War of 1812 in the territory of Belarus

Two centuries detach us from the events of 1812.

The war of 1812 between the coalition of states led by Napoleonic France, on the one hand, and the Russian Empire, on the other hand, is one of the crucial events in the history of Europe of the 19th century. During this war the Belarusian land became the arena of bloody battles. They were accompanied by great victims from both sides, and also led to significant losses among civilians. As a whole in 1812 a very serious material damage was caused to Belarus.

In connection with the inconsistent character of the war caused by participation of various social groups in the armies of the confronting sides, Belarusian historiography adopted the neutral term concerning these events: “war of 1812”.

In due course the French-Russian campaign had caused a plenty of publications by military men, scientists, historians and civilians. The offered reading list is a try to reflect the events of 1812 in the territory of Belarus in documentary sources, both Belarusian and foreign. It includes editions of participants and contemporaries of the events of the war of 1812 (Pierre H. Victoire Merle, D.P. Buturlin, К.А. Voensky, Y. Deminsky etc), most significant books timed to the 100th and 200th anniversaries of the war of 1812. The theme of military events of 1812 in Belarus found its reflection in works of modern researchers А.М. Lukashevich, Е.М. Bukreeva, V.А. Ljakin, E.G. Samusenko etc:

• editions of 1812–1912 (remote access to digitized copies of documents)
• editions 1913–2012