War of 1812

Before the year of 1812, there was a great gap between the Russia elite and the Russian lower class. But then the great French ruler, Napoleon, decided to invade Russia to gain more land and power for himself. But out of nowhere, the Russian people rose to the challenge, especially the peasant class, and defeated him. This war brought together the two classes and had a huge impact on how the noble class thought about their serfs and their country.

When Napoleon invaded Russia, there was a huge outcry to stop the coming “infidels” from taking their country. Nobody knew how this war was going to change the country forever. Many later historians have said this war was a watershed in Russian history. When reading, “Cavalry Maiden” by Nadezhda Durova, you can see that there are major changes that are occurring during this time. One of the first signs of this is in the very beginning of her story. She is staying with a family while in the field, which this family was a peasant family. As you read you can see that there is a special bond between to two.

Durova, who is a noble, is actually concerned on how she sees her. The peasant asks her, thinking she is a man, if she will remember her. If you read o

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You hear of how they will beat their serfs, worked them to death, and barley give them enough food to survive on, or sometimes non-at all. So the country is becoming more of a single voice rather than many voices and with that not many of them getting along. Nobody was more impressed of this feet then the nobles were of the peasants.

There is still the fear of the last time “infidels” invaded the country, so everybody is coming to meet the invaders, even women. 162)” This is just another example of how eager she is to get back to such a bloody war and help out. So this war is having a negative impact on the people fighting it. They were so impressed and embarrassed at the same time with how the peasants could be treated so badly over the past century or more. This shows that the regular people have really high regards and pride in their soldiers. There is even people yelling stuff like, “God help you!” to the soldiers as they pass by. She writes, “As the inhabitants of the city watched us go by in disciplined ranks, with heroic bearing and confidence in our own strength, they saw us off with joyful exhortations; a few, especially the old men, continually repeated, “God help you! God help you!” in an uncommonly solemn tone which made me shudder and deeply moved me. Durova wants to go back ASAP, but when her father says she will have to wait she gets very restless. She does worry about how her men are doing, but there is nothing she can do about it. The War of 1812 is really bringing this country together in many good ways. Nothing is wrong with this attitude during their march into battle, it’s refreshing to see that there is confidence within the army, but it will come back to haunt them in the future. Another example of how important this war is to her is when she goes home after her injury.

Approximate Word count = 1645
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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