The Great Northern War marked the culmination
of a tumultuous couple of centuries in Northern Europe. This war not only changed the balance of power
in the region, but on the continent as a whole. At the end of the conflict, one of Europe’s
newest and most militarized powers lay in ruins and from its ashes, an Empire previously
on the fringe of European affairs would start its explosive rise. Welcome to our video on the Great Northern
War, on how the Swedish empire ended and Russian Empire rose, opening the way to a new era
of European history. These long videos are extremely difficult
to make, and we hope you will grace us with your likes, comments and shares! This conflict is absolutely packed with big
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here! The ascension of Gustavus Adolphus to the
throne of Sweden, in 1611, is generally regarded as the starting point of the Swedish Empire. The able young King inherited a multitude
of conflicts in the region, most notably the Ingrian war against the Tsardom of Russia. The war was concluded with the Peace of Stolbovo,
in 1618, which stipulated that Sweden would gain Ingria and parts of Karelia, thereby
denying Russia access to the Baltic Sea. Russia, which was still recovering from the
Time of Troubles, was unable to offer any significant resistance to Swedish expansion. The war with Poland-Lithuania, which had been
sporadically raging on since 1600, was concluded in 1629. Gustavus Adolphus was not able to force Sigismund
III of Poland to renounce his claims on the Swedish throne, but he was able to keep most
of Livonia, including the important port city of Riga, and gain valuable trade concessions. In 1618, one of the most destructive conflicts
in history, the Thirty Years’ War had started as well. Although the last phases of the Swedish-Polish
war are considered to be a part of the Thirty Years’ War, the Kingdom of Sweden did not
involve itself directly in the war before the King of Denmark, the former champion of
Protestantism, had been defeated. Worried about the Catholic domination in the
Empire, Gustavus Adolphus, who was a leader of the Protestant nation himself, intervened
on the Protestant side. Although the Catholics were close to a complete
victory, the Swedish involvement changed the tides of the war. Sweden’s superior army dominated the battlefield
even after the death of Gustavus, and by 1648, the war was grinding down to a stalemate. Large parts of Europe, especially the Holy
Roman Empire, were left decimated, demographically, economically, and militarily. In contrast, The Kingdom of Sweden, by acquiring
territories in Pomerania and Bremen-Werden at the peace of Westphalia in 1648, became
the pre-eminent power in the Baltic region and one of Europe’s leading states. Sweden may have been the dominant power in
Northern and Eastern Europe, however, its supremacy in the Baltic was incomplete. Only several years after the Peace of Westphalia,
they went to war against Poland, in what became known as the Deluge. Even though the Swedes were dominating for
most of the war, by the end, the coalition assembled against them proved to be too difficult
to deal with and peace was signed. The peace was merely a symbolic victory for
Sweden, as the Polish monarchs finally abandoned their claim to the Swedish throne. Moreover, it also proved that the Kingdom
of Sweden could not survive for too long against an organized coalition of enemies. Charles XI ascended to the throne of Sweden
in 1660 and the majority of his rule was peaceful, barring the relatively short Scanian war of
1675 – 1679. During the war, Sweden managed to defend Scania,
but lost some of its lands in Germany, mostly due to the inefficiency of the army. After the war, Charles XI revitalized the
economy and administration of Sweden, however, his most notable reforms were of a military
nature. Those reforms aimed to make the Swedish army
one of the best in Europe. Charles XI’s death in 1697 left his only
son, Charles XII, as the new Swedish King. As Charles XII was barely 15 at the time,
Peter I of Russia and Christian V of Denmark saw this as an ideal opportunity to exploit
Sweden’s apparent weakness. On the 21st of April 1699, Russia and Denmark
concluded a treaty of mutual assistance in future wars against Sweden. One of the secret articles of the treaty,
however, stipulated that Russia would only join the war after it made peace with the
Ottoman Empire. Shortly afterwards, Peter concluded a treaty
with Augustus of Saxony, who was also the elected ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Augustus was a very proud and extravagant
ruler, and his main goal was to return Livonia to the Commonwealth. Livonia, although a land that brought insurmountable
wealth to the Swedish crown, was also a source of great concern. After Sweden had gained Livonia in 1629, through
the Treaty of Altmark, it gave certain assurances to the old Livonian nobility that they would
preserve the rights that they had under the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and that they
would not lose any of the lands that were in their possession. For the first couple of decades, the relationship
between the Swedish monarchs and the Livonian nobility was amicable. Charles X, however, was not as lenient as
his predecessors and by 1655, he intended to revoke a quarter of the lands that belonged
to the Livonian nobility, only with The Second Northern War preventing him from doing so. Charles XI would turn his father’s plans
into reality after ascending the throne, and by the time of his death, in 1697, the Livonian
nobility held only a fifth of the original number of estates. One of the nobles, Johann Reinhold Patkul,
outraged by the Great Reduction, agitated the Livonian nobility to rise up against Sweden
in rebellion. He was swiftly arrested and sentenced to death
and to avoid execution, Patkul fled from Sweden. Patkul later played a key role in the formation
of the anti-Swedish coalition, as he was usually the diplomatic link between Peter, Augustus,
and Christian, and provided intelligence on the Swedish defenses in the Baltic. Sensing the impending danger, Charles XII
sent diplomats to Russia in the Summer of 1699, with the goal of confirming a peace
treaty between the two states from 1661. A skillful diplomat Peter the Great, assured
the envoys of his peaceful intentions but, in reality, he had already decided to go to
war. Augustus II also sent a diplomatic envoy to
Sweden, assuring the king of his friendly intentions and asking for Swedish mediation
in a dispute between himself and Prussia. While all of these diplomatic dialogues took
place, the coalition continued its preparations for war. Ultimately, the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp became
alarmed by the Danish naval build-up and informed his ally, Charles XII of what had been transpiring. Though both the Swedes and Holstein had tried
to solve the matter peacefully, the new King of Denmark, Frederick IV, refused to negotiate. The first act of war was committed by Frederick’s
troops in March of 1700 when the Danish army had entered the lands belonging to the Duke
of Holstein and shortly afterwards laid siege to Tonning. Simultaneously, on the other side of the Baltic
Sea, Saxon forces under Augustus entered Livonia and captured the fort of Dunamunde. Charles XII, together with his war council,
seeing the Danish threat as more immediate, decided to strike at them first. Great Britain and the Netherlands were uneasy
at the prospect of a destructive war in the Baltic, as they had trade interests in the
region. Fearing that the conflict might destabilize
their economies, the maritime powers deployed their fleets to the Öresund to ensure that
no lasting harm to trade and their merchants would be done. By August, a Swedish force of 16000 had assembled
in Scania. Though attacking the main Danish army and
lifting the Siege of Tonning seemed like the most secure way to deal a decisive defeat
to Frederick IV, Charles opted for the riskier option of attacking the Danish mainland itself. The Swedish fleet, with Charles himself and
his troops on board, managed to outmaneuver their more formidable Danish counterpart and
make contact with the British and Dutch fleet. The maritime powers were willing to assist
the Swedish King, so the Danish fleet was forced to retreat to Copenhagen. Skillfully avoiding parts of the island where
coastal batteries were present, Swedish troops subsequently disembarked on Zealand. The Danish mustered up around 700 men and
7 artillery pieces to attack the Swedish disembarking forces, however, they were no match for 2500
Swedish soldiers led by Charles himself. It was here that Charles XII saw the battle
for the first time and proved himself an excellent leader, being the first one to jump in the
water and lead the assault. The Danish were caught completely by surprise
with this move and were starting to panic, as the Swedish army was within a stone’s
throw from their capital. A few days after Charles set foot on Zealand,
more Swedish soldiers landed there as well and preparations were made for the march on
Copenhagen. Meanwhile, the Swedish, Dutch and British
fleets blockaded and started bombarding Copenhagen from the sea. With Copenhagen surrounded by both land and
sea, Frederick IV of Denmark made peace with the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and peace with
Sweden was achieved soon afterwards as well. On the 18th of August 1700, the same day that
peace was made between Denmark and Sweden, Peter I of Russia declared war on Sweden and
began his offensive into Ingria. The first target of Peter the Great’s campaign
was Narva, a crucial fort near the Baltic Sea. Peter besieged Narva with an army more than
30000 strong and with more than 150 cannons. Such an artillery force would have reduced
Narva to rubble, were it not for the fact that the Russians suffered from a lack of
ammunition due to bad roads. With trouble brewing in the West, in what
would become the War of the Spanish Succession, the fleet of the maritime powers transported
the Swedish army back to the mainland before setting sail westwards. As the Swedish army was finally united, Charles
was able to set sail for Livonia. Although Dunamunde fell to the Saxon forces
quickly and with little resistance, Patkul gravely misjudged the loyalty and intentions
of the Livonian nobility. He had expected the Livonian nobility to join
Augustus and Riga to fall quickly too, however, Livonian support was minimal and Saxon forces
alone were not strong enough to take the city. Learning of the Danish defeat, Augustus II
retreated across the Duna river in hope that Charles would agree to a ceasefire. Charles arrived with a part of his army in
Pernau in Autumn. As Augustus retreated beyond the Duna river
for winter quarters, Charles decided to head towards Narva and the Russian army. The rest of the Swedish war council, along
with foreign emissaries, tried to persuade Charles to postpone the attack on the Russian
army until after winter had passed and the army was united. Charles, however, wished nothing other than
to meet his enemy in an open battle, and not even the knowledge of the size of the Russian
army could dissuade him. While marching towards Narva, on the 7th of
November, a part of the Swedish army clashed with a Russian raiding party under the command
of Boris Sheremetev at Johvi. Although the Russian raiding party suffered
relatively heavy casualties compared to the Swedish ones, General Sheremetev became aware
of how far the Swedish army was from Narva. On the 18th of November, Charles XII arrived
with his army at the village of Lagena, about 8 kilometers away from Narva. Seeing that many of the horses were ill and
that there was heavy snowfall, he knew he needed to act quickly. As soon as he was certain that Narva had not
fallen and that his men were ready, Charles left Lagena. Meanwhile, the Russians, being aware that
the Swedish army was on its way, began defensive preparations. Trenches were dug around the Narva river’s
meander and wooden stakes were placed in the center, on the Goldenhof hill. There were two rows of ramparts running alongside
the trench as well, and between them there were soldier’s barracks. Several artillery batteries were placed along
the trenches, though they would not have any effect on the battle, as the Russian army
ran out of ammunition several weeks before. Sources differ when it comes to the exact
size of the Russian army, but modern estimates agree that they had between 35000 and 40000
men at their disposal, with the overwhelming majority being infantry. The Russian forces were stretched for over
6 kilometers on their side of the trenches. The Russian army was under the general command
of Peter I and Field Marshal Fyodor Golovin. The right-wing of the Russian forces were
commanded by General Avtonom Golovin, the center by Ivan Trubetskoy and the left by
Adam Veyde. The Russian cavalry, placed on the far side
of their left wing, near the bank of the Narva river, was commanded by Boris Sheremetev. The Swedes had around 9000 men, out of which
5500 grenadiers, 3500 dragoon cavalry and 37 cannons. The army was split into two relatively equal
parts. The right wing contained 3000 grenadiers and
was commanded by Otto Vellingk, a veteran of the Scanian war. It was divided into three columns, with the
one in the center being smaller and being hollow in the middle. The left wing was divided into two groups,
with one being commanded by Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Rehnskiold, and the other by Magnus
Stenbock. Rehnskiold had around 1500 infantry, divided
into two columns, while Stenbock had 1000 infantrymen under his command. The Swedish cavalry was positioned on the
flanks, mostly in order to guard the infantry against Russian flanking maneuvers. Charles XII himself led the cavalry on the
left flank. The Swedish artillery core, under the command
of Johan Siöblad, had 16 artillery pieces placed in between the left and the right wing
of the army, and 21 were positioned on the left wing. Moving his army through the forest and barely
passable trails, Charles reached the outskirts of Narva and positioned himself on Germansberg
hill. After performing reconnaissance of the Russian
defenses, at 10 a.m. of the 19th, Charles positioned his army in preparation for battle. He was hoping to meet Peter on the battlefield,
however, the Tsar, had left Narva the day before the battle, taking Fyodor Golovin with
him. The command of the army was given to Charles
Eugene de Croy, a Saxon diplomatic envoy to Peter. De Croy, aware of his lack of military skill,
was initially unwilling to take command of the army, however, it is said that Peter convinced
him over a glass of wine. Avtonom Golovin, Veyde and Trubetskoy were
just as inexperienced as De Croy was. The most capable Russian commander at Narva
was Boris Sheremetev, though he was passed over for holding a lower rank than the others. The Russian commanders, even though fielding
a superior force, were unwilling to commit to open battle, fearing that the Swedish army
that they were seeing was merely the vanguard of a much greater unit. The battle commenced when Charles ordered
his soldiers to fire two volleys at their enemies and advance toward the trenches. At 2 p.m., the weather changed. A heavy snowstorm and hailstorm started and
the wind was blowing directly in the face of the Russian soldiers. Using the snowstorm as a screen, Charles ordered
his men to fill up the trenches with fascines and start directly assaulting the Russian
positions. In less than 15 minutes, the Swedish infantry
filled up the trenches enough for their cavalry to pass. The Russian soldiers did not see the Swedes
until they were right in front of them. The infantry under the command of Rehnskiold
quickly captured the artillery batteries in the center, while the infantry under Stenbock
directly assaulted the Russian army. Due to the number of barracks and the bad
positioning of the Russian ramparts, the Russian troops did not have much room to maneuver
and brutal closer quarters combat ensued, where the Swedish soldiers had the clear upper
hand. Due to the Swedish relentless assault, and
the surprise of the attack, the majority of the Russian right flank descended into complete
disarray. A large number of the soldiers fled towards
the bridge to the North. Few managed to escape though, as the bridge
collapsed under their weight, taking many men with it to the bottom of the river. Many of the Russian soldiers tried swimming
across the ice-cold river as well, with almost all drowning in the process. The soldiers who were left in the trenches
also tried to flee, only to be forced back by Charles’ dragoons. The only part of the Russian right which still
