[Of the battle of Borodino, 1812:] It is the beginning of the end.

Attributed to Talleyrand in reference to Napoleon’s costly “victory” at Borodino (7 September 1812), the remark frames the battle as a strategic turning point rather than a triumph. Borodino inflicted enormous casualties without destroying the Russian army, leaving Napoleon deep in hostile territory with a weakened force and an overstretched supply line. Read this way, “the beginning of the end” captures the paradox of a battlefield success that accelerates political and military collapse: the campaign’s momentum shifts from conquest to attrition, foreshadowing the retreat from Moscow and the unraveling of Napoleonic dominance in Europe.