Why did Napoleon Invade Russia? (Short Animated Documentary) 

Yep. If I remember correctly, when someone in his court warned him that the Russians were a serious challenge, Napoleon dismissed it because he'd decisively beaten them only five years earlier and didn't see how they could have changed much since then. Fairly reasonable assumption, considering that progress in Tsarist Russia moved at a snail's pace.

Including Russia*

Because russians fight like mongols, not like any western nation

@@looinrims Not really. Napoleon had beaten Russia in a small battle, not a war. The battle also took place miles away from Russia. This is not the case for most of Europe that was effectively under the direct or indirect control of France.

@@MWENDA-vv5im “not a war” He literally beat them in the war of the third coalition and the war of the fourth coalition

Russia/USSR=Ah shit, here we go AGAIN

@@givemethen-pass6182Lol

Or just dont invade Russia ever 😁

@@alexander-mauricemillamlae4567 in case of Napoleon... well, you do know that last soldiers of his army left russian borders in december, first month of the winter after retreating during most weeks of autumn, right?)

What most people dont know is that russian winter didnt beat Napoleon. Typhus did

Tell's you all you need to know

haha

Echoed 180years later in Afghanistan by first Russia and then the US.

Just like a certain putin…

The Russio-Ukraine war: hello there

*Mongols, Poles and Japanese want to know your location*

@@Alex-lf5sh Plus the Germans in the first World War.

Napoleon did it like 3 times before

@@agustinl2302 Russia in WW1 was never defeated. It was destroyed from inside. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed after October Revolution and by that time, Russia was already dead. Bolsheviks weren't Russians, they were Jews

@@nicholasiiofrussia1662 Germans caused the Bolsheviks revolution by sending Lenin back to Russia.

Underrated

10/10 burn

@@wtfwtf2956 stop with this, "underrated" is not equal to "good joke", not every joke has to be the most liked one

@@rzul Stop being a jerk. Or the Kaiserliche Garde is going to get ya!

I'm screaming

people don't realize how long invasions take. or that its less about the winter and more about the Russian's ability to endlessly retreat due to their country being huge.

ITeach You sometimes retreat can be a really good war tactic

true, point is there were a lot of factors. not just the winter

Well to be fair in Australia winter is June to August. Maybe out boi was fan

@@sonoftheway3528 people always ignore the Russian military. That was the main factor. The battle of boradino was the single bloodiest day in all of the napoleonic war. It was a tactical draw and strategic defeat as it crippled napoleon's army. The winter just helped

little did he know that the boss had a second phase.

and that's when he knew, he fucked up

Poles who took Moscow without a single shot in 1614: *Oh c'mon!*

Also Moscow was not the Russian capital at that time

@Bangbabangbabangbang "Oh non, les vilains Russes brûlent leurs ressources à la place de laisser à notre armée quelque chose pour se loger et se nourrir! C'est pas juste!" -Napoléon, en grelottant comme un gamin Ceux qui s'affirment supérieurs sont toujours inférieurs, c'est un classique. En 2021 ce sera le tour aux Américains d'échouer lamentablement dans l'atteinte d'un règne hégémonique.

Poland: Germany: Fuck you, Poland Russia: Fuck you, Poland

Yeah well look where they are geographically. Caught in the middle of two historically military giants. If WW2 doesn't show you just how bad the Poles have had in dealing with Russia and Germany, then I don't know what will.

then what do we Belgians have to say? We have been like every great nation's boxing ring troughout history

Except Napoleon was putting Poland back on the map as a buffer state to Russia and counterweight to Austria and Prussia. That was smart. Invading Russia, not so. He should have kept building on Poland, and enticing the subject peoples inside Russia to rebel. Russia would need to commit forces in the west rather than retreat east when attacked. For all his brilliance he could not see this. Also, blockade Russia with Sweden help should have been arranged. Make Britain come to you.

@@SilverFang2789 Those two weren't military giants until about 1700.

905 likes without a reply? Wow

@@adhprakash this comment is proof of the bystander effect

@@adhprakash y did u comment?

I honestly don't get it...

Wait, 2 years ago? What were you talking about? The war only started in February.

