Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, who himself experienced the hardships of war, considered war a crime, "an event contrary to human reason and all human nature." All his sympathies are on the side of a simple soldier who endures the brunt, dirt and horror of war. It is no coincidence that all the heroes of Tolstoy, whom he sympathizes with, are devoid of any military features: bearing, a loud commanding voice, self-confidence, but, on the contrary, they are emphatically awkward and do not at all look like heroes. Genuine heroism, according to the writer, is modest and inconspicuous, not

Shows off himself.

This is how Tolstoy depicts the heroes of the battle of Shengraben, one of the central events of the war of 1805, the battle, the outcome of which was very important for the Russian army. The detachment of Bagration was supposed to detain the French so that the Russian troops could join. No wonder Kutuzov admonishes Bagration: "I bless you for a great feat." Prince Andrei, being Kutuzov's adjutant, asks to be released with Bagration's army, since he wants to take part in a real battle. On the eve of the battle, when Bolkonsky was touring the positions, he saw a funny scene: one of the Russian soldiers, imitating

The French, began to mutter something incomprehensible, there was a “roar of such healthy and cheerful laughter, involuntarily communicated to the French through the chain, that after that it seemed that it was necessary to quickly unload the guns, blow up the charges and disperse as soon as possible to everyone’s homes.” Ordinary soldiers have nothing to share with each other - that's the author's idea. Wars are unleashed by rulers to satisfy their ambitions, and ordinary people have to pay the price.

Before the battle, he meets Bolkonsky and the main character of this episode - Captain Tushin, an emphatically awkward, completely non-military artilleryman, with "big, kind and intelligent eyes." Captain Tushin's battery heroically performed its duty, without even thinking about retreat, although it had only four guns. The French thought that the main forces of the Russians were concentrated in this place, and hit the battery with all their might. During the battle, Captain Tushin did not even think about the danger, "his face became more and more animated." Despite his non-military appearance and "weak, thin, indecisive voice", the soldiers loved and respected him, and "everyone, like children in a quandary, looked at their commander." Tushin did not think that he could be killed, he only worried when his soldiers were killed and wounded. The order to retreat was supposed to be delivered to the battery by adjutant Zherkov, but he was frightened by heavy shelling and drove in the other direction. The second staff officer only shouted the order to retreat and sped away, which caused the soldiers to laugh. The third adjutant was Prince Andrei. He saw several dead, a wounded horse, heard the whistle of shells. He becomes frightened, but "the mere thought that he was afraid lifted him up again." He helped Tushin remove the guns and left only when everything was done.

Another inconspicuous hero of the battle was Captain Timokhin. We first meet him at a review in Braunau, when Kutuzov recognizes him, since he participated in a Turkish company. At that moment, when it seemed that the French were winning, Timokhin’s company came out: “Timokhin, with such a desperate cry, rushed at the French and with such insane and drunken determination, with one skewer, ran into the enemy that the French, not having time to come to their senses, threw down their weapons and ran." Bagration's detachment fulfilled its task thanks to such modest, inconspicuous heroes as Tushin and Timokhin. In this episode, Tolstoy shows us genuine heroism that does not flaunt itself.

The battle of Borodino became the central episode of the war of 1812, its culmination. It is surprising that, unlike the Battle of Shengraben, the author does not tell us the names of Russian soldiers who heroically fight and die on the Borodino field. Thus, he wants to emphasize the idea that all Russian soldiers were heroes. Tolstoy describes in particular detail the Raevsky battery, where very important events of the battle took place. The whole battle is shown through the eyes of Pierre (this is one of Tolstoy's favorite tricks): “By ten o'clock, twenty people had already been carried away from the battery; two guns were broken, more and more shells hit the battery and flew, buzzing and whistling, long-range bullets. But the people who were on the battery did not seem to notice this; cheerful conversation and jokes were heard from all sides. Pierre sees how people die one after another, doing their duty: “There were many dead here, unfamiliar to him. But he recognized some. A young officer sat, still curled up, at the edge of the rampart, in a pool of blood. The red-faced soldier was still twitching, but they did not remove him. This picture strikes Pierre, and he expresses a thought, undoubtedly close and felt by the author: “No, now they will leave it, now they will be horrified by what they have done!”

