Napoleon's long and costly invasion of Russia was one of the deadliest military operations in history

• When Russia began illegally trading with England, Napoleon prepared to invade Russia.
• Napoleon amassed an army of 600,000, the largest army Europe had ever seen.
• After a failed invasion of Moscow, the French army retreated for 200 miles into the harsh Russian winter.

After a coup d'etat of the French government in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte began his conquest of Europe. By 1804, Bonaparte had made himself the emperor of France and was quickly amassing power.