Napoleon s russian campaign of 1812 is legendary and rightfully so. They would have probably won had hitler actually decided to march on moscow like his generals said. The beginning of napoleon s march vs the end of his retreat. The path of napoleon s retreat from moscow in the bitterly cold winter depicted by the dark lower band from right, is tied to temperature and time scales. Data from minards famous graphic map of napoleons march on. More died of the cold and of starvation than in battle. James grime explains why this infographic, created in 1862 by charles joseph minard on napoleon s failed invasion of russia, is considered the best one ever created. After moscow burned and napoleon had to leave the russian capital, his men died from starvation and cold in much greater numbers than those. The path of napoleon s retreat is depicted by the dark lower band, tied to temperature and time scales. Continuing the march since minards map is in french, i have provided an english language version for us to use as we discuss the flow of napoleon s march in detail. Modern information scientists say the 1869 map of napoleons russian campaign may be the best statistical. Charles joseph minards flow map of the strength of napoleon s grande armee during the russian campaign of 1812. The underappreciated man behind the best graphic ever. Now slideware computer programs for presentations are nearly everywhere.
A week later, napoleon entered moscow, only to find it abandoned, and the city was soon ablaze see the fire of moscow 1812, with the french blaming the fire on russian arsonists. The germans didnt try to invade russia in the winter. Charles minards flow map of napoleons russian campaign. Napoleons illfated march to russia intro to data science. Shows where and why the army was whittled from over 400,000 to about 10,000 at the end of the campaign. Charles minards 1879 chart depicts napoleon s disastrous 1812 russian campaign. Napoleon s march probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, this map by charles joseph minard portrays the losses suffered by napoleon s army in the russian campaign of 1812. The story begins in 1811, when napoleon dominated nearly all of europe, succeeding in his aim to reign over the civilized world like a modernday charlemagne. Napoleon left moscow with 100,000 men, presumably 100,000 effectives, on october 18. Data from minards famous graphic map of napoleons march on moscow. And, taking a cue from their officers, common soldiers brought along friends otherwise known as camp followers. Having discussed a misleading chart in an earlier post, id like to write about a chart considered by many to be the best statistical chart every made. The minard map the best statistical graphic ever drawn. Everyones heard of napoleon s march to moscow, but whos heard of the details.
Charles minards infographic of napoleons invasion of. Around this same time, another data visualization pioneer, charles joseph minard, produced some of the most highlyregarded infographics ever made, including the 1869 illustration above of napoleon s march to, and retreat from, moscow in the war of 1812. Is napoleons march the greatest statistical graphic ever. Open in insights open in arcgis urban open in ortho maker open in. Napoleons disastrous march during the russian campaign of. But as it happened, he also made a bloody and frozen retreat so if you dont include a time sequence your viz will be a garbled mess.
The capture of moscow did not compel alexander i to sue for peace, and napoleon stayed in moscow for a month, waiting for a peace offer that never came. This was down to 20,000 by the time the detachment from poltrk joined the column on november 23, bringing the total force up to about 50,000, certainly not any place close. Minard map of napoleons march on moscow handouts 6x9. This course was designed as part of a program to help you and. Napoleons illfated march to russia intro to data science youtube. The greatest infographic ever of napoleon s invasion of russia. Charles joseph minards chart of napoleon s march to moscow in his russian campaign of 1812. Beginning at the polishrussian border, the thick band shows the size of the army at each position. It depicts the advance into 1812 and retreat from 18 russia by napoleon. Minard was, among other things, noted for his representation of numerical data on geographic maps, especially his flow maps. Postersized reproductions of the napoleons march on moscow graphic are. Thank you very much for the reformatting of the classic minard info graphic of napoleon s march on moscow. The width of the gray line shows the relative size of the french army as it approached moscow and black line shows the retreat back to france. Before we analyze this graphic, we need to know a bit of history.
Im starting to hear about charles minards map of napoleon s march time and time again almost to the point of exhaustion. Edward tufte, charles minard, napoleon and the russian campaign of 1812 part 5 charles minards flow map of napoleon s russian campaign of 1812 the chart above also tells the story of a war. We love the interactive pan, rotate, and zoom options. Charles joseph minard was a french civil engineer recognized for his significant contribution in the field of information graphics in civil engineering. This period saw the war of the seventh coalition, and includes the waterloo campaign and the neapolitan war.
Minard, inopecteur general des ponto en chausscen en retraite, laris, le 20 novembre 1869. This book explores the causes, circumstances, and aftermath of napoleon s disastrous invasion of russia. John hammer former president, international map trade association john. Probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, this map by charles joseph minard portrays the losses suffered by napoleon s army in the russian campaign of 1812 an instrumental and time use diagram of napoleon s march to moscow for the war of edward tufte. This is the penultimate first hand accounting of the 82 day journey of napoleon s allied army from the niemen river to the entry of moscow in 1812. Is the map really that awesome, or is it just because edward tufte said so.
