Hello dear readers of the site Sprint-Response. Today's section "Crosswords" has been updated with another article in which you can see answers to crossword questions in the newspaper "Arguments and Facts". Answers to the crossword puzzle "AiF" No. 21 for 2017 can be read below, at the end of the article. Next to the questions, you can get information about the number of letters in the searched word and the word’s place in the crossword grid vertically or horizontally. Unfortunately, I have not yet learned how to make the grid itself for the site. Perhaps in the future information will be provided in a form familiar to those who like to solve crossword puzzles.
Horizontal:
1. Culinary exam (word 10 horizontally).
6. What can cause you to burn, but not fire? (4th word horizontally).
9. What historical battle is associated with the death of ten thousand horses? (8th word horizontally).
10. “Having trusted in everything, you will endure...” (4th word horizontally).
11. What citrus do American oncologists urge their patients to categorically refuse? (9th word horizontally).
14. Which museum is located directly opposite the Comédie Française? (4th word horizontally).
16. Advisory (5th word horizontally).
17. English puppeteer (5th word horizontally).
18. “... Hamlet’s father” (4th word horizontally).
19. Which diva named her daughter after the movie Chastity, in which she starred? (3rd word horizontally).
20. Muse of Anton Chekhov (7th word horizontally).
21. Beast from chess (4th word horizontally).
23. Symbol of life for Zarathustra (4th word horizontally).
25. Computer adventures (5th word horizontally).
29. Where does Leonid Yakubovich regularly ask to bring money, prizes and gifts? (6th word horizontally).
31. Island with a lagoon (5th word horizontally).
32. “Air space” of a clock pendulum (word 9 horizontally).
34. Last ... fashion (4th word horizontally).
37. “Everywhere” (7th word horizontally).
38. Note connection (6th word horizontally).
40. Which silent film star was Rudolph Valentino engaged to? (5th word horizontally).
42. Who defeated the ruthless robbers Periphetus, Sinis and Sciron? (5th word horizontally).
44. Exercises for the singer (7th word horizontally).
45. “Energy source” for cartoon Monstropolis (4th word horizontally).
46. “The eternal and only shelter of humanity” (5th word horizontally).
47. “Solicitor in the kitchen” (7th word horizontally).
48. Antioxidant in watermelon juice (7th word horizontally).
49. Foreign corn (4th word horizontally).
50. The Art of Miracles (5th word horizontally).
51 An inexhaustible source of adrenaline (7th word horizontally).
52. The only one among metals capable of maintaining a liquid state at room temperature (5th word horizontally).
53. Staircase in the service of aviators (4th word horizontally).
54. Car “shell” (5th word horizontally).
Vertical:
1. Romantically minded altruism (12th word vertically).
2. “It’s scary when... suddenly it turns out to be a dream” (3rd word vertically).
3. Direct speech (13th word vertically).
4. Which Colonel General did Adolf Hitler appoint as commander of the Air Force instead of Hermann Goering? (5th word vertically).
5. Who introduced Peter Kapitsa Nobel laureate Ernest Rutherford? (5th word vertically).
7. Anniversary “candlestick” from the pastry chef (4th word vertically).
8. Gift with notes (4th word vertically).
10. What does a circus have in common with a parachute? (5th word vertically).
12. Musician of the “violin type” (7th word vertically).
13. What gives power to a yacht’s sail? (5th word vertically).
15. Lexicon of a rude person (5th word vertically).
16. The illness of the opera Iolanta (7th word vertically).
19. On the bank of which river did Alexander Kuprin spend his childhood? (7th word vertically).
22. What do you infuse with vodka to treat hives? (5th word vertically).
24. “I was wrong!” (11th word vertically).
26. Blocking within the UN (4th word vertically).
27. Where did the heroes of the series “Lost” fly from? (6th word vertically).
28. World singer... John believes that the Internet should be “closed down immediately because it is destroying quality music” (5th word vertically).
