Learning the news of Napoleon's defeat at Borodino, Talleyrand is supposed to have said:
Voilà le commencement de la fin.
In English, this means: ``This is the beginning of the end.''
(http://www.math.tamu.edu/~boas/courses/math696/HTML-simple-example.html)
This is the beginning of the end.
-- Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, speaking of Napoleon's victory at Borodino (during the Russian campaign), 1812
(http://www.wideworldofquotes.com/quotes/c-m-de-talleyrand-quotes.html)