French forces in Spain were severely overstretched, as Napoleon withdrew the best troops for his invasion of Russia. Wellington saw an opportunity to strike. First he secured the strategic ...

On June 24, 1812, ignoring the advice of his closest advisors, Napoleon invaded Russia. Never in living memory had so large an army been assembled — Italians, Poles, German, French — more than ...

They were the most feared men in Napoleon’s army ... The Imperial Guard grew from 8,000 in 1805 to 80,000 in 1812. Over 60,000 marched into Russia; few returned.

A poster portraying the “Second Patriotic War” as World War I was known in Russia. (Napoleon’s 1812 invasion was Russia’s first “patriotic war.”) Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II ...