Napoleon's Reasons for Defeat
The Campaign of 1812 should have been a another crusade for Napoleon,
but he now faced 2 new policies that he had never faced before, the severe Russian
winter and the notorious scorched-earth policy. On June 23, 1812 Napoleon's
Grande Armee, over 500,000 men strong, poured over the Russian border. An
equal amount of Russian forces awaited them. The result of the campaign was a
surprise. Two authors, General carl von Clausewitz and Brett James, show
similarities in reasons why Napoleon had lost this campaign to Russia.
Napoleon believed that after a few quick victorious battles, he could
convince Alexander to return to the Continental System. He also decided that if he
occupied Moscow, the Russian government would crumple and ask for peace.
" A single blow delivered at the heart of the Russian Empire, at Moscow the Great,
at Moscow the Holy, will instantly put this whole blind, apathetic mass at my
mercy." pg 6,......
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