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The origin of Russian animation: 1920–40s

Screen adaptations of Mayakovsky's poems and soundtracks from Shostakovich, a story about the pioneer Gulliver and copying Disney techniques with the approval of Stalin himself - the first decades Soviet animation were extremely interesting.

Avant-garde 20s

Although the first experiments in animation in Russia began to be undertaken even before the revolution (puppet cartoons by Alexander Shiryaev, short films by Vladislav Starevich, filmed using stuffed insects), the starting point of the domestic cartoon tradition should be considered the first cartoon filmed in the USSR - " Soviet toys» Dziga Vertov (1924). The plot of the short film is based on the political cartoons of the artist Denis published in the Pravda newspaper, ridiculing the enemies of the socialist society. Other cartoons appearing at the same time are also oriented towards adults, not children - "Humoresques" by the same Dziga Vertov, "German Affairs and Deeds" by Alexander Bushkin, "China on Fire" - a cartoon on which almost all the main cartoonists of subsequent decades: Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Vladimir Suteev, Valentina and Zinaida Brumberg, Olga Khodataeva.

Vladislav Starevich (1882-1965). Photo: kino-teatr.ru

Dziga Vertov (1896-1954)

Ivan Ivanov-Vano (1900-1987)

First children's cartoon- “Rink” by Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky (artist-animator in this short film was Ivan Ivanov-Vano) was released in 1927. The story about a boy who, wanting to punish a fat man who molests a beautiful figure skater, by chance won the speed skating competition, became very successful and laid the foundations of children's animation.

The same Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky also shot the first puppet cartoon - "The Adventures of Bolvashka" (1927). Then this direction will be developed by Maria Benderskaya, who released the films “Moydodyr” and “The Adventures of the Chinese”.

Another important cartoon of the time was "The Samoyed Boy", made by sisters Zinaida and Valentina Brumberg and Olga and Nikolai Khodataev in 1928. In fact, this is a seven-minute story of the life of an ideal Soviet citizen - the brave boy Chu, who first exposes the evil shaman, and then enters the workers' faculty in Leningrad in order to return to his native camp to change life for the better. The "Samoyed Boy" is also interesting aesthetically: it uses images of the original visual arts northern peoples.

In terms of visual aesthetics, the first Soviet cartoons were filled with the spirit of the avant-garde. Nikolai Khodataev, Mikhail Tsekhanovsky, sisters Valentina and Zinaida Brumberg, Ivan Ivanov-Vano, creating new art, were focused on finding new forms - both in graphics and in editing. Animation opened up hitherto unseen horizons for artists. As Ivan Ivanov-Vano, one of the founders of domestic animation, wrote: “There is nothing inaccessible for animation. This is the art of possibilities not limited by technology, where reality is closely intertwined with fantasy and fiction, where fantasy and fiction become reality.

A frame from the cartoon "Soviet Toys". 1924

A frame from the cartoon "Rink". 1927

Frame from the cartoon "Samoyed Boy". 1928

Literary 20s

During these years, animation is elevated to the rank of a new art, it actively borrows literary images and ideas: cartoons based on the works of classical authors("The Adventures of Munchausen" by Daniil Cherkes, Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Vladimir Suteev based on Raspe), modern children's writers ("Cockroach" by Alexander Ivanov based on a poem by Chukovsky, "Senka the African" by Daniil Cherkes, Yuri Merkulov and Ivan Ivanov-Vano based on fairy tales of the same Chukovsky). Among these cartoons, “Mail” by Mikhail Tsekhanovsky, a film adaptation of the book of the same name by Samuil Marshak, stands out. This cartoon went down in history as the first sound Soviet animated film.

Not only are they starting to cooperate with animated films best writers and poets (among them Evgeny Schwartz, Samuil Marshak, Korney Chukovsky, Sergey Mikhalkov, Valentin Kataev, Yuri Olesha) of that time, but also composers. Dmitri Shostakovich specifically writes music for Mikhail Tsekhanovsky's The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda. Unfortunately, the film was never completed and only one episode of it has survived.

A frame from the cartoon "The Adventures of Munchausen". 1929

A frame from the cartoon "Senka the African". 1927

Frame from the cartoon "Mail". 1929

In many ways, this interest, in addition to those creative possibilities What animation gave was also associated with censorship pressure on screenwriters, writers, composers, who, in order to survive, looked for themselves in other areas - works for children, stage. Even here, however, not everything was rosy. As artist Lana Azarch, who collaborated with the Broomberg sisters, recalls: “They were absolutely not afraid to experiment. They were well-educated artists, those who know the art all over the world. Another thing is that they were restrained, tortured, banned. Gryms from the Academy sat at the artistic councils pedagogical sciences who said the kids wouldn't understand it. But in spite of everything, real masterpieces came out.

Satirical 30s

In the early 1930s, a satirical direction in animation began to develop: “The Tale of Tsar Durandai” by Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Zinaida Brumberg, “The Organ” by Nikolai Khodataev based on the “History of a City” by Saltykov-Shchedrin, “The Quartet” by Alexander Ivanov and Panteleimon Sazonov based on Krylov's fable, "Black and White" by Leonid Amalrik and Ivan Ivanov-Vano is an adaptation of Mayakovsky's poem of the same name.

