Why did Napoleon wait for the keys from the Kremlin on Poklonnaya Hill?

To understand why Napoleon was waiting for keys from the Kremlin as an offering from the defeated people, and did not take them himself, it is worthwhile to highlight the events that took place earlier on September 2, 1812.

At one of the auctions in Fontainebleau for 187 thousand euros, a lot was sold with a unique letter of 1812. It is dated on the twentieth of October. Its author is Napoleon, and he writes about the intention to blow up the Kremlin. And yet just a month ago he could not imagine after so many victories in Europe that Russian savages not only put an end to his triumphal wars, but for the sake of victory even the holy capital will not be pitied. Moscow was burned, so the emperor only had to blow up the Kremlin, which survived the fire. But why did he make such a decision when his army had already left a lifeless city and the inevitability of defeat was obvious?

Maybe because he did not have the chance to test in the palms of the sweet weight of heavy keys from the Kremlin? But it's more like an act in revenge. Unfortunate for the emperor with claims to the world crown. Simply the Kremlin for him is that last straw, for which the drowning man grabs. He believed that, leaving Russia without a heart, ie. Without the Kremlin, thus breaking the Russian spirit, he can still subdue this barbaric country and return to France again as a winner.

Why was an exceptionally clever man and a brilliant military leader so easily succumbed to self-deception? And why did Napoleon wait for the keys from the Kremlin six weeks earlier? For the same reason that he so naively and smugly expected the Russian delegation not just with keys, but with bread and salt and a traditional Russian bow. He wanted not just obedience to the vanquished, he needed recognition.

This was the second self-deception. No one but the crows flying from all sides to the place of the conflagration. But the crows can not tell what the city expects Napoleon, could not. And the delegation did not appear. But why did Napoleon wait for the keys to the Kremlin, and the Russians did not bring them? The importance for Russians of Poklonnaya Gora, explains why. Napoleon was waiting for the keys from the Kremlin there. But in fact the more inconvenient place he could not be advised even by a Russian scout. The name of the mountain is not accidental. Since ancient times, it was worshiped as the holy place of dwelling of the gods. To come here with a bow to Napoleon would mean betraying not the city, not the country, but faith, and the usurper to recognize almost as a god. No Russian blasphemy could ever come to mind.

Perhaps this is not the only explanation of why Napoleon was waiting for the keys from the Kremlin, but he did not wait. This man was remembered not only as a war-lord general and a disgraced emperor. He entered into eternity as a great personality, capable of creating history and changing its course. And if you can say so, then on the brand "Napoleon" France has no exclusive right today . There is no country where there would not be at least one bust of Napoleon. Lovers of historical reconstruction again and again recreate episodes of battles, which this ruler had a lot.

Napoleonic mask of death continues to appear in museums around the world. Bronze, copper, plaster ... At the majority of them the authenticity is doubtful. And outwardly they sometimes differ not only in small details. For museum staff, for historians this annoying phenomenon. On the other hand, it is an eloquent testimony to the fact that Napoleon's role in history is enormous, that he still managed to conquer the world. Not geographically, not politically, but in the minds of people. He will not be forgotten, because his name has acquired a nominal value. And it is hardly possible to find another such person in the history of mankind , whose great name was not diminished even by a great defeat, similar to that which Napoleon suffered in Russia.