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
Political midlife crisis Mendelson, from their 2008 perspective, anticipated that the traumas of the George W. Bush presidency would "season [the Unitied States] with new strength, wisdom and maturity", enabling it to move forward from this political midlife crisis. The European debt crisis (2009–present) has been called the European Union's midlife crisis in articles by Gideon Rachman, Roland Benedikter, and Natalie Nougayrede. Arguably Brexit and the ongoing migrant crisis are further symptoms of an ongoing European midlife crisis. Leo Tolstoy, in "War and Peace", asks about the 1812 French invasion of Russia: "What is the cause of this movement which took the French