Peter
the Great, Tsar of Russia, dreamt of a powerful Russia -
a country mighty both in land and in sea. After his trip to Europe, Tsar
Peter embarked in one of the greatest conflict that the Baltic region
experienced. He fought against the superpower of the region of that time –
Sweden. But in order to succeed, he moved his nation from a backward upstart
power into a great modern power. On the ashes of the Great Northern War, a
nation was destroyed and another emerged.
Causes of the Great Northern War
The causes of the
Great Northern War for Russia had been sparked by Peter’s disappointment in
gaining a window to Europe through the Black Sea. Although Russian ships gained
access to the Sea of Azov, they cannot go further to the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean Sea because of the Ottomans. Europe refused to join Peter’s
crusade against the Ottoman Turks. And so Peter looked for another window to
the west. He laid his eyes on the Baltic Sea.
Russians had desired
the Baltics for almost a century. During the Time of Troubles under Feodor II, Russia
gained access to the Gulf of Finland. But Tsar Vasily Shuisky gave up the
territories to gain Swedish support in order to maintain power. More Baltic
territories had to be given up under Tsar Michael and the terms of the Peace of
Stolbovo.
Almost a hundred
years later, Peter the Great desired to grab the region once again. He received
good news when the Polish King Augustus II agreed to an alliance against the
country that made the Baltic Sea as its lake – Sweden. Both men also found
another ally in form of King Frederick IV of Denmark who desired Swedish
controlled territories to re-impose its lucrative sound toll. In addition, the
alliance found Sweden ripe for conquest when a new teenage King - inexperience
and assumed politically and military impotent - Charles XII or Karl XII
ascended to the Silver Throne.
Opening Salvos of the Great Northern War
The opening salvos of
the Great Northern War began in 1700. In April of that year, Denmark attacked
the Swedish-aligned Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein and threatened to invade the
Swedish held province of Scania located across the Sound. Poland followed suit
and attacked the Swedish held city of Riga, which lasted for several months. In
August 1700, Russia declared war on Sweden and attacked Narva in Livonia. Sweden
faced war in three fronts.
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| Charles XII landing in Denmark |
Battle of Narva
The Battle of Narva
between the Russians and the Swedes led to Russia’s hiatus as a major
participant in the war. In November, the Russian forces met King Charles personally
leading his troops in Narva. Peter, on the other hand, was no present in the
siege of Narva and went to Novgorod. 35,000 to 40,000 Russians faced just
around 8,000 Swedes in Narva. On November 18, 1700, a blinding blizzard
descended upon Narva. During the terrible weather, Russian troops suddenly found
Swedish troops with their blue and yellow coats emerging from the snowstorm,
advancing towards them. The Russians had been routed by Charles and their army
had to surrender to the Swedes.
A substantial part of
Peter's army became prisoners of war as a result of the stunning Swedish
victory in Narva. The defeat of the Russians allowed Charles to advance south
towards the besieged city of Riga. By September 1701, Charles relieved the city
from its Polish attackers. Sweden had held off the initial attacks of the alliance
and Peter’s armed forces laid in ruins.
War in Poland
Sweden invaded Poland
the relief of Riga. Charles saw Poland as a greater threat to Sweden than
Russia. He viewed Russia, the same as Denmark and Poland - a weak or minor country.
A minor power that Charles planned to last. He then retook Livonia and then
invaded Courland.
In 1702, Charles
advanced to the lands of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. By the middle of 1702,
Warsaw fell. Later on, even the capital of Krakow fell to Charles. King
Augustus II and Charles continued to fight each other for years. In 1705,
Charles crowned his own Polish King Stanislaw I Leszczynski, while Augustus
escaped to his homeland of Saxony. Charles pursued Augustus and invaded Saxony
in 1706. The major cities of Dresden and Leipzig fell to Sweden. With the
Swedish juggernaut seemed unstoppable, Augustus had no choice but to surrender
to Charles XII in September 1706, signing the Treaty of Altranstadt.
For Peter, Charles'
invasion of Poland, allowed him to rebuild his army and modernize his country
in preparation of what seemed to be a difficult task of defeating the mighty
Swedish army and its young and aggressive King.
Russia’s Small Participation
Peter and Russia
continued to participate in the Great Northern War despite being defeated in
the Battle of Narva. While Charles XII ravaged Poland and King Augustus II,
Peter sent Russian troops to support the Poles. Although their participation
had been in a minimal, they managed to delay the threat of Swedish invasion of
Russia. They bogged down Charles XII in Poland, giving Peter the much needed
time to rebuild his country and his armed forces.
Russian forces
managed to score some small victories. On December 29, 1701, they won the
Battle of Erastfer. Few months later, they gained another victory in the Battle
of Hummelshoff on July 18 and 19 of 1702. By the late 1702, Peter advanced in
the Neva River, capturing the Fort of Noteborg and turning it as his base of
operation, renaming it as Shlusselburg or Key Castle in German. From
Shlusselburg, Peter continued capturing the surrounding nearby towns. Finally
by the following year, Peter had captured the mouth of the Neva River and
established a fortress – the Sts. Peter and Paul. Later on, it became the site
of Peter’s city – St. Petersburg.