30. Love “aperitif” (5th word vertically).
33. The most popular flower in Belgium (7th word vertically).
34. A great tenor who sang a duet with Celine Dion and Joe Cocker (9th word vertically).
35. “Cashier” for credit cards (8th word vertically).
36. “Iron Al” of American athletics (5th word vertically).
39. Who accompanies the hero of the fairy-tale film “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” during the excursion? (7th word vertically).
40. What kind of riffraff does everyone dress up as for Halloween? (7th word vertically).
41. Industry boss (7th word vertically).
43. A masterpiece about the Trojan War (6th word vertically).
46. Lip for a geographer (5th word vertically).
48. Highest... (4th word vertically).
In the spring of 1399, small Kyiv, exhausted by Horde raids, in just a few weeks turned into a huge, multi-thousand and multilingual camp. Inspired by the Russian victory on the Kulikovo Field, military squads from all over eastern and central Europe converged here.
Iron armor glittered in the sun, the neighing of huge herds of horses was heard, quenching their thirst off the coast of Slavutich; the warriors sharpened their swords.
Even the crusaders came, and the people of Kiev looked in amazement at the strange armor of the knights, who had never before gone so far into the Slavic lands.
A few months later a terrible tragedy occurred...
Only one small detachment of mounted warriors escaped death after the terrible slaughter. They fled, and “the Tatars chased after them, cutting five hundred miles, to the city of Kyiv, shedding blood like water.”
This is how the Nikon Chronicle mentions the fierce battle that took place on the banks of the quiet Ukrainian Vorskla River more than 600 years ago, on August 12, 1399. The details of the battle are covered in the darkness of centuries; almost all ancient Russian warriors fell on the battlefield. This battle is not mentioned in school textbooks, and the exact place where it took place is unknown.
One can only guess about the number of its participants. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, who led the common squads of Slavs, Lithuanians and Crusaders, the same one who commanded the united army in the famous Battle of Grunwald, led a “great force”; there were fifty princes alone with him.
But in the famous Battle of Kulikovo (1380) only 12 appanage princes with military squads took part! The famous Polish historian P. Borawski claims that the Battle of Vorskla was the largest in the 14th century! Why is so little known about this grandiose event?
Firstly, there were practically no eyewitnesses left, because everyone died in this fierce battle (as the Ipatiev Chronicle claims). And secondly, it was a defeat - terrible, bloody! They didn’t like to write about such people... Let’s try to figure out, gleaning from Russian chronicles and the works of Polish historians, what actually happened in the hot summer of 1399?..
Six hundred years ago Kyiv was small town, which was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A few residents were engaged in the usual craft and trade in the once mighty capital of Rus', which was just beginning to recover from the Tatar-Mongol raids. Life was bright mainly in Podol and in the area of the Pechersk Lavra. But in the spring of 1399, as we already know, the city was transformed.
It heard the speech of Slavs and Germans, Lithuanians, Poles, Hungarians... Troops from many European states and principalities gathered here. A huge army, consisting mainly of regiments from Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian lands, set out on May 18 from Kyiv.
It was headed by princes Andrei Olgerdovich Polotsky, Dmitry Olgerdovich Bryansky, Ivan Borisovich Kyiv, Gleb Svyatoslavovich Smolensky, Dmitry Danilovich Ostrozhsky and many other princes and governors. The commander-in-chief was the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas.
Next to him (bizarre curves!) was the same Khan Tokhtamysh, who united the Horde for some time, managed to burn Moscow, but was soon thrown off the khan’s throne by the formidable Edigei. With the help of Vitovt, Tokhtamysh intended to regain the khan's throne and also led a squad with him.
About a hundred heavily armed crusading knights who came from Poland and German lands also took part in the campaign on Vitovt’s side. With each crusader there were several squires, armed no worse than knights. But the majority of the soldiers were Slavs, who gathered from almost all parts of Rus'. In general, the Slavic lands occupied 90 percent of the entire territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was often called Lithuanian Rus.