The film "New Gulliver" by Alexander Ptushko (1935) stands out in particular, where it is rather boldly rethought classic plot: Gulliver in the cartoon becomes a Soviet schoolboy who, instead of Swift's Lilliput, ended up in the capitalist world.

But all these cartoons were separate experiments that were created in separate cartoon workshops at Mezhrabpomfilm, Sovkino, Moskinokombinat, Gosvoenkino, and Mosfilm. In 1936, they were all merged into a single institute - Soyuzmultfilm. The staff of the studio included already well-known animators - Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Olga Khodataeva, Valentina and Zinaida Brumberg, Vladimir Suteev, Dmitry Babichenko, Alexander Ivanov and others.

A frame from the cartoon "The Tale of King Durandai". 1934

Frame from the cartoon " New Gulliver". 1935

Frame from the cartoon "Black and White". 1932

As Fedor Khitruk, who worked at the studio almost from the moment of its foundation, recalls: “Nothing happens without purposeful work. Soyuzmultfilm was taken care of, the best shots were selected for it, the artists were taken care of. In a word, they created tolerable conditions so that later they could successfully sell the created cartoons. Well, we should not forget that we were not particularly touched by censorship. There were some ridiculous moments when they insistently asked to change the too pessimistic ending, but this is so, on trifles. In general, there was no obscurantism, we were relatively free. And we were constantly learning - Western cartoons were watched in industrial quantities.

Pro-Disney 30s

Speaking of Western cartoons. In 1935 Walt Disney's Amusing Symphonies were shown at the Moscow International Film Festival. This event greatly influenced the minds of Soviet animators. As the same Khitruk recalls: “The Disney film from the Funny Symphonies series did not fit into any framework of the usual consciousness. It was such a class of directing, such a fusion of plasticity, music, ideas and characters - amazing.<...>For me, these films were more than art, they were divination, sorcery. In terms of movement, character, acting, something more convincing happened to me than in feature films.

Frame from the cartoon "Kotofey Kotofeevich". 1937

A frame from the cartoon "Funny Symphonies". 1935

A frame from the cartoon "It's Hot in Africa." 1936

It was according to the Disney canons that Soyuzmultfilm developed in the first years: for several years they mastered celluloid technology here - a production conveyor, like at Disney, new animators were trained according to American manuals. Now the multipliers have a division of labor: instead of people who did everything at once, narrow specialists began to work - phasers, drawers, contourers, fillers. Of course, this speeded up the process and made production cheaper, but at the same time, in such cartoons, it became more difficult to capture the artist's individual style. Borrowed from Disney and the technology of "eclair" or rotoscoping, which took the basis of the picture shooting the movements of live actors. Willy-nilly, Soviet animators also borrowed the style of Disney films.

Ivanov-Vano recalled this period in this way: “How could this happen? Many times I then asked myself this question, until I found the right answer to it. Sad as it may seem, but at first, in our work at the new studio, all of us were captivated by the Disney method, we were forced to copy not only technology, but also some principles of character construction and movement. The fact is that the training in the courses of animators was carried out mainly on teaching aids, developed by Disney for their animators. All the most expressive and characteristic forms the movements of the characters - walking, jumping, running, falling - were carefully looped and recorded on special tapes, which were then used by the animators in order to save time in their work.

Original 40s

That bright style of Soviet animation, which had already begun to take shape in the 1920s, was lost for a while. However, even during these years, interesting original works appeared - for example, films by Vladimir Suteev (“Noisy Swimming”, “Why the Rhino has a Skin in Folds”, “Gingerbread Man”, “Uncle Styopa”).

All these films are black and white, although since 1937, when the first color cartoon was released (" Sweet pie» Dmitry Babichenko), many paintings were produced in two versions at once.

The years 1939-1941 are perhaps the most productive years for Soyuzmultfilm of that period. The classic is now on the screen domestic animation: "Limpopo" and "Barmaley" by Leonid Amalrik and Vladimir Polkovnikov, "Moidodyr" by Ivan Ivanov-Vano, "Fly-Tsokotuha" by Vladimir Suteev. These cartoons are less and less like Disney ones, they clearly show the author's handwriting of the artists. It is from them that the original soviet school animations.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, animators, those who did not go to the front, switched to shooting propaganda film posters. The production of children's cartoons is extremely slow - there are not enough materials, evacuation to Samarkand and return re-evacuation to Moscow takes a lot of time and effort, at some point the studio even produces buttons and combs from film. Nevertheless, during these years, the "Christmas Tree" and "Telephone" by Mikhail Tsekhanovsky, "The Stolen Sun" by Ivan Ivanov-Vano, "The Tale of Tsar Saltan"

There are not only small, but also adult viewers. painted fairy-tale heroes on the screens come to life, luring into the world of exciting adventures. In life, those who move do not meet. But animations allow you to turn a set of static pictures into a moving image.

The art of cartoonists gives the viewer the opportunity to forget for a while that he is not dealing with reality, but with a fairy tale.

