1341 | Medals

Automatically generated translation

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, Empire (1804-1815). Withdrawal of the French army from Russia. (Ae. 44.99g / 40mm). 1812. Engraver: Andrieu and Galle. (Bramsen 1168). Good Very Fine. Scratch.

It is hard to believe that until just a year earlier, 1811, Russia and France were allies. The cooling of relations between both nations gave way, after knowing the wishes of Tsar Alexander I to conquer Constantinople and the need to achieve an approach to Great Britain, to the direct confrontation between both superpowers that ended with a disastrous French defeat on Russian soil. On December 14, 1812, the withdrawal of the only twenty-two thousand survivors of that “Grande Armée” was culminated, leaving almost half a million soldiers between deceased and prisoners along the way.