Moscow is the Russian city occupied and burned during the 1812 events in War and Peace.
In Tolstoy’s novel, Napoleon’s army enters Moscow after the Battle of Borodino in September 1812. Russian forces and most civilians had evacuated, leaving the French to occupy a largely deserted city. Fires then spread through Moscow, destroying much of it and depriving Napoleon’s army of supplies and shelter.
The fire is a major turning point in both the novel and the real French invasion of Russia. Its exact responsibility has long been debated: Russian authorities were accused of deliberate arson, while other accounts emphasize accidental fires caused by troops, abandoned buildings, and the city’s many wooden structures. Tolstoy presents the disaster with characteristic skepticism toward simple official explanations.
The occupation did not secure Napoleon’s victory. The devastated city offered little sustenance, and the French retreat began soon afterward, becoming one of the most disastrous campaigns in European history.