War and Peace: Volume I, Part II
Leo Tolstoy's Masterpiece on Russian Society in the Time of Napoleon
The second book of this epic Russian novel introduces the battle with French forces in Austria, revealing the chaos and humanity of war.
The second part of Volume I shifts our focus from high-society plots to wartime maneuvers. Prince Andrei and Nicholas Rostov, both stationed on the Austrian front under General Kutuzov, separately experience the ecstatic, horrifying, and ridiculous aspects of warfare.
Events on the Front
The wartime events are introduced at a low point for the Russians; Pierre’s friend, Dolokhov, has been demoted in General Kutuzov’s army and Nicholas’s regiment is squabbling over alcohol, cards, and petty theft. Meanwhile, there has been a great defeat for General Mack that does not bode well for the Russian forces.
Vienna has recently been captured when Napoleon’s man tricked the Russian and Austrian forces into believing that a peace agreement had been reached. The French press on and engage Kutuzov’s men in combat. Later, General Kutuzov’s army makes gains in battle when they trick a French leader in return.
Nicholas’s Experience
Nicholas is stationed at a hussar camp under Denisov. Pride gets Nicholas in trouble when he (rightly) makes a public accusation that an officer of the regiment has stolen. Nicholas has a firm sense of right and wrong and will not apologize, despite the shame that his accusation has brought to the regiment.
When the battle begins, Nicholas is euphoric as he charges on the enemy with the hussars. However, his glorious self-image soon vanishes when he is trapped under his fallen horse, believing that he is wounded and that he will soon be killed.
Before he manages to escape to the protection of other Russians in the bushes, Nicholas famously thinks, “Can it be that they’re running… To kill me? Me, whom everybody loves so? He remembered his mother’s love for him, his family’s, his friends’, and the enemy’s intention to kill him seemed impossible.”
These lines exemplify Tolstoy’s ability to understand life on the grandest of scales and from the most biased, individual perspective. They also remind readers that, though Nicholas may be a soldier who talks big, he is still just a boy whose understanding of his own importance comes from his mother’s love.
Prince Andrei’s Experience
Like Nicholas, Prince Andrei has illusions about the glory of warfare. He scorns the petty concerns of those not caught up in this idea of glory, such as a soldier who jokes about Mack’s recent defeat and the social circle and practical, selfish concerns of an old friend and Russian diplomat, Bilibin. When Andrei makes a report to the Austrian Emperor, the Emperor’s simplistic lack of understanding also fails to live up to Andrei’s fantasies.
When Andrei returns to the Russians, they are in battle. Andrei volunteers to join the battalion of Prince Bagration in the most dangerous part of the battlefield. Andrei observes many things; conversations about life and death on the battlefield, cries of the wounded, the charismatic leadership and core cowerdess of Bagration, the poor behavior of Dolokhov, and the massive chaos of the battle.
When others are too cowardly to warn Captain Tushin, leader of a dangerously positioned group that sets fire to a village, to retreat, Andrei does the job. He later defends Tushin as the brave leader that helped save the battle, though others tried to blame Tushin to cover their own faults.
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War and Peace: Volume I, Part I
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War and Peace: Volume I, Part III
Tolstoy, Leo, trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. War and Peace. New York: Knopf, 2007. ISBN 978-0-307-26693-4.
