The
French Invasion of Russia, known in Russia as the
Patriotic War of 1812 and in France as the
Russian Campaign , began on 24 June 1812 when
Napoleon's crossed the
Neman River in an attempt to engage and defeat the Russian army. Napoleon hoped to compel
Tsar Alexander I of Russia to cease trading with
British merchants through proxies in an effort to pressure the
United Kingdom to sue for peace. The official political aim of the campaign was to liberate
Poland from the threat of Russia. Napoleon named the campaign the Second Polish War to gain favor with the Poles and provide a political pretext for his actions.