Moscow under Napoleon: The Social Experience of Cross-Cultural Dialogue
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2016.3.184Abstract
The article is devoted to social aspects of cross-cultural contacts during the Napoleonic occupation of Moscow. A wide documentary base developed over two centuries allows us to define the forms and mechanisms of contact between the representatives of different cultural, ethnic, and social groups in a devastated urban environment. Serious differences between the actions taken by the various groups of Moscow’s population were already evident before Russian troops left the city. The upper classes tried to abandon the city, leaving only their servants to guard assets: meanwhile, many representatives of the middle strata, including foreigners, could not afford such a course of action. They remained in the city, primarily to defend their houses and belongings: however, their actions could also be dictated by family circumstances and a sense of professional/public duty. The lower classes of the Russian capital were even less capable of leaving the city. Their mood quickly changed from patriotic exaltation, coupled with drunkenness and looting, to open hostility towards the authorities and ‘masters’ who had ‘betrayed’ them. A special category was made up of the sick and wounded Russian soldiers, some of whom were left to the mercy of the invaders because there was no opportunity to move them. Many of these people had no choice other than to face the cruelty of their fate, although those who managed to travel often engaged in robbery and looting. The actions of the Moscow mayor were largely determined by the desire to erect an insurmountable barrier between the European soldiers who occupied the capital and those residents who remained. Indeed, a great fire, which began on the evening of 14 September, and widespread looting and violence destroyed the contacts between the occupiers and the local population. After returning to the Kremlin on 18 September, Napoleon gave orders to systematically plunder Moscow. This caused even greater alienation between the people of Moscow and the troops occupying it. However, Moscow residents also had to anticipate the reestablishment of Russian control, which principally entailed maintaining their lives and property intact. This determined the features of future intercultural contacts and cross-cultural dialogue. This is the first part of the article.
References
Arkhiv vneshney politiki Rossiyskoy imperii [The Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire]. Stock 133. List 468. Dossier 1842.
Bestuzhev-Ryumin, A. D. (1896). Kratkoe opisanie proisshestviyam v Moskve v 1812 godu [A Short Account of the Moscow Events in 1812]. In Russky arkhiv, 7, Book 2, pp. 341–365.
Burgon′, A.-Zh.-B. (2003). Memuary [Memoirs]. 176 p. Moscow, Nasledie. Castellane, E. V. E. B. (1895). Journal : in 3 t. Vo. 1. V, 477 p. Paris, Plon Nourrit.
Denniée, P. P. (1842). Itinéraire de l’Impereur Napoléon pendant la campagne de 1812. 212 p. Paris, Paulin.
Dolgova, S. G. (1999). Neizvestnoe svidetel′stvo o moskovskom pozhare 1812 g. [Unknown Account of the Moscow Fire of 1812]. In Otechestvennaya voyna 1812 goda : Istochniki. Pamyatniki. Problemy. 1998 g. : materialy VII vserossyskoy nauchnoy konferentsii (pp. 30–52). Borodino.
Domergue, A. (1881). Vospominaniya o Rossii [Recollections of Russia]. In Istorichesky vestnik, 6, pp. 343–363; 7, pp. 596–628; 8, pp. 862–887; 9, pp. 158–184; 11, pp. 620–641; 12, pp. 807–821, 816.
Domergue, A. (1835). La Russie pendant les guerres de l’Empire : in 2 t. Paris, A. Bertran.
Dubrovin, N. F. (2006). Otechestvennaya voyna v pis′makh sovremennikov (1812–1815 gg.) [The War of 1812 in the Letters of Contemporaries]. 671 p. Moscow, Gosudarstvennaya publichnaya istoricheskaya biblioteka Rossii.
