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{{Cquote|Despite President [[Essay: Vladimir Putin is a corrupt kleptocrat and an authoritarian|Vladimir Putin]]’s bluster yesterday that “it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield,” there’s no question the last twelve months have been  terrible for his nation. But frankly, Russia has had not just a disastrous year, but a couple of bad centuries.

{{Cquote|Despite President [[Essay: Vladimir Putin is a corrupt kleptocrat and an authoritarian|Vladimir Putin]]’s bluster yesterday that “it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield,” there’s no question the last twelve months have been  terrible for his nation. But frankly, Russia has had not just a disastrous year, but a couple of bad centuries.

Just over 200 years ago, [[Napoleon]] invaded Russia, eventually occupying and burning Moscow before the Russian army, aided by a brutal winter, was able to eject the [[France|French]] Grande Armee at a cost of more than half a million casualties on both sides. In the middle of the 19th century, Russia lost the [[Crimean War]] against the combined forces of the UK, France and the Ottoman Empire, crippling the Imperial Russian Army (500,000 casualties in a two-year war), losing the Crimean Peninsula, and forfeiting the right to base warships in the [[Black Sea]].  

Just over 200 years ago, [[Napoleon]] invaded Russia, eventually occupying and burning Moscow before the Russian army, aided by a brutal winter, was able to eject the [[France|French]] Grande Armee at a cost of more than half a million casualties on both sides. In the middle of the 19th century, Russia lost the [[Crimean War]] against the combined forces of the [[United Kingdom|UK]], France and the [[Ottoman Empire]], crippling the Imperial Russian Army (500,000 casualties in a two-year war), losing the Crimean Peninsula, and forfeiting the right to base warships in the [[Black Sea]].  

The Russian Navy was essentially destroyed by [[Japan]] in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904-1905, suffering a humiliating loss of eight battleships in the lopsided Battle of Tsushima while inflicting virtually no damage to the Japanese Imperial Fleet. A dozen years later, as the Russian empire imploded after the Bolshevik revolution, Western armies invaded to pick up the spoils. All that occurred before [[Germany]] invaded and destroyed much of the Russian army in the early days of [[World War II]], notably at the battle of [[Stalingrad]], where Russia suffered close to a million casualties in a year of fighting, albeit ultimately achieving victory.

The Russian Navy was essentially destroyed by [[Japan]] in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904-1905, suffering a humiliating loss of eight battleships in the lopsided Battle of Tsushima while inflicting virtually no damage to the Japanese Imperial Fleet. A dozen years later, as the Russian empire imploded after the Bolshevik revolution, Western armies invaded to pick up the spoils. All that occurred before [[Germany]] invaded and destroyed much of the Russian army in the early days of [[World War II]], notably at the battle of [[Stalingrad]], where Russia suffered close to a million casualties in a year of fighting, albeit ultimately achieving victory.