The Battle of Austerlitz took place on November 20 (old style) 1805 near the town of Austerlitz (present-day Czech Republic), where two armies clashed in battle: Russia and its allied Austria opposed the troops of the French Emperor Napoleon. Ignoring the opinion of Kutuzov, Alexander I insisted so that the Russian army stops retreating and, without waiting for the army of Buxhoeveden that has not yet arrived, enters the Battle of Austerlitz with the French. The Allied forces suffered a heavy defeat and were forced to retreat.
The reason for the battle is banal: the ambitions, first of all, of the Russian Tsar Alexander the First, the desire of the allies to “show this impudent person” (Napoleon) their power and courage. Many in the army supported this mood of the Russian emperor. Those who soberly assessed the balance of power and the safety of the Russian soldiers were against . First of all, such a person was Kutuzov. At the military council on the eve of Austerlitz, where all the commanders of the columns gathered (except for Bagration, who, by the way, managed to wait and save his soldiers during the battle), only Kutuzov sat on the council dissatisfied and did not share the general enthusiasm, for he understands the meaninglessness of this battle and the doom of his allies. Weyrother (he was entrusted with drawing up the disposition of the battle) talks for a long time and tediously about the plan for the upcoming battle. Kutuzov, realizing that he can’t change anything, is openly asleep. He understands that the upcoming battle is a clash of egos, and Andrei Bolkonsky... Among the participants in the battle we can name and Nikolai Rostov, and Drubetsky, and Berg. But if Nikolai and Andrei sincerely want to fight and do good, then the “vein drones” are ready to sit in headquarters and think only about awards. For A. Bolkonsky, who dreams of human love and glory - Austerlitz - this is the same Toulon (for Napoleon) Andrei dreams of changing the course of the battle when, seeing that the Russians have fled (the enemy suddenly turned out to be too close), and Kutuzov, pointing to his heart, says that the wound is THERE, he decides to grab the banner from the killed standard-bearer, lead the soldiers behind him. In the first minute he succeeded. But the banner was heavy, the soldiers were frightened by the heavy fire, and Andrei himself seemed to have received a blow to the chest with a stick. In fact, he was seriously wounded. Toulon did not happen. And then, before our eyes, a change of views takes place Andrei to his idol Napoleon. The wounded prince, after the battle, sees how Napoleon stopped next to him, always circling the field after a victory. About Andrei, the emperor will say: “This is a worthy death.” But Andrei is no longer admired by Napoleon. Our hero looks at those floating above him clouds, onto the majestic, free and high sky. It is this picture of majestic nature that makes the prince, wounded in a senseless battle, see all the vanity, pettiness, worthlessness of the war and its representative - Napoleon. In Tolstoy, nature always conveys the mood of the heroes. Thus, we can say that the Battle of Austerlitz was a shameful page for the Russian army.
Plan.
Image of the war of 1805-1807.
1.Historical specificity in Tolstoy’s depiction of the war.
2.The versatility of the depiction of war.
3. Showing Tolstoy the uselessness and unpreparedness of this war. The attitude of Kutuzov and the soldiers towards her. View scene at Braunau.
4. Tolstoy’s attitude to war. His assertion of the senselessness and inhumanity of war. Her image is “in blood, in suffering, in death.” Storyline of Nikolai Rostov.
5. Description of the Battle of Shengraben:
a) Tolstoy’s portrayal of the cowardice of Zherkov and the staff officer, the ostentatious courage of Dolokhov, the true heroism of Timokhin and Tushin;
b) the behavior of Prince Andrei, dreams of “Toulon”.
6. Description of the Battle of Austerlitz:
a) by whom and how it was conceived; Tolstoy's ironic attitude towards “dispositions”;
b) how nature influences the course of the battle;
c) Kutuzov and Emperor Alexander; Russian flight;
d) the feat of Prince Andrei and his disappointment in “Napoleonic” dreams.
7. Austerlitz is an era of shame and disappointment for all of Russia and individual people. “Austerlitz” by Nikolai Rostov, Pierre Bezukhov and others.
1-2 "In July 1805" gathered her evening A.P. Scherer. “In October 1805, Russian troops occupied villages and cities of the Archduchy of Austria. The historical genre of the novel required authenticity. The narrative moves to the battlefields of Austria, many heroes appear: Alexander 1, the Austrian Emperor Franz, Napoleon, commanders of the armies Kutuzov and Mak, military leaders Bagration, Weyrother, ordinary commanders, staff officers, soldiers.
