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
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