posed some organized resistance were the elite Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky guards. They created a wagon fort on the far side
of the Russian right wing, near the Narva river. Continuous assaults against the wagon fort
did not yield any results and the Swedish army suffered heavy casualties. In the meantime, the Swedish right wing saw
as much success as the left. The Russian forces were quickly routed and
part of the Swedish right was able to join the left wing shortly afterwards. Sheremetev, seeing that the cavalry would
be useless in this type of close quarters combat, fled southwards. De Croy, also aware of how dire the situation
was, decided to surrender to Charles. As night began to fall, the battle became
even more fierce and bloody. Charles drew up many of his footmen in between
the city and the entrenchments so that he could not be surprised from any side. Wishing to cut the lines of communication
between what was left of the Russian army’s wings, Charles ordered Sjoblad to capture
the artillery battery on Goldenhof hill. By morning, General Golovin surrendered as
well. His troops were allowed to keep their arms,
as Charles admired the bravery of the two elite guards. General Veide, learning of the surrender of
the right wing, subsequently surrendered the left wing. After receiving the arms and standards of
the left wing, Charles allowed the rest of the Russian army to leave over the bridge
which his forces had already repaired. The battle was a catastrophe for the Russians,
as their casualties amounted up to 10000 men, with de Croy and most of the other commanders
ending up as prisoners. The Swedish army, on the other hand, lost
less than 1500 men. To make matters worse for the Russians, the
Swedes had captured 143 cannons and 28 mortars, almost the entire amount of artillery that
Peter the Great had at his disposition, as well as the entire Russian baggage train. The battle of Narva confirmed two things to
Europe - that the Swedish army was one of the best and that the Russian army was as
ineffective as it was large. Charles XII, merely 18 years of age, proved
that he was a more than capable military commander who, backed by an army of as great quality
as the Swedish one, could overcome the insurmountable odds that were stacked against him. With the victory at Narva, a complete Swedish
victory in the war seemed like a distinct possibility. On the other hand, knowing that his army was
merely beginning to reform, Peter the Great was not disheartened, and he famously remarked:
“they have beaten us, they might beat us again, but in time they will teach us how
to beat them”. While Charles and his forces settled around
Dorpat for winter quarters, news of his victory at Narva created shockwaves throughout Europe. Peter the Great, realizing that Augustus II
might already be trying to enter peace negotiations with Sweden, offered the Saxon Elector financial
and military help in return for staying in the war. By the beginning of campaigning season, in
May, reinforcements from Sweden arrived in Reval and they joined the main Swedish army
in the middle of June. Having united his forces, Charles set off
for Riga on June 17th, however, as the Russians frequently raided and harassed Swedish positions,
he was forced to leave behind 6000 men in Ingria and Estonia, under the command of Schlippenbach. Although the Saxon army besieged Riga from
the beginning of the war, they did not have the manpower or the equipment to take the
well-fortified city. After learning of the arrival of the Swedish
army in Livonia in late 1700, the Saxon troops retreated beyond the Duna river, modern Daugava,
for winter quarters. During the winter season, the Saxons, under
the command of Steinau, heavily fortified their side of the river, in preparation for
a possible Swedish crossing. The Swedish army arrived near Riga on July
14th and Charles, being aware that making a direct crossing would be a huge risk and
quite costly in manpower, opted to weaken the Saxon defense first. Several hundred of his horsemen, as well as
a part of Riga’s garrison, were ordered to head upriver, towards Kokenhusen, a seemingly
ideal place for a crossing. As a result, Steinau was forced to stretch
his forces thin, to cover both the possible crossing points at Kokenhusen and the one
near Riga. On the evening of the 18th, Swedish forces
embarked on the transport ships at Fassenholm and began their crossing. Meanwhile, engineers were ordered to create
a makeshift floating bridge across the river as well. The crossing Swedish army, led by Charles
himself, consisted of around 7000 grenadiers and only 100 cavalry, while their Saxon counterpart
had a 20000 strong army on their side. As soon as the transport boats reached the
middle of the river, the Saxon artillery started firing at them, however, the artillery barrage
would be ineffective. At the same time, the Swedish artillery placed
both on their side of the river and on 2 river boats, began shelling the Saxon redoubts. Awaiting the Swedish assault, a Saxon army
under the command of Steinau, drew up in 2 lines between the 2 redoubts. The army that Steinau managed to gather in
such a short period of time consisted only of about 3500 men and it was made up mostly
of infantry and a small amount of cavalry on the flanks. Charles, seeing that such a force was descending
upon his men, drew up around 3000 grenadiers and prepared for the Saxon assault. The Saxons attacked the Swedish army furiously,
however, their assault was halted and they were forced to retreat after the Swedish army
fired several volleys. This allowed for more Swedish troops to disembark
and join the main body of the army, while at the same time more of Steinau’s men joined
the fight as well. Undaunted by their initial failure, the entirety
of the Saxon infantry drew up in a line and charged, meeting the same fate once again. On their third try, the Saxon cavalry tried
to attack Charles’s right flank, however, a part of the Swedish cavalry that just disembarked
managed to push it back. This pattern of Saxon assaults and retreats
dragged on until 7 am on the next day, when the Swedish army captured the first redoubt. Steinau deemed it impossible to defend such
a position and subsequently ordered a retreat. The majority of the Saxon army retreated unscathed
to the forts of Dunamunde and Cobrun, as bad weather prevented the Swedish engineers from
finishing the bridge in time so that their cavalry could assault the Saxon army. Still, the Saxons lost more than 2000 in this
action, while Charles’ casualties were around 500. In the following days, Cobrun and Dunamunde
fell to the Swedish army, with Kokenhusen and the rest of Livonia and Kurland falling
in their hands in the next few weeks. A small Russian army under Repnin that was
sent by Peter to support the Saxons retreated to the East without participating in the battle. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been
neutral up until that point, with the majority of their magnates opposing the war with Sweden
and using the liberum veto to avoid it. Charles himself was in a position of power
at that moment and could have signed a peace treaty with Augustus. Aware of the Elector’s deceitful nature,
the young Swedish King knew that there would be no peace with Poland for as long as Augustus
remained King. Therefore, dethroning him seemed like the
only option to secure Livonia and advance to Russia unhindered. It is also speculated that Charles had taken
a personal dislike towards Augustus, as the two of them had quite opposite personalities. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was far
from what it once was. The cracks on the internal political machine
of the state were evident – many of the magnates did not support their elected King,
and some were even openly against him. In the beginning of Autumn in 1701, as soon
as Charles started advancing into Kurland, he was met by several minor Lithuanian nobles,
asking him to avoid their land's control in exchange for their logistical support. Lithuania was, at the time, divided between
two powerful noble families - the Oginski and the Sapieha. Augustus himself was at odds with the Sapieha
family and allowed the Oginski to raid their lands with impunity. The two counts of Sapieha, seeing an opportunity
to protect their lands and expand their influence, met with Charles as well, offering their support
in exchange for protection against Oginski and the dethroning of Augustus. Although minor Swedish expeditions took place
in Lithuania in the last few months of 1701, with Kaunas and Vilnius falling by January,
no significant result was achieved as Oginski refused to give open battle and was still
harassing the Swedish forces. By February of 1702, Charles returned to Kurland
and started making preparations for his advance on Warsaw. Seeing the gravity of the situation, Augustus
called for a diet in the capital, asking the Polish nobility for support. The Diet did not resolve any crucial issues,
with many magnates using that chance to voice their dissatisfaction with Augustus. Nevertheless, the Nobility agreed to send
five of their members to Charles, to try and negotiate a peace once again, this time with
the Dutch Republic’s mediation. The five diplomats, some nobles and some members
of the Catholic Church, met with Charles on several occasions. The divisions in the ranks of the Commonwealth
were seen here as well. At first, the diplomats tried to convince
Charles to agree to their peace terms, however, after several days, they started bickering
among themselves, much to the Swedish King’s annoyance. Incensed by their disrespect, Charles halted
all further negotiations and moved for Warsaw, determined to take it. Having learned of the Swedish King’s inflexibility,
Augustus decided to leave Warsaw for the old capital of Krakow. With Warsaw falling to the Swedes by late
Spring, Augustus attempted a last-ditch effort to secure peace and sent the Archbishop of
Gniezno, Cardinal Radziejowski. Unknown to Augustus, the Cardinal had already
exchanged several letters with Charles, assuring him of his friendly intentions. Whether the Cardinal intended to betray Augustus,
at that point, still remains unclear. Furthermore, after spending some time with
Charles, the Cardinal advised him against dethroning the King, as the Polish people
would not only change their attitude towards the Swedes but also that they would never
view the new King as legitimate. As Augustus still was not decisively defeated,
Charles did not give too much thought to the Cardinal’s advice but focused on the war
instead. It was the middle of June when Charles began
his march towards Krakow. He reached the town of Kielce when he learned
that Augustus linked up with the Polish army, under Lubomirski, at Sandomierz. After an unsuccessful Saxon ambush on a Swedish
scouting unit, the Swedes learned of Augustus’ position at Klissow. On the morning of the 17th of July, Charles
departed from Kielce at the head of his army, reaching the village of Opietza, which was
4km away from Klissow, on the evening of the same day. Even though the Swedish army was smaller and
lacked cavalry, Charles wanted to attack. Ultimately, he heeded the advice of his generals
and waited for one more day for his cavalry to arrive. As the Swedish cavalry arrived on the 18th,
so did rumors about a Saxon attack, which was supposed to take place on the morning
of the 19th. However, the Saxon army had not turned up
by 9 a.m., so Charles drew up his army and began marching towards their positions at
Klissow. He had roughly 12000 men at his disposal,
with about 8000 grenadiers and 4000 cavalry, as well as 4 artillery pieces. The army was drawn up in 2 lines - the cavalry
was placed on the wings and the infantry in the center. The right wing was commanded by Charles XII
himself, the center by von Lieuwen, and the left wing by Duke Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp. The majority of the Swedish army advanced
through the forest towards Klissow, with only the left wing taking the more open route. Just as the Swedish left arrived on the plains
outside Klissow, they were noticed by a Saxon cavalry regiment that was led by Augustus. As the Saxon Elector was confident that only
a small unit was advancing towards his positions, he lowered his guard and did not take the
threat seriously. Charles, seeing the element of surprise as
critical, ordered his cavalry to lower their standards and the infantry to lower their
pikes, just as they passed on to the plains outside Klissow. Augustus fell for that trap as well, and perceived
the Swedish army as only a reconnaissance unit. The Saxon army consisted of 16000 men, 9000
of whom were infantry and 7000 cavalry. Augustus also had an 8000 strong Polish cavalry
unit, consisting of 1000 elite winged hussars, 3000 Pancerni, 500 dragoons, and 3500 Cossacks
and Wallachian light horse. The army of Augustus also had the majority
of its infantry in the center and the cavalry on the flanks. The left wing was led by von Trampe, the center
by Schulenburg, and the right by von Flemming, while the Polish units on the far right were
led by Lubomirski. Augustus’ forces occupied the higher ground,
where they placed their 46 artillery pieces and their position was also additionally protected
by a chevaux de frise. At noon, Charles ordered his right wing to
pass around the woodlot in front of it from the left side, also the center and left wing
to advance directly towards the Saxon positions. Now aware that this was not just a reconnaissance
unit, but the main Swedish army, Augustus ordered his artillery to fire on the Swedish
forces. Right before the Saxon camp, there was a dense
marsh from the village of Kokot to the village of Vrzbica, which hindered the Swedish advance. The Saxons were in a very advantageous position
at that point, their artillery wreaking havoc upon the Swedish army. Charles XII, seeing the absolute impossibility
of attacking the enemy directly, ordered his army to wheel to the left, thereby taking
a higher ground and disengaging from the marshes. The Saxon army, now being forced to draw towards
the right, left its advantageous positions on the high ground and a part of it ended
up in the marshes instead. At 2 p.m., the Swedish left wing began its
attack. Just as Frederick IV was marching towards
the Polish cavalry, he was struck by a cannonball and was taken to his tent, where he would
die a few hours later. Now commanded by Welling, the Swedish left
still charged the Polish cavalry thrice, completely crushing even the winged hussars and forcing
the entire wing to rout. Afterwards, Charles took control of the left
and began advancing towards the Saxon center. To avoid being outflanked, the Saxon center
began a retreat, however, they exposed themselves to the elite Swedish infantry in the center,
which began firing destructive volleys at them, dealing massive casualties. The Saxon retreat was made even more difficult
by the marshland which was behind their initial position, and the Swedish soldiers used that
opportunity to shoot as many of them down as possible. On the other side of the battlefield, the
Saxon cavalry attacked the Swedish right wing. Though the Saxons initially had the upper
hand there, they were repulsed by the Swedish right and were forced to retreat. As the main Saxon army had already routed,
their left ran into the rest of the Swedish army on their retreat. The Saxon left bravely fought to escape from
their encirclement, however, they lost many men to the fire from the Swedish infantry
in the process. In the end, the winning Swedish army lost
less than 1000 men, while the Saxons lost 3700, 1700 of whom were captured. The exact number of Polish casualties is unknown,
however, they are noted to have been great. The Swedish army also ended up in possession
of the 46 Saxon artillery pieces and their war chest. Augustus’ downplaying of the danger which
the Swedish army posed to his own cost him the advantageous initial position. That, combined with the superiority of the
Swedish soldiers and Charles’ tactical acumen, proved to be an insurmountable obstacle for
the Saxon-Polish army. Augustus retreated with what was left of his
army to Sandomierz, hoping to get more support from the Diet there, while on the 31st of
July, Charles entered Krakow. The battle of Klissow marked the last time
that the famed winged hussars were used in battle. Symbolically, it would also mark the beginning
of the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This decisive victory brought Charles one
step closer to a complete victory, which seemed impossible less than 2 years ago. A couple of weeks later, a 12000-strong Swedish