WHAT WERE THE OBJECTIVES OF THE WAR?
3. The Russian government entered the war out of fear of the spread of revolutionary ideas and the desire to prevent Napoleon's aggressive policy. Tolstoy successfully chose the scene of the review in Braunau for the initial chapters about the war. There is a review of people and battle. What will it show? Is the Russian army ready for war?
CONCLUSION. By scheduling a review in the presence of Austrian generals, Kutuzov wanted to convince the latter that the Russian army was not ready for a campaign and should not join the army of General Mack. For Kutuzov, this war was not a sacred and necessary matter. Therefore, his goal is to keep the army from fighting.
4. The author's attitude to the war can be traced through the storyline of Nikolai Rostov. He has not yet become a military man; this will be his first time taking part in a war. Tolstoy deliberately shows the war not in a heroic way, but focuses on “blood, suffering, death.” N. Rostov at first sought to get to the war, but became disillusioned with it: romantic ideas about war collided with its real cruelty and inhumanity, and wounded, he thought, “Why did I end up here?”
5. The Battle of Shengraben, undertaken on the initiative of Kutuzov, gave the Russian army the opportunity to join forces with its units coming from Russia. Kutuzov still considers the war unnecessary, but here it was about saving the army. Tolstoy once again shows Kutuzov’s experience and wisdom, his ability to find a way out in a difficult historical situation.
BATTLE OF SHENGRABEN. The behavior of a warrior in battle: cowardice and heroism, feat and military duty can be traced in the episodes of this battle.
Timokhin's company, in conditions of confusion, when the troops taken by surprise fled, “alone in the forest kept in order and then unexpectedly attacked the French.” After the battle, Dolokhov alone boasted of his merits and wounds. His courage is ostentatious; he is characterized by self-confidence and pushing himself to the fore. True heroism is accomplished without calculation and without showing off one’s exploits.
BATTERY TERMINAL. THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE BATTLE.
In the hottest area, in the center of the battle, Tushin’s battery was located without cover. Tushin, to whom they owed the “success of the day,” not only did not demand “glory and human love.” But he didn’t even know how to stand up for himself in the face of unfair accusations from his superiors, and his feat generally went unrewarded. It was precisely this feat that Prince Andrei Bolkonsky dreamed of when he went to war. To achieve “his Toulon”, in which he saw the meaning of life, which would lead him to glory. This was the original idea of the book. Andrei about his place in battle and the nature of the feat. Participation in the Battle of Shengraben makes him look at things differently. And the meeting with Tushin before the battle and at the battery, then after the battle in Bagration’s hut made him see real heroism and military feat. He did not give up his idea of heroism, but everything he experienced that day makes him think.
This is the compositional center. All the threads of an inglorious and unnecessary war go to him.
- The concept of the battle and the mood of its participants, the author’s attitude to the carefully thought-out plan of General Weyrother. Advice the day before. Kutuzov's behavior.
- Battle, confusion, fog.
CONCLUSION: the lack of moral incentive for waging war, the incomprehensibility and alienness of its goals to the soldiers, distrust between the allies, confusion in the troops - all this was the reason for the defeat of the Russians. According to Tolstoy, it was in Austerlitz that the true end of the war of 1805-1807 occurred. “The era of our failures and our shame” - this is how Tolstoy himself defined the war.
Austerlitz became an era of shame and disappointment not only for all of Russia, but also for individual heroes. N. Rostov behaved not at all the way he would have liked. Even the meeting on the battlefield with the sovereign, whom Rostov adored, did not bring him joy.
On the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei thinks only about his future glorious feat.
And now the feat of Prince Andrei seems to be carried out exactly in that classical picture. As it seemed to him in his dreams: “with a banner in my hand, I will go forward.” Just as he dreamed, he happened to “go ahead of the army,” and the entire battalion ran after him.
This, of course, is a glorious feat worthy of the family honor of the Bolkonskys. Honor of a Russian officer. But for Tolstoy, the inner essence, the very type of feat, is important. After all, Napoleon also has unconditional personal courage and he is able to go ahead of the army. But this feat is not poeticized in the novel. His feat adds another touch to his portrait of an impeccable soldier.
