Military HistoryThe Campaign of 1812 in RussiaBy General Carl von ClausewitzNew Extensive Foreword by Gerard ChaliandNapoleon’s campaign of 1812 against Russia was a turning point in the Napoleonic history. At the beginning of 1812 Napoleon was at the peak of his glory. On the eve of the Russian campaign the great majority of the European diplomats thought that Napoleon would immerge victorious. The campaign, however, proved to be disastrous for the French Grand Armee. Battle of Borodino, with heavy casualties on both sides, was probably the hardest fought battle of the Napoleonic era. Victory at Borodino gained Napoleon entry to Moscow only to end in a catastrophe and retreat of the French army in fall of the same year. The campaign of 1812 against Russia marked the beginning of the end of Napoleon’s rule in Europe.General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) is undoubtedly one of the most important military theorists in our history. His exhaustive examination and analysis of Napoleonic wars are based on his long military career-he joined the cadet corps at the age of 11 and participated in 23 years of warfare beginning in 1793. Among the enormous oeuvre of Clausewitz the best known work, by far, is the unfinished magnum opus On War. His works include many excellent writings on military history, of which The Campaign of 1812 in Russia is, assuredly, the masterpiece. This book is a superb first hand account and analysis of the military disaster of 1812 and the characters who played a significant role in it. An eyewitness and participant in the war, Clausewitz’ writing remains the most serious source on that campaign. Clausewitz is more than a military historian in the traditional sense. His concrete and objective analysis enables him to appreciate the situation in all its political, diplomatic and military ramifications. Gerard Chaliand is one of today’s leading strategists. He is the author of The Art of War in World History (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1994.) As a political scientist Chaliand has been a participant-observer of guerrilla movements throughout the world. He is a professor at Ecole Superieure de Guerre in Paris and visiting professor, among others, at Universities of Harvard, Berkeley, UCLA, Capetown, Salamanca, and Montreal. His numerous works of scholarship include: Strategic Atlas: A Comparative Geopolitics of the World’s Powers (Harper Collins, 1993), Mirrors of a Disaster: A Chronicle of the Spanish Military Conquest of America (Blue Crane Books, 1994), Revolution in the Third World (Penguin, 1989), Guerrilla Strategies. From the Long March to Afghanistan. ed. (UCLA Berkeley, 1982).
