The Sneeze of History
It was the opinion of Leo Tolstoy that even Napoleon was never master of his own destiny.
1812
It was the opinion of Leo Tolstoy that even Napoleon was never master of his own destiny.
1812
Thomas Carlyle was a famous proponent of the ‘Great Men’ theory of history, which holds that world-changing events are moved by bold, iron-willed men of vision. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy was not of this brotherhood. In his classic War and Peace, he reminded us that even a man as great as Napoleon is much less in control of his own destiny than we might imagine.
MANY historians say that the French did not win the battle of Borodino because Napoleon had a cold,* and that if he had not had a cold the orders he gave before and during the battle would have been still more full of genius and Russia would have been lost and the face of the world have been changed.
To historians who believe that Russia was shaped by the will of one man — Peter the Great — and that France from a republic became an empire and French armies went to Russia at the will of one man — Napoleon — to say that Russia remained a power because Napoleon had a bad cold on the twenty-fourth of August may seem logical and convincing.*
If it had depended on Napoleon’s will to fight or not to fight the battle of Borodino, and if this or that other arrangement depended on his will, then evidently a cold affecting the manifestation of his will might have saved Russia, and consequently the valet who omitted to bring Napoleon his waterproof boots on the twenty-fourth would have been the saviour of Russia.
The Battle of Borodino took place some seventy miles west of Moscow in 1812. Napoleon did win the day and gain entry to Moscow, but for some reason he did not pursue his advantage as ruthlessly as on similar occasions, and was soon afterwards forced into a humiliating retreat which led to his (temporary) abdication as French Emperor on April 6th, 1814. See our story Retreat from Moscow.
The date of the battle itself was August 26th, 1812, ‘Old Style’ (i.e. on the Julian Calendar in use in Russia until 1918, and in England until 1752). That same day was September 7th ‘New Style’.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
What reason did some 19th-century historians give for Napoleon’s under par performance at Borodino in 1812?
They claimed he had a bad cold.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Napoleon wanted a European Empire. He wanted the Russian Empire to be part of it. He tried to capture Moscow in 1812.