Napoleon's Russian Campaign: Gender Aspect
Zemtzov Vladimir
The author of the article reveals the degree of women's participation in the functioning of Napoleon's army, especially during the Russian campaign of 1812. At the same time, the role of women could be expressed not only in the fact that the very daily functioning of the Great Army was practically impossible without the activities of sutlers, laundresses, wives and girlfriends of soldiers and officers, but also in the indirect influence of those women who remained in their homeland, but thoughts about which the Napoleonic soldiers were not released even during the most difficult trials. Based on a wide range of the correspondence of the ranks of the Great Army, the significant role played by the memories and thoughts of the soldiers about the women who remained in their homeland was shown. Letters from the motherland exerted a great influence on the nature of the mood of the soldiers. Often, they brought good news rather than bad news. These messages warmed the soldiers and officials of the Great Army in Russia with the distant warmth of a home. The letters reflected all sorts of cute inventions that relatives in France or Germany resorted to please their father, husband, or brother. It could be numerous signatures, including small children who could not yet read, which the household put at the end of the letter, it could be a gentle hair of a son sealed in a wax seal, and much more. As for the relationship between the soldiers of Napoleon's army and women living in the occupied territories of the Russian Empire, this issue should be approached quite differently, taking into account, firstly, the territorial aspect (obviously, in the western provinces, the inhabitants of which the Napoleonic soldiers came to "liberate", relations with them were built differently than with the population, including the females, on the territory of "old Russia"), and, secondly, a great variety of special cases, which can hardly be reduced only to violence by soldiers of invading armies.
The study is sponsored by the Russian Science Foundation, grant 20–18–00113 (https://rscf.ru/project/20-18-00113/).
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