Like many other countries, Russia knew many wars. Many times, our country has had to defend its territory. But only two wars entered Russian history under the name of Patriotic.
The First World War began on June 24, 1812. The former revolutionary general Napoleon Bonaparte, who by that time had already managed to proclaim himself emperor and conquer half of Europe, crossed the border of the Russian Empire. As in many other cases, the main cause of the war was economic controversy. The French emperor, who considered Britain his main adversary, tried to establish a continental blockade of this country. This was unprofitable for Russia, she did her best to counteract this. Napoleon did not see any other way to make Alexander I act in a way that was convenient for France. In addition, bourgeois France sought to establish a new capitalist order in Europe, which remained largely feudal.
At the beginning of the war, the Russian army was retreating. For a long time, it was generally accepted that the reason for the retreat was the weakness of the Russian army compared to the Napoleonic army, which by that time was provided by almost all of Europe. Many historians believed that the division of the Russian army into three parts was erroneous. Now a different view has been adopted - the Russian army has fulfilled its primary task and stopped the advance of the enemy to the capital, which at that time was St. Petersburg. The first stage lasted until November 1812 and ended with the Battle of Borodino and the surrender of Moscow.
At the second stage, the Russian army conquered everything that had to be surrendered before that. Under the blows of the Russian troops, which at that moment was commanded by M.I. Kutuzov, the enemy was forced to retreat along the territory devastated by him. This stage ended with the complete victory of the Russian army, and the next period was the campaign abroad, culminating in the capture of Paris and the fall of Napoleon. During this war, a powerful guerrilla movement unfolded. At the very beginning of the first stage, a significant militia was collected. That is why the war was called the Patriotic War.
The Second World War, to the name of which the epithet "Great" was added, began on June 22, 1941. The reasons were not only economic, but also political - two totalitarian systems clashed ideologically incompatible. In Germany, the National Socialist Party came to power, which ultimately dragged the country into war. Hitler was haunted by the laurels of Napoleon, he wanted to complete what the French commander failed to do, and even started the war in June, but two days earlier.
These two wars are very similar in many ways. In the Great Patriotic Red Army, too, at first it retreated from the borders to Moscow. But the capital was defended, and from that moment the situation began to change. The turning point came after the victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad, and was fixed by the Battle of Kursk. As during the Patriotic War of 1812, a powerful partisan movement unfolded in the territories occupied by the Nazi invaders. Numerous clandestine organizations worked in the cities temporarily abandoned by Soviet troops. The resistance was very strong and truly popular, which made it possible to call the Patriotic War.
The Great Patriotic War ended with the battle for Berlin. The Second World War, of which the Great Patriotic War was a part, continued for another three months and ended in victory over Japan.
