Napoleon's Downfall: Invasion of Russia 1812 (Full Documentary)
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Chapters
0:00 Why Napoleon Invaded Russia
14:50 The Grand Army of 1812
26:30 Napoleon's First Defeat in Russia
38:36 The Siege of Riga
49:31 The Race to Smolensk
1:00:15 The Battle of Smolensk
1:10:26 The Battle of Lubino
1:20:11 The Partisan War Begins
1:30:21 The Battle of Shevardino Redoubt
1:40:11 The Battle of Borodino
1:53:02 Napoleon Takes Moscow
2:04:09 Napoleon's Campaign Collapses
2:26:48 Napoleon's Retreat From Moscow
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» SOURCES
Boudon, Jacques-Olivier. Napoléon et la campagne de Russie en 1812. 2021.
Lieven, Dominic. Russia Against Napoleon. 2010.
Rey, Marie-Pierre. L’effroyable tragédie : une nouvelle histoire de la campagne de Russie. 2012.
Zamoyski, Adam. 1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow. 2005.
Brun, Jean-François. “Le cheval dans la Grande Armée.” Revue historique des armées, 2007.
Del Negro, Piero. “Les Italiens dans la Grande Armée. La campagne de Russie et le patriotisme italien.” Revue historique des armées, 2008.
Elting, John. Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon’s Grande Armée. 1997.
Nieuwazny, Andrzej. “Les Polonais de la Grande Armée,” in Rey, Marie-Pierre and Thierry Lentz, eds. 1812, la campagne de Russie. 2012.
Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon. 1978.
Dujil, Nicolas. “Les armées russes en 1812,” in Rey, Marie-Pierre and Thierry Lentz, eds. 1812, la campagne de Russie. 2012.
Kagan Frederick. Russia’s Wars with Napoleon 1805-1815. The Military History of Tsarist Russia
Mikaberidze, Alexander. "The Lion of the Russian Army": Life and Military Career of General Prince
Peter Bagration 1765-1812. PhD Dissertation, 2003.
Богданов Л.П. Русская армия в 1812 году (Москва: Воениздат, 1979)
Безотосный В. М. Россия в наполеоновских войнах 1805-1815 гг. (Москва: Политическая энциклопедия, 2014)
Отечественная война 1812 года. Энциклопедия (Моска: РОССПЭН, 2004)
Таннберг Т.А. Комплектование российской армии в первой половине XIX в. // Французский ежегодник. 2012.
1812 год в воспоминаниях современников. Москва: Наука, 1995.
Назаров П. Записки солдата Памфилия Назарова: 1812-1836. Русская старина. 1878. Т. 22. № 8.
Clausewitz, Carl von. Hinterlassene Werke des Generals Carl von Clausewitz über Krieg und Kriegsführung. Siebenter Band, Der Feldzug von 1812 in Rußland, der Feldzug von 1813 bis zum Waffenstillstand und der Feldzug von 1814 in Frankreich. Berlin 1835.
Geschichte der Kriege in Europa seit dem Jahre 1792 als Folgen der Staatsveränderung in Frankreich unter König Ludwig XVI., neunter Teil, . Berlin 1839.
Hartwich, Julius von. 1812. Der Feldzug in Kurland. Nach den Tagebüchern und Briefen des Leutnants Julius v. Hartwich. Berlin 1910. Becker, Carl August. Tagebuch 28.03.1812-21.09.1812 (Beiträge zur sächsischen Militärgeschichte zwischen 1793 und 1815). 2019.
Безотосный В. М. Россия в наполеоновских войнах 1805-1815 гг. (Москва: Политическая энциклопедия, 2014)
Прибавление к «Санкт-Петербургским ведомостям» №69 от 27 августа 1812.
Прибавление к «Северной почте» №69 от 28 августа 1812.
Есипов В.М. «И вот как пишут историю!..». Вопросы литературы. 2004. №4.
Ивченко Л.Л. Повседневная жизнь русского офицера эпохи 1812 года. Москва: Молодая гвардия, 2008. Der Feldzug der Österreicher gegen Rußland im Jahre 1812. Aus offiziellen Quellen von Ludwig Freiherrn von Welden, Wien 1870.
Holzhausen, Paul. Die Deutschen in Russland 1812. Leben und Leiden auf der Moskauer Heerfahrt. Berlin 1912.
Maag, Albert. De Schicksale der Schweizerregimente in Napoleons I. Feldzug nach Russland 1812. 1900.