Fain, A. J. F. (1827). Manuscrit de 1812 : in 2 t. Vol. 2. 495 p. Paris, Dulaunay. Fantin des Odoards, L. F. (1895). Journal. 515 p. Paris, Plon. Frantsuzy v Rossii : 1812 god po vospominaniyam sovremennikov-inostrantsev : v 3 ch. [The French in Russia : The Year of 1812 according to Non-Russian Contemporaries]. (1912). Part 1. VIII, 200 p. Moscow, Zadruga.
Goriainow, S. E. M. (Publ.). (1913). Lettres interceptées par les Russes durant la champagne de 1812. XVI, 440 p. Paris, La Sabretache.
Gosudarstvennyy istorichesky muzey [The State Historical Museum]. Otdel pis′mennykh istochnikov. Stock 155. Coll. item 109, 110; Stock 160. Coll. item 198, 199. Izarn, F. d’ (1900). Vospominaniya moskovskogo zhitelya o prebyvanii frantsuzov v Moskve v 1812 godu [Recollections of a Moscow Dweller about the French in Moscow in 1812]. In Russky arkhiv, 11, Col. 1406–1462.
Klauzevits, K. (1997). 1812 god [The Year of 1812]. 212 p. Moscow, Shtrikhton.
Kozlovsky, G. Ya. (1890). Moskva v 1812 godu, zanyataya frantsuzami : Vospominaniya ochevidtsa [Moscow in the Year of 1812, Occupied by the French : Memories of a Witness]. In Russkaya starina, 1, pp. 105–114.
Kol′chugin, G. N. (1879). Zapiski o 1812 gode moskovskogo gofmaklera G. N. Kol′chugina [Notes on the Year of 1812 by Moscow Court Broker G.N. Kolchugin]. In Russky arkhiv, 9, pp. 45–60.
Korbeletsky, F. I. (1813). Kratkoe povestvovanie o vtorzhenii frantsuzov v Moskvu… [A Short Account of the French Invasion of Moscow...]. 85 p. St. Petersburg, Tipografiya
Departamenta vneshney torgovli.
Labaume, E. (2001). Relation circonstancié de la campagne de Russie en 1812. 325 p.Paris, Arléa.
Martin, A. (2012). Moskva v 1812 godu i sud′ba imperskogo sotsial’nogo proekta [Moscow in 1812 and the Fate of the Imperial Social Project]. In Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 6 (118), pp. 114–142.
Martin, A. (2015). Prosveshchennyy metropolis : Sozidanie imperskoy Moskvy, 1762–1855 [Enlightened Metropolis. Constructing Imperial Moscow. 1762–1855]. 464 p. Moscow, NLO.
Moskva i Otechestvennaya voyna 1812 g. : v 2 kn. [Moscow and the War of 1812]. (2011). Book 2. 640 p. Moscow, Izdatel′stvo Glavnogo arkhivnogo upravleniya Moskvy.
Napoleon v Rossii glazami russkikh [Napoleon in Russia as Seen by Russians]. (2004).320 p. Moscow, Zakharov.
Otdel pis′mennykh istochnikov Gosudarstvennogo istoricheskogo muzeya [The Department of Written Sources of the State Historical Museum]. Stock 160. Coll. item 291 (Lettres inedits du baron Dominique Larrey à sa Femme pendant la Campagne de Russie).
Otechestvennaya voyna i russkoe obshchestvo : v 7 t. [The War of 1812 and Russian Society : 7 Vols.]. (1912). Vol. 4. 352 p. Moscow, Tovarishchestvo I. D. Sytina.
Perovsky, V. A. (1865). Iz zapisok pokoynogo V. A. Perovskogo [Excerpts from Late V. A. Petrovsky’s Notes]. In Russky arkhiv, Col. 1031–1058.
Pis′mo prikazchika M. Sokova k I. R. Batashovu (sentyabr′ 1812 g.) [A Letter from Clerk M. Sokov to I. R. Batashov]. (1871). In Russky arkhiv, 6, pp. 0218–0228.
Popov, A. N. (1876). Frantsuzy v Moskve v 1812 godu [The French in Moscow in 1812]. 185 p. Moscow, Tipografiya Gracheva.
