All language subtitles for 1812 - 1815. Overseas Trip. Episode 3. Documentary Film. Russian History

2014 The Year of Culture

Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

Channel One

Star Media

Babich Design

The Russian Society of War History

present

They don’t give us any provisions. I believe that if you are an ally,

you shall share your sausages with the Orthodox host. And he is repeating:

“Nicht verstehen” demonstrating that they had the sausages before

but the food is gone now. I slapped him in the face well to make them realize

how they should behave. We’re Orthodox. All Christians shall share their faith

and everything else, as the Bible encourages us.

Stop! Stop!

Let’s go, honey.

The wide Rhine separated the Russian army from the border of France.

A year passed since the times when Napoleon’s troops were driven away

from Russia. Winter came again. A shroud of snow covered the opposite bank

of the river that the soldiers of the Russian army had to cross.

Thousands of miles separated them from their Motherland,

and the war was leading them even further away.

– Oh, Your Excellency! – What is that, Samoilov?

Is it far to Paris from here?

– To Paris? – Yes.

The devil alone knows!

Let’s go!

– Matvey? – Yes?

What, Trofim? Let’s go, hungry man!

Thank you!

WARSAW

BERLIN

LUTZEN

DRESDEN

KULM

LEIPZIG

CHAMPAUBERT

MONTMIRAL

FERE-CHAMPENOISE

PARIS

THE FOREIGN CAMPAIGNTHE

Episode Three. Towards the walls of Paris

After a defeat by Leipzig, the French Emperor Napoleon

led the remains of his army to France. The Russian troops of Alexander I

and their allies from Prussia and Austria had been standing on the Rhine

for two months. The commandment of the allied forces

couldn’t dare move forward and put an end to the endless chain of wars

that didn’t give a moment’s peace to the nations of Europe for 15 years.

One of the participants of the campaign Mikhailovskiy-Danilevskiy recalled:

“The Russian Emperor objected even to a long stop by the Rhine

as he wanted to move to Paris that very winter.

However, on seeing France’s borders our allies grew timid —

probably due to their unsuccessful endeavors during the previous wars.”

May I?

I beg your pardon, Your Excellency. Our allies sent you a present.

– Bring the plates. – I got you. One moment.

“According to the report of an Austrian quarter-master,

a Russian soldier in the uniform of His Majesty’s Cossack Regiment

took a half of pound of sausages away from the said quarter-master”.

Samoilov?

No, Sir. I beg your pardon. It is a present.

– “And a bottle of rum”. – Rum?

“…and caused a bodily insult”…

What rum? I don’t know anything about rum!

It’s not that rum. Bring the glasses.

Here you are.

Thank you, Your Excellency.

I wish we could press on Bonaparte right now.

We have been faring with neither dry bread nor meat for many days in a row.

We may die out of hunger before we reach Paris.

We won’t die with Samoilovs. The Austrians and Prussians liberated their towns

and think that they did what was needed. They don’t want to cross the Rhine.

If we go back home now, in less than a year they’ll succumb to Bonaparte again,

trust me! They consider themselves victors now!

What about our Father Tsar?

It’s none of our business. Don’t poke your nose into it.

I’m sorry. May I go?

You may. Thank Samoilov and ask him about the rum. In a week…

– I beg your pardon? – We’ll cross the Rhine… I think.

The allied troops were tired. However, it wasn’t tiredness

that was delaying the advance of the Austrians and Prussians.

They considered the Rhine to be a frontier on reaching which

their war was supposed to end. Austria didn’t want Napoleon to abdicate,

it only willed to weaken his might. The King of Prussia didn’t want

to risk his army after the French had been driven away from Germany.

The Prussian general Blucher was the only one who said about Napoleon:

“Der Kerl muss runter”, which means “That young fellow shall fall”.

However, that brave general exerted no influence upon politics.

England achieved its goals too. Its economic and political influence

was restored and Britain didn’t want to waste its money anymore.

The representative of England Lord Castlereagh insisted

that Emperor Alexander should conclude peace with Napoleon.

Alexander was the only monarch who longed to dethrone Napoleon.