army from Pomerania arrived in Kraków as well. Augustus, seeing the gravity of the situation,
left Sandomierz with 4000 cavalry and advanced towards Warsaw to re-take it. He had hoped to call for another Diet and
gather military and financial support from the nobility. The Diet did not go according to his plans
though, as an increasing number of noblemen voiced their dissatisfaction with the fact
that Augustus involved the Commonwealth in the war. Several noblemen even threatened to openly
back Charles in the conflict. Growing more desperate, Augustus sent countless
envoys to the Swedish King in the autumn of 1702, however, Charles would not accept any
of the terms that were offered. Fearing that all of his offers to Charles
would go unanswered, Augustus begged for the aid of his liege via the electorate of Saxony,
the Holy Roman Emperor. Leopold I acquiesced, though his motives were
not as selfless as they seemed, as the treaty he offered Charles stipulated that Sweden
and Poland would end all hostilities and that all Saxon troops would leave to join the Imperial
Army in the War of the Spanish Succession. The young King dismissed even this offer,
as he was determined to defeat Augustus completely. By 1703, Augustus was forced to flee Warsaw
again, while Charles continued consolidating his position in Poland. Although we have neglected this theatre of
the war for some time, it is time to return to Ingria and Estonia. As Charles turned southwards after the Battle
of Narva, tsar Peter was given some much needed time to reinforce and improve the Russian
army. Boris Sheremetev, the only Russian commander
to have escaped after the Battle of Narva, was given command over the Russian forces
in the North. Small raids into Estonia and Ingria were conducted
regularly during 1701, but they were not decisive by any means. The first serious attempt to probe the Swedish
defenses in the area was made in September, when Sheremetev led a 7000 strong army into
Estonia. However, Von Schlippenbach intercepted the
Russian advance with a three times smaller army and defeated Sheremetev at Rauge. On the 7th of January 1702, Schilppenbach,
who was posted in between Erastfer and Aja, received word from one of his commanders that
Sheremetev was advancing with a large force towards his position. Although Schilppenbach received another piece
of information that the Russian force was merely a raiding party, he immediately departed
towards the village of Aja. The next day, at 4 p.m., the alarm sounded
that the Russian forces were approaching Varban. Swedish reconnaissance learned that the Russians
were carrying 2000 wooden stakes and 30 cannons, which meant that the force was not a raiding
party, but an actual army. Still unaware of the true size of the Russian
army, Schippenbach orderced Baron Lieuwen to harass them with his cavalry while he gathered
as many men as he could. The Swedes were accustomed to fighting while
outnumbered, however, this time they faced a massive 6-to-1 disadvantage. Facing the 12000 – 13000 strong Russian
vanguard, Lieuwen’s forces were easily massacred. The Russian army advanced quickly afterwards,
which ensured that Schlippenbach could not muster all of his men. Finally, the two main forces faced each other
near the village of Camar. Schlippenbach had around 3000 men under his
command, as well as 6 artillery pieces. Meanwhile, Sheremetev had 18000 men and 30
cannons. Schlippenbach, now heading the cavalry, decided
to attack a part of the Russian vanguard to give time to his infantry and artillery to
form up and prepare. While the Swedish cavalry was fighting against
the sea of Russian soldiers, several Russian regiments cut them off from the rest of their
army. This forced Schlippenbach to retreat, suffering
minor losses in the process. Although Tsar Peter was doing his best to
reform the army, it was only a year after the battle of Narva and the Russian soldiers
were still inexperienced and poorly trained. Schlippenbach saw the immobile mass of Russian
soldiery as the perfect target for his own artillery core. In a letter to Charles XII, he remarked “The
enemy, having presently followed us, were so well greeted on their arrival by the cannon
and foot, that they broke and retreated”. Finally, the entire Russian army drew up for
battle. Judging the situation too unfavorable, Schlippenbach
decided to retreat to Erastfer, where several hundred Swedish soldiers arrived during the
beginning of the battle. The Russian forces were constantly harassing
the Swedish army, barely giving them a chance to form up. Finally, at Erastfer, Schlippenbach managed
to properly deploy his army, with the infantry in the center and the cavalry on the flanks. The battle started with an exchange of volleys. Although the Russian forces vastly outnumbered
their Swedish counterparts, the fighting was a stalemate due to the Swedish army’s superior
training. The tide of battle turned when the 30 Russian
cannons started firing. Not only did the Swedes suffer major losses
due to this, but some of their artillery was disabled as well. Schlippenbach, seeing no other choice, opted
for a risky tactic - he ordered his cavalry to alternately cover the infantry and artillery
while they were under fire. This move backfired, as the cavalry started
fleeing because of the massive incoming fire and they ran into their own men. Disorder broke within the Swedish ranks, all
the while the Russian army started advancing towards them. Schlippenbach and his officers tried to rally
the troops, however, it was too late. Some of the cavalry managed to cover the retreat
to Dorpat, while much of the infantry was killed or captured. Peter was so elated at the news of his army’s
victory, that he promoted Sheremetev to Field Marshal and sounded the bells in Moscow for
the people to hear. After Erastfer, the Russians faced almost
no significant opposition in the area and were able to advance deep into Ingria. In the summer of 1702, the main Russian army,
under the command of Peter himself, made preparations at the settlement of Ladoga to assault the
Swedish fort of Noteborg. Before he would begin the siege, the Tsar
wanted to ensure that his army would not be vulnerable to a Swedish surprise attack. With Schlippenbach’s army no longer a factor,
the only two remaining threats in the area were a 5000 strong army at Nyenschanz, led
by Cronhiort and the Swedish Ladoga flotilla. With Cronhiort unwilling to leave the safety
of his fort and with the destruction of the Ladoga flotilla in late August, Peter was
now free to advance on Noteborg. The Russian army arrived near Noteborg on
the 27th or 28th of September 1702. Although the fort of Noteborg was in essence
a medieval fort, with high walls and towers, it had an excellent defensive position. It was placed on the mouth of the Neva river
into Lake Ladoga. In addition, the fort also encompassed almost
the entirety of the island, rendering any amphibious assault nearly impossible. Although sources offer diverging details,
the size of the Russian army was estimated to have been between 20000 and 30000 men,
together with 50 artillery pieces. The Swedish garrison was commanded by lieutenant
colonel Gustaf Wilhelm von Schlippenbach, uncle of the aforementioned general Schippenbach. It numbered around 225 men, with 124 guns,
most of which were small. On the first days of the siege, Swedish boats
freely sailed upstream the Neva and brought reinforcements and provisions to the garrison. The Swedish defenders now numbered around
250. Peter considered the constant reinforcements
a threat to his Ingrian campaign, so he sent 50 gunboats to the Neva river to put a stop
to Swedish river operations. The defenders fired their artillery at the
boats, however, it was ineffective and the Russians suffered no losses. At the beginning of October, Cronhiort sent
500 of his own men to Noteborg. In the end, only 50 managed to reach the fort
due to Russian attacks. As the Russians had lost all of their artillery
at the Battle of Narva, two years prior, they made an extraordinary effort to replace their
lost and outdated artillery pieces, even going as far as to melt down church bells for the
material. The new Russian artillery core was quite effective. The artillery barrages were quite effective,
with the fort’s walls and towers beginning to crumble after several days of intense fire. With only a few of the Swedish cannons actually
able to reach the Russian army, Russian losses were low. By the 7th of October, the Russian army started
preparing for an assault and on the 9th, ladders were given to the volunteers. The first few minor assaults were easily repulsed
by the Swedes, though their aim was most likely to just test the Swedish defenses. On the 11th, a large firebomb was shot into
the fort and the mass assault begun. With the walls breached in 3 places, the garrison
was stretched thin. The first storming was attempted at 4 a.m.,
however, by 6 o’clock it was stopped due to mounting losses and a stubborn Swedish
defense. The second assault also failed, while the
third one technically succeeded, as the Swedes were left with only a handful of men. That evening, the Swedish commander surrendered
the fort and gave Peter the key to the city, which symbolized that Noteborg was the key
to the Neva river. Peter, recognizing that as well, renamed the
city to Schlusselburg and placed it under the command of his most trusted general, Menshikov. The siege, though relatively short, left the
Russian army exhausted and the Tsar’s desire to repair and improve the fort gave them some
time to recover. Charles was aware of the situation in the
north, however, he did not see the Russian advances as a significant threat and continued
pursuing his goals in Poland. As the campaigning season of 1703 began, the
Russian army left Schlusselburg and advanced towards the mouth of the river Neva. The mouth of the river was guarded by a fort
called Nyenschantz. Hearing that the Russian army was approaching,
the Swedish garrison burned the fort to the ground. Peter the Great captured what was left of
Nyenschantz on the 1st of May and on the 27th, decided to found a new city there, Russia’s
future capital – St Petersburg. In order to build the superior city and the
fortresses around it, tens of thousands of serfs were forcefully brought to St Petersburg. Along with them, Peter also invited many architects,
engineers and shipwrights from Western Europe to help him build the city of his dreams. These extraordinary efforts seem to have paid
off, as by 1704, St Petersburg began sprawling outwards from the main fortress and two new
fortresses were built alongside it. There were several Swedish attempts at reconquering
the city in the next few years, however, all of them were unsuccessful. Back in Poland, Charles managed to obtain
the support of enough of the Polish nobility to have Stanislaw Leszczynski crowned as the
new King. On the other hand, Augustus still mounted
a significant resistance as he controlled the majority of the Polish army. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth subsequently
descended into chaos, as the Sandomierz Confederation, led by Augustus, and the Warsaw Confederation,
led by Stanislaw began fighting a brutal civil war. Due to the chaotic nature of the conflict,
forts and cities continuously changed hands between the two confederations and Sweden,
and it is difficult to discern who controlled several parts of the Commonwealth at different
points in time. With most of Ingria secure and any larger
Swedish army in the Baltic neutralized, in the spring of 1704, Tsar Peter turned towards
the last two Swedish strongholds in the area – Narva and Dorpat. In April, the commander at Narva, Henning
Rudolf Horn asked the Swedish government for more men and supplies, as Russian soldiers
were gathering on the other side of the river. He had also asked the navy to attack Nyenchantz,
to relieve some of the pressure on Narva. It is unlikely that he received any significant
aid, and by late April, the few Swedish ships that were present at the mouth of the Narva
river were dislodged by Russian artillery. In early May, Russian troops started crossing
the river and raiding the countryside outside Narva and Ivangorod. Narva was already suffering from supply shortages
due to the large garrison and refugees and these raids only worsened the situation. With all those people living in unsanitary
conditions, disease soon broke out too. At Nyenschantz, Peter prepared two armies,
one for Ingria and another for Karelia. After receiving a letter from general Apraksin
that Schlippenbach was planning to take his entire army to Narva, Peter decided to send
the entire force there. By late May, the Russians had complete control
of the river and the surrounding areas, in effect meaning that Narva was cut off from
the rest of Sweden. Schlippenbach’s army was too weak to be
of any use there and the other stronghold of Dorpat was under siege too. Narva had been left to its fate. Horn had about 5000 men under his command,
with over 400 artillery pieces. The Russian army consisted of 20000 men and
99 guns. Horn ordered several sallies in the beginning
of June, which were very successful. In one of those sallies, a Russian camp near
Ivangorod was looted and much-needed supplies were brought back to the city. Peter was aware that the garrison was expecting
some reinforcements from Reval, so he staged a surprise attack on the 8th of June. The Tsar had some of his men don blue uniforms
and hold Swedish banners. Then they staged a mock battle with some Russian
troops on the road from Reval. Horn sent a detachment to their aid, falling
right in the trap. Those troops were immediately ambushed and
they lost over 50 men, including a senior officer. On the 18th, the Russians started to dig in
and by the 25th, the entire army was present for the siege. The Russian troops regularly threw hand grenades
over the city walls and they also frequently unleashed musket volleys at the defenders. The defenders were further demoralized when
they learned that Boris Sheremetev had taken Dorpat on the 24th of June. By the beginning of July, the supply situation
in Narva had become critical. Horn confiscated food from the burghers and
the nobles for the army. This meant that the poor in the city were
starving, while the rich suffered from food shortages. Over the course of the month, Russian trenches
came increasingly close to the walls of Narva and their hand grenades and musket volleys
started actually claiming victims. The defenders regularly fired at the Russian
army and even carried out a few sallies, however, none of those were effective. In an effort to relieve Narva, a small Swedish
army attacked Nyenschantz. Unfortunately for the Swedes, they were easily
repelled. The Russians had built several bridges over
the river in the last month, ensuring that reinforcements and supplies would regularly
arrive to their own troops. With the reinforcements, Peter now had over
40000 men besieging the city. On the 30th or 31st, after Sunday service,
the Russian artillery core started heavily bombarding Narva. One of the shots hit the gunpowder and chemical
warehouse, leading to a massive explosion and fire in the city. With morale being at an abysmal level, soldiers
and civilians alike started surrendering and defecting to the Russian side at the beginning
of August. The Russian siege leader, Ogilvie, offered
lenient terms in return for surrender. Horn, however, asked for a ceasefire instead
and the Russian war council subsequently decided to storm the city. On the 10th, the signal was given for the
assault to start. Regular Russian soldiers started concentrating
on the breaches in the walls, while the elite Preobrazhenskiy regiment climbed the walls
of the bastions. Due to precise artillery fire, the Swedish
artillery was rendered useless during the assault. Swedish soldiers defended the breaches bravely,
though they were forced to retreat due to concentrated musket fire. As the Russians started streaming through
the breaches, Horn had a mine detonated there. This did not stop the attackers for long,
as they soon started entering the city en masse. Horn retreated with a handful of men to the
walls of the old city, where he was surprised to see that the only soldiers approaching
were Russian ones. Left without a choice, Horn surrendered in
exchange for mercy towards the city’s inhabitants. In spite of the promise given to Horn, brutal
looting, rape and pillaging ensued. 1800 members of the garrison were imprisoned, while the
rest were killed during the battle. On the other hand, the number of civilian
casualties are thought to be huge, though the exact number is unknown. The Russian lost around 3000 men. It was at Narva that Peter signed a treaty
