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
Verkhnyadzvinsk Vitebsk Governorate, and during the War of 1812 it was the site of a fortified camp described by Leo Tolstoy in Book Three of "War and Peace". It became a "raion" center in 1924. During the Second World War it was occupied by Germany and Jews of the city were massacred. Verkhnyadzvinsk Verkhnyadzvinsk (, , ) or Verkhnedvinsk () is a city in Belarus in the northwest of Vitebsk Region; it is the administrative center of the Verkhnyadzvinsk Raion. Until 1962, it was named Drysa (, Drissa). It is located at the confluence of the Drysa River and the Daugava