Since ancient times, animators have used the most diverse ones to obtain the desired effects, with the help of which puppet or drawn images came to life. Technology is definitely important. But much more has the artist's intention, script and idea. Finally, the character of an animated film is born when the animators endow him with personality and character. These principles, which originated at the dawn of cartoon cinema, are also characteristic of modern animation.

The masters of animation see their task in conveying to the audience the eternal ones, which, unlike technologies, do not change with time. Heroes still look at the viewer from TV screens, whose behavior is driven by the desire for justice and goodness. Evil must be defeated, and love and friendship will surely triumph.

Features of modern animation

Today, almost every creation in the world of animation is the result of the use of computer technology. Very rarely characters are now sculpted from or painted on transparencies. The use of computer animation tools allows you to get characters with extremely high image clarity. Such heroes are able to move like a person. Plasticity of movements and special effects bring animated pictures closer to reality.

One of the strongest trends in animated cinema is the drive towards extreme naturalization. But some cartoonists believe that the desire to give the film the ultimate believability is a dead end, because the viewer perceives not so much the realism of the details of the picture, artistic image The created on the screen. It's fabulous, unreal world attracts the attention of young viewers.

Over the past two decades, three-dimensional animation has managed to emerge and develop. The use of 3D technologies in the production of cartoons became possible only after the release of computer technology to new level.

Images that create the illusion of a three-dimensional world allow you to create a holistic image that strives for ultimate realism.

And yet, today's animation masters very often strive to deliberately stylize three-dimensional graphics as hand-drawn. This can be explained by the confrontation of two trends, one of which represents the old school of animation, and the second expresses

In Russia, the first steps in creating animation were taken at the beginning of the 20th century, just like in the West. There was no celluloid in our country, so two methods were used: "landscape" - drawing on plain paper, and puppet animation. The process was quite laborious because the sets and characters had to be manually redrawn from one sheet of paper to another.

One of the pioneers of Russian animation was a beetle lover Vladislav Starevich. He quite clearly and naturally managed to convey the details and individual features of his characters, which were insects.

The arrival of socialist ideology in Russia affected literally everything, including cinema and even animation. If in all other countries animation developed as entertainment art, in the USSR, the first cartoons immediately acquired a political connotation. One of the first to express ideology in animation was V. Mayakovsky. He tried to revive the plots from his "Windows of GROWTH".

The first experiences of creating cartoons did not bring great fame their authors. The formation of this type of creativity took place in the 30s. At the same time, in 1936, not without the participation of the Komsomol Central Committee, the first and most famous animation studio, Soyuzmultfilm, appeared in Moscow.

Animation courses were opened at the studio. Their graduates were such well-known cartoon creators as F. Khitruk, B. Dezhkin, R. Davydov, G. Kozlov and others.

In the period from 40 to 60 years in the history of Soviet animation, many bright names and their famous works. These are the cartoons “Puck, Puck” by B. Dezhkin, “ golden antelope" And " The Snow Queen"L. Atamanova, and later appeared" Who said "Meow" N. Degtyarev. All these works can rightly be called classics of Soviet animation.

Soviet cartoons, as before, could hardly be called entertaining creativity, or special art for children. All of them had a kind of satirical, and philosophical overtones. Separately, we can single out the director Y. Norshtein, whose works "The Hedgehog in the Fog" and "The Tale of Tales" received worldwide recognition over time.

Yuri Norstein

Subsequently, Russian animation acquired many original and effective techniques. Cartoons were not only drawn, but also molded from plasticine, bent from wire, filled with sand and coffee.
IN Soviet years prevented the world recognition of Russian animation " iron curtain”, however, today we can be proud of the work of our artists - animators, their work has been appreciated both in Russia and abroad.

Soviet animation is exactly that part mass culture, which the USSR could rightly be proud of.

The history of domestic animation began in St. Petersburg, at the beginning of the 20th century, when in 1908 the first "experience" was obtained by the choreographer Mariinsky Theater Mr Shiryaev. His puppet cartoons are still a mystery to art critics, the figures against the background of motionless scenery not only move, but also bounce.

Pioneer of Russian animation for a long time the world-famous biologist Viktor Starevich was considered. In 1912-1913 he made a series of puppet cartoons "featuring" insects. The most famous of his cartoons is "The Beautiful Lucanida, or the War of the Mustaches with the Stags". After the revolution, Starevich left the country, and animation in the USSR found its use only in the early 1920s in propaganda cartoons.

The first hand-drawn Soviet animation appeared in the mid-1920s. And by the end of the 20s - the beginning of the 30s, graphic artists at the Kultkino studio were releasing the most memorable Soviet animated films of that period. The works of animators Ivanov-Vano "Rink" (1927) and Khodateev "Organchik" (1933) are the first serious sources of Soviet animation.

Undoubtedly, director Alexander Ptushko is considered to be a recognized master-artist, standing at the origins of Soviet animation. He gained worldwide fame in 1935 after filming the first full-length cartoon in the USSR, New Gulliver, which successfully combines animation and feature films. Soon Ptushko headed the first Soviet animation studio Soyuzdetmultfilm. Even when he devoted himself entirely to cinematography, he used animation in films for special effects.

