▲「Economist.com」Apr 15th 2010 | From The Economist print edition.(部分)
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http://www.economist.com/culture/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15905807&source=most_commented〉
Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace (By Dominic Lieven. Viking; 618 pages; $35.95. Allen Lane; £30)の書評。
うろ覚えだが、萩原延壽氏の『遠い崖―サトウ日記抄』によれば、アーネスト・サトウは晩年、たしか70歳をすぎてからロシア語の学習を始め、約2年後には毎日の時間と分量を決めてトルストイの『戦争と平和』を読み始め、これもまた2年ほどで終了したという。サトウの母語は英語で、英語とロシア語はおなじヨーロッパ言語といってもあまり親近性はないから、2年かそこらでトルストイを読むというのは、70すぎてという点を除いても、超人的といっていい。
ただいま、そのサトウの顰みにならったというわけではないが、『戦争と平和』を原語で通読中。これまで最後まで読み通したことがなかったので、今度こそはと発願したのである。
そんななか、なんたる偶然か、この実に面白そうな本のことを知った。本読みには、時々こういう偶然が起こるらしい。他の人にも似たような例を聞く。
As he pursued his empire’s geopolitical interests, Alexander I managed to rally support from Prussia and Austria, presenting Russia’s invasion of Europe as liberation. In creating this favourable impression of the campaign, the tsar was helped not only by propaganda but by the remarkably disciplined behaviour of his troops who neither stole nor marauded as they advanced through Europe.
The central point made by Mr Lieven’s witty and impeccably scholarly book is that Russia owed its victory not to the courage of its national spirit or to the coldness of the 1812 winter, as some French sources have argued, but to its military excellence, superior cavalry, the high standards of Russia’s diplomatic and intelligence services and the quality of its European elite. Thanks to the intelligence he obtained, Alexander was able to outwit Napoleon, anticipating his invasion.
Napoleon’s intention was not to occupy Russia or overthrow Alexander by stirring a domestic revolt against him. He was counting on his superior force and his own military genius to destroy the Russian army swiftly and force the tsar to accept his peace terms. Alexander’s intention, on the other hand, was to destroy Napoleon and break his Grand Armée. Mikhail Barclay de Tolly, his war minister, devised and implemented the strategy of drawing Napoleon deep inside Russia, away from his supply base, exhausting his army by defensive war and then attacking.
面白そうだ。