War And Peace - Book Fourteen

The Battle o Battle of Borodinó, with the occupa­tion of Moscow that followed it and the flight of the French without further conflicts, is one of the most instructive phenomena in history. All historians agree that the external activity of states and nations in their conflicts with one another is expressed in wars, and that as a direct result of greater or less success in war the political stren­gth of states and nations increases or decreases.