Quintin, D. et B. (1996). Dictionnaire des Colonels de Napoleon. 978 p. Paris, SPM.
Raport Kavalergardskogo polka protoiereya Gratsianskogo ober-svyashchenniku armii i flota I. S. Derzhavinu [Report of the Horse Guards by Archpriest Gratsiansky to Ober-priest of the Army and Navy I.S. Derzhavin]. (1865). In Russky arkhiv, Part 4, Col. 731–735.
Roos, G. S (1912). S Napoleonom v Rossiyu [To Russia with Napoleon]. XI, 334, IV p. Moscow, Sfinks.
Rossiysky gosudarstvennyy arkhiv drevnikh aktov [Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts]. Stock 30. List 1. Dossier 239–243, 245–254, 259–264, 266–270, 273–274, 278, 285.
Rossiysky gosudarstvennyy voenno-istorichesky arkhiv [Russian State Military and Historical Archive]. Stock 151. List 1. Dossier 92. Stock 846. List 16. Dosseir 358, 3605. Part 1–2.
Rosenstrauch, J. A., (Martin, A. (Foreword)). (2015). Istoricheskie proisshestviya v Moskve 1812 goda vo vremya prisutstviya v sem gorode nepriyatelya [Historical Events in Moscow in 1812 at the Time of the Enemy’s Presence in This City]. 296 p. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie.
Semevsky, V. I. (1911). Volneniya krest′yan v 1812 g. i svyazannye s Otechestvennoy voynoyu [Peasants’ Uprising in 1812 Connected with the Patriotic War]. In Otechestvennaya voyna i russkoe obshchestvo : v 7 t. Vol. 5, pp. 74–113. Moscow, T-vo I. D. Sytina.
Shchukin, P. I. (1897–1908). Bumagi, otnosyashchiesya do Otechestvennoy voyny 1812 g. : v 10 ch. [Papers Remaining from before the 1812 Patriotic War]. Moscow, Tovarishchestvovo tipografii A. I. Mamontova.
Soltyk, R. (1836). Napoléon en 1812. Mémoires historiques et militaires sur la champagne de Russie. II, 464 p. Paris, A. Bertrand.
Surugue, A. (Libercier, R. P. (Publ.)). (1909). Mil huit cent douze. Les Français à Moscou. 72 p. Moscow, F. Tastevin.
Tartakovsky, A. G. (1973). Naselenie Moskvy v period frantsuzskoy okkupatsii 1812 g. [The Population of Moscow during the French Occupation of 1812]. In Istoricheskie zapiski, 92, pp. 356–379. Moscow, Nauka.
Tolycheva, T. (1872). Rasskazy ochevidtsev o dvenadtsatom gode [Witnesses’ Accounts of the Year of 1812]. 54 p. Moscow, Katkov i K.
Tolycheva, T. (1912). Rasskazy ochevidtsev o dvenadtsatom gode [Witnesses’ Accounts of the Year of 1812]. 115 p. Moscow, Tipografiya G. Lissnera i D. Sobko. Tsentral′nyy istorichesky arkhiv Moskvy [The Central Historical Archive of Moscow]. Stock 46. List 8. Dossier 563–564.
Zemtsov, V. N. (2015). The Fate of the Russian Wounded Abandoned in Moscow in 1812. In Journal of Slavic Military Studies, Vol. 28, Iss. 3, pp. 502–523.
Zemtsov, V. N. (2010). 1812 god. Pozhar Moskvy [The Year of 1812. The Moscow Fire]. 138 p. Moscow, Kniga.
Zhdanov, P. (1813). Pamyatnik frantsuzam, ili Priklyucheniya Moskovskogo zhitelya P… Zh… [A Monument to the French or The Adventures of a Moscow Dweller P. Zh.]. 55 p. St. Petersburg, Tipografiya I. Baykova.