with Augustus, granting the Saxon monarch significant subsidies, 12000 Russian soldiers,
and lands in Ruthenia in exchange for staying in the war. Over the next year, the Russians and Saxons
had devised a strategy to defeat the Swedish army and expel Charles from Poland. The Grodno campaign, as it later became known,
aimed to capture the Swedish forces in a pincer movement with a three-sided offensive from
Lithuania, Ruthenia, and Saxony. Charles was not sitting idly either, and by
the summer of 1705, he had convinced the Diet in Warsaw to start working on a peace treaty
and to crown Stanislaw as King. As what was going on in Warsaw was seen as
a possible catastrophe for Augustus’ war effort, not to mention the fact that it represented
a significant hit to his pride, he knew that he had to act quickly. A large Saxon cavalry force was sent to assault
Warsaw and stop the coronation of Stanislaw. Augustus’ reckless endeavor ended in a complete
disaster, as the force was defeated by a much smaller Swedish army and its commander was
captured. Furthermore, the Saxon commander also divulged
the strategic intentions of Augustus and his allies, allowing the Swedes to thoroughly
prepare for the upcoming Grodno campaign. As the majority of Livonia and Estonia were
under Russian control by the beginning of the campaign, the main Russian army along
with large Saxon and Polish-Lithuanian contingents set up for winter quarters at the fort of
Grodno in Ruthenia. They expected a quick victory over the Swedish
army after the campaigning season of 1706 began, however, they did not even get the
chance to try. Much like his predecessor, Gustavus Adolphus,
Charles force marched his army in the dead of winter and arrived at Grodno on the 24th
of January. Lacking the artillery to assault the fort,
Charles opted to cross the frozen Neman river and blockade the city. Seeing that the young King was preparing to
encircle them, Augustus immediately left with 5000 men, hoping to reinforce his army in
Saxony. Peter, unwilling to bring the rest of his
army to relieve the siege, ordered Menshikov to leave the fort with the cavalry as soon
as possible. Grodno fell in April and the Russians lost
more than a third of their initial force. They would have lost even more had Charles
not misjudged the direction of Menshikov’s retreat. Unable to pursue the Russian army through
the thick marshlands of Polesia, Charles went westwards to seek a battle with the Saxons. As Charles was busy with the siege, Augustus
had prepared to advance towards Warsaw. He led a 7000 strong cavalry force, while
the main body of the Saxon-Polish army was commanded by Schulenburg. A third Saxon army under Brause was also advancing
from Kraków. Schulenburg crossed the Oder on the 8th of
February and advanced towards the town of Slawa in Silesia. While this was taking place, Rheinschild was
resting in his winter quarters, which extended from Kostyn to the border with Brandenburg. No sooner had he learned of the Saxon advance,
he assembled his army and began marching towards the Oder. After discovering the movements of both Schulenburg
and Brause, Rheinschild deduced that the two of them planned to avoid an open battle with
him and join forces at Poznan. To avoid any surprises, the Swedish commander
retreated the same way from which he came and made sure to spread the word at every
town and village that he was retreating and hoping to avoid open battle. Rheinschild’s “information warfare”
proved successful, as Schulenburg gave credit to the rumors of a Swedish retreat and decided
to pursue the Swedish army instead of advancing towards Poznan. The Saxon general believed that the mere presence
of his superior army would be enough to rout the Swedish force. With this strategy, Rheinschild achieved two
things: he drew Schulenburg’s army away from any allied forces and was able to choose
a site of battle that was optimal for the Swedish army’s size and composition. Upon both armies reaching Fraustadt, on the
13th of February, Rheinschild started arraying his army in battle formation. It was at this point that Schulenburg realized
that he had been deceived, however, he had to give battle as it would have been scandalous
for him to retreat with such a superior force. The Saxon force was around 20000 strong, with
around 10000 Saxon and 6000 Russian infantry and 4000 Saxon cavalrymen. Schulenburg assembled his infantry into two
columns between the villages of Jagersdorf and Roersdorf, and in front of it he placed
31 cannons, 44 mortars and a chevaux de frise. 2000 Saxon horsemen were placed on the either
wing. Rheinschild had only 9400 men at his disposal,
with 3700 infantry and 5700 cavalry. He placed his cavalry on the flanks and the
majority of his infantry in a single line in the center, while some Caroleans were also
mixed among the cavalry. Axel Sparre commanded the infantry in the
center, while Hummerhielm led the left and Rheinschild himself was in charge of the right. As the Swedish army advanced, the Saxons waited
until their enemies were at about 100 paces distance, when they fired all of their cannons
and mortars. Although the Swedish army suffered some casualties
during this barrage, they did not give the Saxons enough time for another one, as the
center and left started their charge. The Swedish center’s advance was, at first,
checked by the chevaux de frise, however, after less than 15 minutes, the Swedish forces
broke through. The Swedes, who were expertly trained at hand
to hand combat, charged their Saxon counterparts with swords and did not fire a single shot. In spite of being under constant fire, the
ferocious Carolean onslaught forced the Saxons to retreat towards the village of Birzen. The Swedish wings had even more success, as
the numerically inferior Saxon cavalry began fleeing after just several minutes of fighting. Only a handful of cavalry on the Saxon right,
led by Colonel Kospoth, mounted a desperate defense, however, they were surrounded and
broken after the rest of their wing fell. The Swedish right afterwards came upon the
6000 Russian soldiers. The Russians had their uniforms turned inside
out, as Schulenburg knew that they were inexperienced and that Rheinschild would target them. Their weakness was revealed though - the Russians
fired only one volley at the Swedes, before throwing down their arms and retreating behind
the wall of spikes. After removing the chevaux de frise there,
Rheinschild chased down the entire Russian force and massacred them all. As all of the Saxon cavalry had fled, their
Swedish counterparts were now free to surround the remainder of the army on all sides. Much like Hannibal almost 2 millennia before
him, Rheinschild executed a double envelopment perfectly, forcing the remainder of the Saxon
army to surrender. And with that, the entire Saxon army, raised
with so much toil, care, and expense, and which was twice the size of the Swedish army,
had been defeated in less than an hour’s time. The Saxons lost more than 7000 men during
the battle itself, and had almost all of the rest imprisoned, with the total losses amounting
to about 15000 to 16000. The Swedes lost around 400 men and had also
around 1000 men injured. Augustus’ biggest problem, however, was
that the road to Saxony now lay wide open and undefended. Augustus, who linked up with Brause and had
12000 men at his disposal, was only 80km away from Fraustadt when the battle took place. Shocked at the news of his grand army’s
complete defeat at the hands of an inferior Swedish force, Augustus hastily retreated
to Kraków. Since Peter the Great was unwilling to send
his army to even relieve the siege of Grodno, there wasn’t any hope of Russian aid for
them either. After his victory at Grodno, Charles XII turned
West to prepare for the upcoming invasion of Saxony. In the next few months, Augustus desperately
tried to negotiate peace with Charles, even offering to split up the Commonwealth between
himself and Stanislaw. As autumn began, the Swedish armies marched
into Saxony and quickly occupied Leipzig. Without any other options, Augustus agreed
to all Swedish demands, and signed the treaty of Altranstadt. According to the treaty, he would renounce
all of his claims to the Polish and Lithuanian crowns, annul treaties with Russia and extradite
the Swedish traitor, Johann Patkul. In order to humiliate his personal enemy,
Charles also forced Augustus to congratulate Stanislaw on his victory and coronation. In the aftermath of defeating Polish-Saxon
forces and signing the treaty of Altranstadt in October Charles did not leave Saxony immediately,
instead choosing to settle down for winter. This was primarily done so the Swedish army
could rest following six years of nearly constant campaigning. It also served the purpose of pressuring the
Saxons into gathering the war indemnities as quickly as possible. The treaty itself was not immediately signed
by Augustus, as he was still in Poland with Peter. The Tsar terrified Augustus, so much so that
the Elector of Saxony did not dare to tell him of his unconditional surrender. Augustus was indeed stuck between a rock and
a hard place. He was forced to accompany Menshikov and the
new Russian army, which Peter had sent to Poland. At the same time, he knew that facing a Swedish
army in battle after surrendering would not be taken lightly by Charles. In fact, during the very signing of the treaty,
Augustus was on the march from Lithuania to Lublin because Menshikov intended to fight
a Swedish army in Western Poland. That Swedish army, led by Mardefelt, received
a letter of warning from Augustus about his situation and what Menshikov’s goals were. Mardefelt, still uninformed about the signing
of the Treaty of Altranstadt, thought that it was another ruse by Augustus and did the
contrary of what the Elector had asked him to do. Mardefelt was initially hesitant to face Menshikov
in battle due to the allied army’s size. Alas, he was encouraged by the Voivode of
Kiev, Jozef Potocki, who said that the Polish soldiers would fight to the last drop of blood,
and decided to march towards the allies’ position at Kalisz. The Swedish-Polish army found an advantageous
position between the villages of Dobresez and Koselnavicz, and arrayed in battle formation. Menshikov’s army formed up across from them. Mardefelt had around 4000 men under his command,
with another 9000 – 10000 Polish allies, under Potocki. On the other hand, Menshikov had over twice
as many men – 5000 Saxons, 9000 Russians, 4000 – 8000 Cossacks and Kalmyks and another
7000 troops belonging to the Sandomierz Confederation. The Swedish soldiers were placed in the center,
with cavalry and infantry mixed, while the Polish cavalry was on the flanks. Likewise, Menshikov placed his own Polish
troops in the center and the Russian and Saxon forces on the flanks, however, he also left
a cavalry contingent on the far left side for flanking purposes. Both sides had between 10 and 15 guns, though
it is unknown whether they were of any significance to the battle. The battle commenced on the 29th of October
between 3 and 4 p.m. Wanting to prove Mardefelt wrong for implying that the Polish were cowards
who avoided battle, Potocki led his cavalry on a massive charge towards Menshikov’s
line. At the first charge, after only several minutes
of fighting, Potocki’s troops started fleeing, with some of them even retreating behind a
wagonfort. The Swedish troops, now left alone against
a massive army, prepared for the inevitable. Menshikov’s entire army fell upon the 4000
Swedes. Nevertheless, neither Mardefelt nor his troops
would break as easily as their Polish allies did. During the fighting, both sides lost a lot
of their cavalry units. The Swedish forces were slowly defeated and
in a last-ditch effort, Mardefelt formed a hollow square with whatever troops he could
rally and held on until late into the night. Those troops stopped fighting and surrendered
only after their enemies stopped attacking first. In fact, some sources claim that Mardefelt’s
men held out longer than the Polish forces behind the wagonfort. In the end, the Swedish-Polish army lost almost
5000 men, over 2000 of which were imprisoned, while the allied army suffered around 3000
casualties. As a result of this battle, Greater Poland,
the only part of the Commonwealth left under the Charles’ and his allies’ control was
left undefended. Menshikov was unable to capitalize on this
however, as Augustus retreated to Warsaw and left his troops in Krakow. To smooth things over with Charles, Augustus
took as many Swedish prisoners as he could and released them when he was able to do so. Still petrified at the thought of Peter’s
reaction to his unconditional surrender, Augustus waited until the dead of winter to leave for
Saxony. Peter was enraged after learning of the Saxon
capitulation because he knew that his position in Poland was hanging by a thread. The Russian army retreated across the Vistula
and destroyed all of the bridges on the river, hoping to slow down the inevitable Swedish
advance. Left without any proper allies, Peter tried
to keep the Polish resistance against the Swedes alive by all means. At first, he tried to bribe and threaten the
Polish nobility into not acknowledging Stanislaw as King. With Poland devastated by the civil war, the
vast majority of the magnates refused to fight the Swedes even if they did not support Stanislaw. Having failed to rally the magnates by his
side diplomatically, the Russians started brutally raiding the Polish and Lithuanian
countryside and they also besieged the important port of Gdansk. The siege was easily repelled and military
pressure proved to be impractical, as now Peter was just making more enemies. As a final desperate measure to keep the war
in the Commonwealth alive, the tsar sent an envoy to Pope Clement XI. He promised to work on reuniting the Catholic
and Orthodox churches if the Holy See denounced Stanislaw as King. Whether his intentions were sincere or not
is unknown, though the talks broke down quickly regardless. Without allies and with the Russian army exhausted
by war, Peter went to great lengths to make peace with Charles. He even offered to return all of the conquered
lands except for St. Petersburg and the forts along the Neva. The ambitious Charles XII was confident in
victory, however, and said to his commanders: “Gentlemen, I have resolved never to make
an unjust war, but to end a just one only with the utter ruin of my enemies. I will attack the first to take the field,
conquer him, and then deal with the others.” Hampered by the constant arrival of foreign
diplomats, the slow arrival of reinforcements and by Augustus himself, the Swedish forces
only left Saxony in the autumn of 1707. At the end of the year, Charles crossed the
Vistula with his army. Peter, who was celebrating Christmas in Moscow,
left for Grodno immediately after hearing of the Swedish advance. He did not stay there for long, as the city
was an easy target for the unified Swedish army. Incidentally, Charles entered the city three
days after Peter left it. During his retreat to Vilnius, Peter ordered
his Cossacks and Kalmyks to ravage the countryside and burn everything that the Swedish army
could use. This strategy left the Swedish army with a
chronic lack of supplies. Facing starvation, they took the last supplies
that the peasants had, even further devastating the area. Meanwhile, Peter grew ill in early 1708, leaving
all military affairs to his generals. Ill health struck him when he was facing the
worst internal disorder of his reign – the Don Cossack revolt led by Bulavin. News of Peter’s failing health, as well
as the revolt, made the Russian army fall into disorder. Men were deserting at an alarming rate and
morale was low. The generals were also bogged down in Mahilow,
as they could not agree on whether the war should be continued with Sweden. Furthermore, 32000 men also had to be detached
from the main army in order to quell Bulavin’s revolt. It was anyone’s guess which way Charles
would go from Grodno: into Livonia or towards St. Petersburg, towards Moscow or into Ukraine. At first, he left Grodno in a north-easterly
direction. Petrified at the thought of losing his new
capital, Peter ordered St. Petersburg to be additionally fortified. After forcing the city of Vilnius to resupply
the army, Charles turned towards the southeast and encamped at Minsk. While there, general Lewenhaupt informed Charles
that his army in Livonia is ready to march south and support the main army. In the following weeks, some Swedish and Russian
forces exchanged fire on the outskirts of the city. This incident made Charles aware of the poor
state of the Russian army. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity, Charles
