{"product_id":"2940148626947","title":"Fighting the Russians in Winter: Three Case Studies","description":"The Russian winter defeated Napoleon, as every Frenchman knows. It\u003cbr\u003ealso defeated Hitler, as most Germans know. Many Americans share that\u003cbr\u003e“knowledge”-which is false in both cases! Those popular myths illustrate\u003cbr\u003ethe uncritical acceptance and perpetuation of rationalizatiobe notedns designed to\u003cbr\u003eobscure the fact that those “invincible” Western military paragons were\u003cbr\u003ehumbled by the “‘inferior” Russians.\u003cbr\u003eThis paper wiI1 not discuss either of those ill-fated campaigns in detail.\u003cbr\u003eHowever, in regard to the claims of “General Winter,‘” it should \u003cbr\u003ethat the main body of Napoleon’s Grande Arm\u0026amp;e, initially at least 378,000\u003cbr\u003estrong,’ diminished by half during the first eight weeks of his invasion”-\u003cbr\u003ebefore the major battle of the campaign. This decrease was partly due to\u003cbr\u003egarrisoning supply centers, but disease, desertions, and casualties sustained\u003cbr\u003ein various minor actions caused thousands of losses.3 At Borodino on 7\u003cbr\u003eSeptember 1812-the only major engagement fought in Russia-Napoleon\u003cbr\u003ecouId muster no more than 135,000 troops and he lost at least 30,000” of\u003cbr\u003ethem to gain a narrow and Pyrrhic victory almost 600 miles deep in hostile\u003cbr\u003eterritory. The sequels were his uncontested and self-defeating occupation of\u003cbr\u003eMoscow and his humiliating retreat, which began on 19 October, before the\u003cbr\u003efirst severe frosts later that month” and the first snow on 5 November.7","brand":"ReadCycle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47075387736304,"sku":"2940148626947","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940148626947_p0.jpg?v=1763705465","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940148626947","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}