Napoleon's Russian Campaign Visualization

This project recreates Charles Minard's famous 1869 visualization of Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign of 1812. The visualization shows the devastating losses suffered by the French army during b

Visualization Features

• Troop Movement: The width of the path is proportional to the number of troops
  • Advance path: Colored in tan (#D2B48C) showing the army's march to Moscow
  • Retreat path: Colored in dark gray (#333333) showing the devastating retreat
• Geographic Context: Cities and rivers are marked on the map
• Temperature Chart: Shows the dropping temperatures during the winter retreat
• Interactive Elements: Hover over cities and troop paths for additional information

Historical Context

This visualization depicts one of history's most famous military disasters:

• June 1812: Napoleon's Grande Armée of 422,000 soldiers crosses into Russia
• September 1812: Only 100,000 troops reach Moscow
• October-December 1812: The retreat through the Russian winter decimates the army
• December 1812: Merely 10,000 soldiers survive to cross back over the Niemen River

Implementation Details

This visualization is built with modern web technologies:

• D3.js: For data visualization and geographical mapping
• Responsive Design: Scales appropriately for different screen sizes
• Tufte-inspired Styling: Minimalist aesthetic with high data-to-ink ratio

The implementation follows Edward Tufte's visualization principles, focusing on clear data representation with minimal chartjunk while honoring Minard's original concept.

Data Sources

The visualization combines several data elements:

• Troop movements with size information
• Geographical locations of cities and rivers
• Temperature data during the retreat
• Key dates and events of the campaign

Based on Charles Joseph Minard's original 1869 flow map, which is considered one of the finest statistical graphics ever created.