decided to attack the Russians at Mahilow and then directly advance towards Moscow. The Tsar ordered his generals to hold the
defensive line around Mahilow at all costs, as Moscow could be easily assaulted from there. Capitalizing on the disorder within the Russian
armies due to recent events, Charles sent a small diversionary force under Sparre to
Borisov in order to stall Goltz and his 8000 men. The main Swedish force arrived at Bereza-Sapieska
on the 25th of June and immediately started working on crossing the rivers and marshes
in front of them. By the time Goltz realized what was happening,
Charles was already halfway to Mahilow. Utterly surprised by the speed at which the
Swedish army crossed such difficult terrain, Sheremetev and Menshikov left to form a defensive
line at Holowczyn, 24km away from Mahilow. Charles arrived near the town of Holowczyn
on the 10th of July. There he met a strong Russian cavalry force,
for which he did not yet have enough men to engage in a direct battle. The cavalry retreated slowly across the river. Because of the thick forests that surrounded
the town, the majority of the Swedish army arrived only later that day. There was very little action in the next couple
of days, as the Swedes waited for all of their units to arrive, while the Russian army was
fortifying its position. Those fortifications were completed on the
13th – trenches ran down the river and edge of the forest for several km and many artillery
batteries were placed along those lines, along with a chevaux de frise. The Russian army was led by fierce rivals,
Menshikov and Sheremetev, as well as Repnin. They had around 30000 men on their side. The Swedish army, led by Charles, consisted
of 12 – 13000 men, together with 28 artillery pieces. The Russian army was spread over the entire
length of the trenches, however, the parts of the army that were under the command of
different generals had barely any communication with each other. At half past one at night, the Swedish artillery
which was placed on a hill, started firing on the Russian positions under Repnin. Afterwards, the Swedish army started crossing
the Vabich river, with Charles being again the first to enter the water. The Russian soldiers could not fight the Swedish
crossing due to relentless artillery fire. As each unit crossed, they started engaging
the Russians in battle, forcing a large part of Repnin’s forces to retreat to the forest
behind them. A part of the Swedish infantry wheeled to
the left after crossing, thereby cutting off Repnin from the rest of the Russian army. The Russian infantry passed over their own
trenches to reach the marshland. This led to them getting separated from the
cavalry along the trenches, which was afterwards quickly routed. Once the Swedish forces reached the forest
where the Russian infantry retreated, they came under heavy fire. At that point, Charles rode to every infantry
battalion and urged them to fight the Russians with pikes and swords, rather than fire at
them. They subsequently charged the Russian forces
in the forest and quickly defeated them in hand to hand combat. By that time, it was already too late for
the rest of the Russian army to offer any assistance, so they retreated to Shklov. The Swedish forces lost only around 250 men,
while the Russians suffered some 2000 casualties. As the Russian commanders didn’t expect
Charles to attack such a difficult position, effectively only a third of the Russian army
actually participated in the battle. Charles decisively defeated the disorganized
Russian army at the battle of Holowczyn, however, the majority of the soldiers and generals
escaped unharmed to Smolensk. The bridges across the Dnieper were burned
during the retreat. The Swedish soldiers were exhausted from the
forced marching, food shortages, and bad weather so they could not build new bridges for a
month. After crossing the Dnieper, it became evident
that the Russian forces have extensively employed scorched earth tactics. The area between Mahilow and Smolensk was
completely devastated, with peasants fleeing with their cattle into the forests and leaving
neither crops, tools nor any other kind of supplies for the Swedes. Additionally, the Russian army burned down
almost all buildings, leaving no sturdy shelter from the worsening weather. Seeing a direct advance towards Moscow as
suicide, the Swedish command reviewed their possible options. As Charles refused to advance into Russia
in the aftermath of the battle of Narva, it came as a surprise to many that he chose to
do so now. A variety of factors contributed to his decision
– his belief that Ruthenia was a prosperous and resource-rich land, that the Ukrainians
wanted to rebel against the Russians, and that he could expect aid from the Cossacks
and Crimean Tatars. Meanwhile, a Polish army advanced into Ruthenia
as well. The Hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, Ivan
Mazepa, was worried at this confluence of several large armies into his lands. He asked Peter for military support, however,
the Tsar refused, content to just shadow the Swedish army during its march. Mazepa saw this as a betrayal of a treaty
between the Cossacks and Russia, and promptly allied with the Poles and the Swedes. The Russians retaliated quickly, seizing the
Zaporozhian capital of Baturyn, massacring all of its inhabitants and allegedly tying
them to crosses, and floating them down the Dnieper. The Russian army also continuously employed
scorched earth tactics, depleting the land of anything useful. Trying to avoid further Russian reprisals,
the Zaporozhians replaced Mazepa with a new Hetman and continued fighting on the Russian
side. The Swedish army, once again low on supplies,
was eager for the arrival of the support army. Lewenhaupt’s support army was supposed to
meet the main army at Mahilow in August. With significantly fewer men and resources
than planned, they nonetheless managed to leave Riga in July. Due to bad weather, they fell significantly
behind the main army. Peter was aware that Charles was expecting
a relief force, which put Lewenhaupt’s army at great risk as soon as they were discovered. His army crossed the Dnieper on the 2nd or
3rd of October. Russian troops started harassing them as soon
as the 6th. On the 9th, the support army was merely 10km
away from Slawhorod(Propoisk), where they planned to cross the Sozh. It was at that point, near the village of
Lesnaya that a large Russian army started attacking them. Because of previous raids and rumors that
Russian troops had already taken Propoisk, Lewenhaupt arrayed his support army defensively.
700 infantry and cavalry were placed at the front, followed by half the baggage. They were followed by several cavalry units,
behind which was the rest of the baggage train. The remaining soldiers were placed at the
edge of the forest in order to prevent any attacks. In total, Lewenhaupt had between 12000 and
13000 soldiers at his disposal, along with 16 artillery pieces. Not all of them would participate in the battle
though, as about a quarter were posted to defend the baggage train. The Russian army was led by Peter himself,
though he had some of his most competent generals there also. Besides the 1000 men which took Propoisk,
the Russian army numbered between 26000 and 28000 men, together with a massive number
of cannons, possibly around 100. The battle started when the 700 Swedish soldiers
in front came under attack from the 1000 Russian soldiers that took Propoisk. The main Russian army, on the other hand,
advanced in two columns towards the Swedish positions, with the main goal being to take
a clearing in the forest and the bridge over the Lesnyanka stream. Menshikov’s 7000 strong column reached the
forest clearing, however, they were quickly pushed back by 900 Swedes using their famous
Carolean shock tactics. Hearing the gunfire, another Swedish regiment
marched towards the gunfire, causing confusion within the two groups. Those regiments suffered some losses afterwards
and were forced to retreat. Peter’s and Menshikov’s columns joined
up at a crossroad near the Lesnyanka river, where they were met by 2000 Swedes under Steckelberg. After his position was reinforced by another
2500 men, Steckelberg’s troops started pushing Peter’s column back, even capturing some
of their guns. It was only the elite Russian Guards that
held the line and prevented a complete rout. The Russians were much more successful in
their other column. Menshikov’s fanking manoeuver managed to
completely push the Swedes out of the forest clearing. Steckelberg subsequently ordered a retreat
towards Lesnaya, leaving the Russians in control of the forest. Lewenhaupt attempted a counter-attack to regain
control, though he was unsuccessful. The fighting subsequently transferred to the
fields outside Lesnaya. After a pause in fighting, at 4 p.m., the
armies started battling again. A newly-arrived Russian cavalry force, under
Bauer, charged the Swedish lines. As Carolean tactics excel in open terrain,
Bauer was pushed back. In the next couple of hours, the Swedes killed
many Russian soldiers, however, the sheer size of the Russian army ensured that they
would suffer quite a few casualties too. Over time, they were pushed closer and closer
to Lesnaya, leaving the bridge over the Lesnyanka exposed to Russian attacks. Just as the Swedish army was on the brink
of defeat, the 700 soldiers that were at the front of the baggage train arrived and repulsed
the Russian forces at the bridge. With their arrival, the united Swedish army
fought even more aggressively and managed to push the Russian army back. At 7 p.m., the battle stopped. The Russians retreated to the forest to recuperate,
while the Swedes stood in battle formation for several hours still, expecting a night
attack. The attack never came though. Not wanting to waste time, Lewenhaupt ordered
the army to assemble and to start marching towards the Sozh at once. With the carriages and artillery being a much
greater burden with so many fewer men, the general ordered the guns to be sunk in the
marshes. By the time they reached Propoisk, the Russians
had already put the town to the torch. Expecting an enemy attack at any moment, Lewenhaupt
later ordered that all of the baggage which cannot be carried across the riber should
be burned or left behind. The soldiers used this opportune moment to
indulge in food and drink. Many of them would wander drunk into the forest
and marshes, never to be seen again. In the end, the Russians lost about 7000 men
in the battle of Lesnaya, while the Swedes lost around 3000. On the other hand, Lewenhaupt lost many more
men at Propoisk to fear and alcohol. Only half of the men and very few provisions
ended up crossing the Sozh in the end. The small force which did reach Charles, was
nowhere near as strong as he had hoped. Moreover, the winter of 1708/1709 was one
of the coldest on record. This, together with the scorched earth tactics,
left the Swedish army in a disastrous state. Thousands of soldiers starved to death or
succumbed to disease and many simply froze to death. The Russians suffered many casualties during
winter as well, though nowhere nearly as many as the Swedes. At the approach of spring, Charles was left
with less than half of the men that he started the campaign with. The great Cossack rebellion which he expected
did not materialize. Mazepa promised tens of thousands of soldiers
for the upcoming battles against the Russians, yet the number that he could realistically
muster was much smaller than that. Charles’ last hope was Stanislaw. The Polish and Swedish forces kept regular
lines of communication during their advance into Ruthenia. Since correspondence between the two forces
stopped during winter, Charles assumed that the weather simply bogged down his ally’s
army. The reality of the situation turned out to
be far more disheartening. Stanislaw’s armies retreated into Poland
to consolidate power and due to a miscommunication between himself and his commanders, nobody
informed Charles that he was left alone. In the end, it was one of his own envoys to
the Ottoman Empire that informed the Swedish King of Stanislaw’s position. Unable to advance or retreat, Charles saw
only one option for his army’s survival. He needed to capture a well-provisioned fort
and wait until support arrives. On the 1st of May 1709, the Swedish army besieged
the fort of Poltava, some 300km east of Kiev. The Swedes could have taken the fort easily
by force, however, Charles did not want to risk any unnecessary damage to the defenses
or the grain stores. Peter saw this moment as critical. He advanced towards Poltava from northern
Ruthenia and ordered most of his senior generals to assemble there with their troops. By June 15th, the entire Russian army had
arrived on the east bank of the Vorskla river. Peter’s primary objective was to cross the
river with his army. To divert the attention of the Swedes, he
sent some cavalry to feign a crossing south of Poltava. Charles then rode out of his camp to see what
was happening. What occurred next was one of those chance
minor events that sometimes decide the fate of nations. The Swedish King was shot in the foot by a
Cossack and refused to have the wound tended until he nearly fell unconscious. To make matters worse, this took place on
June 17th, his birthday – a bad omen which further demoralized the Swedish troops. While Charles was weakened by fever, his generals
could not agree on the response against the Russians. Peter used this opportunity to cross the river
and set up camp north of Poltava. The camp was fortified afterwards and a series
of redoubts were built. To the rear, the Russian position was protected
by the river and marshland. There was no chance of the Swedes mounting
any flanking maneuvers. The Swedish army numbered around 22000 men,
with a similar amount of cavalry and infantry. They also had around 30 guns, however, the
artillery was not used during the battle since Charles anticipated a quick breakthrough. There were also around 3000 of Mazepa’s
Cossacks and 1000 Poles on the Swedish side. The Russian army had in total around 80000
men, with over 30000 infantry, around 20000 horsemen and 23 – 25000 Cossacks and Kalmyks. The Russians also had over 100 guns. The numbers and the positions of the armies
remind us of the battle of Narva. Nevertheless, there are two important differences
here - the Swedish army wasn’t led by its best commander and the Russian army has been
transformed from a peasant mob into a credible fighting machine. The Swedish war council debated on whether
they should use a cautious or aggressive plan of attack. The more senior commanders in the army preferred
a steady offensive, while the younger ones proposed an all-out attack. In the end, the King chose to heed the advice
to “strike the iron while it’s hot”. Unable to take part in the battle himself,
Charles devised a battle plan and entrusted it to Field Marshal Rehnskiold. What Charlies did not know is that the Field
Marshal was on bad terms with most of the other generals. On account of that, he failed to relay the
plans properly to them, dealing a significant blow to the organization and cohesion of the
army before the battle even started. Preparations for the battle started on the
night of July 7th. The Swedes left 2500 men to guard the baggage
train and camp, 2000 in front of Poltava to prevent an outbreak and another 1500 to check
the Cossacks and Kalmyks. A crucial part of Charles’ plan was the
element of surprise, so the army started preparing to attack at night. The lack of organization became evident here,
as the cavalry took too long to form up and the summer night was quite short. By the time the Swedes were ready to attack,
the Russians were already alert. At 4 a.m., General Roos started the Swedish
offensive by trying to envelop the first frontal redoubts. The Swedes attacked relentlessly and took
the first two but they were unable to advance further. Russian artillery devastated the assaulting
soldiers and they did not have enough men left to attack the remaining redoubts. The Russian commanders still feared the Swedish
troops and asked Peter to send the infantry from his camp to aid the defenders at the
redoubts. Peter decided to not make any unnecessary
moves since he knew that the Swedes were suffering heavy casualties and that it would be only
a matter of time before they lost steam. While this was happening, Lowenhaupt and Rehnskiold
drove back the main body of the Russian army behind the redoubts, however, they did not
coordinate their attack well enough and were split up. Charles, watching the battle from afar, ordered
both Roos and Lowenhaupt to reconnect with the main body of the army outside of the Russian
camp. Roos lost most of his men already and decided
