In May 1812, after Napoleon completed the unification of most of Western Europe , he led an army of 570,000 on an expedition to Russia. On September 16, Napoleon entered Moscow. The Russian commanders Kutuzov and Barclay and other manpower abandoned the capital, and with Tsar Alexander I withdrew the remaining senior Russian generals and most of the residents, and gradually penetrated deep into the heart of Russia, adopting tactics of fortifying the wall and clearing the country. Later, because the front was stretched too long, the logistics supplies could not keep up. At the same time, because the weather in Tsarist Russia was very cold, the progress of the war was not good for Napoleon. In the end, Napoleon was defeated and returned home with only 30,000 people. Later, Russia led the anti-French alliance to capture Paris, capture Napoleon and exile him.
On June 22, 1941, Hitler after occupying most of the territory in Western Europe, he divided his troops into three groups to attack the Soviet Union. On September 30 of the same year, the German army concentrated 74 divisions with about 1 million men, supported by 1,700 tanks and 11,000 artillery pieces, to launch the Battle of Moscow. In the end, under the leadership of Stalin , the Soviet Union fought bloody battles, reversed the unfavorable situation against Germany, and finally succeeded in counterattacking. Before the end of World War II , Germany was occupied by the Soviet Union.
Napoleon and Hitler both wanted to unify the European continent, but they were defeated when they attacked Russia due to logistical supplies and cold weather. So couldn't they predict these unfavorable factors before the war started? The answer is: Yes, but this step must be taken to unify Europe. There are two reasons:
1: Their ultimate goal is to capture the United Kingdom and complete the complete unification of Europe. However, because the United Kingdom is separated from the European continent by the English Channel , it is limited by the ocean barrier and the strength of the United Kingdom. It is more difficult to capture the United Kingdom. , so choose the weaker Russia. Russia, whether it was Tsarist Russia in the early period or the Soviet Union later, except for its large territory, its strength was not very good. In particular, its industrial and military strength were much weaker than those of Western Europe.
2: The most important point is that Russia’s expansionist nature is too strong
. In its early days, Russia was a Muscovite principality under the rule of Mongolia. After being ruled by Mongolia for two and a half centuries, Russia gained independence and began to expand rapidly. It successively fought against the Nordic countries Sweden in the north, and reached the Baltic Sea ; it also attacked the Ottoman Empire in the south. , reaching directly to the Black Sea; occupying Siberia to the east, and fighting against Nerchinsk in the Qing Dynasty, and approaching Northeast China. Later, in the late years of the Manchu and Qing dynasties, it also annexed the outer northeast and outer northwest of China, the most fertile areas of China. After multiple attacks, Russia has become the largest country in the world, directly threatening Western and Southern Europe, and may even gradually annex the entire European continent.
Because of this, despite facing logistical supplies and severe cold weather, as well as facing an unpredictable outcome, Napoleon and Hitler still chose to expedition to Russia. It can be said that they jumped into the same historical trap at the same time.