The burnt Moscow called for revenge.

However, the Russian Emperor understood another thing:

that peace with Napoleon today meant a new war with him tomorrow.

Napoleon was gathering a new army.

He lost the support of the states placed under his command.

There was no money in his treasury.

Devastated by the war, France wanted peace at any price.

People were reluctant and even resistant to supply new recruits for the army.

Alexander I knew very well that it was the time to deliver the last blow.

He insisted, persuaded, demanded, and deployed all his diplomatic talents

to make his allies advance towards France.

At last, on January 1, 1814, a year after crossing the Neman,

the Russian troops crossed the Rhine by Basel entering the territory of France.

Alexander was standing by the bridge. Watching his troops,

he recalled the last year that started in Lithuania

and ended on the French border.

Alexander and his army went where the war — which they didn’t start —

and their duty before their country and people called them.

Take the flour and leave a receipt. Beware!

I will, Your Excellency. You know me!

How are you harnessing the horse?

Hello, Cossacks! Do you have a handful of oats to spare?

Pass a bridle under the saddle. Your belly will swell from the oats.

The grain is not for me. I’m too old to ride. It’s for our Vaska…

We got some dry bread and meat yesterday, but he won’t eat our food.

What a great grenadier! He is great! Where did you get such cavalry?

He has been with us since the Rudny hills. He latched onto us

and has been following us ever since… like a dog.

Why didn’t you eat him?

Your Excellency! How may we? What good will it do?

This goat is too bony anyway… Let him serve the Tsar.

Stop talking! Samoilov, hand them over an armful of hay and some oats!

Oats? For a goat? I have none!

Enough talks! You didn’t have the rum too.

Oh, brother! It’s a real German goat.

He is no less an ally than an Austrian.

This is politics, brother! An alliance is an unbreakable host

against the dictator against whom both an intelligent and a dumb beast rebels

to capture that enemy of the people!

– To capture? – To capture him, for sure!

Bonaparte?

Yes! This is the reason we’re serving the Tsar!

It’s a good idea to capture… especially Bonaparte.

OK, I’ll bring some oats for your Vaska. Wait!

Vaska is a goat of the Russian army.

He is waiting for his portion of oats! Cuckold Bonaparte! Take this carrot too!

Sire! The enemy armies crossed the Rhine on January, 1.

The advance is continuing all over Alsace and Franche-Comte.

Wellington is in the south. He crossed the Pyrenees from Spain

and invaded Southern France.

The war, and only the war can solve all our problems!

I’m going to the army.

But Sire! The recruiting isn’t finished yet.

The mobilization is going on.

Ney! Ney! We’ll defeat them! Remember yourself under Krasnoye

and Berezina, by Lutzen and Dresden!

They lack unity. We’ll destroy them by parts.

On January, 13 the Emperor left Paris leaving his wife and son behind.

He’ll never see his family again. Next morning he arrived in Chalone,

where the people were still shouting “Long Live the Emperor!”

Napoleon benefited from the discrepancies among the allies.

Austria wasn’t interested in the further battles

and held the advance of the joint army through Schwarzenberg.

However, the Prussian Field Marshal Blucher, like Alexander I,

longed to seize Paris. Therefore, the main battles broke out

between Napoleon and Blucher’s Silesian army.

Schwarzenberg and his main army only took an auxiliary part.

All Russian units were distributed among these units

and submit to the foreign commanders-in-chief.

Against over 200,000 soldiers of the allies Napoleon brought forward

about 70,000 soldiers who were delaying the enemy as ardently as they could.

The fight seemed to be doomed to failure from the very beginning.

However, time showed that the Frenchmen’s situation wasn’t entirely hopeless.

The allies’ units had to stop at the winter quarters, protect the roads

and block numerous French fortresses. It dispersed their forces.

When it came to a battle, it turned out that the French only had to fight

separate units out of all the gigantic mass of the troops.

Marshals knew the correlation of forces and didn’t believe in victory.

Napoleon, on the contrary, was lively and spry.

He tried to inspire both marshals and soldiers with his high spirits.

