How did Russia Become an Empire? - Great Northern War DOCUMENTARY

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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 names and big battles, and there’s another place that goes even bigger: it’s our sponsor, Raid Shadow Legends. You probably know it as the mobile game that plays like a console game, a world of massive raids with over six hundred champions to build your team from. 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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 in the coming months, so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see it. These long videos take so long to make, so please, consider liking, commenting, and sharing - it helps immensely. 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Channel: Kings and Generals
Views: 2,468,506
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Keywords: How, Russia, became, an, empire, end, swedish, gangut, gadebusch, fraustadt, poltava, Fraustadt, narva, charles, peter, russia, sweden, thirty years' war, battle, king and general, kings and general, kings and generals, animated historical documentary, full documentary, history, early modern era, Ottoman-Portuguese War, thirty years war, documentary, gustavus adolphus, documentary film, military history, decisive battles, king and generals, history documentary, world history, history channel
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Length: 147min 22sec (8842 seconds)
Published: Sun May 22 2022
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