In the 1940s and 1950s, during the heyday of social realism in the USSR, truly masterpieces of hand-drawn animation were produced at Soviet studios. All cartoons were so realistic that the little viewer perceived them as " children's movie". Soviet animation of that time is not just beautiful, it is highly moral and has a huge educational power. "Cat house", " ugly duck”,“ Kashtanka ”,“ Naughty kitten ”,“ Moydodyr ”,“ The Scarlet Flower”,“ The Snow Queen ”- all new generations of children enjoy watching these cartoons, which are in no way inferior to the products of the Disney film studio.

During the thaw period from the mid-1950s, Soviet multipliers devoted themselves to experiments in full. A lot of avant-garde, symbolic secular animation comes out. Most famous cartoon, made in a similar manner - "Cloud in Love" (1959), animators Karanovich and Kachanov.

At that time, hand-drawn animation was mixed with applique animation in combination with puppet animation. And I must say that this range of technology is somewhat difficult for children's perception.

In the 60s, the famous Soviet cartoon "Mitten" by Roman Kachanov was released. A puppet cartoon in which a knitted mitten turns into a real puppy, thanks to the love of a little girl, could not leave indifferent either children or adults.

And in 1967, Kachanov made a puppet cartoon about Crocodile Gena, which literally “blew up” the popularity of the Soviet children's audience and continues its victorious march to this day. Children of our time love Crocodile Gena and Cheburashka just as much as they did almost 50 years ago.

One of the most famous animators Soviet period recognized by Fedor Khitruk. He worked in different genres and styles, released cartoons for children and adults and gave many generations of children the inimitable Winnie the Pooh, whose image eclipsed all foreign analogues with his character.

In the author's Soviet animation, the most significant figure still remains the artist Yuri Norshtein. His cartoons "Hedgehog in the Fog" (1975) and "Overcoat" (1981 to this day) are the golden fund of world animation.

And, of course, still in domestic animation, having eclipsed all records of popularity in terms of views and replication, the first place is occupied by the animated series “Well, you wait!” (60s-80s), result creative union animator V. Kotenochkin and screenwriters A. Khait and A. Kurlyandsky.

A huge part of the success of Soviet animation is the merit of famous Soviet actors. Voices of Yanina Zheimo, Andrey Mironov, Anatoly Papanov, Vasily Livanov, Oleg Tabakov, Yevgeny Leonov, Alisa Freindlikh, Oleg Anofriev, Alexander Kalyagin, Vladimir Vysotsky, Gennady Khazanov, Clara Rumyanova, Olga Arosyeva, Mikhail Kazakov, Vyacheslav Innocent, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan and others meters domestic cinema voiced the most prominent characters of Soviet animation.

Victoria Maltseva

History of Russian animation covers several periods, the largest of which was the Soviet one, mainly represented by the Soyuzmultfilm and Ekran studios.

Start

The first Russian cartoonist (1906) was Alexander Shiryaev, choreographer of the Mariinsky Theatre, who created the first domestic puppet cartoon, which depicts 12 dancing figures against a background of motionless scenery. The film was shot on 17.5mm film. It took three months to create it. During the creation, Shiryaev rubbed a hole in the parquet with his feet, as he constantly walked from the camera to the scenery and back.

These films were found in Shiryaev's archive by film critic Viktor Bocharov in 2009. Several more puppet cartoons were also found there: “Clowns playing ball”, “Pierrot Artists” and love drama co happy ending"Harlequin Jokes". Modern animators still cannot unravel the secrets of the animator, since Shiryaev's dolls not only walk on the ground, but also jump and spin in the air.

Another specialist of that time was Alexander Ptushko. He was a qualified architect but worked in mechanical engineering early in his career. When he entered Mosfilm's puppet animation department, he found the perfect environment to fulfill his mechanical as well as artistic ambitions.
He became world famous with the first Soviet full-length animated film The New Gulliver (1935). This film changed the story of Jonathan Swift's novel into a more communist direction. He mixed puppet animation and acting game. The film has amazing crowd scenes with hundreds of dolls, very expressive facial expressions in animation, as well as very good cinematographic work. Ptushko became the first director of the newly created Soyuzdetmultfilm studio, but soon left animation to devote himself to feature films. However, even in later films he used volumetric animation for special effects, for example in the film Ilya Muromets (1956).

socialist realism

1950s (Thaw)

An animated film by Roman Kachanov and Anatoly Karanovich is released Cloud in Love (). Created in an avant-garde manner, combining the technique of three-dimensional “relaying”, simple “relaying”, as well as puppet and hand-drawn animation, the cartoon received wide recognition in the USSR and abroad. Awarded with prizes at foreign film festivals. First of Soviet cartoons, awarded with the prestigious FIPRESCI International Association of Film Critics Award.

1960s

Around 1960, a stylistic change took place in Soviet animation. Realistic backgrounds and characters began to appear much less often, giving way to caricature. Experiments were made with various techniques(translations - The Story of a Crime (1962), painting on glass - The Song of the Falcon (1967)).

Volumetric animation is gaining momentum. Films by Roman Kachanov - Mittens (1967), Crocodile Gena become classics of domestic and world animation. These films are produced by the association of puppet films Soyuzmultfilm (formed in 1953).

This period accounts for the launch of many TV shows (Mowgli, Winnie the Pooh, Well, just you wait!, etc.) and almanacs (Firefly, Kaleidoscope, Merry Carousel).

