The Napoleonic War

The Napoleonic War

A painting of a French military regiment in Russia.

The Napoleonic War, also known as the Franco-Russian War, was a campaign waged by Napoleon Bonaparte — one of the most celebrated military commanders and revolutionary figures in French history — as part of the broader Napoleonic Wars, a sweeping conflict fought across much of Europe. The campaign, which began in 1812, ended in Napoleon's decisive defeat at the hands of Russia under Tsar Alexander I. That defeat set off a collapse on Napoleon's other fronts as well, and ultimately brought an end to his rule in France.

The Alter Rebbe held that it was preferable for Napoleon to lose, so that the banner of permissiveness and moral license which Napoleon carried would not be brought to Russia as well. As Napoleon's forces advanced, the Alter Rebbe fled deep into Russia — and the hardships of that journey led to his passing.

The Invasion of Russia

The great invasion began on the 14th of Tammuz, 1812 (תקע"ב). Shortly beforehand, Napoleon had sent a final peace proposal to Tsar Alexander I, but when it went unanswered, he ordered his armies to advance into the Russian Empire.

In the opening phase of the campaign, Napoleon encountered almost no meaningful resistance and rapidly penetrated deep into Russian territory. The Russian response was improvised and scattered. Barclay, the Russian supreme commander, refused to commit to a direct confrontation, fearing defeat in open battle. Several times he attempted to establish a defensive line, but each time the French moved faster than he could complete his preparations, forcing him to retreat.

Napoleon pressed on toward Moscow. Before the Russians fled the city, they succeeded in setting it ablaze, leaving it a smoldering ruin. Napoleon occupied the charred city and waited for Russian capitulation. But the Russian army continued its relentless maneuvering, and Napoleon was eventually forced to abandon Moscow and begin his long retreat. As the French withdrew from the town of Maloyaroslavets, the Russians forced them back onto the same road they had used on their eastward advance months earlier.

The Russians closed off the southern flank, preventing any alternative routes of retreat. They employed constant guerrilla attacks, striking relentlessly at the French forces' most vulnerable point — their extended supply lines. Russian cavalry, operating together with mounted Cossacks, harassed and exhausted isolated French units. Supplying food and arms to the French soldiers became nearly impossible, and mass desertion followed. The Russian winter compounded the disaster as soldiers and horses began to die of starvation, frostbite, and grueling forced marches.

The war ended in a clear Russian victory, and in its aftermath Napoleon was stripped of power in France and exiled to a remote island.

The Alter Rebbe's Position on the War

If Bonaparte is victorious, the standing of Israel will be elevated and material prosperity will increase among Jews — but the hearts of Israel will become estranged and cut off from their Father in Heaven. If Alexander is victorious, the standing of Israel will be diminished and poverty will increase among Jews — but the hearts of Israel will draw close and cleave to their Father in Heaven.

— Sefer HaToldos, Alter Rebbe, vol. IV, p. 1025

At the outbreak of the war, the Alter Rebbe shared his view openly with his Chassidim: if Napoleon were to win, conditions for Jews might improve materially, but spiritually, religious indifference and moral license might spread dangerously. He expressed this in a letter to his Chassid Rabbi Moshe Maizel:

This is what was shown to me during the Mussaf prayer on the first day of Rosh Hashanah: if Bonaparte is victorious, the standing of Israel will be elevated and material prosperity will increase among Jews — but the hearts of Israel will become estranged and cut off from their Father in Heaven. And if Alexander is victorious, the standing of Israel will be diminished and poverty will increase among Jews — but the hearts of Israel will take delight and be bound and joined to their Father in Heaven.

A difference of opinion arose between the Alter Rebbe and several of his contemporaries among the disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch. A number of the leading figures of the generation believed it preferable for Napoleon to win, and understood the war as the prophetic war of Gog and Magog — a conflict whose outcome would usher in the ultimate redemption.

A tradition records that the question was to be decided on Rosh Hashanah during the blowing of the shofar. Early that morning, before prayers had even begun, the Alter Rebbe took the shofar and sounded it himself. When the Maggid Rabbi Yisrael of Kozhnitz — who had favored Napoleon's victory — arrived to sound the shofar, he was told: "The Litvak" — the name by which the Alter Rebbe was known — "has beaten me to it."

The Mitteler Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe's son and successor, wrote in a letter: "On Rosh Hashanah he called us together and spoke to us with words of joy and comfort, in these words: 'Today I saw in my prayer that a good change has occurred — and ours has prevailed.'"

The Alter Rebbe's involvement was not only spiritual. Practically as well, he aided the Russian war effort. The Chassid Rabbi Moshe Maizel, one of the Alter Rebbe's most prominent followers, was engaged in intelligence work on behalf of Russia. When Rabbi Moshe considered switching his allegiances to France, the Alter Rebbe wrote him a letter explaining at length why the Tsar should prevail. That letter led Rabbi Moshe to continue his intelligence activities on behalf of Russia, and his findings are said to have provided significant assistance to the Russian side.