Describing the battles, Tolstoy constantly draws an antithesis between Napoleon and Kutuzov. They are both loved by the soldiers, but in different ways. They bow before Napoleon like a deity, Kutuzov is respected for his wisdom, experience, attention to a simple soldier. Napoleon is obsessed with megalomania, he behaves unnaturally, remembering that his every step is recorded for posterity. And Kutuzov is simple, modest, unpretentious, therefore he is great, because, according to the author, "there is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth." During the battle of Borodino, Kutuzov feels what every soldier experiences and inspires confidence in victory: “The meaning of his words was communicated everywhere, because what Kutuzov said did not follow from cunning considerations, but from a feeling that lay in the soul of the commander in chief, just as in the soul of every Russian person.

The military episodes of the novel "War and Peace" reveal to us the main themes and ideas of Tolstoy: the rejection of war in general, the concept of true heroism and greatness, the courage and patriotism of the Russian people.

"- a novel that is distinguished by a variety of motives and the complexity of the genre structure. It is no coincidence that the work is called an epic novel. It simultaneously depicts the fate of the people and the individual, which are in close relationship. The novel is a complex philosophical and historical synthesis. The role of each hero in a work is determined not only by his personal fate, relationships in the family and society; this role is much more complicated: the assessment of the personality takes place not so much at the everyday level as at the historical level, not the material, but the spiritual layers of human consciousness are affected.

The work raises a complex philosophical question about the role of the individual in history, about the connection between human feelings and the materiality of the world, and at the same time about the influence of historical events on the fate of the nation and each person individually.

In order to most fully reveal the character of the hero, his inner world, to show the evolution of a person who is constantly looking for the truth, trying to understand his place and purpose in life, Tolstoy turns to a historical plot. The novel describes the military events of 1805-1807, as well as the Patriotic War of 1812. It can be said that the war as a kind of objective reality becomes the main storyline of the novel, and therefore the fate of the characters must be considered in the same context with this event “hostile” to humanity. But at the same time, the war in the novel has a deeper understanding. This is a duel of two principles (aggressive and harmonic), two worlds (natural and artificial), a clash of two life attitudes (truth and lies).

But one way or another, the war becomes the fate of many heroes, and it is from this position that the evolution of the protagonist of the novel, Andrei Bolkonsky, should be considered. It is no coincidence that Prince Andrei calls the war "the greatest war." After all, here, in the war, there comes a turning point in his consciousness; seeking the truth, he enters the "road of honor", the path of moral quest.

Throughout his life he dreams of "his own Toulon". He dreams of accomplishing a feat in front of everyone, in order to prove his strength and fearlessness, plunge into the world of glory, become a celebrity. “There I will be sent,” he thought, “with a brigade or division, and there, with a banner in my hand, I will go forward and break everything that is in front of me.” At first glance, this decision seems quite noble, it proves the courage and determination of Prince Andrei. The only thing that repels is that he is focused not on, but on Napoleon. But the Battle of Shengraben, namely the meeting with Captain Tushin, becomes the first crack in the hero's system of views. It turns out that a feat can be accomplished without suspecting it, not in front of others; but Prince Andrei is not yet fully aware of this. It can be seen that in this case Tolstoy sympathizes not with Andrei Bolkonsky, but with Captain Tushin, a good-natured person, a native of the people. The author even somehow condemns Bolkonsky for his arrogance, a somewhat contemptuous attitude towards ordinary people. (“Prince Andrei looked at Tushin and, without saying anything, moved away from him.”) Here we can indicate the emergence of another topic important for the writer - the theme of the people and the attitude of the main characters towards the people.

During the Battle of Shengraben, Andrei Bolkonsky does not feel his connection with the people, this is hindered by his false aristocracy. And, according to Tolstoy, in order to understand the people, one should first of all live by the truth. Based on this, we can conclude that Shengraben is not yet the end of the road, not finding the truth, and the further search for the truth by Prince Andrei will, of course, be closely connected with the fate of the people and subsequent unity with them.