Emperor decided to attack the Silesian army of Blucher —

the weakest but still the most dangerous one.

On January, 29 a battle of Brienne took place. 40,000 of soldiers of the allies

fought 30,000 of Napoleon’s troops. The enemies lost 3,000 people each.

Blucher retreated and united with Schwarzenberg’s troops.

On February, 10 by Champaubert the 30,000-strong Napoleon’s army

attacked the Russian corps of Lieutenant General Olsufyev

who had only 3,700 people at his disposal. The first attacks of the Frenchmen

were repulsed, but the forces were unequal.

The Russian corps used up all the ammunition and was encircled

losing about 2,000 people dead and wounded.

Some of the soldiers succeeded in breaking out of the encirclement.

However, wounded Olsufyev was taken prisoner.

Olsufyev Zakhar Dmitriyevitch, Lieutenant General,

participated in all the military campaigns against the Napoleonic France.

A hero of the Borodino Battle and all the major battles against Napoleon.

He was repeatedly wounded. On trying to break out of the encirclement

by Champaubert he was hit with a bayonet and taken prisoner.

He was freed in a few weeks after the Russian troops seized Paris.

After the first successes, Napoleon was in high spirits.

His marshals could see General Bonaparte again — a young hero of Italy

and Egypt, who inspired the fighting spirit of his commandment,

heartened soldiers and calmed ministers down.

On the second day he turned to Montmirail, where the Russians

and the Prussians were staying.

The battle ended with a brilliant victory of Napoleon.

The allies lost 8,000 people while Napoleon lost less than one thousand.

By Chateau-Thierry where about 18,000 of the Prussians

and 10,000 of the Russians were staying the French army killed

about 3,000 people losing only 600.

“I found my boots from the Italian campaign”, Napoleon said

remembering his lightning-fast victories of 1796.

It’s incredible but from the 10th to 14th of February he gave four battles

and scored four brilliant victories.

Blucher’s army was threatened with absolute annihilation.

He was forced to join Schwarzenberg’s main army.

The first campaign against Paris was lost.

This is how the things are going, Samoilov!

Your Excellency!

– Give it to Samoilov. – What is it?

– What do you mean? It’s wine. – Do you have some rum?

The bottle broke.

– Karpov, is that you? – Good afternoon, Your Excellency!

What’s wrong with you? Are you wounded?

– It’s a trifle. A sabre touched me. – What about Samoilov?

A bullet hit his shoulder but went right through.

He’ll be fine. It’s a pity his horse was killed, though.

Give him some rum.

There was no rum, Your… The bottle broke!

He’ll be fine, I can see that. Mikhaylov?

Order to distribute vodka among the Cossacks and catch up with me.

– I hope to see you again. – God help us!

After a row of hard defeats, losing hope for success the main army

of the allies slowly crawled towards Paris again.

Napoleon wanted to attack its separate units.

However, the allies who now knew from the bitter experience

concentrated their forces. Napoleon couldn’t defeat the enemy

so superior to his army in numbers.

So, he chose a different way

of breaking through to his north-eastern fortresses

whose garrisons waited to replenish his troops.

The Emperor didn’t worry about Paris. He knew that Schwarzenberg

wouldn’t dare attack the capital with Napoleon in his rear.

The Emperor was simply luring the enemy army away from Paris.

He moved northeastwardly along the river Aube valley,

through the town of Arcis-sur-Aube. On March, 20 the French collided

with the troops of Schwarzenberg and crossed the Aube after the battle.

So far Napoleon’s plan was working.

Schwarzenberg and his troops followed him.

Here are the news from General Chernyshov and from Berlin and Vienna.

“Sire! Don’t fight him. This is what Napoleon wants.

He is luring you away from Paris to the north.

We advise you to move towards Paris immediately”.

Towards Paris… I told them. Towards Paris… I think it’s not too late.

Duke Wellington was moving towards Toulouse in the south.

He saw himself winning the title of a conqueror of Paris.

And one more thing — Napoleon is trying to come to terms with Austria again.

The Austrian Emperor prefers to see Napoleon and not Alexander in Paris.

