Great Northern War

:Not to be confused with the Northern Wars (1655–1661) nor the First Maori War (1845-1846)

Russian victories

During the years between 1700 and 1707, two of Swedens Baltic provinces, Estonia and Ingria, had been seized by the tsar, and a third, Livonia, had been well-nigh ruined. To secure his acquisitions, Peter founded the city of Saint Petersburg in Ingria in 1703. He had started to build a navy and a modern-style army, based primarily on infantry drilled in the use of firearms.

Related Topics:
Estonia - Ingria - Livonia - Saint Petersburg - 1703 - Navy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yet even now Charles, by a stroke of the pen, could have recovered nearly everything he had lost. In 1707 Peter was ready to retrocede everything except St Petersburg and the line of the Neva, and again Charles preferred risking the whole to saving the greater part of his Baltic possessions. The year following, he invaded Russia, but was frustrated in Smolensk by Generalissimo Menshikov and headed to Ukraine for the winter. However, the abilities of his force were sapped by the cold weather and Peter's use of scorched earth tactics. When the campaign started again in the spring of 1709, 1/3rd of his force had been lost, and he was crushingly defeated by Peter in the Battle of Poltava, fleeing to the Ottoman Empire and spending five years in exile. Peter's victory shook all European courts. In just one day, Russia emerged as a major European power.

Related Topics:
1707 - Smolensk - Menshikov - Ukraine - Scorched earth - Battle of Poltava - Ottoman Empire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This shattering defeat did not end the war, although it decided it. Denmark and Saxony joined the war again and Augustus the Strong, through the crafty politics of Boris Kurakin, regained the Polish throne. Peter continued his campaigns in the Baltics, and eventually he built up a powerful navy. In 1714, Peter's galley navy managed to capture a small detachment of the Swedish navy in the first Russian naval victory near Hangö udde (see Battle of Gangut for details).

Related Topics:
Boris Kurakin - Hangö udde - Battle of Gangut

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~