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Fire of Moscow (1812)

Fires broke out in Moscow, abandoned by the Russian army, as soon as the French entered it, and within a few days destroyed the greater part of the city.

Date
2 (14) September 1812 – 6 (18) September 1812exact date · duration: 4 daysJulian calendar (Old Style); the Gregorian date (New Style) is in brackets
Place
Moscowtoday: Moscow, Russia · Eastern Europe
Participants
Grande Armée, Russian Empire, Napoleon I, Fyodor Rostopchin
Threads
French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, Russia at the turn of the 19th century

The fire raged from 2 (14) to 6 (18) September and destroyed about three-quarters of the wooden buildings, sweeping through virtually all of the Zemlyanoy Gorod and the Bely Gorod. Its causes are still debated: the official version blamed the occupiers, but it is known that Moscow’s governor-general, Fyodor Rostopchin, ordered some government warehouses and boats to be set on fire.

In October, having failed to obtain peace, Napoleon left the half-burned city.

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Connections

Causes and preconditions

  • Battle of Borodino26 August (7 September) 1812 · Eastern EuropeMoscow was abandoned after the council at Fili

Part of

Same place

Meanwhile in the world

Other regions, within a year of this event

Western and Central Europe

Balkans and Anatolia

Southeast Asia and Oceania

North America

The same period

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (English): Fire of Moscow (1812)
  2. Wikipedia (Russian): Московский пожар (1812)
  3. Тарле Е. В. Нашествие Наполеона на Россию. 1812 год. — М., 1938.
  4. Wikidata: Q897785