Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Today Is The Anniversary ...

 ... of dozen of European languages invading Russia in 1812. It was the largest army (how novel for Russians, not) in history at that time to invade Russia. Napoleon assembled all of Europe for that. Well, French excluded most of the battles from their so called "history" books (you know, frost, all those nasty Russians and Cossacks et al interfered with otherwise "brilliant" Napoleon), but reality is--it was a calamity of unimaginable scale (how traditional, eh). And it was at Borodino that Russians exorcised European spirit for pillage, theft and robbery for almost a century.   

And then, as you all know, came June 22, 1941. 

Let us imagine two men who have come out to fight a duel with rapiers according to all the rules of the art of fencing. The fencing has gone on for some time; suddenly one of the combatants, feeling himself wounded and understanding that the matter is no joke but concerns his life, throws down his rapier, and seizing the first cudgel that comes to hand begins to brandish it. Then let us imagine that the combatant who so sensibly employed the best and simplest means to attain his end was at the same time influenced by traditions of chivalry and, desiring to conceal the facts of the case, insisted that he had gained his victory with the rapier according to all the rules of art. One can imagine what confusion and obscurity would result from such an account of the duel.

The fencer who demanded a contest according to the rules of fencing was the French army; his opponent who threw away the rapier and snatched up the cudgel was the Russian people; those who try to explain the matter according to the rules of fencing are the historians who have described the event.

After the burning of Smolénsk a war began which did not follow any previous traditions of war. The burning of towns and villages, the retreats after battles, the blow dealt at Borodinó and the renewed retreat, the burning of Moscow, the capture of marauders, the seizure of transports, and the guerrilla war were all departures from the rules.

Napoleon felt this, and from the time he took up the correct fencing attitude in Moscow and instead of his opponent’s rapier saw a cudgel raised above his head, he did not cease to complain to Kutúzov and to the Emperor Alexander that the war was being carried on contrary to all the rules—as if there were any rules for killing people. In spite of the complaints of the French as to the nonobservance of the rules, in spite of the fact that to some highly placed Russians it seemed rather disgraceful to fight with a cudgel and they wanted to assume a pose en quarte or en tierce according to all the rules, and to make an adroit thrust en prime, and so on—the cudgel of the people’s war was lifted with all its menacing and majestic strength, and without consulting anyone’s tastes or rules and regardless of anything else, it rose and fell with stupid simplicity, but consistently, and belabored the French till the whole invasion had perished.

And it is well for a people who do not—as the French did in 1813—salute according to all the rules of art, and, presenting the hilt of their rapier gracefully and politely, hand it to their magnanimous conqueror, but at the moment of trial, without asking what rules others have adopted in similar cases, simply and easily pick up the first cudgel that comes to hand and strike with it till the feeling of resentment and revenge in their soul yields to a feeling of contempt and compassion.

Fucking illiterate idiots with fake credentials who teach the so called "strategy" in the US (Western in general) military academies and war colleges still cannot resign themselves to a simple truth, that forces larger than them in intellect and resources are at play here and that they have no clue about what they are dealing with. 

P.S. What's the deal with this June thing, hm? I guess they love solid roads in Russia. I always said--I don't like this whole highway system in Russia, wink, wink;) 

P.P.S. I reiterate, Tolstoy doesn't say "And it is well", he says "И Благо тому народу"--And Blessed are the people.