The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.
Occupation would last only a bit more than a month though. Moscow was a deserted city, it was difficult to supply the troops, and eventually fires forced Napoleon out.
The French emperor ordered the Kremlin be blown up. Fortunately this decision was hardly implemented. Where explosions and fires did threaten invaluable buildings, the weather gave a helping hand by extuingishing the fires through rains. Weather would again play a key role for the Russian people some 129 years later in a similar, yet so different, combat situation...
After Napoleon had to flee from Moscow, the Russian and Prussian troops hunted him down all the way back to Paris in France. They also freed the Dutch and Belgian territories from French occupation. After this, in 1813 and under the Treaty of London, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was founded. This 'Union' comprised the Dutch and Belgian territories. In 1830 Belgium split from this United Kingdom after increasing tension with the ruler Willem. Belgium thus became an independent state.
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