Napoleon and the Battle of Moscow In the early 1800’s, France was not just having great ideas. They had a great leader who carried out these ideas. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte. He was emperor of France, but that did not make him happy. He was greedy and power hungry, and wanted all of Europe under his control. He especially wanted Russia. France and Russia had problems over trade as well as economic agreements. Russia began to let up helping France against England, their enemy, because Alexander was beginning to side with England over France. When Napoleon captured Italy, Spain, and Germany, Russia began to feel pressured. In 181