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This year Russia celebrates the 200th anniversary of the 1812 Patriotic War and its victory over French army headed by Napoleon.
Ruslan Sukhushin
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Members of historical clubs, dressed as French soldiers and Russian soldiers take part in the reenactment of the 1812 battle between Napoleon's army and Russian troops in Borodino, some 120 km outside Moscow on September 2.
Ruslan Sukhushin
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Two hours of clanking swords, firing canons, hundreds of horses, tons of armor and pure fun for spectators. The cavalry, infantry and artillery were all identical reproductions of what’s written in the chronicles about the most famous battle of Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia.
Ruslan Sukhushin
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The real battle lasted 12 hours, and left over 45,000 Russian soldiers dead and around 30,000 dead on the French side.
Ruslan Sukhushin
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Napoleon called it a battle of giants. “The French have proved worthy of victory and the Russians earned the right not to be defeated,” the French Emperor said.
Sergey Kuksin
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Despite the fact that the real battle began early in the morning – at roughly 5 am – the reenactment was scheduled to begin during the day, so that more people could see the show.
Sergey Kuksin
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The weather 200 years ago was very similar to this Sunday’s, so viewers got a rather clear picture of how it all happened in 1812. Some 100,000 spectators are reported to have come to watch the event.
Sergey Kuksin
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With 3,000 men, 300 horses and almost 50 pieces of ordnance, this year's Borodino reenactment has already been labeled the most ambitious one ever put on.
Sergey Kuksin
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Descendants of the heroes who fought at the Battle of Borodino attended the event. Among them were the great-grandsons of both Napoleon and General Kutuzov, as well as former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, whose forefathers participated in the Napoleonic Wars.
Sergey Kuksin
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From the Mozhaysk station, where most of the trains terminate, one almost doesn't notice being catapulted directly onto the front line; the road that links the town of Borodino with its small train station takes us past country houses immersed in surreal bucolic peace.
Sergey Kuksin
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The restoration works speak of bombardments much better than the torn uniforms: not one lot seems to have avoided the violence of time, including the remains of the Grande Armée.
Sergey Kuksin
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While the gold cupola of Bagration's tomb now shines again, exalting the marshal's heroic sacrifice that covered Kutuzov's tactical retreat, the collection of funds to preserve the memory of the Napoleonic divisions is turning out to be much more difficult.
Sergey Kuksin
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In spite of the fact that the invading troops also had volunteers from all over Europe, from Belgium to Prussia, from Austria to Italy, preparation for the anniversary of the battle at Borodino has revealed just how fictitious the unity of the western nations led by Napoleon really was.
Sergey Kuksin
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Historians are still engaged in the debates about the significance of the Battle of Borodino.
Ruslan Sukhushin
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On the one hand, after the battle the Supreme Commander of the Russian Army Mikhail Kutuzov gave an order to retreat and to leave Moscow.
Ruslan Sukhushin
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And on the other, that event became the turning point of the war, when the might of the French army was undermined for the first time.
Ruslan Sukhushin
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And still, formally, the French say that they were the winners in that war, a historian and a participant of the reenactment event, Andrei Bogdanov, says: "Russian commanders said that the French had won the Battle of Borodino. An order to retreat was received at night. Thus, after the battle the French troops occupied the battlefield. Therefore, the French are absolutely right when they say that they scored a victory in the Battle of Borodino."
Sergey Kuksin
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After the battle was over Napoleon said that the Battle of Borodino was the worst of his battles – the one where the French showed that they had deserved victory, and Russians - that they had the right to be regarded as invincible.
Ruslan Sukhushin
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People from many European countries and even from the USA and Canada have taken part in the reenactment event. One of the participants who arrived in Russia from Lorraine in the north-east of France says: "The names of ordinary soldiers are forgotten. We know only the great names of marshals and general. I believe that the reenactment must help us recollect all those who took part in the famous battle and render homage to all of them."
Ruslan Sukhushin
