: The Zar viewed Moscow as the "Third Rome" (following Rome and Constantinople), believing that no fourth would ever exist.
In Barbero’s telling, these two ideological forces were destined to collide, regardless of the individual will of their leaders. Drawing on Tolstoy’s War and Peace , Barbero suggests that even a figure as powerful as Napoleon was often "dragged by forces greater than himself". The Italian Perspective Mai INVADERE la RUSSIA - Alessandro Barbero [Co...
: Barbero notes the irony that while Italy invaded Russia three times, Russian troops have only entered Italian soil once (in 1799 to fight the French), and they left voluntarily shortly after. : The Zar viewed Moscow as the "Third
: The "General Winter" and the sheer scale of the Russian Eurasian colossus create a "cemetery of armies" for those who enter. The Italian Perspective : Barbero notes the irony