Schwarzenberg won’t attack Paris.

We’ll see…

The outcome of this endless war now depended on the Russian Emperor’s decision.

It was a war that was waged since the times of his grandmother

Empress Ekaterina the Great.

On March 12, Alexander I announced his irrevocable decision

to attack the capital of France.

Schwarzenberg was pursuing retreating Napoleon

who was luring the allies further and further away from Paris.

The Russian Emperor caught up with Schwarzenberg and the Prussian king

and described his plan to them. Alexander asked the King of Prussia Wilhelm

whether Prussia would help him realize his intentions.

When the king agreed, Alexander turned to Schwarzenberg.

Schwarzenberg couldn’t help but agree too.

He sent the order to advance towards Paris at once.

To confuse Napoleon he sent a cavalry detachment of General Wintzingerode

to pursue the French army. The General was ordered to send vanguards

as if looking for premises for the monarchs of the allies

to make Napoleon believe that the allies were following

in the Emperor’s footsteps.

Meanwhile the allied army was preparing to deliver a decisive blow.

On March 15, the armies of Blucher and Schwarzenberg turned towards Paris.

By the village of Fere-Champenoise the allied cavalry met with the corps

of Marshals Marmont and Mortier and a large detachment

of the National Guards that were rushing to Napoleon’s rescue.

After the battle, the French retreated to Paris.

Napoleon found out that the enemy moved towards the capital only in two weeks,

on March 27. The Emperor was in a town of Saint-Dizier

in 180 km from Paris.

I’d never believe that any general of the allies was capable of doing it!

The Emperor rushed to save Paris.

Outrunning the army, he arrived in the Fontainebleau Palace in two days.

Only 50 km now separated him from the capital.

By April 5, Napoleon counted on assembling 70,000 people

and moving to defend the city with them. However, it proved to be too late.

The allied armies reached the first defense line of Paris.

About 100,000 soldiers, including 63,000 of the Russians,

were preparing for a storm. According to different data,

the French had about 26,000 functioning troops in Paris

and from 6,000 to 12,000 of volunteers from the National Guards.

The high fighting spirit of the city defenders and their hope

for the speedy arrival of Napoleon with his army

partially compensated the lack of troops.

Napoleon was actively conducting peace negotiations

with the Austrian Emperor. Schwarzenberg kept receiving letters from Vienna

that ordered him to refrain from active military actions.

However, on March 30, the same day when Napoleon arrived in Fontainebleau,

the Russian and the Prussian armies stormed the capital of France.

Prokhorov! Push two guns out against that tower!

Stop!

What is it?

Oh, bro! Look, he is in white gloves, like a groom!

Unlike my ragamuffins! Where did you come from, dandy?

I beg your pardon, Your Excellency. Ensign Sablin.

I’ve just graduated from the military school.

I only came into the army yesterday… to my battery.

I set down to work at once.

Do you see that tower, Ensign? Let your young comrades try their skills on it.

Make the enemy shut up. Prove that Sablin knows his business better!

Yes, sir! Battery, aim!

He is so young, Your Excellency!

Fireworks! Fire!

Your Excellency!

I can see that! I can see that! Very good, Sablin!

He didn’t stain himself too! Prokhorov, let the Prussians advance now.

Well, German eagles? Guards, go forward!

Ermolov and his army seized the heights by Paris

and set his batteries there. The Prussian guards suffered great losses.

Ermolov later joked that he “put the Prussians to expense”.

The King of Prussia didn’t consider that joke funny.

Against his expectation, Ermolov failed to get

the Prussian medal of the Black Eagle which was promised to him.

However, the actions of the General were highly regarded by the Russian Tsar

who awarded him with the medal of the Second Class Saint George.

This medal was only granted 125 times in history.

Alexander entrusted Ermolov with composing a manifesto

on capturing of the enemy capital. Paris’s fate seemed to be sealed.

By five o’clock commanders of the defense of Paris

Marshals Marmont and Mortier sent his parlamentaires to the Russian Emperor.

Mortier was the governor of Moscow during its occupation by Napoleon.

