3. Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia (1812)
In June 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte led the Grande Armée, comprising over 500,000 soldiers, into Russia. The Russian forces employed a scorched-earth strategy, retreating and burning villages to deny supplies. After the Battle of Borodino in September, Napoleon entered Moscow, only to find it abandoned and set ablaze. Facing starvation and the onset of winter, the French army began a harrowing retreat. By December, fewer than 100,000 soldiers remained, marking a catastrophic failure that significantly weakened Napoleon’s empire (history.com).