Most of the directors of Soyuzmultfilm were animators in the past. Often they themselves took part in drawing their own films.

Soviet animation is exhibited at foreign festivals and often wins prizes there (Mitten (), Ballerina on a ship (1969), etc.).

1970s

In addition to Soyuzmultfilm, animation in the RSFSR is carried out by the Screen Studio, the Sverdlovsk Film Studio and Saratovtelefilm, Permitelefilm, the Volgograd, Gorky and Kuibyshev Committees for Television and Radio Broadcasting.

The technical pinnacle of Soviet animation in the 1970s is the cartoon Polygon (1977) by Anatoly Petrov.

1980s and early 1990s

A prominent place in 1980s animation is full animation.

Since the late 1980s, a simplified drawing with rough strokes has prevailed (“ Koloboks are investigating”, “” (1989), etc.). This style can also be traced in the works of the early 1990s, especially brightly at the Pilot studio. Gennady Tishchenko is one of the few who avoids this influence, preferring realism (“ Vampires of Geona" (1991), " Masters of Geona" (1992), "AMBA" (1994-1995)).

1996 Computer cartoon "Constellation of the lion". According to the magazine "Technique of Cinema and Television" in 2003, Yuri Agapov's film "Constellation of the Lion" entered the history of cinema as the first computer film shot in Russia.

Movie restoration

Now in Russia, the Krupny Plan film association is engaged in the restoration of domestic tapes.

Russian animation today

In Russia, an animation festival is held annually in Suzdal (formerly "Tarusa") and once every two years the international festival of animated films "Krok" (in other years it takes place in Ukraine). There are other festivals on a smaller scale (for example, "Multimatograph"). The works of domestic animators are also successfully exhibited at foreign festivals (for example, "The Old Man and the Sea" (1999), the animated series "Smeshariki").

Since the late 2000s, the Soyuzmultfilm studio has gradually begun to acquire new life. The leadership has changed, new employees have appeared, the shooting of new cartoons has begun, many of which have already received awards at various festivals. The shooting of the popular animated magazine "Merry Carousel" has also resumed, full swing The full-length cartoon "Suvorov" is being created.

Music

Soviet cartoons of the 1970s were often accompanied by music created at the Experimental Electronic Music Studio (Moscow, founded in 1967) by composers such as Eduard Artemiev, Vladimir Martynov, Shandor Kallosh.

Others famous composers were Gennady Gladkov ( musical films"The Bremen Town Musicians", "Blue Puppy", etc.), Mikhail Meerovich, Vladimir Shainsky, Alexander Zatsepin.

Among contemporary composers one can single out Lev Zemlinsky and Alexander Gusev.

Russian animation in Western culture

• In one of the episodes of the American animated series Family Guy, a short cartoon Shoe and Lace was shown, parodying Soviet cartoons.

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Literature

Notes

Links

• - on the site "Films about cartoons"
• (compiled based on a survey of industry professionals at the 17th Open Russian Animated Film Festival)