It was he who ordered to blow a part of the Kremlin’s wall up.

And now it was his task to save his capital from devastation.

The Marshals still hoped for Napoleon’s arrival with his army

and tried to delay the start of the final storm as hard as they could.

They used all means at their disposal to delay the city’s surrender.

One of the French parlamentaires handed a letter from Napoleon

over to Schwarzenberg. In that letter, Bonaparte informed the Field Marshal

that he had already agreed on concluding peace with the Austrian Emperor

and called for the Austrian troops to stop fighting.

They are still pinning their hopes on their Emperor

and the peace with the Austrians. It’s now or never!

Surrender of the city with its entire garrison! This is my last word!

Hurray!

When the terms of the surrender were announced to the French,

they declared that such capitulation was impossible.

They said that their soldiers wouldn’t lay down arms

and would fight for every street and every house. At that time,

the artillery cannonade thundered at the distance.

The Russian troops of Count Langeron stormed Montmartre.

Enough words, gentlemen. I’ll order to stop the shooting if Paris surrenders.

Otherwise, you won’t recognize the places

where your capital used to be by this evening.

Well, Samoilov, you’re in Paris now!

The parlamentaires returned to Paris. Colonel Mikhail Orlov went with them

to discuss the final conditions of capitulation.

What a brilliant victory it is – to crush 30,000 of brave Frenchmen

with the allied forces of the entire Europe!

Look, don’t be mad at us for our politeness. We wanted to thank you

for the visit you honored us with in the same company.

The residents of Paris were terrified. Knowing about Moscow’s fate,

they were afraid that the same fate would befall their capital.

However, their curiosity was stronger than their fears.

The Parisians couldn’t wait to see their enemies.

Crowds gathered on the Montmartre to look at the Russians.

At that time, General of the Division Girardin arrived in Paris

with an order to blow up a large Grenelle powder store.

That explosion would destroy almost a half of the city with all its monuments.

On hearing the order, the commander of the powder stocks of Paris

Colonel Lescours couldn’t believe his ears.

He demanded a written order signed by the Emperor.

No answer was giver, so Lescours decided not to execute the order.

Later Alexander I awarded Lescours

with diamond decorations of the Saint Anna medal for saving Paris.

At 2 a.m. the capitulation was signed. The French troops were allowed

to leave the city without hindrance before 7 a.m. with their weapons

and artillery, leaving all the military arsenals in reserve.

Congratulations! Your name is now added to the history of a great event!

Orlov Mikhail Fedorovitch, an illegitimate son

of one of the famous Orlov brothers, favorites of Ekaterina II.

He fought by Smolensk and Borodino,

and later in Dorokhov’s guerilla’s detachment.

He was awarded with a rank of Major General

for signing the capitulation of Paris.

One of the founders of the pre-Decembrist organization

“The Order of the Russian Knights”.

He was arrested after the Decembrists’ rebellion but soon released

on solicitation of his elder brother, Cavalry General Alexei Orlov.

The Battle of Paris became one of the bloodiest fights for the allies

of the 1814 campaign.

They lost over 8,000 soldiers including 6,000 of Russians just in one day.

Still, Tsar issued a strict order to the troops:

“Treat the residents as generously as you can.

Win over them with generosity rather than with revenge,

not following the example of the Frenchmen in Russia”.

All night through the army was preparing for a solemn entrance

into the capital of France. Many of these soldiers, officers and generals

fought the French back in Suvorov’s times. Some of them still remembered

the defeat by Austerlitz; many defended Smolensk and fought to the bitter end.

They have been driving the enemy from the walls of the burnt Moscow

through the entire Europe. They granted liberty to its nations

and finished their great campaign in the defeated Paris.

In their ragged clothes and down-at-heel boots,

they didn’t look presentable enough for a parade.

Rayevskiy troops were dressed in uniforms taken off their killed enemies

and looked more like Frenchmen than the Russians.

The units of Eugeniy Wurtemberg that were the first to storm Paris

could find no more than a thousand of decently clad and shod men.

However, the soldiers cleaned their weapons, polished their belts with chalk

and mended their uniforms torn by the French bayonets.

