Who is GENERAL WINTER? How did she defeat Napoleon Bonaparte in Russia decisively?

Question

My sis told me that she led Russian Army to beat the French Army in the motherland.... If I'm not mistaken, only 15.000 out of 670.000 French army survived her blood-bath assault and strategy.

Woooww!! How did she do that? Wasn't French Army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte himself the greatest Army in Europe at that time?

Answer 1

Your sis is correct, but is using a metaphor.
"General Winter" is the incredibly cold winters that they have in Russia. It was the cold, snow and ice that defeated Napoleon, and Hitler too.
See the French invaded during the warm months with nearly a million men in their army (including a large number of allies like the Poles and Germans). They made steady advances through Russia, mowing down any army sent to oppose them.
But Russia is big, especially when you are moving men and supplies by horsecart. And the supply lines got very long. And eventually winter came, and those supply lines proved to be too long, and the soldiers' summer uniforms were no protection against the bitter cold. Starvation, frostbite, and death claimed them.
Those were the weapons of "General Winter."
Does that help?

Answer 2

There was no General Winter. I'm afraid your sis is wrong on this one. (So hard to get ten points when you're telling someone they are wrong :) General Winter was a term that was coined to represent the harsh Russian winters.

Along with the hunger, the French also had to face the harsh Russian winter. An American military study has concluded that the winter only had an effect when Napoleon was already in full retreat. "However, in regard to the claims of "General Winter," it should be noted that the main body of Napoleon's Grande Armée diminished by half during the first eight weeks of his invasion before the major battle of the campaign. This decrease was partly due to garrisoning supply centres, but disease, desertions, and casualties sustained in various minor actions caused thousands of losses. At Borodino on 7 September 1812 - the only major engagement fought in Russia - Napoleon could muster no more than 135,000 troops, and he lost at least 30,000 of them to gain a narrow and Pyrrhic victory almost 600 miles deep in hostile territory. The sequels were his uncontested and self-defeating occupation of Moscow and his humiliating retreat, which began on 19 October, before the first severe frosts later that month and the first snow on 5 November."

Answer 3

Napoleon didn't count on Mother Nature, or that the Russian studied Napoleon's problems when he attacked Spain

Napoleon's Grand Army entered Russia and was routing the Russians, but suffering heavy casualties along the way as Napoleon reached and laid siege to Moscow on September 14, 1812.

The Russians forces were hitting the french supply lines and continued to attack the French forces. With the attack force itself low on supplies and shelter, Napoleon had to cut his losses and abandoned Moscow in October 19,1812 as the Czar didn't even answer his petition of a truce, the Russian forces attacked the retreating force.and as winter temperatures set in November over the ill prepared French forces, it was a road littered with the dead.

From an original force of 678,000 men that entered Russian Territory in June 1812, only a force between 10,000 and 30,000 crossed the Nieman river into Kovno and out of Russian territory in December 1812.

Answer 4

General Winter is the Russian Winter. I'm reading War and Peace right now and read Richard K. Makey's (sp?) acclaimed book about Peter the Great. The Russian winter slaughtered the french just as it had Slaughtered the Swedes (I think it was the Swedes) in the Great Northern War under Peter the Great.

But the Russian army has never been good enough to do that. It probably couldn't have done that even under Peter, when it was at it's best. Russia just has so many people compared to the smaller European countries that it just throws them at their enemies. In one battle the Russians outnumbered the Swedes 4 to 1 and in the end they ran away, afraid.

Answer 5

Read Tolstoy's War and Peace to get some insight and real history books -- the classification of Napoleon books numbers in the 1000s. Napoleon had no choice after occupying a deserted Moscow but to try and crack down on uprisings in the rest of his empire, particularly Spain and France. He gave the command in November. Had he waited through the winter it might have been a different story, but as the army started home it turned into a headless melee.

Answer 6

"General" winter was the Russian winter season itself.
Militarily Napoleon would have defeated Russia, but his armies could not survive the cold and had to retreat. So it was not a "blood bath" as you say, but rather thousands and thousands of frozen bodies, all over Russia.
The same happened to Hitler's Germany during WW II. People don't learn from history, do they?

Answer 7

The Russian (or Soviet) Winter is a common name of winter in Russia. It lasts for 5 months, from November till the end of March, and is known for its low temperatures and transportation difficulties, and also because of its role in military events on Russian territory. Common nicknames for the notion are General Winter and General Snow.

The average and minimal temperatures in Russian regions differ. In Yakutia the winter is most severe, with the lowest temperature around -55°..-60°C (around -67°F). In the European regions of Russia (west to Ural mountains) the winter is more european-like, with average temperature rarely fallig lower than -15 C; however, sometimes it is much colder: for example, the winter 2005/2006 showed temperature around -25°..-30°C in Moscow in January, during the whole month. In Russia this period of the year is called the Epiphany frosts and has been known for its low temperatures for centuries. One of the factors for these temperatures is the climate, that is continental. The other factor is Russia's geography: it lies mostly inside the polar circle, and is as northerly as Canada, but with little open water inside to store the sun's energy. For example, in the Altai region in August the day temperature is higher than 20°C, but at night it can fall down to 0°..5°C. Older people say the winter temperature in Russia has increased over last 10-20 years.

The severity of Russian winter is often linked with Russian military victories. In the Great Northern War, Charles XII of Sweden invaded the Russia of Peter the Great. The Russians retreated, burning everything in their wake, leaving no supplies. This particular winter happened to be the most brutal winter of the 18th century, so severe that the salt water port of Venice froze. Charles' 35,000 troops were decimated, and only 19,000 were left after that winter. The Battle of Poltava in 1709 sealed the end of the Swedish Empire

Napoleon's Grande Armée of 610,000 men invaded Russia, heading towards Moscow, in 1812. The Russian army retreated before the French and again burnt their crops and villages, denying the enemy their use. Napoleon's army was ultimately reduced to 100,000. His army suffered further, even more disastrous losses on the retreat from Moscow. According to an American military study, the main body of Napoleon's Grande Armée, initially at least 378,000 strong, "diminished by half during the first eight weeks of his invasion, before the major battle of the campaign. This decrease was partly due to garrisoning supply centres, but disease, desertions, and casualties sustained in various minor actions caused thousands of losses. At Borodino on 7 September 1812 - the only major engagement fought in Russia - Napoleon could muster no more than 135,000 troops and he lost at least 30,000 of them to gain a narrow and Pyrrhic victory almost 600 miles inside hostile territory. The sequels were his uncontested and self-defeating occupation of Moscow and his humiliating retreat, which began on 19 October, before the first severe frosts later that month and the first snow on 5 November."

The argument of the Russian winter may be partly mythologized. Failed invaders liked to exaggerate the significance of weather conditions in their failures. According to the meteorological records, the 1812-1813 winter was milder than usual.

The Russian winter has never been the only factor that stopped invaders of Russia. No invader has won a war against Russians on their territory, since the Mongol invasion of Rus in 1223. This may be more a function of Russian military training, military strength and national character, as a consequence of the many invasion attempts throughout Russian history