Prince Andrei also lies on Pratsenskaya Mountain with a feeling of great disappointment in Napoleon, who was his hero. Napoleon appeared to him as a small, insignificant man, “with an indifferent, limited look and happy at the misfortune of others.” True, the wound to Prince Andrei brought not only disappointment in the futility and insignificance of exploits in the name of personal glory, but also the discovery of a new world, a new meaning of life. The immeasurably high, eternal sky, the blue infinity, opened a new system of thoughts in him, and he would like people to “help him and return him to life, which seemed so beautiful to him, because he understood it so differently now.”
The GENERAL RESULT is a feeling of disappointment in life as a result of realizing the mistakes made by the heroes. In this regard it is remarkable. That next to the Austerlitz battle scenes there are chapters telling about Pierre’s marriage to Helen. For Pierre, this is his Austerlitz, the era of his shame and disappointment.
UNIVERSAL AUSTERLIZ - this is the result of volume 1. A war started for the sake of glory, for the sake of the ambitious interests of Russian court circles, it was incomprehensible and not needed by the people and therefore ended with Austerlitz. This outcome was all the more shameful because the Russian army could be courageous and heroic when the goals of the battle were at least somewhat clear to it, as was the case at Shengraben.
Battle of Austerlitz.
“Soldiers! The Russian army comes out against you to avenge the Austrian, Ulm army. These are the same battalions that you defeated at Gollabrunn and which you have since constantly pursued to this place. The positions we occupy are powerful, and while they move to flank me on the right, they will expose my flank! Soldiers! I myself will lead your battalions. I will stay far from the fire if you, with your usual courage, bring disorder and confusion into the enemy’s ranks; but if victory is in doubt for even one minute, you will see your emperor exposed to the first blows of the enemy, because there can be no doubt in victory, especially on a day in which the honor of the French infantry, which is so necessary for the honor of his nation, is at issue.
Under the pretext of removing the wounded, do not upset the ranks! Let everyone be fully imbued with the thought that it is necessary to defeat these mercenaries of England, inspired by such hatred against our nation. This victory will end our campaign, and we can return to winter quarters, where new French troops that are forming in France will find us; and then the peace that I will make will be worthy of my people, you and me.
“At five o’clock in the morning it was still completely dark. The troops of the center, reserves and Bagration’s right flank were still standing motionless, but on the left flank there were columns of infantry, cavalry and artillery, which were supposed to be the first to descend from the heights in order to attack the French right flank and throw it back, according to disposition, in the Bohemian mountains, they had already begun to stir and began to rise from their overnight camps. The smoke from the fires, into which they threw everything unnecessary, ate their eyes. It was cold and dark. The officers hurriedly drank tea and had breakfast, the soldiers chewed crackers, beat off fractions with their feet, warming up , and flocked against the fires, throwing into the firewood the remains of booths, chairs, tables, wheels, tubs, everything superfluous that could not be taken with them. Austrian column leaders scurried between the Russian troops and served as harbingers of action. As soon as an Austrian officer appeared near the regimental commander’s station , the regiment began to move: the soldiers ran from the fires, hid tubes in their boots, bags in the carts, dismantled their guns and lined up. The officers buttoned up, put on swords and backpacks and, shouting, walked around the ranks; The wagon trains and orderlies harnessed, packed and tied up the carts. Adjutants, battalion and regimental commanders sat on horseback, crossed themselves, gave the last orders, instructions and instructions to the remaining convoys, and the monotonous tramp of a thousand feet sounded. The columns moved, not knowing where and not seeing from the people around them, from the smoke and from the increasing fog, either the area from which they were leaving or the one into which they were entering.
A soldier on the move is as surrounded, limited and drawn by his regiment as a sailor by the ship on which he is located. No matter how far he goes, no matter what strange, unknown and dangerous latitudes he enters, around him - as for a sailor, there are always and everywhere the same decks, masts, ropes of his ship - always and everywhere the same comrades, the same rows, the same sergeant major Ivan Mitrich, the same company dog Zhuchka, the same superiors. A soldier rarely wants to know the latitudes in which his entire ship is located; but on the day of battle, God knows how and from where, in the moral world of the army, one stern note is heard for everyone, which sounds like the approach of something decisive and solemn and arouses them to an unusual curiosity. During the days of battle, soldiers excitedly try to get out of the interests of their regiment, listen, look closely and eagerly ask about what is happening around them.
