Why does Napoleon's army retreat from Russia?

Question

Why does Napoleon's army retreat from Russia?
Please explain.

Answer 1

When Napoleon invaded Russia, he did so with a force close to 700,000 men, the largest European army every assembled up to that point. The Russian forces directly opposing the French invasion numbered only around 200,000. So, the Russians used a scorched earth policy and destroyed anything that might me useful to the invaders and retreated just fast enough to keep them at a chase. There were countless skirmishes and a few key battles such as the Battle of Borodino, where the Russians lost around 100,000 men and left the way to Moscow wide open. After the French captured the empty city of Moscow, it was effectively destroyed by a fire that left the French army without shelter in the face of a bitter Russian winter. The French army had severely stretched their supply lines and sitting in the ashes of a dead city without reaching the Russian capital(St. Petersburg at the time) and facing a new Russian army threat, Napoleon decided to retreat. With the lack of grass almost of the remaining horses died which destroyed the French cavalry, forced the French to leave behind their cannon and military wagons and deprived the army of any support convoy. With constant fighting, disease, desertion and starvation, only 22,000 French soldiers made it out of Russia of the original 700,000.

Answer 2

Napoleon Retreat From Moscow

Answer 3

Used to quick victories, Napoleon's army pushed too far into Russia without taking the winter into consideration. They started to run out of food, couldn't obtain enough around them because Russians are prone to burning their crops as they withdraw, and were just battered down by the numerically strong Russian forces. Nobody would have had much of a choice.

Answer 4

More homework questions!!!

The French managed to get all the way to Moscow, as the French were about to enter the city the Russians burnt it, after evacuating the population, the Russians also on their retreat to Moscow, had burnt or removed any food, animals, stores of grain that would be available to the French, this is known as a scorched earth policy where you deny your enemy any chance to forage off the land.
With the onset of the Russian winter the French had to retreat in doing so they lost thousands of men to the weather and hunger and Russian attacks on their retreating forces.A lesson which Adolf Hitler should have headed when he attempted to do the same thing in the 1940's.

Answer 5

The bitter Russian iciness which the army replaced into no longer clothed for. The Russians finished a scorched earth coverage which meant they destroyed or bumped off all foodstuff materials and guard in the path of Napoleon's military. while they reached Moscow they stumbled on it had no materials to take care of them and the Russian roads have been too undesirable to grant them from the west. the end result replaced into that 1000's of adult males died of starvation and chilly in the process the retreat,

Answer 6

There was something called the scorch earth policy where the Russians burned their crops and villages forcing Napoleon's army to retreat.

Answer 7

Same reason as most of the invading armies of Russia retreat, the cold, and they ran out of supplies.

Answer 8

The French army couldn’t sustain a Russian attack so they retreated. On the way winter set in and widled the army down.

Answer 9

Russian winter. Plus the Russians burned down their own cities as they ran from Napoleon. Thus, the French had no place to refill supplies.

Answer 10

The cold drove them out. The Russians had destroyed everything they could find buildings fields food wells. Napoleons troops had nothing to use.