Shengraben undoubtedly played a positive role in the life of Prince Andrei. Thanks to Tushin, Bolkonsky changes his view of the war. It turns out that war is not a means of achieving a career, but dirty, hard work, where an anti-human deed is performed. The final realization of this comes to Prince Andrei on the field of Austerlitz. He wants to accomplish a feat and accomplishes it. But later he recalls not his triumph, when he fled to the French with a banner in his hands, but the high sky of Austerlitz. The banner and the sky are important symbols in the novel. The banners appear several times in the work, but still it is not so much a symbol as a simple emblem that does not deserve a serious attitude. The banner personifies power, glory, a certain material force, which is by no means welcomed by Tolstoy, who prefers the spiritual values ​​​​of a person. Therefore, it is no coincidence that in the novel Tushin stumbles over the staff of the banner, it is no coincidence that Prince Andrei remembers not himself with a banner in his hands, but the high, eternal sky. Austerlitz is the second crack in Prince Andrei's views on life and war. The hero experiences a deep moral crisis. He becomes disillusioned with Napoleon, the former values, understands the true, anti-human meaning of the war, the "puppet comedy" played out by the emperor. From now on, Heaven, Infinity and Height become the ideal for Prince Andrei: “He found out that it was his hero, but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was now happening between his soul and this high, an endless sky with clouds running across it.

It is also symbolic that Prince Andrei is wounded in the head. This speaks of the superiority of the spiritual principle over the intellectual, aristocratic, of the correctness of the path chosen by the hero. The realization of imminent death gives Prince Andrei the strength to survive, revives him to a new life. Both Shengraben and Austerlitz had a great influence on the formation of the views of Andrei Bolkonsky, helped to determine the true values ​​​​of life for the hero, and after the Battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei learns to live according to these new, previously unknown laws.

But, of course, the battle of Borodino became the culminating moment in the life of Andrei Bolkonsky. Prince Andrei is mortally wounded, but manages to comprehend, to feel the main thing - his unity with the people: “I'm afraid that I'm no longer fit for headquarters. And most importantly, I got used to the regiment, fell in love with the officers, and the people, it seems, fell in love with me.

Prince Andrei learned to “be with the people”, and finally the truth of life, the true meaning of human existence, is revealed to him: “Ah, my soul (to Pierre), lately it has become hard for me to live. I see that I began to understand too much. Indeed, Prince Andrei understood a lot in life, death became an awakening for him. He realized that war is not a romantic adventure, but the most terrible thing in the world, where everything depends not on the order of the headquarters, but only on the spirit of the army, on the feeling that every Russian has, the feeling of responsibility for the fate of the Motherland. Prince Andrei is more aware of patriotism, his invisible inner connection with the people, but at the same time, a desire appears in him to free himself from earthly imperfection, to comprehend the ideals of Simplicity, Goodness and Truth. Andrei Bolkonsky condemns God (“How does he look at the earthly ugliness from there? ..”), but at the same time feels love for him, seeing in God the source of Goodness and Peace. Andrei even asks for the Gospel before his death, realizing that the newfound happiness has "something in common with the Gospel."

Military episodes in the novel by L. N. Tolstoy in the novel "War and Peace"