Durova, Nadezhda. Cavalry Maiden. Journals of a Female Russian Officer in the Napoleonic Wars.
Fileaux, Christian. “La bataille de la Moskova - 7 septembre 1812. Récit,” in Rey, Marie-Pierre and Thierry Lentz, eds. 1812, la campagne de Russie. 2012.
Mikaberidze, Alexander. The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon against Kutuzov. 2007.
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Above Zero
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Digital Maps: Canadian Research and Mapping Association (CRMA)
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster
Contains licensed material by getty images
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2022
Watch our WW2 series 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end
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Never have I heard a narrator pronounce French, Russian, Polish, and German equally well. Amazing visuals, presentation, and history work. One of my absolute favourites.
Thanks!
@@jessealexander2695Canadian? Sure sounds like it!
@@letsgetsteve Yup!
And all it would take for more people to probounce names better (maybe not well but better) would be a ten-second visit to the Google Translate text to speech... The dedication on display here is commendable.
The intonation and articulation is top notch: clear and easy to listen to.
Kutuzov is a real man, he promised to make the French eat their horses - he kept his word
Li 😊 mm😊😊😊😊 I joine😊😊😊😊 I have sent 😊😊😊😊 my😊😊😊 my😊b😊 mm is la tine 😊 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊 am o 😊rugăminte 😊😊😊😊 am luat 😊niște Noi numai deci de o comandă de a finaliza în acest an în atenția nu este
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A three hour documentary on one of the most amazing chapters in warfare. Better and more informative and engaging than any history book I have read on this topic. Well done. Possibly my favorite documentary ever.
❤so many “QUOTES” also..❤ Amazingly Excellent retelling of stuff I’ve heard and read for years… long live the Emperor 😅 unlike the movie😂 Waterloo though❤
The narration is amazing. Love you throw in quotes in original language, it really adds a layer of authenticity to the whole experience.
The narration is great, but the audio quality isn't.. hope they invest in high quality microphone + soundproofing of the room
32:40 This is the reason my great(x3)-grandfather, who was a prestigious Wachtmeister in Germany (so he had the financial resources many did not), took his pregnant wife and several kids to America, which he described in documents "I didn't want my sons to fight and die in the non-stop wars in Europe". He unfortunately arrived here just in time for them to be caught up in the Civil War.
Great family history and genealogy.
Thanks for sharing ✌️
why my relatives left europe as well..avoid these crazy, cruel wars..
This is incredible. I was gripped the entire time. The delivery, the pacing, the story telling on display here is near perfect. I felt so many different emotions. Hearing the perspective of those on the ground really brings the story to life. This is history, but also the lives of real people. It may be morbid but it is completely fascinating.
It's kinda morbid but most people who are interested in war aren't particularly warlike,, but feel a nagging fascination with it because as Patton said,, "All other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance when compared to war"... Or as another more cynical author said,, war is "a creature whose vastness alone made it sacred to man",, but my point is that many average people seem soothed by war history because they're safely detached but feel an empathy or sympathy that's paradoxically comforting...
Quotes and first hand accounts really bring it to life. It's not just words on a page anymore, these people experienced the most horrendous events man can create and they share their experiences or feelings with us. It's not just about glorious tactics and massive personalities. The common soldier had lives with problems not so different than our own. I think it's important to look at it this way. War should be avoided at all costs. Too many people today look at the war too fondly, sure it's interesting but it should also teach us an important lesson in why we should avoid war at all costs. Imagine how it would have been to clean up a battlefield. So many dead people with horrific wounds. The smell would be beyond description. Doctors treating casualties with primitive equipment or just amputating limbs. The sounds of men screaming or praying would scar you forever. I see why many would rather avoid describing it as it's very uncomfortable to think about but is necessary.
@@micnorton9487 It can also be the speaker. Some people really can make the telephone directory sound fascinating.
The artwork is so unexpectedly beautiful in this documentary! and the narrator's charming accent makes learning very enjoyable!
Wow, thank you!
Ya
True learning comes long after school games.
@@Iknowaboutroaches3350,,, , čo. V ,. ,,,,
I can never get enough of this mans exploits and campaigns, this channel is criminally underrated! Thanks so much for making this series and it's nice to hear the French or Russian translations of some of the quotes, brings a whole other dimension to hearing them.
If you haven't seen it already check out epic history series on napoleon. It has his early years and what they call his downfall series.
@@robertandrews6915 I binged that series so hard, and still watch it from time to time, as with these, I guess they are just both excellent story tellers!