Slavic squads, remembering glorious victory on the Kulikovo Field, they hoped to put an end to the Tatar-Mongol yoke once and for all. The army was even armed with artillery, which had recently appeared in Europe. The guns were quite impressive, although they fired mainly stone cannonballs. Thus, six hundred years ago, the roar of guns was heard for the first time on the territory of Ukraine...
On August 8, the forces of the united army met on Vorskla with the army of Timur-Kutluk, commander of the Golden Horde Khan Edigei. Self-confident Vitovt issued an ultimatum demanding submission. “You too submit to me... and give me tribute and rent every summer.” The Horde, having waited for the allies to approach -Crimean Tatars, they themselves made a similar demand.
On August 12, the battle began. Vitovt's army crossed the Vorskla and attacked the Tatar army. At first, success was on the side of the united army, but then Timur-Kutluk’s cavalry managed to close the encirclement ring, and then it began... In a dense hand-to-hand battle, the artillery turned out to be powerless. Most of the princes and boyars died, “but Vitovt himself fled to Mala...”
The heavily armed crusaders also fell, unable to resist the Tatar sabers. Pursuing a small detachment of Vytautas, who miraculously escaped, and destroying everything in their path, the Tatars quickly approached Kyiv. The city withstood the siege, but was forced to pay “a repayment of 3,000 Lithuanian rubles and another 30 rubles taken from the Pechersky Monastery.” At that time this was a huge amount.
So, it was not possible to get rid of the Tatar yoke in that century. The defeat also seriously affected the statehood of Lithuanian Rus; soon the weakened Vytautas had to recognize vassal dependence on Poland. After the Battle of Grunwald (in which, by the way, 13 Russian regiments from Galich, Przemysl, Lvov, Kyiv, Novgorod-Seversky, Lutsk, Kremenets took part) his situation improved somewhat; he even wanted to become king, but could not resist the influence of the Polish king Jogaila. Vytautas died in 1430, and the Poles moved to Rus'... What if the outcome of the Battle of Vorskla had been different?..
This battle ended sadly. Not a single monument, not a single obelisk on the glorious land of Poltava reminds of him... Military historians link the Battle of Vorskla to the Lithuanian-Polish campaigns, but the main backbone of the army was Russian. “Fifty Slavic princes from the squad”!
Their death crippled all subsequent generations of the descendants of the legendary Rurik. A few decades later, neither the princes of Ostrog, nor the Galician, nor the Kyiv, nor the Novgorod-Seversky princes disappeared. Numerous descendants of Vladimir the Saint, Yaroslav the Wise seemed to dissolve and disappear on our land...
Cold-blooded Swedes do not forget their soldiers killed near Poltava - and the monument stands, and they bring flowers every year. The British, having come under the murderous fire of Russian artillery and having suffered a bloody defeat in 1855 near Balaklava, often come to visit the graves of their ancestors who died in the distant Crimea. A magnificent white monument to British soldiers rises in the very center of a grape field.
Workers at the wine-making state farm periodically repaint it, and tractors carefully go around it during spring plowing. Nearby, on the highway, is an obelisk, opened in 1995. But Poltava is located at a distance of one and a half thousand kilometers from Sweden, Balaklava is even further from England. And here, very close, in the Poltava region, the remains of our compatriots lie in the ground, and there is not a single memorial sign, not a single cross where, presumably, more than a hundred thousand soldiers died!
There is something to think about and something to be ashamed of for us, our descendants...
Rezo Gabriadze - writer, theater and film director, producer, puppeteer and author
more than 30 films. His paintings, sculptures and book illustrations have been exhibited around the world. In 1981, in Tbilisi, he founded a puppet theater, where he created his amazing performances: “Alfred and Violetta”, “The Diamond of Marshal de Fentir”, “The Autumn of My Spring”, “The Daughter of Emperor Trabzon”, “ Battle of Stalingrad».