We also have the path that his troops took to and from moscow. It was drawn half a century afterwards by charles joseph minard, a french civil engineer. Charles joseph minards graphic depiction of the fate of napoleon s grand army in the russian campaign of 1815 has been called the greatest statistical graphic ever drawn tufte, 1983. One week after winning a bloody victory over the russian army at the battle of borodino, napoleon bonapartes grande armee enters the city of moscow, only to find the population evacuated and. If, as some say, minards depiction of napoleon s 1815 march on moscow defied the pen of the historian in its brutal eloquence marey, 1887, and is the best statistical graphic ever drawn tufte, 1983, can we redraw it in some modern programming language. Probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, this map by charles joseph minard portrays the losses. All i knew about it before reading adam zamoyskis moscow, 1812.
Considered by many to be the ultimate use of graphic design, this poster shows the fate of napoleon s armys march to and from moscow in 1812. Napoleon s march graph in french view larger image considered by many to be the ultimate use of graphic design, this poster shows the fate of napoleon s armys march to and from moscow in 1812. Available for purchase as a poster from famed graphical thinker edward tufte. Napoleons disastrous invasion of russia detailed in an 1869 data. The greatest infographic ever of napoleons invasion of. Napoleon s fatal march is a nonfiction book analysing the events and circumstances during the french invasion of russia and the events during the reign of napoleon, which would, ultimately, mark the ending of the napoleonic empire after his troops were defeated after attempting to access moscow. Napoleons march on moscow 181218 in 3d arcgis online. It shows the directions of the army, where the force branched out, and its strength over time, including markings for important. A new take on an old classic, the minard map of napoleon s tragic march to moscow is reimagined as a 3d spacetime cube. Remains of soldiers in mass grave show toll of napoleons russian campaign. Napoleons disastrous invasion of russia detailed in an. The march on moscow, napoleon in moscow, the great retreat. We can display this information by plotting the paths on a map.
They describe the invasion and the retreat to and from moscow, but they have a curiously contemporary aura. The story begins at the polishrussian border with thick bands showing the size of the army in each position. Is minards map the best statistical graphic ever drawn. The underappreciated man behind the best graphic ever produced hes known for his acclaimed depiction of napoleon s illfated invasion of.
Analyzing minards visualization of napoleon s 1812 march joanne cheng. One of the more famous examples of hubris at work was napoleon s russian campaign of 1812. He instead decided to march on leningrad, thinking that capturing it would topple communism. By the time napoleon gets to moscow, he knows he has to retreat. Analyzing minards visualization of napoleons 1812 march. National geographic, by betsy mason march 16, 2017. Remains of soldiers in mass grave show toll of napoleons. Napoleon s invasion of russia and his ensuing terrible retreat from moscow played out as military epic and human tragedy on a colossal scale historys first example of total war. Time is on the vertical axis, anchored to a basemap that shows the location of cities. In this video, i explain what it shows and why its regarded so highly among the data visualization community.
This is the first of two books reprinted in paperback in 2012 dealing with the advance of the grand army on and occupation of moscow in 1812. This viz would be elementary if napoleon had just marched his troops triumphantly to moscow you could just use longitude and latitude data. Tolstoy drawn in 1869 by charles joseph minard, a former french civil engineer. After the march toward moscow began, napoleon s troops found the roads were bad. Data from minards famous graphic map of napoleons march. Probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, this map by charles joseph. Beginning at the polishrussian border, the thick band. This video is part of an online course, intro to data science. Napoleons disastrous march during the russian campaign of 1812 this statistical map traces the path of napoleon s grand army marching to moscow in his 1812 campaign. Data from minards famous graphic map of napoleon s march on moscow description.
The big tan stream represents the scale of napoleon s army, diminishing as it approaches moscow. Napoleons fatal march was that the russian winter defeated napoleon s grand armee. It has also become an important testcase for graphic and software designers to. Napoleon retreats from moscow one month after napoleon bonapartes massive invading force entered a burning and deserted moscow, the starving french army is forced to begin a hasty retreat out. Interactive application of charles joseph minards famous map of napoleon s retreat from moscow.
Napoleon allowed officers to bring along luxuries and servants more to carry and more mouths to feed. The path of napoleons retreat from moscow in the bitterly cold winter is depicted by the dark lower band. This book provides a wonderful exploration of the strategic and leadership successes and mostly failures that changed history, while clearly showing the depth and scale of human. Napoleon s march to moscow and back on june 23, 2010. The map portrays the losses suffered by napoleon s army in the russian campaign of 1812. I have long considered this image to be the quintessential graphic presntation of a multifactual analysis.
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