Invasion of Russia Begins

Date: June 24, 1812 • Location: Rusnė, Lithuania

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1812–1814.

Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman river beginning the invasion of Russia.

The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a global series of conflicts fought by shared European coalitions against the French First Republic (1803–1804) under the First Consul followed by the First French Empire (1804–1815) under the Emperor of the French, Napoleon I. The wars originated in political forces arising from the French Revolution (1789–1799) and French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and produced a period of French domination over continental Europe. The wars are categorised as seven conflicts, five named after the coalitions that fought Napoleon, plus two named for their respective theatres: the War of the Third Coalition, War of the Fourth Coalition, War of the Fifth Coalition, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the Seventh Coalition, the Peninsular War, and the French invasion of Russia.