The fog became so strong that, despite the fact that it was dawn, it was impossible to see ten steps in front of you. The bushes seemed like huge trees, the flat places looked like cliffs and slopes. Everywhere, from all sides, one could encounter an enemy invisible ten steps away. But the columns walked for a long time in the same fog, going down and up the mountains, passing gardens and fences, through new, incomprehensible terrain, never encountering the enemy. On the contrary, now in front, now behind, from all sides, the soldiers learned that our Russian columns were moving in the same direction. Every soldier felt good in his soul because he knew that in the same place where he was going, that is, unknown where, many, many more of ours were going."
“Although none of the column commanders approached the ranks or spoke to the soldiers (the column commanders, as we saw at the military council, were not in a good mood and were dissatisfied with the work being undertaken and therefore only carried out orders and did not care about amusing the soldiers), despite the fact that the soldiers walked cheerfully, as they always do when going into action, especially offensively, but after walking for about an hour, everything was in a thick fog, most of the army had to stop, and an unpleasant consciousness of the ongoing disorder and confusion swept through the ranks. This consciousness is transmitted, it is very difficult to determine, but there is no doubt that it is transmitted unusually faithfully and quickly spreads, imperceptibly and uncontrollably, like water through a ravine. If the Russian army had been alone, without allies, then perhaps a lot of time would have passed until this consciousness of disorder would have become a general certainty; but now, with special pleasure and naturalness attributing the cause of the disorder to the stupid Germans, everyone was convinced that there was a harmful confusion that was caused by the sausage makers."
“The reason for the confusion was that while the Austrian cavalry was moving on the left flank, the higher authorities found that our center was too far from the right flank, and the entire cavalry was ordered to move to the right side. Several thousand cavalry advanced in front of the infantry, and the infantry had to wait.
Ahead there was a clash between the Austrian column leader and the Russian general. The Russian general shouted, demanding that the cavalry be stopped; the Austrian argued that it was not he who was to blame, but the higher authorities. Meanwhile, the troops stood, bored and discouraged. After an hour's delay, the troops finally moved further and began to descend down the mountain. The fog that dispersed on the mountain only spread thicker in the lower areas where the troops descended. Ahead, in the fog, one shot was heard, then another, at first awkwardly, at different intervals: tat-tat ... tat, and then more and more smoothly and more often, and the matter began over the Goldbach River.
Not expecting to meet the enemy below the river and accidentally stumbling upon him in the fog, not hearing a word of inspiration from the highest commanders, with the consciousness spreading throughout the troops that it was too late, and, most importantly, in the thick fog not seeing anything ahead and around them, the Russians lazily and slowly exchanged fire with the enemy, moved forward and stopped again, not receiving orders in time from the commanders and adjutants, who were wandering through the fog in an unfamiliar area, not finding their units of the troops. Thus began the case for the first, second and third columns that went down. The fourth column, with Kutuzov himself, stood on the Pratsen Heights.
At the bottom, where the matter began, there was still a thick fog; at the top it had cleared, but nothing of what was happening ahead was visible. Whether all the enemy forces, as we assumed, were ten miles away from us, or whether he was here, in this line of fog, no one knew until the ninth hour.
It was nine o'clock in the morning. The fog spread like a continuous sea below, but near the village of Shlapanice, at the height at which Napoleon stood, surrounded by his marshals, it was completely light. Above him was a clear blue sky, and a huge ball of the sun, like a huge hollow crimson float, swayed on the surface of a milky sea of fog. Not only all the French troops, but Napoleon himself and his headquarters were located on the wrong side of the streams and the bottoms of the villages of Sokolnitz and Shlapanitz, behind which we intended to take a position and begin business, but on this side, so close to our troops that Napoleon could in our army to distinguish horse from foot. Napoleon stood somewhat ahead of his marshals on a small gray Arabian horse, wearing a blue overcoat, the same one in which he fought the Italian campaign. He silently peered into the hills, which seemed to protrude from a sea of fog and along which Russian troops were moving in the distance, and listened to the sounds of shooting in the ravine. At that time, his still thin face did not move a single muscle; the shining eyes were motionless fixed on one place. His assumptions turned out to be correct. Some of the Russian troops had already descended into the ravine to the ponds and lakes, and some were clearing those Pratsen heights, which he intended to attack and considered the key to the position. He saw, in the midst of the fog, how, in a depression made up of two mountains near the village of Prats, Russian columns, all moving in the same direction towards the hollows, bayonets shining, disappeared one after another into the sea of fog. According to the information he received in the evening, from the sounds of wheels and footsteps heard at night at the outposts, from the disorderly movement of the Russian columns, from all assumptions, he clearly saw that the allies considered him far ahead of them, that the columns moving near Pratzen formed the center of the Russian army and that the center is already weakened enough to attack it successfully. But he still hadn't started the business.
