French invasion of Russia subject of much discussion among historians. The campaign's sustained role in Russian culture may be seen in Tolstoy's "War and Peace", Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture", and the identification of it with the German invasion of 1941–45, which became known as the "Great Patriotic War" in the Soviet Union. French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, known in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 () and in France as the Russian Campaign (), began on 24 June 1812 when Napoleon's crossed the Neman River in an attempt to engage and defeat the Russian army. Napoleon hoped to compel Tsar
Sonya (War and Peace) Sonya (War and Peace) Sofya Alexandrovna "Sonya" (; ) is a character in Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel "War and Peace", and in Sergey Prokofiev's 1955 opera "War and Peace" and Dave Malloy's 2012 musical "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812" based on it. She is the orphaned niece of Count and Countess Rostov. Although sometimes called "Sonya Rostova", it is not clear if that is her surname or not; the novel does not tell. "Alexandrovna" is a patronymic. At the start of the novel, 15-year-old Sonya is in love with her cousin, Nikolai Rostov, who initially reciprocates her