The History of Russia Podcast

Napoleon puts together yet another army, the Coalition powers redraw the map of Europe and a number of rail/metro stations would soon end up with some familiar names.

Napoleon gets busy on Elba, Alexander finds redemption, the 7th coalition is formed and down in south-east Asia there is a humungous explosion.

This week's episode features a diplomatic game that Napoleon somehow found a way to lose.The invasion of France itself, an abdication, exile and the last shots of a six-year war fought by two men who didn't know it was already over.There is also a parallel drama unfolding in Washington and Baltimore plus the status quo gets rearranged in Scandinavia.

It's 1813 - Napoleon is back in Paris and he has put together a new army.But... a new coalition has been formed and as the year progresses things start to look increasingly desperate for the French.Also and as per usual, we will be spending some time observing what was going on in the Caucasus, North America and the Iberian Peninsula plus, this time around, Northern Germany and Denmark will also get a look in.

In the sixth and final part of this min-series we follow the remnants of Napoleons Grande Armée as they plod they plod their way, half-starved and half-frozen, back towards safety.But, up ahead, at a river called the Berezina, three Russian armies were converging from three different directions, and this time there would be no cautious shadowing.

Napoleon had sat in an empty, burned-out Moscow for weeks waiting for a response from Alexander.But the Russian emperor had stayed silent and so Bonaparte had decided it was time to head back west.What he didn't know is that his retreat would become one of the biggest military disasters of all time.