Today in the history of Sasha.
Author: Sasha
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Why did the military god Napoleon choose to attack Russia in winter? October 19, 1812: Russo-French War: Napoleon's evacuation of Moscow, which had been burned by Russian troops, under the scorched earth policy of Russian commander Barclay de Toli, led to the establishment of the Sixth Coalition and accelerated the French Empire's march to the graveyard of history.
Many people wonder, if Hitler in 1941 was still defeated in the Moscow winter, why did Napoleon invade Russia in the cold season?
During World War II, the conditions for supplies were much better than they were more than 100 years ago.
Large-scale material transportation can rely on trains and automobiles and, if necessary, by air. At the same time, due to the development of ship technology, Germany also has quite strong sea and river transportation capabilities.
And if Germany at this time could not maintain the supply of front-line soldiers in winter? How could Napoleon, who had only horses as a means of transport, win?
Why did the shrewd Napoleon make such a stupid mistake?
The main failure is the expansion beyond their own strength.
Since ancient times, most of the invaders have failed for this reason, and Napoleon was no exception.
It is undeniable that Napoleon was a military genius and faced a rare opponent throughout Europe.
With his broken French army, he defeated strong enemies in a row.
In 1805, Napoleon defeated the Third Coalition against Austria, one of the five great powers in Europe.
In 1807, Napoleon defeated the 4th Coalition and the Prussian army was almost destroyed. Subsequently, the French army defeated the Russian army in Poland and forced to negotiate peace with France with Tsar Alexander I. of Russia.
At this point, France has become the undoubted hegemon of the European continent, successively defeating 3 of the top 5 European powers, and the remaining Britain is overseas and cannot have a direct impact on the European continent.
In this case, Napoleon fluttered.
Actually, he should understand that the enemy is still very strong and numerous.
Prussia suffered a devastating blow, but its vitality remained. Austria's losses were not very large, and Russia's losses were even smaller.
If Austria and Russia joined forces again, the French army would be in a bitter battle, not to mention a strong Britain.
As long as the other four European powers join forces, their military and national strength will exceed that of France by two to three times, and the latter cannot deal with it.
In this case, Napoleon's choice was to try to win over his allies against Britain.
The allies were not fools, the countries of Europe were just trying to preserve their power as best they could, only to be defeated by Napoleon seizing the opportunity.
At this time, the reason why European countries temporarily submitted to Napoleon was also unwilling to make the first bird, like Prussia, to fight for their own capital, so that other countries could profit. They lay dormant for the time being, waiting for the opportunity to join forces again to defeat Napoleon.
At this time of crisis, Napoleon made a decision to exceed his own strength.
He has many choices, and the safer thing is to stabilize the strong enemy, destroy the weak enemy, slowly increase his strength, and first become the hegemon of the European continent.
Napoleon, however, considered himself undoubtedly the hegemon of Europe, and could despise all enemies like the Roman Empire before him.
As it turned out, this was a misjudgment.
The turning point of everything was the civil strife in Spain, which was a war within the nation.
There is a characteristic of national wars, that is, no one can get involved casually.
Let's look at the famous Afghan war, the US military has been trapped in Afghanistan for 20 years, and finally withdrew and left.
Why? In Afghanistan, the US military is tantamount to forcibly supporting ethnic minorities Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks, and forcibly suppressing Pashtuns. However, Pashtuns are the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan, accounting for 60% of the population. The second largest ethnic group, the Hazaras, accounts for about 20%, and the Hazaras only 10%. The Pashtuns have been fighting bravely since ancient times, numbering more than 10 million, and it is almost impossible to suppress such a people.
Therefore, the US military is doomed to do useless work in the past 20 years, and the Pashtuns can only support their own armed Taliban, and it is impossible to recognize the Tajik and Hazara governments supported by the United States.
If the United States, which is a hundred times stronger in military strength and national strength than Afghanistan, is still unable to cope with a national war, let alone France in those years.
Napoleon should not have been involved in the quagmire of the Spanish Civil War.
However, Napoleon sent an army of 300,000 to attack and made his eldest brother Joseph Bonaparte king of Spain.
This move was opposed by all strata in Spain, and the French army fell into a sea of protracted and national wars.
As a result, the French army was locked in a protracted battle in Spain, losing its troops and unable to win. Most importantly, Spain contained the main forces of the French army, and Napoleon was no longer able to launch a large-scale offensive against other enemies at the same time.
Britain saw the opportunity and immediately gave full support to the Spanish anti-French forces.
In desperation, Napoleon was unwilling to decisively withdraw from Spain, but continued to increase his troops.
Due to the fall of the main force of the French army to the south, the strength of the northern army was greatly reduced, which also reduced the military pressure faced by Austria, Prussia, and Russia, and began to move.
In 1809 , the 5th Coalition was formed and Austria attacked from the north.
At this point, Napoleon was forced to lead a main force of 300,000 to withdraw from Spain.
If it were changed to another leader, Napoleon would have been finished at this time.
In extremely difficult circumstances, Napoleon, still with his military genius, miraculously repelled the enemy and forced Austria to sign the Peace of Vienna, ceding land again.
This victory was not easy, and Napoleon should have learned lessons and not made the same mistakes.
Napoleon, however, made the decision to outweigh his strength, that is, to completely destroy the continent's last enemy, Russia.
In Napoleon's view, Russia was the only strong enemy on the continent, and its military strength was much inferior to that of the French army. As long as Russia is defeated once and for all, France can completely dominate the European continent with little threat.
However, the strength of the French army was not enough to destroy Russia.
On the surface, Napoleon's French army was stronger than the Russian army. In the famous Battle of Borokino, Napoleon defeated Kutuzov, Russia's most prominent general, and crushed 160,000 Russian troops, annihilating 50,000 of them. But the 140,000 French troops also lost 40,000 people!
After the defeat of this battle, the Russian army directly abandoned the capital Moscow, and it seems that the French army achieved a brilliant victory.
Actually, these are all imaginary. Because the strategic decisive battle between the two countries is a fight for the overall national strength and military strength, not the victory or defeat of one or two battles.
After falling into a protracted war, the French army could not withstand the attrition of going deep into the enemy's territory, and the Vietnam War became weaker, and then completely collapsed.
As a result, Napoleon sent 670,000 troops to invade, and finally failed in the protracted battle, returning only 20,000 people.
In 1813 Britain , Russia , Prussia and Austria formed the 6th Coalition against France.
Napoleon had little strength left, he was defeated by these enemies, and Paris was also occupied.
Speaking of which, Napoleon's ambitions were too great, exceeding his own strength.
France is only one of the top 5 in Europe, at best against 2 enemies at once.
Napoleon, on the other hand, opposed 4 enemies at the same time to complete European hegemony, and defeat was almost inevitable.
In fact, Napoleon's wiser approach was not to attack Russia, but to seek an opportunity to destroy Prussia and Austria, which had been greatly weakened, and to eliminate half of the anti-French coalition.
As for Britain and Russia, it is not necessarily necessary for Napoleon's generation to deal with it, perhaps the next generation of the French, or even the next generation.
Speaking of which, Napoleon despised the enemy too much.
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