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
Tolstoy Cup to their studied disciplines on their shirts: 'D. Lama', 'M. L. King' and 'Gandhi' for Peace and 'Nelson', 'Caesar' and 'Clausewitz' for War. The "trophy" for the Tolstoy Cup has in prior years constituted a framed copy of Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace". The trophy first came into use in 2007. It is kept by the department of the current winners. The Department of War Studies at King's College London currently hold the trophy. The book used since 2007 was last used following the 2011 match due to its fragile state after 5 years of use and was replaced