Rezo Gabriadze about the performance: “The grandiose battle of Stalingrad turned the banks of the Volga into a terrifying massacre. There, on Russian soil, people died different nationalities and beliefs... Several years ago, quite by accident, I came across a message from a war correspondent. Here's what I read: “The closer I got to Stalingrad after the battle, the more incredible the view. The carcasses of horses were scattered everywhere, still alive, standing on three legs with a dragging fourth, shot or mutilated. It was a heartbreaking sight. During the offensive Soviet troops 10,000 horses died. Everything was covered with horse corpses; they died under tanks, from cannons, under random fire.” The image of such a horse on three legs for a long time was following me. Thus, gradually, in my mind, the theme of Stalingrad began to take shape. Distant and forgotten images from my childhood: widows in black, cripples and disabled people, I saw them everywhere in my native Kutaisi, tears and suffering of my grandmother. These images tormented me until I created a play - this requiem for Stalingrad.”
"Battle of Stalingrad" by Rezo Gabriadze
Rezo Gabriadze in the Moscow “Ogorod”
(reprinted with abbreviation)
Gabriadze's "Battle of Stalingrad" is subtitled "Requiem". “I’ve never staged requiems and that’s why I’m especially worried,” Rezo said before the premiere. From the program you can find out that the play was staged at the Tbilisi Municipal Theater-Studio under the direction of Rezo Gabriadze. There is also a short introductory word, written, as Gabriadze likes, by hand in his uneven artistic handwriting: “This spring, when endemic trees and their foreign friends, who had come from all over the planet, bloomed in the “Apothecary Garden”, in this amazing place in Moscow, where once walked A.S. Pushkin with his friend (Gabriadze’s footnote: M.A. Maksimovich, adjunct, caretaker of the garden since 1831), I am showing the play “The Battle of Stalingrad”.
It is not difficult for you to imagine my worries. Be generous and forgiving." Rezo Gabriadze.
The request for leniency seems to be said for beauty, because leniency is what Gabriadze’s art least of all requires. Great? Yes, it seems that this is precisely the case when such a definition does not seem like an exaggeration. “The Battle of Stalingrad”, moreover, due to the prevailing conditions difficult relationships supplied with new dolls.
The same characters - the draft horse Alyosha (transport stage worker), the circus horse Natasha, the Kiev small repairman Pilkhas, the German field marshal, Stalin, the Soviet general Gorenko, Alyosha's angel, the mother ant... Voiced by already familiar voices. In the finale, Mother Ant, in the voice of Liya Akhedzhakova, mourns the child who never saw sugar: “So much iron on our heads... And everything is for us, everything is for us...” It is impossible not to cry.
Individual scenes seem to be unrelated to each other either by time (action time 1937-1943), or place (Berlin, Moscow, Kiev, Stalingrad), or characters, some of whom appear on stage for only a few seconds (like a small bicycle or pigs “running” outside the window of a train made from an ordinary green enamel bucket) suddenly form into the semblance of a gigantic and majestic fresco. And the performance itself is similar to a medieval mystery play, where each painting-stamp “tells” its part great history, and behind each gesture there is a “whole scene with conversations” that is understandable and readable by everyone. And ultimately everything is connected to each other.
The hands of the puppeteers, as always with Rezo, do not interfere with empathizing with the dolls, as if all the suffering, and all the war, and all the love fell not to pieces of wood and rags, but to people for whom pain is pain, and death is death.
About tragic and heroic events associated with last days Napoleon's stay in Russia, says Alexey Shishov, research institute employee military history Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
A burden for the convoy
French historians have come up with a lot to justify their compatriots. Everyone has heard the version that Napoleon’s army in Russia was defeated by “General Frost” - terrible weather conditions. In fact, the first snow in the fall of 1812 fell only in the first ten days of November, and the cold came even later. It was the frost, paradoxically, that could save the French when fleeing Russia. But he didn’t save me. However, we will talk about this later...