to retreat to a redoubt by the river, where he later surrendered. Lowenhaupt, after several hours of inconclusive
fighting, led his 2400 men through intense artillery fire to Rehnskiold’s force. With what was left of the Swedish army united,
they began advancing towards the main Russian force. It was at this point that Peter ordered the
gates of the camp to be opened and 30000 of his infantry to array in battle lines. The cavalry subsequently formed up at the
flanks. The Swedish commanders, seeing that the Russian
line was significantly wider than their own, stretched the Caroleans’ thin in an effort
to avoid envelopment. While they were approaching the Russian army,
Peter’s artillery devastated the Swedish forces. Fearless in the face of death, the elite Swedish
infantry approached until they could “see the white in their enemies’ eyes” and
unleashed several musket volleys. What was supposed to be their deadliest weapon,
came to be almost useless. The winter cold and bad weather in the last
year reduced the quality of their gunpowder and most of the shots did not even reach the
Russians. The Russian volleys, in contrast, killed many
Swedes. Starving, exhausted, and hopelessly outnumbered,
the entire Swedish army charged. The few units which made it to the Russian
lines fought bravely, before being killed. Sources tell that only the company led by
Count Torstenson, grandson of the famous Lennart Torstenson, managed to penetrate the Russian
lines, before being enveloped and massacred together with their leader. As the defeated Swedes retreated from the
battlefield, the Russian cavalry pursued them and cut down many. Meanwhile, Charles, after having his bodyguards
killed by a cannonball, gathered what was left of his army and retreated south. In the end, the Swedes lost around 7000 men,
with a further 2700 captured, including Rehnskiold and other top commanders. The Russians had 1300 men killed and another
3300 injured. Constantly pursued by the Russian army under
Menshikov, Charles sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire with 1000 of his men. The rest of his army, left in the hands of
Lowenhaupt, surrendered to the Russians at Perevolochna three days after the battle. The captured commanders were kept as Peter’s
prisoners, while the soldiers that caused Peter so much trouble were settled in Siberia. For Sweden, the battle of Poltava was a catastrophic
defeat – its elite continental army was annihilated, grievously reducing its defensive
capabilities. Peter called his great victory at Poltava
a divine miracle, as he finally managed to defeat the most formidable army in Europe. Russian armies would now be free to encroach
into Poland and the Baltic without any resistance. Following nearly a decade of Swedish domination
in the Great Northern War, Russia would now gain the upper hand. Peter left Poltava for Kiev shortly after
the surrender of the Swedish army at Perevolochna. Once there, he sent letters throughout the
continent, describing the details of the battle and his complete victory. Europe was left in complete shock as, until
that moment, they had only received news of continuous Swedish victories. The Duke of Marlborough famously wrote, “We
have no confirmation as yet of the battle between the Swedes and Muscovites, but should
it be true of the first being so entirely beaten as is reported, what a melancholy reflection
it is that after constant success for ten years, Charles XII should in two hours’
mismanagement and ill success, ruin himself and his country”. The rest of Europe’s elite had a similar
disposition towards the Russian victory, however, some welcomed Russia on the European stage. The famous polymath and philosopher, Leibniz,
remarked that Peter would now be “the Turk of the North”. Charles himself only avoided capture by sacrificing
the majority of his elite army and his most trusted commanders. Though Russian forces pursued the Swedish
king, they could not catch him before he crossed the Bug and entered Ottoman territory. Sultan Ahmed III prepared a camp for Charles
and his followers at Bender and they would settle there for the time being. Peter was elated because of his grand victory,
yet he was also equally disappointed due to Charles’ and Mazeppa’s escape into Ottoman
lands. Wasting no time, the tsar entered diplomatic
talks with Augustus of Saxony, Frederick of Denmark, Frederick William of Prussia, and
George I of Hannover. The victorious Russian army was subsequently
split into two – Sheremetev would move north, towards the Baltic, while Menshikov would
advance west into Poland. Stanislaw, whose position in Poland was already
negligible, saw his royal authority erode completely after the defeat of the Carolean
army. Augustus repudiated the Treaty of Altranstadt
and advanced into Poland with an army. The magnates of the Commonwealth, either out
of dislike towards Stanislaw or fear of Russian aggression, began endearing themselves to
their former monarch and offered him the crown once again. Left without any alternative, Stanislaw joined
the Swedish forces in their retreat to Pomerania, and then abdicated. To compensate him for the lost crown, Charles
granted him the principality of Zweibrucken and named him Count Palatine. King once again, Augustus met Peter on the
9th of October at Torun. He feared Peter’s reaction to having been
abandoned in 1706, however, the tsar did not hold a grudge. Nevertheless, at dinner Peter could not resist
an ironic thrust at Augustus’ faithlessness. “I always wear the cutlass you gave me,”
Peter said, “but it seems you do not care for the sword I gave you as I see you are
not wearing it.” Augustus replied that he prized Peter’s
gift but that somehow in the haste of his departure from Dresden he had left it behind. “Ah,” said Peter, “then let me give
you another.” He gave Augustus the same sword he had given
him before, which had been discovered in Charles’ baggage at Poltava. The monarchs signed a new treaty that effectively
made the Commonwealth a Russian dependency in all but name. The Russians were allowed to station their
troops in the Commonwealth, Peter would become the guarantor of the rights of the Polish
nobility, while Augustus would join all of Peter’s wars. One secret clause of the treaty was that Augustus
would be allowed to claim Livonia. In the following days, Peter also established
alliances with the Prussians and the Danes, who would enter the war again by October 1709. Although the Danish King was eager to enter
the war and conquer, he did not take into account the readiness of his army. The best Danish soldiers were away fighting
in the Spanish Wars of Succession, under the Duke of Marlborough. The 14000 men that landed near Helsingborg
at the end of November were inexperienced, badly supplied and poorly equipped. The commander-in-chief of the Danish army,
Christian Ditlev Reventlow, wanted to advance quickly on the rest of Scania. The poor state of his army prevented him from
doing so, and he only started moving from Helsingborg in January. Following the capture of Kristianstad, Landskrona
and Malmo were besieged. Hearing of the Danish invasion, general Magnus
Stenbock started assembling an army at Vaxjo. Due to the fact that his army consisted mostly
of recruits, he was hesitant to march against the Danes. Fortunately for him, the Norwegians could
not organize their army at the time and didn’t even launch a single raid across the border. This freed up several veteran regiments that
were guarding the Norwegian border to join his army. On February 22nd 1710, Stenbock started advancing
towards Scania with a large force. Reventlow’s initial plan was to capture
some smaller settlements between Malmo and Landskrona, in order to gather supplies from
the people there, and afterwards set up a strong defensive position to await Stenbock. The lack of supplies and winter clothing,
however, took a severe toll on the Danish army. Disease spread throughout their ranks and
even Reventlow fell gravely ill. His replacement, Rantzau, proved far less
capable. Rantzau abandoned his position in the South
of Scania and moved back towards Helsingborg. Stenbock did not actively look for a big confrontation
at the time, as he wanted to train his soldiers. On the 8th of March, Stenbock arrived with
his army at Flenninge, 10km to the Northeast of Helsingborg. Later, Stenbock marched his army towards Helsinborg,
placing it between Palsjo skog and Pilshultsvagen. Rantzau placed his army in a wide line in
front of Helsingborg, facing Krupp. On the 10th, at 11 in the morning, the fog
lifted and both armies were surprised to find each other in such positions. Both armies had approximately 14000 men, with
cavalry placed on the wings and infantry in the center. The Danish also had several artillery pieces,
however, the exact number is unknown. Meanwhile, the Swedish army had 34 guns. Seeing that his left flank was vulnerable,
Rantzau sent his artillery to Ringstorpshojden, while the rest of his army wheeled towards
the open plains where the Swedes were. Stenbock’s forces came under heavy artillery
fire around 12:30. Instead of attacking them directly, Stenbock
moved his army to the left and sent his left wing to Drottninghog, to outflank the Danish
right. Rantzau went himself to attack and rout the
flanking force on the right. Although it was a brave move on his part,
this left the army in a difficult place regarding communication. In order to not lose contact with their right
flank, the Danish center started moving towards the right as well. Some of the cavalry on the Swedish right used
this opportunity to attack the Danish center. The Danes managed to push them back with the
help of their left flank, however, this left many gaps in their lines. Rantzau’s “heroic” actions earned him
a shot in the chest, and the Danish right collapsed together with their leader. The right flank lost cohesion and retreated
towards Helsingborg and the left followed suit. The center still believed that the right was
in front of them. Due to lack of command and communication,
the first line kept advancing while the second stopped moving. At that point, the Swedish infantry charged,
covered by their cannons. The Swedish cavalry on the left subsequently
converged on the flanks and rear of the center. The Danish center broke after some fighting,
with only the Homeguard and a grenadier core holding up a fierce defense. The Homeguard fought almost to the last man,
taking many Swedes down with them. The Danish right reformed a defensive line
at Ringstorphojden, though they were forced to retreat after the Swedish left’s relentless
onslaught. At 3 in the afternoon, the Danish grenadier
core retreated in peace to Helsingborg and with that, the battle was over. The Swedes lost almost 3000 men, while the
Danish had 5000 killed or wounded and another 2600 captured. Not wanting to risk losing more men on an
assault, Stenbock surrounded the city. The leaderless Danish army boarded their ships
on the 15th and crossed the Sound, but not before destroying anything of value in the
city, including killing all the horses. As a result of his victory, Stenbock was promoted
to Field Marshal. The battle of Helsingborg effectively marked
the last time that the Danish tried to reclaim Scania. Ironically, at the beginning of the invasion,
the Danish army had “now or never” written on their wagons. As Augustus was consolidating his power in
the Commonwealth for most of 1710, and the Danish were rebuilding their armies at the
same time, the Western front of the war went through a lull for most of the year. The same cannot be said for the Eastern Baltic
though. Sweden’s Baltic ports remained relatively
undefended, now that the Carolean army had capitulated. In July, Riga, Sweden’s richest and most
populous city, surrendered to the Russians after negotiating the restoration of old privileges
for the Livonian nobility. According to the treaty of Torun, Riga was
supposed to be handed over to Augustus, however, the topic seemingly never resurfaced again. Dünamunde and Pernau fell in August, while
Arensburg and Reval capitulated in September. The natural next move for Peter would have
been towards Karelia and Finland. The Tsar already tried to take Vyborg in 1706,
however, he was unable to do so because of a lack of supplies and proper artillery. With the war now going in his favor, he endeavored
to try again. In January 1710, Russian raiding parties started
pillaging the countryside near Vyborg. In February, the new garrison commander, Magnus
Stiernstrale, received word that a large army was gathering at St. Petersburg and Kotlin. He asked his superior, Georg Lybecker, for
more reinforcements. The incompetent governor was seemingly not
interested in fighting the Russians or fortifying Vyborg, as he sent only a few hundred men,
keeping the rest to reinforce the forts of Kexholm and Nyslott, modern day Savonlinna. In fact, Lybecker left the city just a few
days before the Russians arrived. In total, the garrison numbered around 3500,
with 10 – 15 cannons, while the Russians arrived with 13000 men. In the years after the first siege of Vyborg,
the castle had been undergoing repairs. Be that as it may, parts of the fortifications
were still weak, like the southern Pantsarlax bastion. The Russian advance guard arrived 15km west
of Vyborg in the middle of March and reached the suburbs of the city on the 21st. There they clashed with two Swedish regiments. The Swedes retreated to the city afterwards,
but not before burning the grain stores. The Russian army immediately started preparing
the siege works. Digging trenches proved to be a strenuous
and time-consuming task, as the ground was stony and still frozen. Nevertheless, by the end of the month, they
would start digging trenches on the eastern side of the fort too. On the 1st of April, the Russian artillery
core started bombarding Vyborg. This did not have much of an effect, as only
small guns could have been brought across the ice. By late April, both sides started suffering
from supply shortages. The Russian forces did not conduct many raids
in nearby towns and villages, as Swedish guerilla fighters frequently killed Russian troops
there. Regular Swedish sallies were also devastating
for the Russian troops. The Russian admiral-general, Apraksin, started
planning to storm the city, however, he reconsidered after Peter told him that he would “suffer
the consequences” if it would fail. The siege continued without any major events
until the beginning of May. On the 6th, a Swedish sally killed hundreds
of Russian soldiers and set fire to a part of their gunpowder stores. The fort’s cannons also managed to destroy
or disable several Russian guns. With the ice and snow now melting, the Russians
could afford to bring more troops and supplies for the siege. Lybecker asked for aid from the Swedish navy,
as only they could save Vyborg if the Russians bring their full force. Relieving Vyborg was not a priority for the
Swedish navy. In contrast, on the 11th of May, when Peter
received Apraksin’s letter that they only have a few days’ worth of food left, he
immediately set sail for Vyborg through the still ice-covered sea. The ships arrived on the 20th, bringing the
Russian besiegers precious food and another 100 guns. The unloading area was within shooting distance
for the fort’s artillery. To bypass this, the Russian ships flew Swedish
colors and engaged in mock artillery battles with the men on the shore. The Swedish fleet finally reached the area
in the last days of May. They didn’t have a sufficient number of
light ships though, so they couldn’t engage the Russian fleet in any way. On the night of June 1st, the Russians opened
a devastating artillery barrage that targeted the walls, the bastions and the city itself. Meanwhile, on the eastern side, the Russian
troops reached Pantsarlax and placed a mine under the bastion. On the 6th, Apraksin decided that it was finally
time to storm the city. Against his orders, on that very night, one
of his officers attempted to do that only with his own units. The assault failed after the officer lost
most of his men, and he was subsequently placed under arrest. It is possible that Stiernstrale found out
from one of his new prisoners that Apraksin planned to storm the city. Realizing that future resistance is futile,
he sent an envoy on the 9th to negotiate the surrender of Vyborg under good conditions. Peter signed the document on the 10th of June,
which stated that the soldiers would be able to leave with their arms and their families. Peter did not keep that promise, and all of
the defenders became prisoners of war. With this, Peter had finally achieved one
of his main personal goals – to form a powerful defensive corridor around his capital St.