Alexander fingers a box of matches; "Hey Napoleon you look after the holy city, it's very prone to fires in summer."

@@alanpennie8013 lmao

Winter: 👁👄👁

Better than that, he didn't reply

Wait Alexander is from greece right and he died since bc

Hitler lived after Napoleon...

@Arnold But didn't learn from Napoleon's mistakes, which was my point.

Sweden

"wanted to starve Britain" . . . Didn't they have a huge ass empire at the time?

@@prion42 to starve BRITAIN, not the BRITISH EMPIRE, think twice before you comment next time

😂😂😂

this is some advanced EU4 stuff

And destroyed everything as they retreated leaving them nothing useful

Hi to my EU4 brothers!

*PARADOX INTENSIFIES*

Pro Russian Player take quantity More meat for meat grinder!

Motivation:100 Badass:100

JonatasAdoM No, Tsar Alexander said: “If necessary, I will at least be the emperor of Kamchatka, but I will not surrender”.

See you in Petropavlovsk

JonatasAdoM it certainly does an old empire making a final last stand Spain = Britain a new strong dominant power entering a goleden age coming out of the conflict USA = Britain .all While Russia playing a pivotal role in both conflicts. All propagated by a mad man Hitler = Napoleon. It’s almost the exact same really

@@alexgainsborough4921 that's a lot of determination there

*british isles

Lots of people’s ideal Europe tbh

Even the British....

Even without naponleons ideal Europe the English isles don't exist

he aint wrong

Yeah, the Russians were clever by drawing him further and further in and also employing a scorched earth campaign. They sacrificed a many pawns, knights, rooks, and even the queen in Moscow to destroy the opponent king.

@@marlonmoncrieffe0728 Turned Napoleon's strength into his weakness. Napoleon could never resist an opportunity to outmanouvre his enemy

The one thing Napoleon for got about the Great Northern Wars was that Charles the madman of the North had a chance to finish off Peter I/the Great but decided to let him off. B I G - M I S T A K E.

@@insulam821 Cough Cough Poland aswell

Sebastian Szeliga oh yeah they did as well

Jeremi Wiśniewski said so in 1614. He smashed entire Russian and Swedish forces after one battle (at Kłuszyn, not Moscow), and he took the capital without a single shot. The same thing said the Stephen Batory - he defeated Russia three times a row (when it was ruled by Ivan the Dangerous)

@@Lipidwave But the Poles didn't win the Polish-Muscovite War, they were driven out and only took some border provinces which they lost in like 50 years anyways. That's not a successful invasion

Never forget the Brest-Litovsk!

Russia did this against Germany too

To be fair some of those that didn't reach Borodino were left behind as detachments at vital points along the way.

IMHO, a significant part of those who did not reach Borodino were in garrisons, supported the supply system, and so on.

@@user-ve3hs5hq5i ah so you want to kill more french i see? baguette? oh wait no i meant vodka?

@@IsraelCountryCube you high or something?

Duran he has absolutely never said something like this in his entire life

Affentaktik “After I die people will start to quote things I didn’t say” - Genghis Khan

@@affentaktik2810 "Don't believe everything you read on the internet" - Genghis Khan

@@affentaktik2810 "Too many whamen" - Genghis Khan

@@affentaktik2810 "lmao XD" - Genghis Khan

the reference of britain leaving wasnt because of a lack of meritocratic society it was it wanted europe under french dominance and they knew Britain would never be under french control hence not part of their europe.

This was really funny

cumquatrct3 the monarchy hasn’t had real power for hundreds of years, their existence doesn’t affect the UK’s government at all.

And the Balkans are not included. Why are everyone so mean to us 😥

@@sausagejockyGaming it can though.

Most of the names of the characters in Frozen are Russian

@@lidulkadut really? I though they were scandinavian

It did in the Winter War

The cold really does bother the Russians. Russian military losses in these victories are massive never mind the civilians one due to scorched earth policies.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOOOOOW! LET THE HUNGER FLOW!!

Its just disappeared

Just have mistaken animation lel

but if you close your eyes...

It’s not a mistake. It’s Napoleon’s wet dream.