The Great Army entered the territory of Belarus in a rather deplorable state. There were several reasons. One had its beginning back in the Battle of Borodino, during which the French cavalry lost an unacceptably large number of horses. The dragoons and cuirassiers were dismounted, but they did not know infantry tactics and were not used to walking in full gear. Because of this, when retreating, they often abandoned their issued guns and turned into a burden for the retreating army. Another reason was moral decay Great Army. The marauders roaming Russian villages put food procurement for the army at " commercial basis" They often did not hand over everything they obtained to their own units, but sold it or exchanged it for war trophies in others. Plus to this the hostile attitude of the local population, who every now and then took up axes and pitchforks. Plus the actions of army partisan detachments that staged real battles with the French. Plus the Russian army, which was hot on its heels, defeating the French near Chashniki in October and near Krasny in November... As a result, from the corps Marshal Ney by the end of the Russian campaign, 300 remained. In this state, the French army approached the western border of Russia in the area of the city of Borisov on the Berezina River in the tenth of October.
Photo: www.russianlook.com
The French were already expected on the Berezina. The western bank of the river, where Napoleon was about to cross, was controlled by the Danube Army under the command of Admiral Pavel Chichagov - 32 thousand fresh bayonets and sabers. From the north, a corps hung over Napoleon Peter Wittgenstein(40 thousand), previously covering the road to St. Petersburg. Kutuzov's army (50 thousand) was coming from the east, lagging behind by a day or two. It seemed as if the mousetrap was about to slam shut. But that was not the case!
Pike and cat
Hot on the heels of what happened next, Ivan Krylov wrote the fable “The Pike and the Cat”. The words with which it begins are still heard today: “It’s a disaster if a shoemaker starts baking pies, and a cake maker starts making boots.” Contemporaries easily recognized Admiral Chichagov in Pike, who carelessly climbed ashore to hunt mice together with the Cat. While he was waiting for the French to cross south of Borisov, Napoleon deceived him. Standing up to your neck in ice water, sappers General Eble They built either two or even three bridges north of the city near the village of Studenka. According to them, from November 14 to 17, the most organized and combat-ready units of the French, including the Old and Young Guards, left Russia. The emperor himself was there.
In fairness, it should be noted that Wittgenstein was no less (if not more) to blame for the relative failure of the battle on the Berezina than the ill-fated admiral. Chichagov at least somehow tried to resist the greatest tactician of the 19th century. Napoleon, but the cavalry general Wittgenstein, contrary to the orders of Kutuzov, generally remained aloof from the hostilities. He, however, was in favor with Emperor Alexander I and soon led the entire Russian army.
The fate of those French who lingered too long on the eastern bank of the Berezina was truly terrible. On the last night that the crossing was still in operation, 40-45 thousand soldiers did not cross the river. Napoleon sent generals to them, hurried them, but the unfortunate people were too tired or simply warmed themselves by the fires. In the morning, Russian artillery reached the commanding heights and opened fire. The French rushed to the bridges in panic, and a general chaos began. The not yet frozen river became the grave for tens of thousands of French, after those who crossed first set fire to the bridges. The Swiss volunteers who covered the escape of the Grand Army died every single one.
In total, from 20 to 28 thousand people left Russia - out of almost 600 thousand who crossed the Russian border in the summer of 1812. Napoleon, however, managed to retain all his marshals and a significant part of the officer corps, which allowed him to quickly recruit and train a new army. He fought with her in 1813, 1814 and even 100 days in 1815. It is curious that Chichagov, blamed for all the failures at Berezina, hid from shame in France, where he died, forgotten by everyone and blind, in 1849.