Le donne in genere sono state un poco emancipate solo nell'epoca Rinascimentale giusto il tempo per fondare le Nazioni Repubblicane
@@robertandrews6915 C'è un tempo per cadere ed un'altro per insorgere è voi che cosa avete intenzioni di fare da nascosti
I narratori sono degli asserviti ai vincitori altrimenti non avrebbero fatto carriera sarebbero spariti se scrivevano la verità
Какой шикарный диктор-даже "клюквы" не насыпал,что редкость эпичная,по нынешним-то временам!Снимаю шляпу!
Word brother...Word!
@@bdoon51 lol his comment translated as "What a gorgeous announcer-even "cranberries" did not pour, which is a rarity epic, for these times!" hahah wtf
@@uniquechannelnamesRussian is a hard language to translate. It's very rich and flexible so u can literally twist the sentence in various ways. For Russians its perfectly normal, as for translations and those who read from it, it goes 2 ways - a riddle if written in a complicated way or a sound sentence that is written plainly so that translator can proceed it perfectly. In your case its a riddle.
@UniqueChannelName Think of the colloquial expressions you, yourself, use before insulting someone else's language.
@@uniquechannelnames "Didn't put the cranberries" in this case means "didn't tell any ignorant lies".
When I first saw how long this documentary was I didn't think I would watch all of it.. But here I am 3:16 am on a Tuesday and I have just finished it.. This is one of the best made documentary I have ever seen. And I watch a lot of historic documentaries but this is beautiful.. Just beautiful.
Thanks!
Ditto...I grabbed my guitar to write songs...but here I am its 2am...I watched this with my guitar strapped on all the way through didn't even play it...wow.
8
Check out star media on KZhead
I was thinking the same thing! Great video.
Всё очень подробно. Не знаю насколько достоверна информация, но столь привлекающий документалка , что аж само по себе верится в это ,я конечно читаю через субтитры, но это не мешает , чтобы узнать хотя бы частичку историю. Спасибо за проделанную работу
Спасибо за комментарий. Книги, которые мы использовали, вы можете увидеть в описании под видео.
@@jessealexander2695love your stuff man
By far, one of the best documentaries on the invasion of Russia I have ever seen.
The best Documentary on Napoleon's invasion of Russia I have ever seen. Very well done! I would love for it to continue through to when Napoleon was finally defeated and including the Battle of Leipzig, it's just at the turning point where the hunted becomes the hunter. :)
working on exactly that
@@realtimehistory You legends.
It's such a shame KZhead didn't give it the appreciation it deserves
I won't say it's the only best one. Epic History TV also covers Napoleon's Russian invasion in great detail too.
@@spacecraftcarrier4135 Yea, but this coverage is nearly 3 times longer, and has better coverage of the smaller battles like Mir, Riga, Vitebsk, Mogilev and Tarutino.
I have learned more about the war of 1812 than in all my readings before by following this remarkable presentation. The Invasion of Russia is brilliantly presented.
Excellent presentation! Timeline, Sequence, Content... from start to finish! Learned much I hadn't seen in previous publications I'd read. Certainly paints a 'different story. Thank you for all your effort!
Anyone with a cursory knowledge of the French Revolution would see what Napoleon envisioned for Europe is absolutely terrifying.
I love the mention of Russian general Miloradovich, descended from Serb family.
Omg. The quality of this is amazing.
Great production in every respect. Music, art, the actual words of those engaged, great battle maps and graphics. Very easy to understand, and an honest, unbiased history that’s by the numbers. Thank you!
I would agree, if it wherent for the absolute butchery of non english and non french words.
Y f fd
Agreed! Well said👏
Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
You mean German words.
would like to see you do his 6 day campaign and waterloo. great content!
there will be more
Really brilliant essay and love the interwoven quotes with sources included!🥇
It was Kutuzov that routed Napoleon. Czar Alexander a little to do with the strategy that defeated Napoleon. Gerneral Bar Cal De Toy was the first to suggest the guerrilla tactics on Napoleon. Kutuzov was the one who provided the leadership and keep the strategy of the hitting the French as they retreated from Moscow.
Bar cal? I think you meant Barclay de Tully
The Emperor Alexander*
Barclay wanted to constantly retreat without a fight and ultimately surrender. Kutuzov wanted a fighting retreat and he won.
@@user-gb5wb9vy2w wrong
Alexander was famously incompetent and nearly started a war with the coalition forces over Poland.