@@lightningfletch5598 you made my day😂

Russia and not following international rules Iconic duo

Important to point out that Moscow was burnt down by Russians though

Moscow then was not the capital, so its burning almost did not harm Russia itself. But Napoleon's army of 600 thousand soldiers died very stupid.

​@@user-ic5xr1fu4j You realize that most of those soldiers were Russians who willingly joined Napoleone's army because they were sick of living under the serfdom!!?

@@raitiC1 You're funny. Napoleon entered Russia with 650.000 army, and left Russia with 12.000-16.000 army. If Russians had taken Napoleon's side, he would have won, no? Problem with logic?

@@user-ic5xr1fu4j First of all Russians were not the only ethnicity that was part of Russian empire! You realize that right!? And yes many Russians took Napoleon's side! And the biggest resistor to Napoleon in Russia was GERMAN landlords that literary OWNED Russians as slaves! Btw those numbers you got are taken out of...

OctagonDinosaur *Crash Course World History Intensifies*

Mongols: we are the exception

Pretty sure napoleons invasion didn't start in the winter

They didn't invade in the winter Russia is just very big and it takes a long time to march through they actually got to Moscow before winter then waited for Russia to surrender they did not winter came early and Napoleon was short on supplies because the Russians adopted scorched earth tactics

And Poles.. and Lithuanians... and to some extent even Vikings...

At least we french took moscow germans no

@@Hugo-cn9no they literally abandoned the city, set fire and took the food with them. It was a trap

Well, the only country able to take and hold Moscow was Poland-Lithuania it seems

@@eisenkoenig8324 France: runs into spear trap (Moscow) Also France: “We did it guys, mission was a success!”

Igor XDDD “Yeah we defeat Russia for 2 years” Poland disappears for 123 years

*4

4*

I mean, it worked in WW1 when they started fighting themselves as opposed to the Germans.

@@axelandersson6314 *when germany supported the bolshevik revoulution. Only 2nd nation to successfuly invade russia.

@Ionasku Alexander I See a man of culture

The Eastern front in WW2 was a whole another level of sacrifice and slaughter, it made the western front look like a fun holiday compared for number of deaths. I doubt moustache man would have thought the USSR were willing to throw so many lives to holt the advance and prevent Stalingrad's fall, likely expected a peace pact or surrender. But they kept coming...

Laughs in Revolutionary Calendar.

The United States gained its independence on year 5 according to the revolutionary calendar.

In June?

Russia only reached Paris as part of a team.

Now, hilariously, Russia did the same in Ukraine.

@@reitairue2073 your western propaganda who lies 24/7 is doing the same thing

@@isko9201 Oh I know, I have come to the understanding that the truth I know is just one of many. All I can do is try to survive in it, don't take me too serious on here lmao.

Hitler got extremely closer to win funnily enough, despite not being as good of a military mind as hım.

@@reitairue2073 Russia always seems weak, like in the Finnish war of 1930s, and port Arthur. but they always manage to come out on top when there is a huge threat.

Evan Pangaribuan his ships got drowned when sailing for japan twice

Why can I not believe it's not butter!?

Poles don't want reparations we've got silesia and pomerania and warmia as reparations only our retarded govemment does

​@@ThePiotrekpecet Inb4 Storm Prussia, the poles cant stop all of us, god with us.

I can explain you about reparations. There are 2 main reasons: 1) Poland in 1944/45 was not liberated but conquered by USSR, and Stalin made my country a puppet state. As such, Poland agreed that we will receive reparations from soviet occupation zone of Germany. But we never received that. USSR started to steal our coal in huge amount, so our rulers made a deal: you stop stealing our coal and we forget about reparations. All this decisions were made while Soviets occupied Poland, so now some people think we should be given something by Germany 2) more important reason: that is bulshit invented by our ruling party, PiS, to show their voters that they "fight for polish strong position" abroad

Nah

Right now it seems to revolve much more around Ukraine.

@@watching99134 there wouldn't even be Ukraine if Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth didn't capture that part of Rus which is now known as Ukraine and Belarus. So, Poland plays a central role in Russian history and vice versa.

