Russian Winter
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Russian Winter, sometimes personified as "General Frost" or "General Winter", is an aspect of the climate of Russia that has contributed to military failures of several invasions of Russia and the Sov
"General Winter", from a 1916 front page illustration of the French periodical Le Petit Journal
Russians used skis in the third Muscovite–Lithuanian War (1507–1508).
The Night Bivouac of Napoleon's Army during retreat from Russia in 1812.
Great Frost of 1709
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The Great Frost, as it was known in England, or Le Grand Hiver, as it was known in France, was an extraordinarily cold winter in Europe in 1708–1709, and was the coldest European winter during the pas
Russian Winter
…adopting a scorched-earth policy. The winter of 1708–1709 was the most brutal of the 18th century, so severe that the seaport of Venice froze during the Great Frost of 1709. Charles' 35,000 troops were crippled, and by the spring of 1709 only 19,000 were left. The Battle of Poltava in the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate in…
Le lagon gelé en 1709, by Gabriele Bella, part of a lagoon which froze over in 1709, Venice, Italy