This was an excellent lecture and video, concise but with superbly curated detail. Your use of original source material is outstanding.
Thank you.
30 degrees is actually quiet cool. =P (59:35)
Absolutely fantastic series. I’ve followed you guys for a long time and you always produce amazing content. Thank you
Loved it , great work from the team 👍👍👍👍👍 thanks Jesse and co.
This is my favourite channel on KZhead. Seriously, guys - you are amazing!
Fantastic video. Informative and thank you for NOT censoring as this is history as it should be, raw and unfiltered. I look forward to your other video's.
Absolutelly amazing content.
Indeed. Promote this kind of content, KZhead. How many billions are enough billions?
Censoring?
1:01:27 Does anyone know the name of this masterpiece of a song? I really really want to know
The Age of Napoleon brought me here! Loved this series to bits!
This was phenomenal! How has this not blown up yet?????!!
It baffles me
is that a rhetorical question?
Because neither the Russian artillery nor the French artillery has not bombarded the server on KZhead where it is hosted yet.
Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!
Excellent work, I particularly enjoyed the soundtrack, as it is what every ambient music must aspire to: add something to the production, and never get in the way of the communicators voice and the audience. Always on point. Congrats 🎉
Soundtrack is extraordinary!
This was epic, thanks for the awesome work.
Amazing upload! Love the content. Keep it up.
Wow. Nearly 3 hours of content. Astonishing. Well done!
Almost 3 hours flew in one instant. You have done a great job! Thank you.
Thanks!
This was so well done! Bravo!!
Amazing work, thank you very much. So much detail, very well done. Congratulations. Please keep on with more material
we will, thanks
"Closer to total war than it had ever been before." *The Thirty Years War has entered the chat.*
I'm sure the Spartans would have had something to add too.
I’ve been on a grind from you guys and I love it. Every single documentary is amazing, especially these massive 2-3 hour ones, I watch it all without ever stopping, it’s amazing stuff.
Wow, this is amazing stuff. Sharing with friends. Keep up the great work.
Superbly researched. Such an excellent documentary.
Absolutely one of the best historical pieces I have ever seen or heard.. Phenomenal job. Thank you !!!
Fantastic piece of work. The best I've seen on this subject. Keep up the great work.
Great stuff! I had read about the campaign, and especially about the retreat and crossing of the Berezina and it was wonderful to follow your summary as it brought it all to life.
Thanks!
Agreed. Real Time History is the Gold Standard for KZhead documentaries.
1:01:27 Does anyone know the name of this masterpiece of a song? I really really want to know
@@williams3552nope
So excited to watch this tonight you guys are seriously the best
Loved the "Napoleon is Russia" series; can't wait to see what's next! Real Time History videos on Thursday are always great; they're like the Herald of the Weekend!
Thanks for the perfect Presentation, specials thanks for excellent pronounce of historical places/towns/villages/rivers names ,mappings etc... Great works done! Deep respect!
Hands down, the best historical documentaries available.
In love with this channel, great documentary, great narrator voice and translation. Im French love how you speak it! Keep doing the great work, history is so important! This and Soviet Storm documentary are so great so much details, fascinating!
Thank you very much!
@@realtimehistory sorry to say but ambient and maps is better on epic history tv and this looks like a copy of. What epic history tv did
The channel releases videos regularly, with an easy to understand and interesting historical recap. Hope the channel produces more interesting historical videos☺☺
Excellent in so many ways. I really appreciate the visuals.
A truly outstanding production , Congratulations !
It was exciting to watch this series episode by episode. I guess now is the time to rewatch it. As I may point out, The Revolutionary Wars started in 1792, so there are many campaigns to cover in the future :) If Napoleon had watched this documentary, he would probably say: What a great series, what a great series!
No he wouldn’t he would say, “mon dieu! and sacre blur! I would never make such a foolish mistake invading Russia!”
8k((
@@flashgordon6670 *sacrebleu
He was average height for the time.
@Soacecraft Carrier: Ok Mr Pedantic
An absolutely brilliant presentation, easily the best account of the 1812 invasion I have ever read or viewed. Thank you.
An astounding narration ~ captivating the concentration to appreciate the clarity of all rounds of all battles : Very well done ~ Thank you
This documentary is absolutely superb, well done. Brilliant 👏👏👏
Wonderful presentation. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This was incredible, thank you
Been following this channel for some time now, and one day it really struck me: you guys are absolutely brilliant!
Great summary, watched all. Thank you.