Petersburg. The Russians led several offensives into Finland
during the next two years, however, due to logistical issues they were unsuccessful. No sooner had Charles taken refuge in the
Ottoman Empire, Peter had begun sending letters to the Sultan, requesting the Swedish king’s
extradition. These letters became increasingly threatening
as the months passed, much to the annoyance of Ahmed. Taking the last of Peter’s letters as a
personal insult, the Sultan, declared war on Russia in October of 1710. The tsar was still under the impression of
his victory at Poltava and this prompted him to enter the war with a much smaller army
than the Ottoman one, relying only on the support of Moldavia and Wallachia. This war, known as the Pruth campaign, ended
in a swift defeat for the Russians, with Peter himself only avoiding being captured due to
the incompetence of the Ottoman grand vizier. The subsequent Pruth Treaty stipulated, among
other things, that Peter would allow Charles free passage to Sweden. Charles would not use that right however,
instead choosing to remain in the Ottoman Empire to try and persuade the Sultan to attack
Russia again. In 1711, the allied forces began a massive
offensive into Swedish Pomerania, besieging the fortresses of Stralsund, Stettin, and
Wismar, but since the armies were more interested in raiding the countryside, the sieges were
not effective. Additionally, disagreements between the commanders
and a lack of siege artillery ensured that nothing of note would be achieved. In September, Stenbock landed on the island
of Rügen with a large army. Alarmed at the prospect of facing a strong
Swedish army, the allied forces retreated from Stralsund and Stettin. As the allies were insufficiently strong to
take such well-garrisoned cities, they remained content with sporadic raids on smaller settlements. In the spring of 1712, another strong Swedish
army arrived in Stralsund. Consequently, the Danish navy began tightening
its grip over the Baltic Sea, which worsened the situation for the defenders of the Swedish
forts. Stenbock knew that Stralsund would not survive
a combined land and sea-based blockade, however, facing the combined Danish-Saxon-Russian army
was not a feasible option either. In autumn, the allied forces spilt up into
two so that one part could raid Mecklenburg. In the end, he decided on the latter option. Peter was in Dresden at the time, recovering
from an illness. He was already furious because of the lack
of coordination between the allied commanders and after hearing of Stenbock advancing towards
Mecklenburg, he ordered his forces to engage in a pursuit without him. Stenbock advanced quickly, much faster than
the Russian-Saxon armies did. On the 3rd of December, the Danish army encamped
for winter quarters southwest of Wismar, near the town of Gadebusch. The Swedish army arrived at Warnow on the
14th and by the 18th, they were already at Brusewitz, merely 10km away from the Danish
army. At that point, the Russian army was south
of Lake Schwerin and could not provide any assistance. Only a small Saxon cavalry detachment arrived
to aid the Danish by the eve of the battle. Stenbock knew that any delay would be detrimental
to his cause, so he marched his army through a snowstorm, arriving on the other side of
the river on the morning of the 20th. Jobst von Scholtens, the leader of the Danish
army, placed his forces behind a river and dense marshland, near the village of Wakenstädt. The strong Danish defensive position made
their leaders believe that the Swedes would turn south and try to cross the river at a
safer point before attacking. After reconnaissance, however, Stenbock concluded
that their only chance of victory would be through a full-frontal assault. The allied army was around 17000 strong, with
8000 Danish infantrymen, 5000 cavalry, along with another 4000 Saxon horsemen. The Swedish army had about 12500 men, with
6500 footmen and 6000 cavalry. Both sides placed their infantry in the center
and their cavalry on the flanks. The Swedes had 30 cannons, while the Danish
had 14. Jobst von Scholten led the Danish army, Jacob
von Flemming led the cavalry on the left flank. Stenbock led the Swedish army. At 1p.m., the Swedish artillery opened fire
and the rest of their troops advanced. The Swedes were using a new type of cannon,
which was more mobile and precise than the Danish artillery. Their artillery barrage not only managed to
cover the advance of their troops, but also dealt heavy casualties to the Danish forces. The Swedish infantry advanced towards the
Danish position through a narrow clearing. Adhering to the Carolean tactics, they advanced
until they could discern their enemies’ facial features and fired several devastating
volleys. The Danish infantry returned fire, however,
it was not precise. Scholtens attempted to break the Swedish center
with a cavalry attack from the right. This attack failed due to precise Swedish
volleys, as well as artillery barrages and the cavalry retreated after suffering significant
casualties. Afterwards, the Swedish left attacked the
winded Danish right. This forced Scholten to wheel his entire army
to the left to avoid being outflanked. Simultaneously, the Swedish cavalry on the
right managed to find a small path through the marsh and attacked. The Danish left was caught completely by surprise
and began retreating because of the relentless Swedish assault. The allied army, though in a strong defensive
position, was suffering from disorganization. Flemming, the leader of the Danish forces
on the left, requested that the cavalry which was kept behind Wakenstädt be brought to
the front on the morning of the battle. Scholten acquiesced, however, his order came
in late and those cavalry regiments were caught behind the Danish left during the retreat. As they were unprepared for battle and caught
in a position where maneuvering was difficult, disorder broke loose within their ranks. They were pushed back into Wakenstädt, where
brutal fighting ensued. The quick and precise Swedish assault along
the entire front pushed the Danish army back and some units began routing. Unable to save their left flank, Flemming
and Scholtens retreated behind Wakenstädt and formed a new defensive line there. The Swedish left once again assaulted the
Danish right, however, they were fired upon by the Danish royal guard and lost some of
their momentum. Nonetheless, the Danish right almost broke
and Flemming had to reinforce it with his Saxon cavalry. The Saxons managed to stabilize the line,
however, their attempts to push the Swedes back were unsuccessful. The royal guard still continued firing at
the Swedish cavalry, causing many casualties. This forced Stenbock to send his elite infantry
regiments to fight them and the two sides engaged in a brutal melee. This engagement was eventually won by the
Swedes, and the Danish center began to retreat. The Saxons, though unable to defeat the Swedish
left, fought fiercely and ensured that their enemies could not pursue the retreating forces. Most of the troops on the Danish left were
either killed or captured, and only a few soldiers managed to retreat with the rest
of the army. In the end, the Danish army lost all of their
artillery and around 6500 men, most of whom were captured, while the Swedes lost 1500. Although this battle was a tactical success
for Stenbock’s army, it proved to be strategically insignificant – the Danish army was not
completely broken and the Russians and Saxons still had overwhelming numerical superiority. Furthermore, the Swedish army was no longer
within the safety of Stralsund’s walls, and marching back would be a risky move. A lack of supplies also began to take its
toll on them and to make matters worse, the Baltic Sea was still frozen, so resupplying
by ship was not an option. Stenbock subsequently moved west with his
army, trying to extort funds and supplies out of the Danish-controlled city of Altona. When the citizens failed to meet the overwhelming
demands, the Swedish army burned the city to the ground. The army headed east afterwards, however,
it was surrounded by a large Russian-Saxon force nearby Tönning. Breaking his neutrality, Charles Frederick
of Holstein-Göttorp provided refuge to the Swedish army inside his fort, as with the
Spanish war of succession nearly over, the Duke expected aid from Great Britain and the
United Provinces, just like in 1700. Their ships never arrived and with hunger
and disease running rampant throughout his army, Stenbock surrendered on the 13th of
May. Having lost another army, Charles seemed to
be in dire straits, with the defeat being an increasingly realistic option. The allied powers were more than willing to
make peace with Sweden. Charles, adamant that he would not relinquish
even an inch of land, refused even the most lenient offers. With a King so headstrong and averse to defeat,
it became evident that war-weary Sweden would not sue for peace, at least not until Charles
XII was still breathing. With Sweden’s final great continental army
neutralized, Peter I of Russia was finally able to retire to his new capital and enjoy
his favorite pastime, the navy. The commander of the Russian army in Germany,
Menshikov, had no time to celebrate after his victory. He besieged Sweden’s three strongholds once
again and extorted a large sum of money from the city of Hamburg, as punishment for aiding
the Swedes. The tsar would use that money to purchase
several state-of-the-art ships from the Dutch. Even though he was winning on all fronts,
Peter wished to make peace as soon as possible. Continuous wars had a devastating effect on
Russia and the threat of a new war with the Ottomans was looming. To his joy, however, Charles had been arrested
by the Sultan for conspiracy and Crimean raids were becoming increasingly rare. This allowed him to focus on Sweden’s final
frontier, Finland. With new troops and resources, admiral Apraksin
was able to swiftly advance into southern Finland. The new Russian navy played a pivotal role
during the Finnish campaign, as supply shortages were the main cause of Russian failures there
after the capture of Vyborg. Peter refused to risk the expensive Dutch
ships of the line for such operations, instead opting to use the much larger and easily replaceable
galley fleet. By transporting his men behind the Swedish
army, Peter was able to force general Lybecker to retreat several times, until he was finally
replaced by a more capable commander. On the 8th of May 1713, a large Russian army
was able to land near Helsinki. The Swedes, now under the command of Armfeldt,
managed to defend the city for some time. In the end, the size of the Russian army proved
to be too much for the small Swedish force and Armfeldt ordered a retreat to Porvoo,
though not before burning Helsinki and all of its supplies. In September, the Russian army captured Turku,
thereby securing the entire southern coast of Finland. Around the same time, one of Sweden’s strongholds
in Pomerania, Stettin, fell as well. The city was immediately given to the Prussians,
who did not have to fire a single bullet in the conflict. Stralsund and Wismar still held strong, however,
the allied noose was tightening around them. At this point, the Swedish government in Stockholm
did not view Finland as an important theater in the war. Therefore, very little was done to combat
the Russian fleet’s dominance in the area and Armfeldt had to rely only on local recruits
for his small army. After the fall of Turku, Armfeldt placed his
army in a defensive position near the next great Finnish city on the Russian warpath,
Tampere. In October, he faced a five times larger Russian
army at the battle of Pälkäne. Armfeldt took up defensive positions with
his troops on an isthmus near Tampere, between the lakes of Palkanevesi and Mallavesi. He had approximately 3700 men under his command,
with 2200 footmen and 1500 cavalry, together with 28 light field guns. The cavalry was placed a bit further from
the rest of the troops, near the village of Malkila. Apraksin made his base in a village on the
other side of the isthmus. His army numbered 14000 men and 22 guns. The main Russian army was split in two halves,
one led by Bruce and another by Golovin. 3 squadrons were also prepared especially for
an amphibious assault and they were led by Golitsyn. The battle started on the morning of the 17th
of October. Apraxin realized immediately that the well-entrenched
Finnish army was in an excellent defensive position. A frontal attack under such circumstances
would have been extremely costly. Therefore, he opted to send Golitsyn’s amphibious
assault units to the west side of the isthmus, while the main force feigned a full-frontal
assault. At the time when they reached the land near
Malkila, the Finnish cavalry were still in their quarters. When they finally attacked Galitsyn’s men,
it was already too late, as the prepared Russian soldiers repulsed them with ease. On the east side of the isthmus, Russian troops
repeatedly tried to cross the river, however, they were beaten back with heavy losses each
time. The mounting pressure on that side of the
battlefield did have its purpose, as it diverted attention away from Galitsyn’s force. At the beachhead, increasing numbers of Russian
troops started gathering. To combat this, Armfeldt sent his reserves
there. The infantry performed well and killed many
Russians. Nevertheless, the subpar performance of the
Finnish cavalry proved critical for this battle. It did not take long for the Russian soldiers
to rout them, and the infantry, heavily outnumbered, was forced to retreat. With the disorderly retreat of their western
flank, the rest of the Finnish army risked being surrounded. Armfeldt also realized this and ordered the
rest of the army to retreat. The soldiers there, emboldened by their success,
refused to do so. It was only when the Russian cavalry crossed
that they were persuaded to flee. Because of the delay, it was possible for
the Russian cavalry to harass the retreating soldiers, forcing them to leave most of their
artillery behind. Still, the Finnish army lived to fight another
day, since they managed to retreat with minimal casualties. They lost around 800 men, while the Russian
army suffered a similar number of losses. The two armies met once again at Napue in
February 1714. This time around, the Finnish army was decisively
defeated. Armfeldt retreated with the remnants of his
army to Sweden proper, leaving Finland at the mercy of the Russian occupier. Peter had absolutely no ambition of conquering
Finland and viewed it merely as a bargaining chip to be used to strengthen his position
at the negotiating table once the Swedes were actually willing to negotiate. Until then, the land would be thoroughly ravaged,
in what became known as the Greater Wrath or the Great Hatred. Until the end of the war, Russian soldiers
would commit innumerable atrocities in Finland. Looting, rape, torture, and murder were widespread
and a large number of Finns were forced to move inland. The Finns also engaged in guerrilla warfare,
prompting further retaliation from the Russians. Thousands of men were taken as slaves to St.
