the first western under the command of mikhail barclay de toli and the second western under the commandotr bagration united near smolensk the battle of smolensk began, an important episode of the war, on the one hand, the city could not be held too strong and numerous was then the army of napoleon, but on the other hand , thanks to the skill of the military leaders and the courage of the soldiers, the troops of bonaparte managed to pretty exhaust. the plan of the french to impose a general battle on the russian army in unfavorable conditions for us was also thwarted. as a result , napoleon was forced to continue to advance. deep into russia worsening its strategic position. the tactics of luring attrition continued to work in favor of russian army, and eventually led to victory. on august 30, 1847, the russian empire concluded a diplomatic agreement with the vatican , the so-called concardat, the catholic church was concerned about the oppression of catholics in russia, in particular, that the authorities limited the number of seminaries, closed catholic parishes and prevented conversio