Today was a solemn day for him - the anniversary of his coronation. Before the morning he dozed off for several hours and, healthy, cheerful, fresh, in that happy mood in which everything seems possible and everything succeeds, mounted a horse and rode out into the field. He stood motionless, looking at the heights visible from behind the fog, and on his cold face there was that special shade of self-confident, well-deserved happiness that happens on the face of a loving and happy boy. The marshals stood behind him and did not dare to distract his attention. He looked first at the Pratsen Heights, then at the sun emerging from the fog.
When the sun completely emerged from the fog and splashed with a blinding brilliance across the fields and fog (as if he was just waiting for this to start the job), he took off the glove from his beautiful white hand, made a sign with it to the marshals and gave the order to start the job. The marshals, accompanied by adjutants, galloped in different directions, and after a few minutes the main forces of the French army quickly moved towards those Pratsen heights, which were increasingly cleared by Russian troops descending to the left into the ravine.
“To the left below, in the fog, a skirmish was heard between invisible troops. There, it seemed to Prince Andrei, the battle would be concentrated, there would be an obstacle, and “there I will be sent,” he thought, “with a brigade or division, and there with With a banner in my hand I will go forward and break everything that comes before me.”
Prince Andrei could not look with indifference at the banners of the passing battalions. Looking at the banner, he kept thinking: maybe this is the same banner with which I will have to go ahead of the troops."
“Prince Andrei with a simple eye saw below to the right a dense column of French rising towards the Absheronians, no further than five hundred steps from the place where Kutuzov stood.
"Here it is!" - thought Prince Andrei, grabbing the flagpole and hearing with pleasure the whistle of bullets, obviously aimed specifically at him. Several soldiers fell.
- Hooray! - Prince Andrei shouted, barely holding the heavy banner in his hands, and ran forward with undoubted confidence that the entire battalion would run after him.
And indeed, he only ran a few steps. One soldier set off, then another, and the whole battalion shouted “Hurray!” ran forward and overtook him. The non-commissioned officer of the battalion ran up and took the banner, which was shaking from the weight in the hands of Prince Andrei, but was immediately killed. Prince Andrei again grabbed the banner and, dragging it by the pole, fled with the battalion. Ahead of him, he saw our artillerymen, some of whom fought, others abandoned their cannons and ran towards him; he also saw French infantry soldiers who grabbed artillery horses and turned the guns. Prince Andrei and his battalion were already twenty steps from the guns. He heard the incessant whistling of bullets above him, and soldiers constantly groaned and fell to the right and left of him. But he didn't look at them; he peered only at what was happening in front of him - on the battery. He clearly saw already one figure of a red-haired artilleryman with a shako knocked to one side, pulling a banner on one side, while a French soldier was pulling the banner towards himself on the other side. Prince Andrey already clearly saw the confused and at the same time embittered expression on the faces of these two people, who apparently did not understand what they were doing.
"What are they doing? - thought Prince Andrei, looking at them. - Why doesn’t the red-haired artilleryman run when he has no weapons? Why doesn't the Frenchman stab him? Before he can reach him, the Frenchman will remember the gun and stab him to death.”
Indeed, another Frenchman, with a gun at the ready, ran up to the fighters, and the fate of the red-haired artilleryman, who still did not understand what awaited him and triumphantly pulled out his banner, was to be decided. But Prince Andrei did not see how it ended. As if with a strong stick, one of the nearest soldiers, as if with full swing, hit him in the head. It hurt a little, and most importantly, it was unpleasant, because this pain entertained him and prevented him from seeing what he was looking at.
"What is this? I'm falling? My legs are giving way,” he thought and fell on his back. He opened his eyes, hoping to see how the fight between the French and the artillerymen ended, and wanting to know whether the red-haired artilleryman was killed or not, whether the guns were taken or saved. But he didn't see anything. There was nothing above him anymore except the sky - a high sky, not clear, but still immeasurably high, with gray clouds quietly creeping across it. “How quiet, calm and solemn, not at all like how I ran,” thought Prince Andrei, “not like how we ran, shouted and fought; It’s not at all like how the Frenchman and the artilleryman pulled each other’s banners with embittered and frightened faces - not at all like how the clouds crawl across this high endless sky. How come I haven’t seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him. Yes! everything is empty, everything is deception, except this endless sky. There is nothing, nothing, except him. But even that is not there, there is nothing but silence, calm. And thank God!.."