1,200 km from the Neman to Moscow!

Over 3,000 km from Moscow to Paris! On foot!

Through the fire of the battles! Attacking and retreating,

in dust, dirt and snow… They wore out quite a few pairs of boots

and were now cleaning and polishing their battered footwear.

It was still hard to believe that it was the victory that had been dreaming of

for so many years. The Russian soldiers were preparing for a parade,

the most important parade of the war and of all their lives.

The Austrians who weren’t in no hurry to come to Paris

unexpectedly pushed forward.

They insisted that they had been the first to enter the capital of France.

However, they were asked to step aside, so to speak.

The order of entering was established in the following way.

The Prussian Guards Cavalry was to be the first,

followed by the Russian Light Guards Cavalry division,

and the Austrian Grenadier Brigade with the Russian troops bringing up the rear.

On March 31, the guards entered Paris through the Saint-Martin Gates

with the beat of the drums, music and with banners flying.

At the helm of the large retinue accompanied by more than a thousand

of generals and officers of different armies the Russian Emperor Alexander I

and the other monarchs entered Paris.

The entire capital, young and old, was in the streets.

It was an incredible event. Paris last saw the enemy troops in the 15th century,

when the English seized the city during the Hundred Years War.

Now the former enemies were received with honors worthy of their own Emperor.

Thousands of Paris residents admired the brilliant look of the Russian guards

and handsome officers. One couldn’t believe that just yesterday they had been

choking on soot and powder smoke.

The French women were looking out of the windows and blowing kisses

from the crowds. They ran up to the officers asking to borrow their horses

and to see the Russian Emperor, asking about what he was like.

They expected the Russians to be barbarians feasting on human meat

and the Cossacks to be bearded Cyclops.

Well, Alexei Petrovitch, what will Petersburg say now?

They used to honor Napoleon considering me to be a simpleton.

I don’t know, Sire. However, the words I heard from you

have been said by a monarch to his subject for the first time.

What was the Russian Emperor thinking about at that moment?

He was sure to recall his defeat by Austerlitz,

and confusion during the invasion of the 1812.

He vowed that he wouldn’t utter a word about peace until the last enemy soldier

left his country. He kept his promise. And now in the enemy capital

that he spared no efforts to save from fires, plunder and devastation,

a crowd of his former enemies was exultantly welcoming the Tsar.

Was it the kind of a reception Napoleon hoped for in the defeated Moscow?

However, Moscow met him with fire. The Russian Tsar and his army

avenged on their ancient capital with mercy and generosity.

Alexander inspected the parade of the allied troops for four hours.

After that, he walked to the estate of the former Minister for Foreign Affairs

of France Talleyrand to discuss the accession to power.

The Russian Emperor decided to carry the matter through

and to make Napoleon abdicate.

Napoleon stayed in Fontainebleau by Paris. On April 4, he abdicated

in favor of his son. He still believed that he would be able to recapture

both Paris and his throne back. However, a part of the French army

had already changed sides and gave Alexander a pretext

to toughen the conditions. On April 6, Napoleon’s generals and marshals

came to him.

His former comrades-in-arms were now ready to denounce him.

Berthier.

McDonald,

Caulaincourt,

Ney...

Sir? They demand absolute abdication.

Ney! We shall storm Paris! Now! We’ll defeat them!

It will be hard to make the soldiers fight on the ruins of Paris.

Sir! They demand your abdication!

If I’m the only impediment to the peace of my nation,

I’m ready to abdicate.

Let’s storm them!

We’ll defeat them!

On April 6, Napoleon signed an act of abdication from the throne of France

on behalf of himself and of his heirs. The very same day the French Senate

enthroned Louis XVIII, the brother of the king of France

executed during the times of the revolution. According to the decision

of the allied monarchs, Napoleon received the island of Elba

in the Mediterranean Sea at his disposal.

He was allowed to take a guards battalion with him.

By April 11, everybody deserted him. Out of numerous retinue

only General Caulaincourt, a doctor and a few servants stayed with him.

The rest went to Paris to start their careers at the new court anew.