Petersburg, to be used as forced labor in Peter’s dockyards or on his many architectural
projects. Many children were taken from their homes
as well, to be used as future soldiers and sailors. The plague had also struck Finland during
the occupation, further devastating the area. As Finland the Russians were at Sweden’s
doorstep, the ruling council finally decided to ramp up their efforts in the Eastern Baltic. A strong Swedish navy, under Admiral Wattrang,
was finally sent to Finland. With their navy unable to enter the Gulf of
Bothnia, Russian troops in areas north of Turku began suffering from supply shortages. The land-based supply routes were slow and
insecure, forcing the Russians to divert further resources to the area – resources that Peter
would have wanted to use elsewhere. In spring, the Russians finally decided to
try to sail by the coast of Western Finland, however, a small Swedish force sank most of
their ships. In May, Wattrang sailed towards Reval to see
if he could capture the city. Upon seeing the improved coastal batteries
in the area and several Russian ships of the line moored in the port, he decided that it
would be foolish to attempt any kind of assault on the city. Meanwhile, Apraksin sailed from Kronstadt
with a large fleet, hoping to tempt Wattrang into a naval encounter in the shallow coastal
seas. The two navies met near cape Hanko on the
29th of June. Although numerically superior, the Russians
had far weaker ships than their Swedish counterpart and their sailors were less experienced. Knowing that his galleys would be decimated
in the open sea, Apraksin withdrew with all of his ships east of the peninsula, where
he awaited further reinforcements from Helsinki. He also informed Peter, who was in Reval,
of the situation and requested that he bring all of the Russian ships of the line with
him. Peter joined Apraksin on the 20th of July,
however, he deemed the odds too unfavorable to bring his new ships. Galleys had one specific advantage in shallow
seas compared to ships of the line – they depended on rowing and could move even when
there is no wind. As Golitsyn and his men were now suffering
from severe supply troubles, it was imperative for the Russian fleet to reach Turku as soon
as possible. Peter’s initial idea was to transport the
galleys over the Hanko isthmus. This idea was abandoned after a few days,
as the task was time-consuming and the ships were severely damaged. Wattrang was unaware that the Russian plan
had failed and sent a detachment of 10 ships, under Rear Admiral Ehrenskjold to the north
of the peninsula. The rest of the Swedish fleet sailed towards
the Russian force. Unfortunately for Wattrang, the weather calmed
down on the 26th and his wind-dependent ships of the line could not move further than Hanko. Peter realized what kind of an opportunity
had just presented itself and he sent a vanguard of several ships to bypass Wattrang’s fleet
and engage Ehrenskjold. Fearing that the rest of the Russian galleys
would catch his ships in the shallow coastal waters, Wattrang sailed south, allowing the
opposing forces to pass without any resistance. Ehrenskjold, also unable to move, was caught
by the large Russian fleet. Apraksin initially tried to convince him to
surrender without a fight. Ehrenskjold refused, telling the envoys: “the
King did not give me command of these ships so that I would surrender them without a fight. The tsar can expect nothing from me and my
subordinates other than strong resistance”. The Swedish fleet consisted of one pram, six
galleys, and two skerry boats. The ships were arrayed in a semi-crescent
in between two islands, with the pram in the center and three galleys on each side, while
the skerry boats were placed behind the line and did not engage in battle. Apraksin had 98 ships under him, mostly galleys
and half-galleys. Only around a quarter of that number would
actually engage in battle - 11 ships in the center, 6 on each flank, and 4 small ones
would later attack from behind. The battle started on the morning of the 27th
with massive artillery barrages from both sides. The artillery duel was in no way decisive,
with ships on both sides sustaining only minimal damage. The Swedish ships carried superior artillery
compared to their Russian counterparts. Due to their numbers, the Russians would have
won even during a prolonged artillery battle, though with far heavier casualties. With the smoke from the artillery providing
cover, the Russian fleet advanced simultaneously towards the Swedish line. This had two effects – the Swedish boats
would not be able to concentrate their fire as effectively and the Russian ships would
decisively outnumber the Swedish ones. All eleven ships in the Russian center were
ordered to advance towards the Swedish pram, called Elephant. Not only was that ship of the line the biggest
threat to the Russian fleet but Peter also wanted to capture it for his own collection. As the Russian ships were approaching, the
Russian soldiers and sailors fired at the Swedes from their rifles. The Swedes, who were already heavily outnumbered,
could not even mount a proper defense due to relentless incoming fire. The Russian troops began boarding the Swedish
ships and fierce close-quarters combat ensued. The Swedes fought bravely, however, it was
only a matter of time until Russian numbers overwhelmed them. To Ehrenskjold’s surprise, four Russian
gunboats went through a narrow passage between the island on their left and the mainland. Those gunboats subsequently attacked the Swedish
galleys on the left and captured or sank all of them. The Swedish galleys on the right fell one
by one as well, with only the Elephant still resisting. After a fire broke out on the Elephant, Ehrenskjod
was captured and the ship was taken over by the Russians. In the end, the Swedish lost all of their
ships and men, while the Russian casualties amounted to several hundred men. Though the battle had little to no effect
on the Swedish navy, its implications were substantially foreboding. The Russians would now be able to launch devastating
raids into Sweden and the numerically inferior Swedish navy could do little to nothing about
it. Indeed, the Aland archipelago was captured
later that year and Umea was sacked. Wattrang retreated with his fleet to Sweden,
however, his failing health prevented him from taking any initiative in the following
years. The Swedish defeat caused a sense of panic
in Stockholm, and the nobility felt that now it would only be a matter of time before the
Russians strike at the capital. Having no other alternative, the Swedish Council
of State sent a letter to Charles, informing him that they will start negotiations towards
an achievable peace with the coalition, unless he returned as quickly as possible. With the Sultan’s appetite for war diminished,
Charles made an obvious choice. Charles was now determined to reach his homeland,
and he rode through Europe at a tremendous speed. He reached Stralsund in November, only two
weeks after leaving Istanbul. In the following months, Charles started looking
for new allies against the coalition. Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia was willing to
join the war on Sweden’s side, in exchange for having Stettin recognized as his own. This did not go well with Charles’ “no
inch lost” doctrine, so he refused. Prussia would enter the war against Sweden
in 1715, the same year as Hannover did. In November 1715, a combined Danish-Saxon-Prussian
army landed on the island of Rugen. Charles’ attempt to stop their advance failed,
and he was forced to return to Stralsund. The King’s presence may have encouraged
his men to continue their stalwart defense, yet the fall of the city was inevitable. With Stralsund surrounded on all sides, Charles
left for Sweden on the 22nd of December, merely two days before the city fell. Fifteen years and three months after his departure,
Charles was finally on the soil of his homeland. This left Sweden only with Wismar on the continent,
however, the city fell in 1716 too. Bremen-Werden was partially occupied by Denmark
and partially by Hannover, however, George I gained all of it after paying a substantial
sum to the Danish King. In 1716, the allied powers gathered their
fleets in Copenhagen and planned a massive assault on the Swedish mainland, with Peter
as its commander. Frederick IV of Denmark grew suspicious of
Peter’s Baltic ambitions however, refusing to partake in any future actions. Frustrated at this lack of trust between allies,
Peter called off the invasion. The loss of Sweden’s last holdings on the
continent gave both the people and the nobility hope that the war would finally end. Nevertheless, Charles was still determined
to continue fighting. More war meant more men and more money, yet
Sweden was devastated. Half the farmland was not cultivated because
there were no laborers. Fisheries were abandoned. Foreign trade was ruined by the blockade of
the allied fleets. The fact that Charles was able to continue
the war in spite of all of this seems like nothing short of a miracle. This was only possible due to the appearance
of Georg Heinrich von Goertz as Charles’ advisor. His administrative skill allowed Charles to
raise another army, though his brutal methods only caused further dissent within the kingdom. Goertz also used the distrust among the allies
to strengthen Sweden’s diplomatic position. By playing George I and Peter against each
other, Charles received several relatively favorable separate peace offers. This would have allowed Charles to focus on
recovering his Pomeranian possessions. Goertz continuously tried to convince Charles
to accept peace with Russia, in what can only be described as a Sisyphean task. To his credit, he did manage to wear down
the stubborn king to accept the loss of Karelia and Ingria. Charles invaded Norway in 1716 in order to
knock Denmark out of the war, however, the campaign was slow and costly. Finally, it would all be for naught, as on
the 30th of November 1718, Charles was shot in the head and killed while besieging Fredrikshamn. Whether it was a bullet from the Norwegian
defenders or from one of his own men is still a matter of intense debate, as both are distinct
possibilities. The beleaguered Swedish army returned to Sweden
with their King’s body. While crossing the Scandinavian mountains,
thousands would die due to the cold and starvation. The last hope of reviving the Swedish Empire
died along with Charles. As Charles neither married nor sired any offspring,
he was succeeded by his sister, Ulrika Eleonora. She agreed to renounce her absolute powers
and a period of parliamentary rule in Sweden would ensue. With his protector now dead, Goertz was also
imprisoned and executed. Ulrika Eleonora would abdicate in 1720 in
favor of her husband, Frederick of Hesse, who held virtually no power. In late 1719 and early 1720, Sweden signed
the Treaties of Stockholm with Hannover and Prussia. Sweden ceded Bremen-Werden to Hannover and
Stettin to Prussia. In the Summer of 1720, Sweden and Denmark
signed the treaty of Fredriksborg, according to which Sweden would regain Wismar and Stralsund,
while also losing their exemption from the sound toll and paying war reparations to Denmark. Denmark would also gain part of Holstein-Gottorp. Saxony, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,
and Sweden did not sign any peace treaty. Instead, they renewed the Treaty of Oliva
from 1660. The last few years of the war were fairly
quiet. Russian raids around Stockholm and Umea are
the only few exceptions. Though they did not have a profound effect
on the war, they made the Swedish Riksdag increase their efforts at achieving peace. The final peace treaty was made at Nystad
on the 10th of September 1721. Russia would gain Livonia, Estonia, Ingria,
parts of Karelia and Vyborg, while Finland would be returned to Sweden, together with
2 million thalers in war reparations. Sweden was now reduced to merely a regional
power, would be gripped by the conflict between the monarchy and the parliament, and revanchism
against Russia would dominate its foreign affairs. Poland-Lithuania would lose all semblance
of central authority. The once-powerful Commonwealth would become
a battleground for Europe’s empires in the next century. Denmark would enter a period of stability,
while Prussia, similarly to Russia, would continue its growth on the European stage. The power vacuum left by Sweden would be filled
by the ever-growing Russian Empire, which would dominate European affairs in the coming
centuries. The Great Northern War completely changed
the balance of power in Europe. Not only that, but it also marks a turning
point in European history – wars would have a European, rather than a regional nature,
as an increasing number of countries would become involved in each other’s affairs
and conflicts. We will talk about the region's history more
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