“Now it doesn’t matter! If the sovereign is wounded, should I really take care of myself?” - he thought. He drove into the space where most of the people fleeing Pratzen died. The French had not yet occupied this place, and the Russians, those who were alive or wounded, had long abandoned it. On the field, like haystacks on a good arable land, there were ten to fifteen people dead and wounded on every tithe of space. The wounded crawled in twos, threes together, and one could hear unpleasant, sometimes feigned, as it seemed to Rostov, their screams and moans. Rostov started his horse at a trot so as not to see all these suffering people, and he became afraid. He was afraid not for his life, but for the courage that he needed and which, he knew, would not withstand the sight of these unfortunate people.
In the village of Gostieradeke there were, although confused, but in greater order, Russian troops marching away from the battlefield. The French cannonballs could no longer reach here, and the sounds of firing seemed distant. Here everyone already clearly saw and said that the battle was lost. Whoever Rostov turned to, no one could tell him where the sovereign was, or where Kutuzov was. Some said that the rumor about the sovereign’s wound was true, others said that it was not, and explained this false rumor that had spread by the fact that the pale and frightened Chief Marshal Count Tolstoy, who had ridden with others in the emperor’s retinue to the battlefield. One officer told Rostov that beyond the village to the left he saw someone from the higher authorities, and Rostov went there, not hoping to find anyone, but only to clear his conscience before himself. Having traveled about three miles and having passed the last Russian troops, Rostov saw two horsemen standing against the ditch near a vegetable garden dug in by a ditch. One, with a white plume on his hat, seemed for some reason familiar to Rostov; another, unfamiliar rider, on a beautiful red horse (this horse seemed familiar to Rostov), rode up to the ditch, pushed the horse with his spurs and, releasing the reins, easily jumped over the ditch in the garden. Only the earth crumbled from the embankment from the horse’s hind hooves. Turning his horse sharply, he again jumped back over the ditch and respectfully addressed the rider with the white plume, apparently inviting him to do the same. The horseman, whose figure, seeming familiar to Rostov, for some reason involuntarily attracted his attention, made a negative gesture with his head and hand, and by this gesture Rostov instantly recognized his lamented adored sovereign.
“But it couldn’t be him, alone in the middle of this empty field,” thought Rostov. At this time, Alexander turned his head, and Rostov saw his favorite features so vividly etched in his memory. The Emperor was pale, his cheeks were sunken and his eyes sunken; but there was even more charm and meekness in his features. Rostov was happy, convinced that the rumor about the sovereign’s wound was unfair. He was happy that he saw him. He knew that he could, even had to, directly turn to him and convey what he was ordered to convey from Dolgorukov."
"How! I seem to be glad to take advantage of the fact that he is alone and despondent. An unknown face may seem unpleasant and difficult to him at this moment of sadness, and then what can I tell him now, when just looking at him my heart skips a beat and my mouth goes dry? Not one of those countless speeches that he, addressing the sovereign, composed in his imagination, came to his mind now. Those speeches were mostly held under completely different conditions, they were spoken for the most part in moments of victories and triumphs and mainly on his deathbed from his wounds, while the sovereign thanked him for his heroic deeds and he, dying, expressed to him his love confirmed in practice .
“Then why should I ask the sovereign about his orders to the right flank, when it is already four o’clock in the evening and the battle is lost? No, I definitely shouldn’t drive up to him, I shouldn’t disturb his reverie. It’s better to die a thousand times than to receive a bad look from him, a bad opinion,” Rostov decided and with sadness and despair in his heart he drove away, constantly looking back at the sovereign, who was still standing in the same position of indecision.
While Rostov was making these considerations and sadly driving away from the sovereign, Captain von Toll accidentally drove into the same place and, seeing the sovereign, drove straight up to him, offered him his services and helped him cross the ditch on foot. The Emperor, wanting to rest and feeling unwell, sat down under an apple tree, and Tol stopped next to him. From afar, Rostov saw with envy and remorse how von Tol spoke to the sovereign for a long time and passionately, and how the sovereign, apparently crying, covered his eyes with his hand and shook hands with Tol.