Yes, Finland was liberated, and founded as a special state with many rights in Russian Empire only in 1809

Paul Paulson wtf ur crazy. What do you mean liberated? They were forcibly annexed against their will.

@@NickWestin , Because I know history! Because they got a statehood they didn't have in the Swedish Reich. The Grand Duchy of Finland, with its own Parliament, currency, Constitution, army, separated from the rest of the Russian Empire by the state border, had an economy and taxes only for the internal needs of Finland. Emperor Alexander I liberated Finland, and Alexander II gave it even more rights and freedoms: for this, the Finns erected a monument to him in Helsinki

Paul Paulson what you dont understand is that before the russian takeover there was no finnish identity. Therefore they had no need for such autonomy as part of sweden which they had been for a really long time. So ur crazy to say that the finnish people back then welcomed the russians (which they absolutely did not). The finns might have had a different language but their identity was as swedish as it could be.

@@NickWestin Nobody said the Finns welcomed the Russians. He said Finland had more rights under Russia, than they did under Sweden, which is true.

They MIGHT have succeeded, had Hitler not wasted a month in a vengeance spat at Yugoslavia, and then by spreading his forces to thin and trying too many objectives at once.

@@MrSniperfox29 the idea of Blitzkrieg was too seize your objectives ignoring any side campaigns so allowing the British to escape from Dunkirk was the correct thing to do (it wasn’t) because the objective was the fall of France. Hence the siege of Leningrad, the conquest of the Crimea and the battles to annihilate the bypassed and surrounded Russian forces all held back the attack on Moscow. I think Russia was just to big for the Germans and if they had ignored the side issues they may have won but it’s unlikely.

Russia invading Poland in 1919: *whatever it is you stay your ground* Russia loses Battle of Warsaw (Miracle at Vistula) in 1920 Russia: *RUN!* (Historically accurate)

@@Admiral45-10 lol

That's why it's dumb.

He won't, trust me.

"Quick and easy" they said. "It won't take long" they said.

The mongol conquest was pretty quick and easy

Nobody never talks about WWI that wasn't an easy victory (like everything in WWI) but still was pretty heavy.

@@davidgil6485 Aside from WWI proving that Russia can indeed be successfully invaded (I'm not sure but wasn't the Brest-Litovsk treaty the single biggest cession of territory between warring powers in European history?), ever since the Mongol grip waned, the Russians had the tremendous advantage of never being threatened by an organized power on its non-European borders, only having to bother with small Siberian and Central Asian tribes, grossly weakened and unstable China as well as distant European colonies, unable to field large armies. Japan in the early 20th century might be an exception but even they didn't really attack Russia unprovoked. If you removed nuclear weapons from the picture, today's China could easily provide a European alliance with help from the other side, making it possible for a conquest of Russia. Siberia is vast but once you get your armies moving across it, there's no stopping you, as evident in the Russian Civil War: there are no natural formations, large bodies of water or high enough mountains for Russia to base its defenses on.

@@manny90963 it was less hard because the mongols came from the east😂

I think it's just a big coincidence but would be cool if it was

yeah something is fishy

It's a confirmation bias / Black Swan problem. Every year for over a decade Napoleon solved his problems (temporarily) by crushing his enemies in quick summer campaign. Why would he not expect this approach to keep working?

And we still had bassarabia

It's also not a reason "why" (Napoleon could have also conquered say Serbia, but why wouldn't he do that instead?)

Trading with SHIPS, UK destroyed much of the french navy at Trafalgar and uk was pretty much the master of the seas

@@Je-suis-pauvre yeah, ok, but Napoleon's ALLIES still had navies, which would have prevented, no??

@@kurzackd not powerful enough to combat britain and some ships that napoleon was planning to get in copenhagen for example was destroyed by the british to prevent napoleon from gaining access to those too

@@centurymemes1208 interesting... ok, thanks!

Funny thing. While Hitler failed, the German Kaiser successfully invaded and won in ww1.

@@Suksass I mean, Russia was basically falling apart at that point.

@@krealyesitisbeta5642 Yes, thanks to Germany beating them on the battlefield.

@@Suksass Germany just increased speed of collapse, but Nicolas 2 has already problems with Russians and others.

Great video. Michel Ney, what a demon.