The Russian winter has been cited as a factor which significantly contributed to military failures of several invasions of Russia. Common nicknames to this concept are General Frost, General Winter and General Snow. Another similar factor is "General Mud" (see "rasputitsa"). Significance of these factors has been criticized.
Read more about Russian Winter: Temperatures, Effects On Warfare
Famous quotes containing the words russian and/or winter:
“Watching a woman make Russian pancakes, you might think that she was calling on the spirits or extracting from the batter the philosopher’s stone.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“I am less affected by their heroism who stood up for half an hour in the front line at Buena Vista, than by the steady and cheerful valor of the men who inhabit the snow-plow for their winter quarters; who have not merely the three-o’-clock-in-the-morning courage, which Bonaparte thought was the rarest, but whose courage does not go to rest so early, who go to sleep only when the storm sleeps or the sinews of their iron steed are frozen.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)