1. Home
  2. Our library
  3. History
  4. 1812

Beginning of the Patriotic War

Napoleon's forces crosses the Neman River
Napoleon's forces crosses the Neman River
On 24 June 1812, Napoleon's forces crossed the Neman River and entered the territory of Russia. The enemy moved rapidly inland. After heavy fighting, Russian troops had to gave up the cities of Mogilev, Vitebsk, Smolensk. On 7 September, there was a great battle at the village of Borodino near Moscow, in the evening of 14 September, Napoleon entered Moscow.

 

Napoleon's invasion caused the extraordinary rise of patriotic feelings in all levels of the population and united them in a single purpose of resistance. Avoiding thinking about the possibility of the conquest, the Russian capital was still preparing for the various ordeals of the war. On 25 July, the Committee of Ministers allowed civilian statemen to join the militia. In late July 1812, in secret correspondence, A. Razumovsky ordered Director Olenin to take the necessary precautions. Olenin replied, 'It is my duty to report that at the IPL we made about 100 boxes just in case, of which 10 is intended for rare manuscripts, and 90 for the most necessary printed books.' 6 He also wrote that around 100 carts or three vessels may be required to evacuate the books by water.7

Members of People's Volunteer Corps
Members of People's Volunteer Corps
On 22 September, Razumovsky asked Olenin to urgently prepare everything necessary to remove the papers and things from the Library and let him know about the state official who will be accompany them. The director replied that 'packing would take 4 days' and 'it would require between 100 and 120 boxes which would weigh 2400 pounds' 8 (each box is approximately 20 pounds). He also wrote that the sublibrarian Vasily Sopikov would be the responsible for this valuable load.9

Undorsky A. Notes in the Margin of the Journal / / Russian Bibliophile. No. 4. P. 86.

The events related with the evacuation of the collections of the IPL in 1812 were reflected in general in a number of articles, mostly duplicate each other's content and based on the single source - the book The IPL for a Hundred Years. Fragments of some of the documents were published in the anthology: Grin Ts. I., Tretiak A.M. The Public Library through the Eyes of its Contemporaries (1795-1917). SPb., 1998. Pp. 85-88. This article has first published new archival materials illustrating all stages of the evacuation in detail.

OAD RNB. F.1. Op.1. 1812. Item number 11. Fol. 2.

Vasily Sopikov(1765-1818), a native of Suzdal, the bookseller, publisher, librarian, was employed by IPL in July 1811. For more information about him, see: Golubeva O.D. Sopikov Vasily / / Staff of the National Library - Scientists and Cultural Workers. SPb., 1995. Vol. 1. Pp. 481-484.