An excerpt characterizing the history of Russian animation

Alexander refused all negotiations because he personally felt offended. Barclay de Tolly tried the best way manage the army in order to fulfill your duty and earn the glory of the great commander. Rostov rode to attack the French because he could not resist the desire to ride on a level field. And so precisely, due to their personal characteristics, habits, conditions and goals, all those innumerable persons who participated in this war acted. They were afraid, conceited, rejoiced, indignant, reasoned, believing that they knew what they were doing and what they were doing for themselves, and all were involuntary tools of history and carried out work hidden from them, but understandable to us. Such is the unchanging fate of all practical workers, and the more they are placed in the human hierarchy, it is not freer.
Now the figures of 1812 have long since left their places, their personal interests have vanished without a trace, and only the historical results of that time are before us.
But suppose that the people of Europe, under the leadership of Napoleon, were supposed to go into the depths of Russia and die there, and all contradicting itself, meaningless, violent activity people - participants in this war, becomes clear to us.
Providence forced all these people, striving to achieve their personal goals, to contribute to the fulfillment of one huge result, about which not a single person (neither Napoleon, nor Alexander, nor even less any of the participants in the war) had the slightest expectation.
Now it is clear to us what was the cause of death in 1812 French army. No one will argue that the reason for the death of the French troops of Napoleon was, on the one hand, their entry into late time without preparation for a winter campaign deep into Russia, and on the other hand, the character that the war assumed from the burning of Russian cities and inciting hatred for the enemy in the Russian people. But then, not only did no one foresee the fact (which now seems obvious) that only in this way could the eight hundred thousandth, the best in the world and led by the best commander, die in a collision with twice as weak, inexperienced and led by inexperienced commanders - the Russian army; Not only did no one foresee this, but all efforts on the part of the Russians were constantly directed towards preventing that which alone could save Russia, and on the part of the French, despite the experience and so-called military genius of Napoleon, all efforts were directed towards this. to stretch out to Moscow at the end of the summer, that is, to do the very thing that was supposed to destroy them.
IN historical writings about 1812, French authors are very fond of talking about how Napoleon felt the danger of stretching his line, how he was looking for battles, how his marshals advised him to stop in Smolensk, and give other similar arguments proving that then the danger of the campaign was already understood. ; and Russian authors are even more fond of talking about how, from the beginning of the campaign, there was a plan for the Scythian war to lure Napoleon into the depths of Russia, and they attribute this plan to some Pful, some to some Frenchman, some to Tolya, some to Emperor Alexander himself, pointing to notes, projects and letters that actually contain hints of this course of action. But all these allusions to the foresight of what happened, both on the part of the French and on the part of the Russians, are now put forward only because the event justified them. If the event had not taken place, then these hints would have been forgotten, just as thousands and millions of opposite hints and assumptions are now forgotten, which were in use then, but turned out to be unjust and therefore forgotten. There are always so many assumptions about the outcome of each occurring event that, no matter how it ends, there will always be people who will say: “I said then that it would be so,” completely forgetting that among the countless assumptions there were made and completely opposite.
Assumptions about Napoleon's consciousness of the danger of stretching the line on the part of the Russians - about luring the enemy into the depths of Russia - obviously belong to this category, and historians can only at a great stretch attribute such considerations to Napoleon and his marshals and such plans to Russian military leaders. All facts completely contradict such assumptions. Not only during the entire war, the Russians had no desire to lure the French into the depths of Russia, but everything was done to stop them from their first entry into Russia, and not only Napoleon was not afraid of stretching his line, but he was glad how triumph, every step forward and very lazily, not like in his previous campaigns, he looked for battles.
At the very beginning of the campaign, our armies are slashed, and our only aim is to link them up, although there is no advantage in linking up armies in order to retreat and draw the enemy inland. The emperor is with the army to inspire it in defending every step of the Russian land, and not to retreat. A huge Drissa camp is being set up according to the plan of Pfuel and it is not supposed to retreat further. The sovereign reproaches the commander-in-chief for every step of retreat. Not only the burning of Moscow, but the admission of the enemy to Smolensk cannot even be imagined by the emperor’s imagination, and when the armies unite, the sovereign is indignant that Smolensk was taken and burned and not given before the walls of his general battle.
So the sovereign thinks, but Russian military leaders and all Russian people are even more indignant at the thought that ours are retreating into the interior of the country.
Napoleon, having cut the armies, moves inland and misses several cases of battle. In the month of August he is in Smolensk and thinks only about how he can go further, although, as we now see, this forward movement is obviously fatal for him.