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| Peter the Great Meditating the Idea of Building St. Petersburg at the Shores of the Baltic by Alexandre Benois |
Charles Turns to Peter
Sweden invaded Russia
in 1708 after it defeated the Poles. Charles XII wanted to settle his
unfinished business with Peter the Great. He also wanted to retake the lands
that Peter took from Sweden during the young king’s campaign in Poland. For
Peter, his years of reform and rearming his military would then be tested with
the invasion of the Sweden. He wanted to avenge his defeat in Narva.
In January 1708,
45,000 Swedes invaded Russia under the direct command of King Charles XII. For
months, Swedish forces marched deep into Russian territory. On July 4, 1708,
Russian forces faced the Swedes in the Battle of Holowczyn near the city of
Minsk. Russian forces suffered a defeat. Peter then took a drastic measure to
slow down the Swedish advance and weaken its forces.
Scorched-Earth Policy
Peter ordered a scorched-earth
policy. He knew that Swedish troops lived off the land they captured and
exploited this information to his advantage. In launching a scorched-earth
policy, Russian troops made strategic retreats. But upon their retreat they
lived nothing but desolation in the path of the marching Swedes. Every village
and towns within the Swedish path laid in ruins. Food taken, wells destroyed,
fields burned, livestock killed, and shelters ruined.
The scorched-earth
policy brought a devastating effect to the advanding Swedish army. With the
scorched-earth policy, Swedish army’s supplies dwindled. Many Carolean troops
fell to hunger and exposure to the harsh Russian climate. In September of 1708,
Charles halted his advance in order to wait for supplies and reinforcement
coming from Riga.
Peter, however,
discovered the marching supply convoy of Charles XII coming from Riga. On
September 28, 1708, he ordered 6,800 Russian dragoons and Cossacks to attack
the convoy in the plains of Lesnaya. Russian cavalry forces killed 5,000 Swedes
from the convoy out of its 11,000 troops. The Russians also gained control of
Charles’ much needed supply. Peter’s attack on the convoy forced Charles to
march south, to his allies in Ukraine.
Cossack Participation
 |
| Ivan Mazepa |
A faction of Cossacks
allied themselves with the Swedes during their invasion of Russia. In October
1708, Charles had few supplies and his army was left exposed to the harsh
Russian winter and needed refuge before the onset of the cold and unbearable
Russian winter. He decided to swing south, to Ukraine, where he planned to link
up with the Hetman or Chief of the Ukranian Cossack Hetmanate – Ivan Mazepa.
Prior to the
invasion, Charles had exchanged correspondence with the Ukrainian Cossack
leader that hated Tsar Peter. The Ukrainian Cossacks, however, differed in
their thoughts over supporting the Swedes. Many feared Peter the Great’s wrath.
Some received payment from Tsarist government to not to join the Swedes. But
some Cossacks joined Mazepa and supported the Swedes to protest over the
restrictions of Peter and his government over their much loved freedom. But
Peter saw Mazepa’s inclination and acted quickly. On November 2, 1708, under
the command of his trusted adviser, Alexander Menshikov, Russian forces sacked
the Ukrainian Hetmanate capital of Baturin, with 6,000 Cossacks perishing in
the process.
Mazepa escaped with
few followers. Days later, on November 8, 1708, Mazepa, with 2,000 to 3,000
Cossacks, linked up with Charles XII. To the disappointment of the Swedes,
Mazepa offered little additional troops, supplies, and even shelter. They
suffered throughout winter. By the spring of 1709, the number of Swedes that
emerged out the winter numbered around 25,000, almost half of the initial size
of the invasion force.
The Battle of Poltava
The Battle of Polatava
was the climax of the Great Northern War. Charles had suffered heavily during the
winter of 1708 and his forces suffered heavy casualties due to exposure. He
needed supplies and a victory to save his face from humiliation back home and
abroad. He then saw an attack to the town of Poltava as his opportunity. Tsar
Peter, however, with his 40,000 strong army met the Swedes in Poltava. In a
climactic battle, Russian forces deceived the Swedes into advancing to a
position that had been set up in a cross fire for Russian artillery. When the
Swedes marched into Peter’s trap, they fell by their thousands. In the end of
the battle, 10,000 Carolean troops laid dead while about 15,000 fell into
Russian captivity. But before the Battle of Poltava, to the disappointment of
Tsar Peter, Charles had suffered a wound and left with 1,500 Swedish troops
along with Mazepa and his followers. The King was not present in the battle.
They then escaped to Turkish held Moldavia for protection and stayed there for
few years.
The Battle of Poltava
greatly affected Russia and direly affected Sweden. From Poltava, the war
turned bad for the Swedes and good for the Russians and their allies. The
battle signaled the end of Swedish supremacy in the Baltic and Northern Europe.
It also hailed the emergence of the giant Russia as its replacement. Peter the
Great’s prestige sky-rocketed abroad.
Peter won the Battle
of Poltava but the war itself dragged on. As long as Charles XII lived, the
Great Northern War continued. Poltava might have cemented Peter’s and Russia’s
new status, but a new threat in the south threatened to ruin all what Peter had
gained for the past decade.
Explore also:
Bibliography:
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