Moscow Expedition

Japanese: モスクワ遠征 - もすくわえんせい
Moscow Expedition

The Russian expedition that Napoleon I undertook in 1812. It is also called the Russian Expedition. Napoleon declared the Continental System in the Berlin Decree of November 1806, and the following year, he forced Russia to cooperate with him in the Treaty of Tilsit. However, Russia, a grain exporting country, did not comply with this, so in 1812 he led an army of 640,000 men to invade Russia. Half of the troops were from allied countries such as Poland, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Spain. On the Russian side, while forming an alliance with Sweden, Great Britain, and Spain, Russia defended its territory with about 230,000 men, including the First Western Army (127,000 men) under General Barclay de Tori, the Second Army (45,000-48,000 men) under General Bagration, and the Third Army (43,000-46,000 men) under General Tormasov. On June 24 of the same year, Napoleon's troops crossed the Neman River and advanced through Vilno and Smolensk, and on September 7th engaged in battle with the Russian army led by commander-in-chief General Kutuzov at Borodino.Despite suffering heavy losses, they entered Moscow on September 14th.

However, Napoleon's appeal for peace negotiations was ignored by Alexander I, and not only was food scarce after a major fire in Moscow of unknown origin, but winter was also fast approaching, so Napoleon decided to withdraw from Moscow on October 19th. The retreat was extremely disastrous, with the Russian army pursuing them and peasant guerilla attacks, and only 25,000 men were able to escape back across the Neman River. It is said that 550,000 people were lost in this expedition, including 100,000 prisoners. The expedition was an indirect cause of Napoleon's downfall two years later.

[Takeo Kuryuzawa]

[References] | Continental Blockade | Napoleonic Wars | Battle of Borodino

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

1812年にナポレオン1世が行ったロシアに対する遠征。ロシア遠征ともいう。ナポレオンは、1806年11月のベルリン勅令で大陸封鎖を宣言し、翌年のティルジット条約によってロシアにも協力を約させたが、穀物輸出国であるロシアがこれに従わなかったため、12年、64万の大軍を率いてロシアに攻め込んだ。兵力の半分はポーランド、オーストリア、ドイツ、イタリア、スペイン等の同盟国軍であった。ロシア側は、スウェーデン、イギリス、スペインと同盟を結ぶ一方、バルクライ・デ・トーリ将軍麾下(きか)の第一西部軍(12万7000)、バグラチオン将軍の第二軍(4万5000~4万8000)、トルマソフ将軍の第三軍(4万3000~4万6000)など約23万をもって防衛にあたった。同年6月24日、ネマン川を越えたナポレオン軍は、ビルノ、スモレンスクを経て進撃し、総司令官クトゥーゾフ将軍の率いるロシア軍と9月7日ボロジノで交戦、多大の損害を出しながらも、9月14日モスクワに入城した。

 だが、ナポレオンの和平交渉の呼びかけはアレクサンドル1世によって無視され、またモスクワが原因不明の大火で炎上して糧食が乏しくなったのみならず、冬も間近に迫ったので、ナポレオンは10月19日モスクワ撤退に踏み切った。退却は、ロシア軍の追撃と農民のゲリラ攻撃により悲惨を極め、ネマン川を越えて逃げ帰ることのできたのはわずか2万5000人にすぎなかったという。捕虜10万を含めて55万人がこの遠征で失われたともいわれる。遠征は、2年後のナポレオン没落の遠因となった。

[栗生沢猛夫]

[参照項目] | 大陸封鎖 | ナポレオン戦争 | ボロジノの戦い

出典 小学館 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について 情報 | 凡例

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