“THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1812” IN FRENCH HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE XIX CENTURY

Olga O. Dmitrieva

DOI: 10.47026/2712-9454-2021-2-1-47-53

Key words

Napoleon Bonaparte, Russian historiography, French historiography, the Battle of Borodino.

Annotation

The Patriotic War of 1812 occupies a special place in the historical memory of Russia. Сoncurrently, in France, the events of this historical period also left an indelible imprint in the memory of the French society. Based on a historiographical review of the historical works written by French historians (Frédéric François Guillaume de Vaudoncourt, R.J. Durdan, E. Labaume, Gaspard Gourgaud, Philippe-Paul de Ségur, L. de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, G. Chambray, A. Jomini and J. Pelet-Clozeau) the author analyzes the development of French historiography devoted to the personality of Napoleon Bonaparte and the historical period of 1812 taken as a whole. It should be noted that Bonaparte’s invasion into the territory of the Russian Empire entered the Russian historiographical tradition as the “Patriotic War of 1812”, while in France these events became known in history as the “Napoleon’s Russian Drive” or “Napoleon’s Russian Campaign”. The author analyzes the influence of Bonaparte’s personality on the historical consciousness of the European and the Russian society of the XIX century, when the so-called “Napoleonic myth” was very popular, which idealized the personality of this person. Foreign historiography of the war of 1812 differs in that researchers considered the military campaign in Russia in the context of the Napoleonic era as a whole, as a result of which there were either separate studies on the war with Russia, or general works about the period of Bonaparte’s military campaigns.

References

1. Zemtsov V.N. «Frantsuzskoe» Borodino. Frantsuzskaya istoriografiya Bo-rodinskogo srazheniya [“French” Borodino. French historiography of the Battle of Borodino]. Otechestvennaya istoriya, 2002, no. 6, pp. 38–51.
2. Kazantsev M. «Ne otdali b Moskvy». 1812: internet-proekt [“They wouldn’t give it to Moscow.” 1812: Internet Project]. Available at: http://www.museum.ru/1812/Library/Kazantsev4/ index.html (Access Date 2019, Dec. 17).
3. Postnikova A.A. Srazhenie pri Berezine v istoricheskoi pamyati Frantsii [The Battle of Berezina in the historical memory of France]. Novaya i noveishaya istoriya, 2012, no. 2, pp. 53–63.
4. T’er A. Istoriya konsul’stva i imperii vo Frantsii: v 4 t. [History of the consulate and empire in France. 4 vols.]. Moscow, Zakharov Publ., 2014, vol. 2, 928 p.
5. Filipp-Pol’ de Segyur. Pokhod v Rossiyu [Hike to Russia]. Moscow, Zakharov Publ., 2002, 495 p.
6. Frederik Fransua Giiom de Vodonkur. Kriticheskoe polozhenie Napo-leo-na pri pereprave frantsuzskoi armii cherez Berezinu v 1812 godu [The critical situation of Napoleon during the crossing of the French army across the Berezina in 1812]. St. Petersburg, 1833, 69 p.
7. Shisterov M.V. Otechestvennaya voina 1812 goda v zarubezhnoi istoriografii: avtoref. dis. … kand. ist. nauk [The Patriotic War of 1812 in foreign historygraphy: Abstract of Cand. Diss.]. Ekaterinburg, 2009, 29 p.
8. Laurent de Gouvion-Saint-Cyr. «Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire militaire sous le Directoire, le Consulat et l’Empire» (1829–1831). Paris, Anselin, libraire pour l’art militaire, iitje thionville, 1831, 479 p.

Information about the author

Olga O. Dmitrieva – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Assistant Lecturer, Department of History and Culture of Foreign Countries, Chuvash State University, Russia, Cheboksary (dmitrieva21region@mail.ru).

For citations

Dmitrieva O.O. “THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1812” IN FRENCH HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE XIX CENTURY. Historical Search, 2021,  vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 47–53. DOI: 10.47026/2712-9454-2021-2-1-47-53 (in Russian).

Download the full article