The Mitteler Rebbe wrote of Rabbi Moshe's work: "What I have heard with my own ears — that he is engaged faithfully in this matter, and has given his soul to it, not for money or honor."

The Alter Rebbe's Flight

The Alter Rebbe was reluctant to leave his home in Liadi during the war — above all, in order not to break the spirit of the Jews of White Russia. But when Napoleon's forces advanced rapidly toward Liadi, the Alter Rebbe resolved, out of his profound hatred for Napoleon, to flee, saying: "Death is preferable to life under him — I will not witness my people's suffering." He then commanded all the Jewish residents to leave the city as quickly as possible.

Before the Chassidic families departed their homes, the Alter Rebbe instructed them to take all their household belongings — even their beds and tables. Everything old, he commanded them to burn. After all the Chassidim had left the town and traveled some distance, the Alter Rebbe instructed them to return and check whether anything remained. To their great surprise, they found two worn-out slippers — and the Alter Rebbe ordered the entire house in which they were found to be burned to the ground.

Shortly after the Alter Rebbe left Liadi, Napoleon himself arrived with his troops. He went directly to the Alter Rebbe's home, and when he found it in flames, ordered his soldiers to extinguish the fire — but the blaze had grown too large for them to approach. Seeing that nothing could be saved from the house, Napoleon turned to the town's residents and asked them to bring him any object associated with the Alter Rebbe — a coin, a utensil, anything. He promised enormous sums to whoever could produce such an item. Nothing was found.

For a hundred and forty days, the Alter Rebbe and the three hundred families traveled the difficult road, accompanied by Russian soldiers, until they arrived at the village of Pyena, where they found rest. When they arrived, the Chassidic families received the news that the Alter Rebbe's words had been fulfilled: Napoleon's army had begun to suffer defeats. The Mitteler Rebbe records: "And on Yud Tes Kislev we heard that the enemy had suffered a defeat near Krasna and was being chased like a dog — and we were filled with joy, for everything had come to pass, not a word or half a word had failed."

The Passing of the Alter Rebbe

In his letter to Rabbi Moshe Maizel regarding the war, the Alter Rebbe wrote: "And this is the sign for you — that in the near future the delight of your eyes will be taken."

With these words, the Alter Rebbe alluded to his own imminent passing; but the same sign would mark the victory of the Tsar. And indeed, as the first reports of Napoleon's downfall began to arrive, the Alter Rebbe's condition began to weaken.

During the journey, upon reaching the village of Pyena, the Alter Rebbe's health was already failing. His illness worsened from day to day. The Mitteler Rebbe testified that the illness was connected to diabetes, which directly affected the function of the gallbladder — the impairment stemming from the immense anguish the Alter Rebbe had suffered throughout the flight. The piercing cold of the Russian winter made the condition still worse.

Within a matter of days his health deteriorated sharply, and the family was helpless. On the holy Shabbos of Parshas Shemos, the illness intensified further, and at the conclusion of Shabbos — on the 24th of Teves, 1812 — the Alter Rebbe passed from this world.

The Rebbe's Perspective on France

In a talk on Shabbos Parshas Vayeishev, 1991, the Rebbe addressed this episode. He noted that during the war, the Alter Rebbe had opposed a French victory, fearing that it would bring moral permissiveness in its wake. The Alter Rebbe's prayers contributed to Napoleon's fall — and, with it, to the unimpeded continuation and spread of Chassidic teaching.

But the Rebbe observed that after generations of sustained effort by the Chabad Rebbes who followed, the situation had turned completely. France had been transformed into a place where Torah and the observance of mitzvos were actively promoted.

This transformation was the fruit of the work of Chabad's leaders across the generations in France — work which, in our time, had reached its fulfillment.

The outward expression of this reversal, the Rebbe noted, was the Marseillaise — the French national anthem — which the Rebbe received on Simchas Torah of 1973, sung together with the words HaAderes VeHaEmunah from the liturgy of the High Holiday prayers. The singing of this melody by Chassidim marks the completion of France's transformation.

Further Reading

• Igros Kodesh, Mitteler Rebbe, no. 8 — a detailed account of the Alter Rebbe's flight, with a Kabbalistic interpretation of the war. [Igros Kodesh, Mitteler Rebbe, 2013 ed., p. 32ff.]
• HaMasa HaAcharon — Two Hundred Years Since the Alter Rebbe's Journey During the Napoleonic War, in Light of Documents and Records, with Stories and Traditions. 2012. Rabbi Yehoshua Mondshein.
• HaMasa LeHaditsch — A book by the author Shneur Zalman Ruderman, for children and young readers, on the full story of the war. Adapted from Rabbi Mondshein's work.