Napoleon's Downfall: Campaign in Germany 1813 (Full Documentary)

00:00 Spring Campaign 1813
25:17 Summer Campaign 1813
40:19 Battle of Leipzig 1813
53:44 Napoleon's Retreat 1813

After Napoleon's disastrous retreat from Russia he was still able to put up a fight and was determined to beat the enemy coalition in the German lands. But after a spring campaign and the battle of Grossbeeren, and the later battles of Bautzen and the Katzbach, the Emperor was beaten at the Battle of Leipzig 1813.

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» SOURCES
Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York 1966.

Lieven, Dominic. Russia Against Napoleon. 2010.

Platthaus, Andreas. 1813. Die Völkerschlacht und das Ende der alten Welt. 2013.

Handrick, Wolfgang. Napoleons Kampf um die Elb-Linie 1813. 2020.

Leggiere, Michael. Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany, Vol. I. 2015.

Grautoff, Ferdinand. In Leipzig während der Völkerschlacht, Leipzig 1912.

Cohen, Löser and Erik Linder. Memoiren des Freiwilligen Jägers Löser Cohen. 1993.

Petre, F. Loraine. Napoleon’s Last Campaign in Germany. 1902.

Robinson, James Harvey. Readings in European History, A collection of extracts from the sources chosen with the purpose of illustrating the progress of culture in Western Europe since the German Invasions, Volume II. Boston, New York, Chicago, London: Ginn & Company, 1904-06.

Weimar, Carl August von. Politischer Briefwechsel des Herzoges und Großherzoges Carl August von Weimar. Von der Rheinbundzeit bis zum Ende der Regierung 1808 - 1828, Bd. 3., Stuttgart 1973.

Sainte-Beuve, Charles-Augustin. Le général Jomini (Paris, 1869)
Von Hüser, Henrich. Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben des Generals der Infanterie von Hüser. 1877.

Безотосный В. М. Россия в наполеоновских войнах 1805–1815 гг. (Москва: Политическая
энциклопедия, 2014)

Отечественная война 1812 года. Энциклопедия (Москва: РОССПЭН, 2004)

Могилевский Н. А. От Немана до Сены: заграничный поход русской армии 1813–1814 гг.
(Мoсква: Кучково поле, 2012)

1812 год. Воспоминания воинов русской армии (Москва: Мысль, 1991)

Colson, Bruno. Leipzig. La bataille des nations 16-19 octobre 1813. 2013.

Platthaus, Andreas. 1813. Die Völkerschlacht und das Ende der alten Welt. 2013.
Handrick, Wolfgang. Napoleons Kampf um die Elb-Linie 1813. 2020.

Батюшков К. Н. Из записной книжки [1817 г.] / Батюшков К. Н. Сочинения (Москва: Academia, 1934)

Coignet, Jean-Roch. Les cahiers du capitaine Coignet (1799-1815), 1883.

Colson, Bruno. Leipzig. La bataille des nations 16-19 octobre 1813. 2013.

Mir, Jean-Pierre. Hanau et Montmirail, La Garde donne et vainc (2009).

N.N. Der heilige Kampf der Teutschen: mit chronologischer Angabe aller Schlachten vom 27. Aug. 1812 bis zur Schlacht bei Hanau den 30. Octob. 1813, vol. 4 (1814).

N.N. Relation über die Ereignisse bei Hanau vom 29. October bis 1. November 1813. Aus der kaiserlich-königlichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei (Wien, 1814).

Petre, F. Loraine. Napoleon’s Last Campaign in Germany. 1902.

»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Above Zero
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Digital Maps: Canadian Research and Mapping Association (CRMA)
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig

Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster

Contains licensed material by getty images
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2023

[guyfawkes]

I never get tired of Napoleon documentaries. Thanks for this!

[leninsmustache]

Hey, fantastic video!
Just as a side note - the lakes south of Leipzig shown in the maps during the Spring Campaign section didn't exist back then, they were coal pits flooded during the 90s and 00s.
The large, square section of river next to Leipzig is the Elsterbecken, also only constructed during the 1860s. Just wanted to put some trivia out there :)

[imperfectclark]

Side note: Jesse's eloquence across multiple languages is a delight

[_ArsNova]

It is difficult to understate just how incredibly well made your documentary series on Napoléon is. Dramatic as it ought to be, yet objective and unembellished. I pray that you will someday complete it, from Egypt to Waterloo.

[CrichtonNo]

Fantastic documentary. Not easy to boil down the 1813 campaign into such a short video, but you've done it well.


Did have to chuckle at the British retreat to Corunna when you were describing Lutzen at 19:17 though haha

[wileyeyefloaty]

Gotta say Jesse your toss ins of true to area pronunciations of real quotes from the ones walking in it really exacerbates my need to watch and learn more. Great addition of realness for the programs provided. Easily the best history related channel found so far don't ever cease making these for I cannot get enough lol

[KomradZX]

Your channel is INSANELY UNDERRATED 🤯. The quality of everything you produce is on par with the TV channels and documentarians like Ken Burns. I look forward to everything you make, it’s always superb.

Cheers from St. Louis, MO ❤

[Alruwaili]

This is absolutely amazing i love this channel so much.

Thank you for your hard work

[khankrum]

I learn so much from this channel it is barely quantifiable! All I can say is thank you!

[asullivan]

Interesting and informative. Excellent battlefields drawings/maps. Enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Special thanks to veteran soldiers/civilians sharing personal information/combat experiences. Thru diaries/memoirs enabling historians to replicate those stories for viewers like us to better understand & appreciate the hard ships/sacrifices suffered by all involved in the different conflicts. A loud shout out to the often times forgotten medical 🚑 personal. Medics/doctors/nurses tirelessly tending to the wounded soldiers. Don't remember the doctor's name. After the battle of Borodino he couldn't tend to many wounded soldiers.

[Rdg]

"When he approaches, we run away" - Crown prince Karl Johan of Sweden

[flashgordon]

Ty Jesse & Co! I’ll watch this about 5 times, it’s fantastic!
Pls make a series about the careers of the Marshalls.

[Gouhllit]

A little thing that i found a bit sad, constantly during the video it is shown that the two duchies of Mecklenburg were still part of the Federation of the Rhine and only joined the allies, acording to the map at the end, after Napoleon was defeated and yet the two duchies were part of the 6th Coalition from the very start, their troops fighting along the allies. I know, the two duchies were small and yet they did what they could and unlike the talk that the german princes were very careful and waiting how thing went, here were two who were in right from the start.

Other then that a very nice video, wonderfuly presented and one almost wants to complain that it is to short for such a extensive topic. Looking forward to more of your stuff in the future.

[dennisweidner]

Excellent video. Beautifully and clearly presented, both the military and political movements. .

[ravenfeeder]

Your coverage of Bautzen seems to be based on some very old works. More modern research from the likes of Arnold of the actions at Konigswartha and Weissig show the allies were aware of Ney's march and put in some very effective spoiling attacks which meant his command was probably unable to do the manoeuvre required of them.

[Igneoused]

I just finished Napoleons invasion of Russia this morning so great timing! Fantastic video and so thankful documentary’s of this quality are available.

[shehansenanayaka]

Brilliant documentary. We always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos..we know it take lot of time and hard work to make these videos. Love from Sri Lanka. 🇱🇰🤝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

[oliversherman]

I love these Napoleonic era videos. Keep up the great work 👍

[donnysandley]

Love the strategics of this war and the details of the painting's is very interesting also 🤔

[TheBiographicalFiles]

thank you for creating this historical video, so that today i can watch it, and get a lot of value from it