was headed by Napoleonic marshals, the army was also commanded by generals from the times of Napoleon's empire. Thanks to the cult of Napoleon and his popularity among the people, his nephew - Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III came to power. He did not have his own party, only a name. For him were former soldiers of the "Great Army". And the people were nostalgic for greatness and order.
When the Second Empire fell and the Third Republic was created, then the entire policy of the Republicans was based on the denial of the legacy of Napoleon III. But Napoleon himself was hardly affected. The French craved revenge over the Germans, and the military traditions of Napoleon I were quite consistent with this idea.
After the end of the First World War, the emperor remained popular among the people, but politicians remembered him less and less. Napoleon's aggressiveness and expansion, his authoritarian methods of government do not correspond to the modern political culture of France and Europe.
In fact, the French Revolution and its child, Napoleon, created modern France. The entire current state, political and legal system emerged from that era. The revolution raised the genius of war, he also ended it, but retained its main conquests.
Today France (and all of Western Europe), the society created in the era of Napoleon, entered a period of decay and decline. The old world is dying out, mired in liberalism, tolerance and multiculturalism. An era of degradation has come. National cultures have been pushed to the sidelines by global culture (its ersatz substitute based on Americanism). Also, Europe is becoming part of the Islamic, Arab-African world.
Russians and Napoleon
In Russia, the attitude towards Napoleon was twofold.
On the one hand, government propaganda presented the French emperor as a "Corsican monster." The people, who suffered the calamities of a great war, the "invasion of twelve languages," also hated the invader. The French and other European discoverers were "infidels basurmans" who attacked "Holy Russia". The "alien" and "tyrant" ravaged the Russian lands, burned Smolensk and Moscow.
On the other hand, nobles, officers were nourished by the war, were children of war and military honor. Napoleon, his marshals and generals, French soldiers were an adversary with whom it is honorable and glorious to fight.
For example, during the war, the famous general Pyotr Bagration said:
“I love to fight passionately with the French: well done! They will not give in for nothing - but if you beat them, there is something to be glad about”.
The war with the French became a kind of peak, the highest (and lowest) manifestation of a person's spiritual, intellectual and physical abilities. People usually did not experience such a strain of strength anymore. Subsequent life was insipid and boring, relative to the great war. Veterans recalled the past, Napoleon was the personification of this past.
Also, the French commander attracted the Russians as a man who did the impossible. The Russians appreciate this very much. So, Alexander Suvorov and other Russian generals more than once took fortresses or conquered mountains that they considered impregnable or impassable. Napoleon earned respect for his achievements. This was a worthy enemy.
Later, the same image was formed among the Russian intelligentsia, which did not participate in the war, but absorbed its heritage. It is interesting that the common people, after the generations passed away, who had endured the hardships and horrors of the war, began to change their assessment of Napoleon. At the end of the 19th century, the peasants no longer showed hatred for the great Frenchman, they even pitied him.
It turns out that the image of Napoleon in Russian historical memory is not colored only with dark tones, like the image of A. Hitler. This is largely reflected in the works of the great Russian poet and prophet Alexander Pushkin. The Russian genius does not spare negative words - "tyrant", "villainous porphyry", "autocratic villain", "horror of the world", etc. On the other hand, Pushkin pays tribute to the military genius of the Corsican, calls him a great man. For a long time, the French commander was a darling of fate and was awarded the grace of heaven.
Yes, Napoleon was a tyrant, but a great man, a "giant." It was in the fight against such a formidable enemy that Russia realized its historical mission. So, in the final stanza of A. Pushkin's poem "Napoleon":
Praise!.. He is to the Russian people
High lot indicated
And to the world eternal freedom
From the darkness he bequeathed exile.
