French invasion of Russia 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 Alexander I of Russia to cease trading with British merchants through proxies in an effort to pressure the United Kingdom to sue for peace. The official political aim of the campaign was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia. Napoleon named the campaign the Second Polish
French invasion of Russia to 161,475 men. Napoleon lost at least 30,000 men in this battle, to gain a narrow and Pyrrhic victory almost into hostile territory. Napoleon's invasion of Russia is listed among the most lethal military operations in world history. Napoleon's invasion of Russia is better known in Russia as the "Patriotic War of 1812" (Russian , ). It should not be confused with the "Great Patriotic War" (, ), a term for Adolf Hitler's invasion of Russia during the Second World War. The "Patriotic War of 1812" is also occasionally referred to as simply the ""War of 1812"", a term which