Before me is the great work of Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace". It has a wide coverage of reality, where we see pictures of peaceful and military life. The author is a great humanist, he hates the war. L. N. Tolstoy called his work “War and Peace”. Indeed, the pictures of military and civilian life are not fully represented in the Roma. And here is something to think about.
Many episodes of the novel left a vivid mark in my memory. What impressed me in "War and Peace"? Of course, objectivity, figurativeness. No one has portrayed in such grandeur and brilliance human stamina and invincibility of the spirit as the author of "War and Peace".
Here is a trip abroad. Shengraben and Austerlitz battles. We see different pictures of military operations and various types of its participants: the heroic transition "of Bagration's detachment to the village of Shengraben, the courage and heroism of Russian soldiers, the company commander Timokhin, beautiful in his simplicity, who "with insane and drunken determination, with one skewer, ran into the enemy that the French, not having time to come to their senses, threw down their weapons and ran.
And here is another inconspicuous hero, Captain Tushin, who lives the same life as the soldiers. He knows no fear. During the battle, he, with a handful of soldiers, without cover, sets fire to the village of Shengraben. And his "battery ... was not taken by the French only because the enemy could not assume the firing of unprotected cannons by anyone." Yes, it's all heroic. What is the result of the heroism shown? Gloom, darkness, the sounds of hooves and wheels, “as if a gloomy river was flowing in one direction. And among these sounds, the groans and voices of the wounded were the clearest. Their groans filled all this darkness. Perhaps that says it all.
The battle of Austerlitz evokes even greater horror and one important moment of it is the crossing over the Augusta dam. Here the soldiers, crushing each other, strive to cross the dam, on the ice of which the cannonballs are constantly plopping. Reading this scene, you experience great emotional tension, it becomes scary from the cries of horror of the soldiers, when ice cracks under their feet and guns. And now it's all over: the ice collapsed in a huge piece, and forty people who were on the ice rushed forward, some back, drowning one another. Austerlitz became an era of disappointment not only for the whole of Russia, but also for individual heroes. Terrible, like any war, by the destruction of human life, this war, according to Tolstoy, did not have at least an explanation for its inevitability. Started for the sake of glory, for the sake of the ambitious interests of the Russian court circles, it was incomprehensible and not needed by the people, and therefore ended with Austerlitz. Such an outcome was all the more shameful because the Russian army could be courageous and heroic when the goals of cf.
azheniya, as it was under Schöngraben.
And here is 1812. Historians will later say: “The enemy was defeated and expelled. Thus ended the war - aggressive, predatory by the French, and popular, defending the independence of their homeland. And what is behind these words? The beginning of the war. Retreat of Russian troops. Terrible heat, drought, a brownish-red haze that obscured the sun, even at night there was no coolness. “People walked with handkerchiefs around their noses and mouths. Approaching the village, everyone rushed to the wells. They fought for water and drank it to the dirt.
The bombing of Smolensk, killing innocent people. Battle of Borodino, during which the French army received a mortal wound.
Kutuzov, the commander, orders to leave Moscow, saying that he will still make the French believe in the power of Russian weapons. He claims that the Battle of Borodino was a victory. Kutuzov is making every effort to keep the Russian army from useless battles.
But you read these episodes and do not experience any jubilation. Yes, and how can one rejoice when at the dressing stations "for a tithe of a place, grass and earth were saturated with blood." People with frightened faces run to Mozhaisk, others stand still and continue to shoot. Confusion, confusion. The position of the author is extremely clear. He is mourning here.
L. N. Tolstoy showed that not only the army, but the entire Russian people rose to the defense of the “sacred Russian land”. Before the entry of the French into Moscow, the entire population flowed out of Moscow.
Tolstoy shows the partisan detachments of Denisov and Dolokhov, talks about the deacon who stood at the head of the detachment. Guerrilla warfare in the understanding and behavior of Tikhon Shcherbaty, Dolokhov and others is retribution for ruin and death, it is a club that “with all its formidable and majestic strength ... rose, fell and nailed the French until the entire invasion died”, this the embodiment of "a sense of insult and revenge."
The fact that Tolstoy ends the description of the war with the expulsion of the French from Russian soil, I consider it logical. Only a war of liberation is just and necessary, and everything that happened in Western Europe at the behest of Emperor Alexander was done for glory.
Thus ended the war, aggressive, predatory on the part of the French, and popular, defending the independence of their homeland, on the part of the Russians. Russia won, rising to a holy war for its honor and freedom. We see the patriotism of civilians. During the liberation war of 1812, all forces were directed towards one goal - the cleansing of their native land from the invaders. Reading about the extraordinary courage, steadfastness, fearlessness of the Russian people, you are imbued with a feeling of love and respect for them, and hatred for those who unleash wars out of self-interest and ambition.