Today is the 203rd anniversary of the historical battle [video]
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Reconstruction of the Battle of Borodino.Sergey SHAHIDZHANYAN
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At 5.30 am the French began shelling and then launched an attack on the Russian positions. The battle lasted 12 hours. Historians still argue about the number of deaths. The most realistic figures: from 80 to 100 thousand people. Every minute (!) more than a hundred people died on the battlefield. It was the bloodiest one-day battle in history.
EVEN BONDARCHUK DID NOT HAVE SUCH EXTRAS
On the Borodino field, Kutuzov and Napoleon ride side by side on horseback and peacefully discuss the battle that has just ended. Such a picture could be observed near Mozhaisk, where enthusiasts from military-historical clubs in Russia, Europe, the USA and Canada staged a show - a reconstruction of the great battle. More than 80 thousand spectators gathered to watch it. About three thousand people took part in the large-scale production. Infantry, mounted dragoons with Cossacks - all in costumes and with weapons from the times of 1812. Three hundred cannons roared and spewed out clouds of smoke on the battlefield - 30 tons of black smokeless powder were brought in for firing. As the organizers proudly admitted, even Sergei Bondarchuk did not have such extras on the set of War and Peace. The French also arrived in Borodino. Naturally, they “fought” in the army of their emperor and, like two hundred years ago, desperately “fought” the Russian “barbarians.”
HOW NAPOLEON OUTSmarted
One of the generals in Count Kutuzov’s retinue also turned out to be the director of this entire event. His Excellency Alexander Valkovich, President of the International Military Historical Association. As befits a high-ranking general, he agreed to talk without getting off his horse. For the first time, I had to take an interview, sitting somewhere near the stirrup and looking up at my interlocutor. The heated horse tried to kick the photographer with every cannon explosion. But the “general” was unperturbed.
From a formal point of view, the French won,” admitted Alexander Mikhailovich. - But Leo Tolstoy wrote correctly. Moral victory was on the side of the Russian army. The battle that the whole country desired was given. Our soldiers and officers felt that they fought on equal terms with the invincible army of Napoleon, who captured all of Europe.
Now many historians say that Kutuzov allegedly chose the wrong position and positioned his troops in the wrong way.
Kutuzov didn’t have much choice. Another thing is that Napoleon turned out to be more cunning. Kutuzov concentrated a significant part of his troops on the right flank, covering the New Smolensk road, which led to Moscow. The French began to storm the center and left flank. As a result, not receiving reinforcements in a timely manner, Russian troops were forced to slowly retreat. There were moments when only the incredible heroism of soldiers and officers saved the Russian army from disaster. Napoleon himself admitted this.
KUTUZOV NEVER WALKED WITH AN EYE PATCH
Participants in the battle, commanders Nikolai Raevsky and Alexei Ermolov, recalled that Kutuzov did not actually lead the army during the battle.
This is their personal opinion. According to eyewitnesses, Kutuzov radiated confidence and calm during the battle. He was not a one-eyed, decrepit old man sitting quietly on a drum, as he is portrayed in Soviet films. By the way, he never wore an eye patch. This is a myth invented by filmmakers.
Two more episodes of the battle that are considered legendary. Chief of Staff of the First Army Alexei Ermolov rouses the soldiers to attack, throwing St. George's crosses forward. And General Raevsky goes into battle, holding the hands of the boys - his sons.
These are also myths. They were both in the thick of the battle and behaved heroically. Perhaps that is why their names among the people are surrounded by many such legends.
But there were also anti-heroes. Cossack chieftain Matvey Platov and General Fedor Uvarov. Platov was quite drunk during the battle and did not follow the command’s orders.
Platov and Uvarov are the only ones senior officials army who did not receive awards for the battle. At the height of the battle, Kutuzov sent a combined detachment of Cossacks and hussars on a raid in the rear. But the attack quickly fizzled out. Kutuzov later wrote to Emperor Alexander that he “expected more from their actions.” But still this episode was very important. Napoleon had to postpone the assault on the already bloodless Russian positions in the center for two hours and they managed to transfer reinforcements there.
Who can be called the main hero of the battle?