“And I could be in his place!” - Rostov thought to himself and, barely holding back tears of regret for the fate of the sovereign, in complete despair he drove on, not knowing where and why he was going now.
“At five o’clock in the evening the battle was lost at all points. More than a hundred guns were already in the hands of the French.
Przhebyshevsky and his corps laid down their weapons. Other columns, having lost about half of the people, retreated in frustrated, mixed crowds.
The remnants of the troops of Lanzheron and Dokhturov, mingled, crowded around the ponds on the dams and banks near the village of Augesta.
At six o’clock, only at the Augesta dam, the hot cannonade of only the French could still be heard, who had built numerous batteries on the descent of the Pratsen Heights and were hitting our retreating troops.”
“Where is it, this high sky, which I did not know until now and saw today? - was his first thought. “And I didn’t know this suffering either,” he thought. – Yes, and nothing, I didn’t know anything until now. But where am I?
He began to listen and heard the sounds of approaching horses and the sounds of voices speaking in French. He opened his eyes. Above him was again the same high sky with floating clouds rising even higher, through which a blue infinity could be seen. He did not turn his head and did not see those who, judging by the sound of hooves and voices, drove up to him and stopped.
The horsemen who arrived were Napoleon, accompanied by two adjutants. Bonaparte, driving around the battlefield, gave the last orders to strengthen the batteries firing at the Augesta Dam, and examined the dead and wounded remaining on the battlefield.
- De beaux hommes! - said Napoleon, looking at the killed Russian grenadier, who, with his face buried in the ground and the back of his head blackened, was lying on his stomach, throwing one already numb arm far away.
– Les munitions des pièces de position sont épuisées, sire! - said at this time the adjutant, who arrived from the batteries that were firing at Augest.
“Faites avancer celles de la réserve,” said Napoleon, and, having driven off a few steps, he stopped over Prince Andrey, who was lying on his back with the flagpole thrown next to him (the banner had already been taken by the French as a trophy).
“Voilà une belle mort,” said Napoleon, looking at Bolkonsky.
Prince Andrei realized that this was said about him and that Napoleon was saying this. He heard the one who said these words called sire. But he heard these words as if he heard the buzzing of a fly. Not only was he not interested in them, but he did not even notice them, and immediately forgot them. His head was burning; he felt that he was emanating blood, and he saw above him the distant, high and eternal sky. He knew that it was Napoleon - his hero, but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was now happening between his soul and this high, endless sky with clouds running across it. He didn’t care at all at that moment, no matter who stood above him, no matter what they said about him; He was only glad that people were standing over him, and he only wished that these people would help him and return him to life, which seemed so beautiful to him, because he understood it so differently now. He mustered all his strength to move and make some sound. He weakly moved his leg and produced a pitying, weak, painful groan.
- A! “He’s alive,” said Napoleon. – Raise this young man, ce jeune homme, and carry him to the dressing station!
Prince Andrei did not remember anything further: he lost consciousness from the terrible pain that was caused to him by being placed on a stretcher, jolts while moving, and probing the wound at the dressing station. He woke up only at the end of the day, when he was united with other Russian wounded and captured officers and carried to the hospital. During this movement he felt somewhat fresher and could look around and even speak."
Composition
on the topic of: Andrei Bolkonsky in the Battles of Shengraben and Austerlitz
Bolkonsky Austerlitz battle war
Andrei Bolkonsky - one of the main characters of the novel by L. N. Tolstoy war peace . “...Short stature, a very handsome young man with definite and dry features.” We meet him already on the first pages of the novel. A man who is bored with stupid society and a pretty wife, he craves such a feat that is necessary for a military man . Bolkonsky decided that war was the place where he could prove himself. His idol was Napoleon. Bolkonsky, like most young people of that time, also wanted to become famous.