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, who himself experienced the hardships of war, considered war a crime, "an event contrary to human reason and all human nature." All his sympathies are on the side of a simple soldier who endures the brunt, dirt and horror of war. It is no coincidence that all the heroes of Tolstoy, whom he sympathizes with, are devoid of any military features: bearing, a loud commanding voice, self-confidence, but, on the contrary, they are emphatically awkward and do not at all look like heroes. Genuine heroism, according to the writer, is modest and inconspicuous, does not stick out

Show yourself.
This is how Tolstoy depicts the heroes of the battle of Shengraben, one of the central events of the war of 1805, the battle, the outcome of which was very important for the Russian army. The detachment of Bagration was supposed to detain the French so that the Russian troops could join. No wonder Kutuzov admonishes Bagration: "I bless you for a great feat." Prince Andrei, being Kutuzov's adjutant, asks to be released with Bagration's army, since he wants to take part in a real battle. On the eve of the battle, when Bolkonsky went around the positions, he saw a funny scene: one of the Russian soldiers, imitating the French, began to mutter something incomprehensible, there was a “roar of such healthy and cheerful laughter, which involuntarily communicated to the French through the chain that after that it seemed it was necessary to quickly unload the guns, blow up the charges and disperse as soon as possible to everyone's homes. Ordinary soldiers have nothing to share with each other - that's the author's idea. Wars are unleashed by rulers to satisfy their ambitions, and ordinary people have to pay the price.
Before the battle, he meets Bolkonsky and the main character of this episode - Captain Tushin, an emphatically awkward, completely non-military artilleryman, with "big, kind and intelligent eyes." Captain Tushin's battery heroically performed its duty, without even thinking about retreat, although it had only four guns. The French thought that the main forces of the Russians were concentrated in this place, and hit the battery with all their might. During the battle, Captain Tushin did not even think about the danger, "his face became more and more animated." Despite his non-military appearance and “weak, thin, indecisive voice,” the soldiers loved and respected him, and “everyone, like children in a quandary, looked at their commander.” Tushin did not think that he could be killed, he only worried when his soldiers were killed and wounded. The order to retreat was supposed to be delivered to the battery by adjutant Zherkov, but he was frightened by heavy shelling and drove in the other direction. The second staff officer only shouted the order to retreat and sped away, which caused the soldiers to laugh. The third adjutant was Prince Andrei. He saw several dead, a wounded horse, heard the whistle of shells. He becomes frightened, but “the mere thought that he is afraid raised him again.” He helped Tushin remove the guns and left only when everything was done.
Another inconspicuous hero of the battle was Captain Timokhin. We first meet him at a review in Braunau, when Kutuzov recognizes him, since he participated in a Turkish company. At that moment, when it seemed that the French were winning, Timokhin’s company came out: “Timokhin, with such a desperate cry, rushed at the French and with such insane and drunken determination, with one skewer, ran into the enemy that the French, not having time to come to their senses, threw down their weapons and ran." Bagration's detachment fulfilled its task thanks to such modest, inconspicuous heroes as Tushin and Timokhin. In this episode, Tolstoy shows us genuine heroism that does not flaunt itself.
The battle of Borodino became the central episode of the war of 1812, its culmination. It is surprising that, unlike the Battle of Shengraben, the author does not tell us the names of Russian soldiers who heroically fight and die on the Borodino field. Thus, he wants to emphasize the idea that all Russian soldiers were heroes. Tolstoy describes in particular detail the Raevsky battery, where very important events of the battle took place. The whole battle is shown through the eyes of Pierre (this is one of Tolstoy's favorite tricks): “By ten o'clock, twenty people had already been carried away from the battery; two guns were broken, more and more shells hit the battery and flew, buzzing and whistling, long-range bullets. But the people who were on the battery did not seem to notice this; cheerful conversation and jokes were heard from all sides. Pierre sees how people die one after another, doing their duty: “There were many dead here, unfamiliar to him. But he recognized some. A young officer sat, still curled up, at the edge of the rampart, in a pool of blood. The red-faced soldier was still twitching, but they did not remove him. This picture strikes Pierre, and he expresses a thought, undoubtedly close and felt by the author: “No, now they will leave it, now they will be horrified by what they have done!”
Describing the battles, Tolstoy constantly draws an antithesis between Napoleon and Kutuzov. They are both loved by the soldiers, but in different ways. They bow before Napoleon like a deity, Kutuzov is respected for his wisdom, experience, attention to a simple soldier. Napoleon is obsessed with megalomania, he behaves unnaturally, remembering that his every step is recorded for posterity. And Kutuzov is simple, modest, unpretentious, therefore he is great, because, according to the author, “there is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” During the Battle of Borodino, Kutuzov feels what every soldier experiences and inspires confidence in victory: “The meaning of his words was communicated everywhere, because what Kutuzov said did not follow from cunning considerations, but from a feeling that lay in the soul of the commander in chief, just as in the soul of every Russian person.”
The military episodes of the novel "War and Peace" reveal to us the main themes and ideas of Tolstoy: the rejection of war in general, the concept of true heroism and greatness, the courage and patriotism of the Russian people.

