Russian winter

Russian Winter, General Winter, General Frost, or General Snow refers to the winter climate of Russia as a contributing factor to the military failures of several invasions of Russia. A related contributing factor that impairs military maneuvering is "General Mud" ("rasputitsa"), a phenomenon that occurs with autumnal rains and spring thaws in Russia, whereby transport over unimproved roads is made difficult by muddy conditions.

In his study of winter warfare in Russia, author Allen F. Chew concludes that "General Winter" was a substantial contributing factor—not a decisive one—in the military failures of both Napoleon's and Hitler's invasions of Russia. He notes that Napoleon's army was already suffering significant attrition before winter, owing to lack of supplies, disease, desertions and casualties of war. Likewise, Hitler's Wehrmacht had already suffered 734,000 in casualties and was running low on supplies in November of 1941, before the arrival of winter.

In the Great Northern War, Charles XII of Sweden invaded Russia in 1707. The Russians retreated, adopting a scorched-earth policy. This winter was the most brutal of the 18th century, so severe that the seaport of Venice froze. Charles' 35,000 troops were crippled, and by spring only 19,000 were left. The Battle of Poltava in late June 1709 sealed the end of the Swedish Empire.

Napoleon's Grande Armée of 610,000 men invaded Russia, heading towards Moscow, in the beginning of summer on 24 June 1812. The Russian army retreated before the French and again burnt their crops and villages, denying the enemy their use. Napoleon's army was ultimately reduced to 100,000. His army suffered further, even more disastrous losses on the retreat from Moscow, which started in October.

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