On December 18 at the Faculty of History the round table “The Patriotic War of 1812: modern ideas and discussions” took place. Such a topic was chosen by the students-historians not accidently as in 2012 the 200th Anniversary of the victory of Russia in the Patriotic war of 1812 will be celebrated.
It was not so easy for Russia to win that great war: huge human losses, destroyed cities and broken lives left a trace in people’s memory forever.
The significance of this war is that the modern society and the state make joint efforts to overcome the moral crisis and to strengthen the national consciousness. The events of 1812 showed the unity and power of the Russian people.
The students of the Faculty of History made an attempt to return to that period of time. At the beginning the historians defined Napoleon's purposes and plans, his strategy and targets and they found out that the war between two largest powers, France and Russia, should have happened. And on the 12th of June, 1812 Napoleon with a huge army invaded the borders of the Russian Empire.
Napoleon expected to conquer Russia and he relied on the loyalty of the Russian people, first of all serfs, but his plan failed. On September 2 when the French entered Moscow the Emperor of France was sure that Muscovites would bring him the keys from the city considering Napoleon as their Rescuer. But the Russian people got united and came out against the aggressors.
What were the true reasons of such a great patriotism and heroism of the Russian people? Here the participants of the round table had different points of view. Many people think that the religion had a significant role in that War. Though the French were Catholics and thus they had different religion. Other people think that the mentality of the Russian people had a great role: people got united in front of the exterior threat and it can also be proved by the experience of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
The victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 confirmed the courage and heroism of the Russian people and showed the example of self-sacrifice for greater good of the Motherland. These military events helped us to learn the names of many people who remained in the history of our country forever: M.I. Kutuzov, P.I. Bagration, M.B. Barclay-de-Tolly, D.V. Davydov.
The Patriotic War of 1812 is the great event lessons of which it is necessary not only to remember but also to honor. And we will never forget our heroic past!