The residents of the Fontainebleau Palace were preparing for a departure.

Sir? Sir? Sir?

Sir? Sir? Come here! Help!

Napoleon’s personal doctor prepared this poison for him

when the Emperor barely escaped captivity by the Russian Cossacks

in Russia by Maloyaroslavets. The poison didn’t take effect.

It must have decomposed with time.

On April 20, the packing was finished. Napoleon expressed his wish

to bid farewell to his guards. The soldiers presented arms

and General Petit bowed the banner of the Old Guards to his feet.

These soldiers endured all of the wars and fights of the epoch with him:

the mountains of Italy, the fields of Austria and the snows of Russia.

They were ready to lay down their lives for him without hesitation.

They proved it with their actions on numerous occasions.

He cared for them like for his own family.

He threw them into the fire of the battles again and again

knowing that they would bring a victory to him.

Now these moustached giants were weeping like children.

According to the historians’ estimates, the number of the French citizens

who perished during the Napoleonic Wars amounted to 471,000

of killed and 530,000 missing not including the gravely wounded

who died not on the battlefield but later in the field hospitals.

Foreigners fighting in rows of Napoleon’s army shall be added to this amount.

According to different estimates, there were from 2 to 4 million of them.

On April 16, Napoleon set foot aboard the English frigate “Indomitable”

and sailed to the island of Elba.

A grandioso historical poque came to an end. He bid farewell to his guards.

This is what the Englishmen write about your Emperor.

He did it, didn’t he? Your Excellency… Is that island… Elba… far away?

Not really. It’s like from Moscow to Samara.

It’s so close!

It is in a way but… You won’t need this personality anymore.

You may throw it into the river. We won’t rescue him from that island.

Other people will do it. You’re the ruler and your will is supreme.

But you shouldn’t have entrusted those people with the dictator.

The Englishmen will set him free. They will release him!

Or he might escape. We’ll have to pursue him again! We will!

Samoilov. You’re a fool!

Vaska! You didn’t eat the goat, did you?

Good afternoon, Your Excellency!

Hello! As I can see, the goat and you are the noncommissioned officers

of the Russian army now!

I was awarded with a rank for the merits

before the state in the bloody fight for the seizure of Paris!

What do you think, will Bonaparte escape from the Brits or nor?

Of course, Your Excellency. He will escape for sure.

Satan himself favors that devil. And our Christian army’s task

is to save the Orthodox people from that misfortune. As it is said…

This is what I said! He will escape for sure! And if he doesn’t…

we’ll feel so bored!

It’s all right! A new one will appear.

There is nobody like him!

In spring of 1811, talking to the Bavarian General Wrede Napoleon stated

that in three years he would be the master of the world.

On May 3, 1814, precisely in three years after that fateful conversation,

the failed master of the world left for an honorable exile.

He had an island of 300 square kilometers at his disposal,

with three small towns and three thousand residents.

Napoleon was permitted to take three generals and a battalion of guards with him.

He was announced to be the Emperor of the island

and allowed to keep personal guards. At the same time,

the island was constantly patrolled by the British navy.

In Europe, the aristocracy was celebrating victory.

The monarchs and diplomats were preparing for signing of the new peace,

the new re-division of Europe and the arrival of the new king of France.

A palindrome, a sentence that is read identically both ways,

appeared in the English language — “Able was I ere I saw Elba”.

The most famous prisoner in history was approaching the Elba.

An Emperor without an Empire, a war commander without an army…

However, less than in a year the world shook again

remembering the name of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Script by Marina Bandilenko Directed by Pavel Tupik and Andrei Vereschagin

Photography by Dmitry Kiptilyi Production Director – Ilona Srebrodolskaya

Art Director - Alexander Yakimov

Make up by Galina Korolenko Original score by Boris Kukoba

Narrators – Sergey Chonishvili and Yevgeniy Sinchukov

Music by Maxim Voitov Military Consultant – Vladimir Zolotaryov

Produced by Valery Babich, Vlad Ryashin. Sergei Titinkov and Konstantin Ernst

Commissioned by Channel One, Russia