query: When did Napoleon try to invade Russia?
passage: French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia, known in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (Russian: Отечественная война 1812 года, romanized:Otečestvennaja Vojna 1812 goda) and in France as the Russian Campaign (French: Campagne de Russie), began on 24 June 1812 when Napoleon's Grande Armée crossed the Neman River in an attempt to engage and defeat the Russian army.[14] Napoleon hoped to compel Tsar Alexander I of Russia to cease trading with British merchants through proxies in an effort to pressure the United Kingdom to sue for peace.[15] The official political aim of the campaign was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia. Napoleon named the campaign the Second Polish War to gain favor with the Poles and provide a political pretext for his actions.[16]
passage: Foreign policy of the Russian Empire
Russia played a small role in the Napoleonic Wars until 1812, when Napoleon's huge army was destroyed in the French invasion of Russia. Russia played a major role in defeating Napoleon and in setting conservative terms for the restoration of aristocratic Europe during the period of 1815 to 1848. There were several wars with the Ottoman Empire, and in 1856 Russia lost the Crimean War to a coalition of Great Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. More small wars followed in the late 19th century.