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Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy in his novel "War and Peace" closely intertwines the life and fate of his heroes with the history of Russia. We see everything that happens through the look at them of the characters of the work. These are military councils, and reviews of troops, and the exploits of soldiers. We hear the orders given by the commanders-in-chief, we see the soldiers wounded and killed on the battlefield, we feel the suffering of people, we rejoice in the victories of the Russian army and experience its defeats.

The "unnecessary war" began back in October 1805, when Russian troops marched west, heading for Austria, in order to unite with the allies to advance against Napoleon's army. Reading the description of the events of 1805-1807 in the novel, we understand that this war was imposed on the peoples. Being far from their homeland, Russian soldiers cannot understand the purpose of this senseless war and do not want to give their lives aimlessly.

The complete indifference of the soldiers to the upcoming campaign is felt during the review of troops in Braunau. It is interesting that Kutuzov also understands all the uselessness and senselessness of this war for Russia. Seeing the indifference of the allies and their desire to fight by proxy, the commander-in-chief tries to save his troops, to delay their advance to the French borders. However, when the battle was unavoidable, the Russian army fully demonstrated its readiness to come to the aid of the allies and take the main blow. A detachment under the command of Bagration, consisting of four thousand soldiers, held back the onslaught of the enemy, who outnumbered eight times near the village of Shengraben. Despite the fact that the number of the French was much higher, the Russian army, showing miracles of courage, held out to the last, which allowed the main forces to advance. Real heroism was shown by the unit of officer Timokhin, who did not retreat, but, on the contrary, struck back, thereby saving the flank units of the army. The modest captain Tushin also showed himself to be a real hero. Left on the battlefield without cover, in the center of the position, the captain's battery fired at the enemy without interruption. Even when ten guns were fired at the battery, the soldiers led by Captain Tushin did not flinch. The author, using the example of these heroes, showed true patriotism, which is based on sincere and faithful love for the motherland and a sense of duty to it.

All the senselessness of this war is shown by Tolstoy in the scene of the preparation of the highest generals for the Battle of Austerlitz. They believe that Napoleon's army is not ready for this battle. Weyrother, an Austrian general, read out the plan of operation, saying where and when each column would march, but this "march" was not destined to materialize. Hidden in the fog, the French approached, unnoticed by anyone. There was confusion, as a result of which the Russian troops rushed back. Of course, the battle was lost.

This behavior of the Russian soldiers was natural, because they understood the uselessness of this campaign and did not set themselves the goal of winning at any cost, not sparing their lives.

The situation is quite different when it comes to one's homeland. Let us cite as an example the conversation between Pierre and Andrei Bolkonsky about the upcoming Battle of Borodino. Remembering the reason for the defeat in the battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei notes that only those who firmly decided to win win the battle. At Austerlitz, everyone thought in advance that they would lose - and so it happened. And all because there was no need to fight, because everyone wanted to leave the battlefield as soon as possible. This will not happen in the Battle of Borodino, because this is a “necessary” war, it is necessary to defend our homeland.

Although Tolstoy was a pacifist, he senses a significant difference between the 1805-1807 campaign and the 1812 campaign. In the battle of Borodino, the fate of all of Russia was decided. No one here thought about how to save himself, no one was indifferent to what was happening. The Russian people came out to defend their homeland.

Updated: 2012-04-25

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