The Battle of Shengraben is one of the key moments in the novel by Leo Tolstoy War and Peace . Hungry, barefoot, exhausted soldiers had to stop an army of an enemy much stronger than them. Knowing from Kutuzov that Bagration’s detachment has very little chance of survival, Andrei Bolkonsky begs the great commander to allow him to participate in this battle. Prince Andrei, who was constantly with the commander-in-chief, even when he got to the front line, continued to think in large categories, presenting the course of events in the most general terms. But the French opened fire and the battle began. Began! Here it is! But where? How will my Toulon express itself? - thought Prince Andrei. But everything happened not at all as it seemed to Prince Andrei, as was taught and said in theory. The soldiers either gather in heaps and run, then counterattack, and the enemy is forced to retreat. And the general gave almost no orders, although he pretended that everything was happening in accordance with his intentions . However, the very fact of his presence and calm manner of speaking worked wonders, raising the spirit of commanders and soldiers. Andrei watched as many, returning from the battlefield, talked about their exploits. The true hero of the Battle of Shengraben is Captain Tushin. It was his battery that stopped the French and gave their own the opportunity to retreat rather than be completely defeated. They forgot about him, the guns were left without cover. In fact, Andrei was the only one of the staff officers who was not afraid to deliver the order to retreat to the battery and who, under intense fire, helped remove the surviving guns and artillerymen. The true hero remained unappreciated. And this incident began to destroy Bolkonsky’s dreams and ideas. Tolstoy shows that the main role in this battle was played by simple and inconspicuous warriors, such as company commander Timokhin and captain Tushin. It was not numerical superiority, not the strategic plans of wise commanders, but the inspiration and fearlessness of the company commander, who carried the soldiers along with him, that influenced the course of the battle. Bolkonsky could not help but notice this.
The Battle of Austerlitz, as Prince Andrei believed, was a chance to find his dream. It was in this battle that he would be able to accomplish, albeit a small, feat. Even Napoleon noticed and appreciated his heroic deed. During the retreat, the prince grabs the banner and, by his example, encourages the battalion to rush into the attack. Here it is! - thought the prince. He ran shouting “Hurray!” and did not doubt for a minute that the entire regiment would run after him. Andrei could barely hold the banner and simply dragged it by the pole, shouting shrilly like a child: Guys, go ahead! On the field of Austerlitz, Andrei Bolkonsky is undergoing a reassessment of values. Heavily wounded, he lay and looked at the endless sky. What seemed beautiful and sublime to him turned out to be empty and vain. And Napoleon himself, his hero, now seemed “a small and insignificant man,” and his words were nothing more than the buzzing of a fly.
The Battle of Shengraben undoubtedly played a positive role in the life of Prince Andrei. Thanks to Tushin, Bolkonsky changes his view of the war. It turns out that war is not a means of achieving a career, but dirty, hard work where an inhumane deed is committed. The final realization of this comes to Prince Andrey on the Field of Austerlitz. After these battles, and most importantly after being wounded, Andrei changes his outlook on life. He understands that the outcome of the battle depends not on the feat of one person, but on the feat of the people.
About the Battle of Austerlitz in brief
Austerlickoe srazhenie
At the beginning of the 19th century, during the Napoleonic Wars, an open conflict between France and the Russian Empire arose. Many big battles took place in those years, and we will try to tell about the Battle of Austerltz briefly. This battle was one of the key ones in the early period of the war, and began on November 20, 1805. At that moment, two large armies met near the village of Austerlitz - Kutuzov’s troops, which included Russian and Austrian forces including 86 thousand soldiers, and Napoleon’s army, which included 73 thousand soldiers.
Kutuzov knew that his position was not favorable, so he hoped to delay the day of battle, but the Austrian allies were determined to liberate their capital, and Alexander I was forced to agree to their demands. The allied army went on the offensive, while Napoleon pretended to retreat. On November 16, a small battle took place near the town of Wischau, which became a rehearsal for the coming battle. At the same time, Napoleon retreated from the Pratsen Heights, which would have been a convenient battlefield for him.
The battle itself began on the morning of November 20. The Allied army attacked the right flank of the French troops, causing them to retreat into the swamps. However, too many troops were sent to attack, which got bogged down in the swampy lowlands. At the same time, Napoleon led his troops into a frontal attack, and, breaking through the center, divided the enemy's flanks. Only through the efforts of Dokhturov was it possible to save most of the army, which then retreated from Austria.
As a result of the incontinence of the Austrians, Kutuzov's troops suffered a crushing defeat. As a result of the battle, 27 thousand soldiers from his army were killed and 158 guns were lost, while 21 thousand people and 133 guns were part of the Russian army. Kutuzov himself was wounded in this battle. At the same time, the French lost 12 thousand soldiers. Thus, in one single battle, Napoleon won the entire war against Austria.