The facts clearly show that neither Napoleon foresaw the danger in moving towards Moscow, nor did Alexander and the Russian military leaders then think about luring Napoleon, but thought about the opposite. The lure of Napoleon into the interior of the country did not happen according to anyone's plan (no one believed in the possibility of this), but came from a complex game of intrigues, goals, desires of people - participants in the war, who did not guess what should be, and what was the only salvation of Russia. Everything happens by accident. The armies are cut at the start of the campaign. We try to unite them with the obvious goal of giving battle and holding the enemy’s advance, but also this desire for unity, avoiding battles with the strongest enemy and involuntarily retreating under acute angle, we bring the French to Smolensk. But it’s not enough to say that we are withdrawing at an acute angle because the French are moving between both armies - this angle is becoming even sharper, and we are moving even further because Barclay de Tolly, an unpopular German, is hated by Bagration (who has to become under his command ), and Bagration, commanding the 2nd Army, tries not to join Barclay for as long as possible, so as not to become under his command. Bagration does not join for a long time (although in this the main objective all commanding persons) because it seems to him that on this march he puts his army in danger and that it is most advantageous for him to retreat to the left and south, harassing the enemy from the flank and rear and manning his army in Ukraine. And it seems that he invented it because he does not want to obey the hated and junior rank German Barclay.
The emperor is with the army to inspire it, and his presence and ignorance of what to decide on, and a huge number of advisers and plans destroy the energy of the actions of the 1st army, and the army retreats.
It is supposed to stop in the Dris camp; but unexpectedly Pauluchi, aiming for the commander-in-chief, with his energy acts on Alexander, and the whole plan of Pfuel is abandoned, and the whole thing is entrusted to Barclay. But since Barclay does not inspire confidence, his power is limited.
The armies are fragmented, there is no unity of the authorities, Barclay is not popular; but from this confusion, fragmentation and unpopularity of the German commander-in-chief, on the one hand, indecisiveness and avoidance of battle (which could not be resisted if the armies were together and Barclay were not the head), on the other hand, more and more resentment against the Germans and arousal of the patriotic spirit.
Finally, the sovereign leaves the army, and as the only and most convenient pretext for his departure, the idea is chosen that he needs to inspire the people in the capitals to excite people's war. And this trip of the sovereign and Moscow triples the strength of the Russian army.
The sovereign leaves the army in order not to hamper the unity of power of the commander in chief, and hopes that more decisive measures will be taken; but the position of the commanders of the armies is still more confused and weakened. benigsen, Grand Duke and a swarm of adjutant generals remain with the army in order to follow the actions of the commander-in-chief and excite him to energy, and Barclay, feeling even less free under the eyes of all these sovereign eyes, becomes even more cautious for decisive action and avoids battles.
Barclay stands for caution. The Tsarevich hints at treason and demands a general battle. Lubomirsky, Branitsky, Vlotsky and the like inflate all this noise so much that Barclay, under the pretext of delivering papers to the sovereign, sends the Poles adjutant generals to Petersburg and enters into an open struggle with Benigsen and the Grand Duke.
In Smolensk, finally, no matter how Bagration did not want it, the armies unite.
Bagration in a carriage drives up to the house occupied by Barclay. Barclay puts on a scarf, goes out to meet v reports to the senior rank of Bagration. Bagration, in the struggle of generosity, despite the seniority of the rank, submits to Barclay; but, having obeyed, agrees with him even less. Bagration personally, by order of the sovereign, informs him. He writes to Arakcheev: “The will of my sovereign, I can’t do it together with the minister (Barclay). For God's sake, send me somewhere to command a regiment, but I can't be here; and the whole main apartment is filled with Germans, so that it is impossible for a Russian to live, and there is no sense. I thought I truly served the sovereign and the fatherland, but in reality it turns out that I serve Barclay. I confess I don't want to." A swarm of Branicki, Winzingerode and the like poisons the relations of the commanders-in-chief even more, and even less unity comes out. They are going to attack the French in front of Smolensk. A general is sent to inspect the position. This general, hating Barclay, goes to his friend, the corps commander, and after spending a day with him, returns to Barclay and condemns on all counts the future battlefield, which he has not seen.
While there are disputes and intrigues about the future battlefield, while we are looking for the French, having made a mistake in their location, the French stumble upon Neverovsky's division and approach the very walls of Smolensk.
We must accept an unexpected battle in Smolensk in order to save our messages. The battle is given. Thousands are killed on both sides.
Smolensk is abandoned against the will of the sovereign and the whole people. But Smolensk was burned down by the inhabitants themselves, deceived by their governor, and the devastated inhabitants, setting an example for other Russians, go to Moscow, thinking only of their losses and inciting hatred for the enemy. Napoleon goes further, we retreat, and the very thing that was supposed to defeat Napoleon is achieved.