General Barclay de Tolly. A Russified Scot, he was terribly unpopular among the troops. Under his command, the army retreated from the very border. They called him a traitor and booed him. He clashed with Bagration and Kutuzov. But it was Barclay de Tolly who developed a successful method of fighting Napoleon - the scorched earth tactics, partisan detachments. Three horses were killed under him in the battle. Eyewitnesses said that he deliberately sought death. But I didn't get a scratch.
SORRY IT'S NOT TRUE
A beautiful legend about Borodino bread
One of the heroes of the Battle of Borodino was Major General of the Russian Army Alexander Tuchkov. During the battle, a bullet hit him in the chest. But the general’s body was never removed from the battlefield. Tuchkov is survived by his beloved wife Margarita Naryshkina and a small son. According to legend, upon learning of her husband’s death, Naryshkina went to the French and asked Napoleon for permission to go to the Borodino field to find her husband’s remains. The French emperor was so touched by such loyalty that he even assigned soldiers to help her. But the expedition ended in vain. After the war, Naryshkina-Tuchkova erected a chapel on the Borodino field, and subsequently founded the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery and became its abbess. A shelter was also built there for veterans, widows of fallen Russian soldiers and members of their families. All pilgrims who came to the monastery were given rye crackers, baked according to special recipe with the addition of malt, coriander or cumin. They say that for the first time such bread was baked by the general’s widow herself.
Alas, this is just a legend about bread,” Alexander Valkovich told a KP correspondent. - Margarita Naryshkina, later Abbess Maria, actually founded the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery. But the recipe for Borodino bread was developed in 1933 at the Moscow Bakery Trust. Before the revolution, such recipes did not exist.
SIGNS
When Kutuzov drove around the Borodino field for the first time, an eagle appeared in the sky above him. This story was described by one of the participants in the battle, Boris Golitsyn:
“When Kutuzov surveyed the position near Borodino for the first time, it was after lunch, a gigantic eagle soared above him. Wherever he goes, the eagle goes... And there was no end to the talk. This eagle foreshadowed all good things.” In total, historians have found 17 written sources where this episode was mentioned.
AT THE DAWN OF AVIATION
They wanted to hit the French from the air
Immediately after the start of the war, Moscow mayor Count Fyodor Rostopchin submitted a memo to Emperor Alexander with an unusual project of the German inventor Franz Leppich. He proposed to put the soldiers on balloons. The august person supported the idea. Construction of the first balloon began on the Rostopchin estate near Moscow. In August, a rumor spread throughout Moscow that a huge aircraft was ready that could lift up to two thousand people. On September 3, Kutuzov wrote to Rostopchin: “The Emperor told me about the erostat, which is secretly being prepared near Moscow, will it be possible to use it, please tell me, and how to use it more conveniently?” But it turned out that the first tests of the gondola, which could actually lift 40 people, were unsuccessful. When the French troops approached, the apparatus was dismantled and taken to 130 carts. Nizhny Novgorod, and then to St. Petersburg. His further fate is unknown.
WHAT ABOUT THEM?
In France Bonaparte school curriculum won, but was no longer needed
Despite the continuing cult of Napoleon, the First Empire is now an optional subject in secondary schools. The Great Emperor and other monarchs were kicked out of the compulsory program for being “excessively aggressive.” This is how the result of the Battle of Borodino is presented in the popular French textbook Histoire pour Tout le Monde - “History for everyone.”
“Night overtook the soldiers at the bivouac, which they pitched here on the field, among mountains of corpses and agonizing comrades, as well as 15 thousand horses killed in battle. Kutuzov took advantage of this respite to retreat in disarray and manage to pass off his stubborn resistance as a victory... For the French side, the battle will be called the “Battle of Moscow”, after the name of the river where it took place. The battle ended in Napoleon’s undoubted victory, since after it he entered Moscow.”
Oleg SHEVTSOV. Paris.
