Issued on the bicentennial of Napoleon's catastrophic Russian campaign, this coin commemorates a conflict that began with the Grande Armée numbering roughly 685,000 men and ended — after the retreat from Moscow — with fewer than 100,000 crossing back into friendly territory. Belarus absorbed some of the heaviest fighting; the Battle of Berezina, where French forces crossed the river under Cossack attack in late November 1812, took place on what is now Belarusian soil.
Issued on the bicentennial of Napoleon's catastrophic Russian campaign, this coin commemorates a conflict that began with the Grande Armée numbering roughly 685,000 men and ended — after the retreat from Moscow — with fewer than 100,000 crossing back into friendly territory. Belarus absorbed some of the heaviest fighting; the Battle of Berezina, where French forces crossed the river under Cossack attack in late November 1812, took place on what is now Belarusian soil.