Being able to spot and promote talented Marshalls seems to be one of Napoleon's best qualities. No wonder he got so far..
TWO HOURS AND FIFTY FIVE MINUTES OF NAPOLEON YES!!!
Really incredible amount of data and manpower behind this documentary... Bravo fellows!
Thanks for the beautiful and educative elucidation. Keep it up.
Great series very detailed ! This need 1 million views!!!
Can’t wait to watch, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it greatly!
Gripping, exciting, informative, very well done! A familiar subject, expertly brought to life once again.
This is great! Fantastic channel, new thing to listen to when working.
Better than any TV documentary
This was very well done. Fascinating. I watched the whole thing in one sitting!
Unbelievable video. Great quality work!
The brilliant paintings make this entire presentation a sheer joy to follow.
Yup, had no idea I was going to stay transfixed for nearly 3 hours. My goodness, what a production. Congratulations to you and your team, much admiration.
Nadezhda Andreyevna Durova (Надежда Андреевна Дурова) is such a uniquely singular figure in this colossal historical event. Her fellow male soldiers said she was "peerless" in courage and was awarded the Cross of St George by Czar Alexander himself for her actions to save her fellow soldiers.
Very well made. Thank you!
I watched the whole 3 hour presentation from beginning to end. Magnificent.
I feel very fortunate that I live at the right time of history to be about to see your content.
Just excellent! Language note: Russian term prince is in English duke. To use prince in English translations is confusing, it has a different meaning. I watched recently the three part 1986(?) War and Peace based on Tolstoy' book.
I guess you’re right, I always translate the Russian word “knyaz’” as duke
It works as "prince" when you refer to the rulers of the feudal Rus states or to the members of the royal dynasty (brothers, cousins, uncles of the emperor etc) in the imperial Russia.
Braco! Excellent presentation! I don't believe I listened to the whole thing... I coukdn't tear myself away.
This is a fantastic work and production. Your linguistic prowess impress me. I don't know about the other languages, but your french is 99% perfect! I am a new fan of Napoleon and this video express and makes me feel what a real war is : Intelligence, raw endurance and raw bravery. You have now a new subscriber.
You and your team are to be properly celebrated and congratulated. A herculean effort that is to be admired and praised. Thank you immensely for teaching me a part of history that heretofore was vague and opaque. The quote selection was superb, informative, and at times chilling. May your combined efforts reach billions in people and revenues.
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currently reading With Napoleon in Russia, the memoirs of his aide de camp. this is a perfect companion piece. thanks for the upload.
This entire video and it's narration is absolutely excellent, thanks.
Amazing work to you and your team sir
Bringing history to life is no mean feat. A great deal of hard work to cover all that befell both sides. I feel so much more educated.
Merci je suis tellement heureux de votre travail merci incroyable
Masterpiece! Thank you for this beautiful documentary!
Amazingly done documentary. Epic magnum opus!
REAL TIME HISTORY- Hopefully your channel will make a GREAT video about the "Hundred Days" campaign of Napoleon, Epic History did one on Waterloo BUT added on Battle of Quatre Bras and Battle of Ligny as quick footnotes, and they each deserve so much more, noting that SO many famous military figures died especially at Quatre Bras including the Duke of Brunswick, Lord Hay, and the Colonel of the Gordon Highlanders, John Cameron among many!!
YES! If there is ONE battle that hasn't received ANY attention...It's WATERLOO! That video NEEDS to happen!
It is incredible to think that a soldier back then walked from France to Moscow as part of a war.. And then back again if he survived! Thats like a 5000km walk, and that is a straight line. It would be more then that.. It's wild to think about
Not many got back !
@@joebidenshandler2149 yeah, it's a long cold walk
You guys are amazing thank you so much can't stop listening
Awesome thanks for the great work Sir 👍
Napoleon is one of my favorite generals in history and made me love the French. Awesome documentary helped me out with my history HW as well
First visit at this channel. I am positively blown away by the quality of this content. Don't know how they managed to make a 3h documentary that's interesting for regular people as well as history nerds.
thanks and welcome to the channel
@@realtimehistory how are you still responding to comments xD
@@warbrain1053 D - for dedication!
I love all the translations from the journals of those who were there. Very well narrated.
Great content and so well narrated Thank u
Thank you for this video, I needed some more info on this topic!
how does this only have 208k views? this is awesome
I'm reading Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" and just needed a refresher on the events. This video gave me everything I needed. Thank you. Liked and subscribed.