The 1812 invasion of the Russian Empire led by Napoleon (and the military campaign against it) has been most prominently juxtaposed with the 1941 one of the Soviet Union (and its counter-campaign) by the respective Russian names applied to each war or front, the "Patriotic War (of 1812)" and the "Great Patriotic War". Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Bonaparte as general, by Antoine-Jean Gros. ... The Eastern Front was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ...

The Soviet government meant to evoke nationalist feelings related to Napoleon's invasion when it proclaimed that name upon the start of the Axis one. Nationalism is an ethno-political ideology that sustains the concept of a nation-identity for an exclusive group of people. ... The invasion of the Russian Empire led by Napoleon in 1812 was a critical turning point in the Napoleonic wars. ... The Axis Powers is a term for those participants in World War II opposed to the Allies. ...

Parallels between the German invasion and the French campaign include the following: Original German plan Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, which commenced on June 22, 1941. ...

• Both invasions began in mid-June (the Wehrmacht and its allies invaded the Soviet Union on the day before the anniversary of the Napoleonic invasion), advancing towards Moscow as the major Russian city.
• Both fought bitter battles on the road to Moscow at Smolensk. As they marched deeper into Russian territory, both faced scorched-earth campaign ahead, and partisans in the rear.
• Neither invader had anticipated a prolongation of their campaign, so neither had adequately equipped their force for winter warfare.
• Both underestimated the fierce military resistance amongst the general Russian populace and the strong sense of Russian nationalistic pride as they advanced deeper eastward.

In spite of these parallels, the type of warfare waged 130 years apart differed considerably: Wehrmacht was the name of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. ... Partisan may refer to: A member of a lightly-equipped irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation. ...

• The Wehrmacht studied the main causes of Napoleon's failures thoroughly when planning the Soviet Union invasion.
• The Grande Armee mounted a classical campaign of its time, marching as a single column towards Moscow. In densely populated and relatively rich European countries, such tactics allowed the French army to acquire food, boots and uniforms, weapons, ammunition and horses in the conquered territories themselves, making supply lines to the rear of smaller importance. In more thinly populated and poorer Russia, these tactics failed.
• The Germans, on the other hand, unleashed a modern 20th century war including quick, relentless offensives with armoured vehicles. Having six times the troop strength at their disposal as the French, and pursuing different strategic objectives, they mounted a broad offensive from the Baltic states to the Ukraine to control territory. Supply lines to their domestic industrial areas in the rear became crucial, especially when this campaign did not succeed within weeks as earlier Blitzkrieg campaigns in the West had. Once rapid advances ceased, the Germans began fiercely contesting every region they controlled, rather than retreating before Russian counterattacks, producing massive casualties on each side.
• The Grande Armee did little to respond to partisan attacks on their flanks, and partisans suffered light losses in their hit-and-run tactics. The Wehrmacht, on the other hand, was accompanied by fully equipped secret police agents who hunted down and killed partisans in rear areas, hurting the resistance far more. The Germans were much brutal and violent towards civilian populations where resistance was the strongest.

As a result, the Russians had a relatively easy time driving Napoleon out within a year of the invasion, although Imperial-Russian military casualties were significant. On the other hand, defeating the Germans under Hitler took four years and resulted in horrifying military and civilian casualties on both the Soviet-Russian side and the German side, accompanied by the destruction of huge areas of the country. Blitzkrieg relied on close cooperation between infantry and panzers (tanks). ...