The next day after the departure of his son, Prince Nikolai Andreevich called Princess Marya to him.
- Well, are you satisfied now? - he said to her, - quarreled with her son! Satisfied? All you needed was! Satisfied?.. It hurts me, it hurts. I'm old and weak, and you wanted it. Well, rejoice, rejoice ... - And after that, Princess Marya did not see her father for a week. He was sick and did not leave the office.
To her surprise, Princess Mary noticed that during this time of illness, the old prince also did not allow m lle Bourienne to see him. One Tikhon followed him.
A week later, the prince came out and began again former life, with special activities engaged in buildings and gardens and ending all previous relations with m lle Bourienne. His appearance and cold tone with Princess Mary seemed to say to her: “You see, you invented a lie to Prince Andrei about my relationship with this Frenchwoman and quarreled with me; and you see that I don't need you or the Frenchwoman."
Princess Mary spent one half of the day at Nikolushka's, following his lessons, herself giving him lessons in Russian and music, and talking with Desalle; the other part of the day she spent in her half with books, with the old nurse, and with God's people, who sometimes came to her from the back porch.
Princess Mary thought about the war the way women think about war. She was afraid for her brother who was there, she was horrified, not understanding her, before the human cruelty that forced them to kill each other; but she did not understand the significance of this war, which seemed to her the same as all previous wars. She did not understand the significance of this war, despite the fact that Dessalles, her constant interlocutor, who was passionately interested in the course of the war, tried to explain his considerations to her, and despite the fact that those who came to her god's people everyone in their own way spoke with horror about popular rumors about the invasion of the Antichrist, and despite the fact that Julie, now Princess Drubetskaya, who again entered into correspondence with her, wrote patriotic letters to her from Moscow.
“I am writing to you in Russian, my good friend,” Julie wrote, “because I have hatred for all the French, as well as for their language, which I cannot hear speak ... We are all enthusiastic in Moscow through enthusiasm for our adored emperor.
My poor husband endures labor and hunger in Jewish taverns; but the news I have makes me even more excited.
You heard right, oh heroic deed Raevsky, who hugged his two sons and said: “I will die with them, but we will not hesitate! And indeed, although the enemy was twice as strong as us, we did not hesitate. We spend our time as best we can; but in war, as in war. Princess Alina and Sophie sit with me all day long, and we, the unfortunate widows of living husbands, have wonderful conversations over lint; only you, my friend, are missing ... etc.
Mostly, Princess Mary did not understand the full significance of this war because the old prince never spoke about it, did not recognize it, and laughed at dinner at Desalles, who spoke about this war. The prince's tone was so calm and sure that Princess Mary, without reasoning, believed him.
Throughout the month of July, the old prince was extremely active and even lively. He pawned more new garden and a new building, a building for courtyards. One thing that bothered Princess Marya was that he slept little and, having changed his habit of sleeping in the study, every day he changed the place of his lodging for the night. Either he ordered his camp bed to be made up in the gallery, or he remained on the sofa or in the Voltaire chair in the living room and dozed without undressing, while not m lle Bourienne, but the boy Petrusha read to him; then he spent the night in the dining room.
On August 1, a second letter was received from Prince Andrei. In the first letter, received shortly after his departure, Prince Andrei humbly asked for forgiveness from his father for what he allowed himself to tell him, and asked him to return his favor to him. The old prince answered this letter with an affectionate letter, and after this letter he alienated the Frenchwoman from himself. The second letter of Prince Andrei, written from near Vitebsk, after the French occupied it, consisted of short description the whole campaign with the plan drawn in the letter, and from considerations about the further course of the campaign. In this letter, Prince Andrei presented to his father the inconvenience of his position close to the theater of war, on the very line of movement of troops, and advised him to go to Moscow.
At dinner that day, in response to the words of Dessalles, who said that, as he heard, the French had already entered Vitebsk, the old prince remembered Prince Andrei's letter.
“I received it from Prince Andrei today,” he said to Princess Marya, “didn’t you read it?”
“No, mon pere, [father],” the princess answered frightened. She couldn't read letters she hadn't even heard about receiving.
“He writes about this war,” said the prince with that contemptuous smile that had become accustomed to him, with which he always spoke about a real war.
“It must be very interesting,” Desalles said. - The prince is able to know ...
– Ah, very interesting! said m lle Bourienne.
“Go and bring it to me,” the old prince turned to m lle Bourienne. - You know, on a small paperweight table.
M lle Bourienne jumped up happily.
“Oh no,” he yelled, frowning. - Come on, Mikhail Ivanovich.
Mikhail Ivanovich got up and went into the study. But as soon as he left, the old prince, looking around uneasily, threw down his napkin and went himself.
“They don’t know how to do anything, they mix everything up.
While he was walking, Princess Mary, Dessalles, m lle Bourienne and even Nikolushka looked at each other in silence. old prince returned with a hasty step, accompanied by Mikhail Ivanovich, with a letter and a plan, which he, not allowing anyone to read during dinner, put beside him.
Going into the living room, he handed the letter to Princess Marya and, laying out before him the plan of the new building, on which he fixed his eyes, ordered her to read it aloud. After reading the letter, Princess Mary looked inquiringly at her father.
He stared at the plan, apparently deep in thought.
- What do you think about it, prince? Desalle allowed himself to ask a question.
- I! I! .. - as if unpleasantly waking up, said the prince, not taking his eyes off the plan of construction.
- It is quite possible that the theater of war will come so close to us ...
– Ha ha ha! Theater of War! - said the prince. - I said and I say that the theater of war is Poland, and the enemy will never penetrate further than the Neman.
Desalles looked with surprise at the prince, who was talking about the Neman, when the enemy was already at the Dnieper; but Princess Mary, who had forgotten the geographical location of the Neman, thought that what her father was saying was true.
- When the snow grows, they will drown in the swamps of Poland. They just can’t see,” the prince said, apparently thinking about the campaign of 1807, which, as it seemed, was so recent. - Benigsen should have entered Prussia earlier, things would have taken a different turn ...
“But, prince,” Desalles said timidly, “the letter speaks of Vitebsk…
“Ah, in a letter, yes ...” the prince said displeasedly, “yes ... yes ...” His face suddenly assumed a gloomy expression. He paused. - Yes, he writes, the French are defeated, at what river is this?
Dessal lowered his eyes.
“The prince does not write anything about this,” he said quietly.
- Doesn't he write? Well, I didn't invent it myself. Everyone was silent for a long time.
“Yes ... yes ... Well, Mikhail Ivanovich,” he suddenly said, raising his head and pointing to the construction plan, “tell me how you want to remake it ...
Mikhail Ivanovich approached the plan, and the prince, after talking with him about the plan for a new building, glancing angrily at Princess Marya and Desalle, went to his room.
Princess Mary saw Dessal's embarrassed and surprised look fixed on her father, noticed his silence and was amazed that the father had forgotten his son's letter on the table in the living room; but she was afraid not only to speak and question Dessalles about the reason for his embarrassment and silence, but she was afraid to even think about it.
In the evening, Mikhail Ivanovich, sent from the prince, came to Princess Mary for a letter from Prince Andrei, which had been forgotten in the drawing room. Princess Mary submitted a letter. Although it was unpleasant for her, she allowed herself to ask Mikhail Ivanovich what her father was doing.
“Everyone is busy,” Mikhail Ivanovich said with a respectfully mocking smile that made Princess Marya turn pale. “They are very worried about the new building. We read a little, and now,” said Mikhail Ivanovich, lowering his voice, “at the bureau, they must have taken care of the will. (IN Lately one of the prince's favorite activities was to work on papers that were supposed to remain after his death and which he called a will.)
- And Alpatych is sent to Smolensk? asked Princess Mary.
- How about, he has been waiting for a long time.

When Mikhail Ivanovich returned with the letter to his study, the prince, wearing spectacles, with a lampshade over his eyes and a candle, was sitting by the open bureau, with papers in his hand held far back, and in a somewhat solemn pose read his papers (remarks, as he called them), which were to be delivered to the sovereign after his death.
When Mikhail Ivanovich entered, he had tears in his eyes of recollection of the time when he wrote what he was reading now. He took the letter from Mikhail Ivanovich's hands, put it in his pocket, packed the papers and called Alpatych, who had been waiting for a long time.