The Great Northern War (1700-1721)

In February 1700 Saxony-Poland-Lithuania besieged Riga and Denmark-Norway attacked Sweden's ally Holstein-Gottorp, opening the Great Northern War. The coalition of Frederick IV of Denmark, Augustus II of Saxony-Poland and Peter I of Russia expected to exploit the inexperience of Charles XII, who had inherited the throne at fifteen. Each had a separate grievance: Denmark wanted Schleswig, Augustus wanted Livonia, and Russia wanted access to the Baltic. Charles XII responded with unexpected speed, knocking Denmark out of the war in a landing on Zealand in August 1700 and then turning on Russia. The coalition's assumption that Sweden could be partitioned quickly proved to be the war's central miscalculation.

Location: Riga and Holstein-Gottorp

On 30 November 1700 Charles XII attacked a Russian army several times the size of his own at Narva, in a snowstorm that hid his advance. The Russians, poorly positioned and with many untrained regiments, broke and fled; most of their artillery was captured and a large part of the army was taken prisoner or dispersed. Charles had marched to the relief of the fortress with roughly 8,000 to 10,000 men against an enemy commonly estimated at 35,000 to 40,000. The victory made him famous across Europe and convinced him that Russia could be defeated decisively. It also persuaded him to turn his main effort against Poland and Saxony for the next six years, giving Peter time to rebuild.

Location: Narva, Swedish Ingria

On 27 May 1703 Peter I founded the fortress of Saints Peter and Paul on the Neva delta, on ground taken from Sweden at the head of the Gulf of Finland. The site was marshy and prone to flooding, and thousands of conscripted labourers and soldiers died building the city and its fortifications. Peter made it his capital in 1712, moving the court from Moscow and forcing the nobility to build houses there. The city gave Russia a Baltic port and a naval base that could be supplied by water rather than by the long overland routes to Arkhangelsk. It became the symbol of Peter's program of westernization and of Russia's new presence in Europe.

Location: Neva delta, Russia

On 9 October 1708 Peter I intercepted the corps of Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt at Lesnaya, as it moved south to join Charles XII with supplies and reinforcements. After a day of fighting in bad weather, the Swedish force was broken and most of its wagon train was lost or destroyed. Peter called the engagement the "mother of Poltava" because it deprived Charles of the men and provisions he needed for his campaign in Ukraine. Charles had turned south to link with Hetman Ivan Mazepa, who had broken with Peter and promised Cossack support. The victory did not end the campaign but left the Swedish army weakened and exposed as winter approached.

Location: Lesnaya, present-day Belarus

On 8 July 1709 Peter's army destroyed the Swedish field army outside Poltava, ending Charles XII's campaign in Ukraine. Charles had besieged the town with a force reduced by cold, hunger and the losses at Lesnaya, while Peter concentrated a larger army with strong artillery and earthworks. The Swedish assault on the Russian redoubts failed, and the subsequent battle broke the Swedish infantry; thousands were killed or captured, and the survivors surrendered at Perevolochna three days later. Charles fled south to Ottoman territory with Mazepa and a few hundred men. Poltava reversed the war's direction, revived the coalition and led to the Russian occupation of the Baltic provinces.

Location: Poltava, present-day Ukraine

In 1710 the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, and in 1711 Peter marched south into Moldavia with a force that was encircled on the Prut in July. The Treaty of the Pruth ended the campaign on humiliating terms: Russia returned Azov, dismantled its fortresses and fleet on the Sea of Azov, and withdrew from Ottoman affairs. The defeat showed the limits of Peter's power and cost Russia its southern naval base, which it did not recover for decades. Charles XII, who had taken refuge in Ottoman territory, remained there for years and unsuccessfully pressed the Porte to continue the war. The episode delayed but did not reverse Russia's gains in the Baltic.

Location: Prut River, Principality of Moldavia

On 7 August 1714 a Russian galley fleet under Fyodor Apraksin and Peter I defeated a Swedish naval detachment at the Hanko Peninsula, capturing ten Swedish vessels including the frigate *Elephant*. It was Russia's first significant naval victory and demonstrated that the fleet Peter had built could operate against Sweden in the Baltic. The battle allowed Russian galleys to raid the Swedish coast and supported the occupation of Finland, which lasted until the end of the war. Sweden's naval superiority, the foundation of its Baltic empire, was no longer unchallenged. Peter commemorated the victory and used it to justify the expansion of the Russian navy.

Location: Hanko Peninsula, Finland

Charles XII was killed on 11 December 1718 while besieging Fredriksten fortress in southern Norway, during his second invasion of the country. He was struck in the head by a projectile while inspecting the trenches, and the circumstances were disputed for centuries, with claims ranging from enemy fire to assassination by his own men. His death ended the war party at the Swedish court and removed the one figure who might have continued the struggle. His sister Ulrika Eleonora succeeded him, and Sweden moved toward peace and toward the parliamentary system known as the Age of Liberty. The Norwegian campaign was abandoned, and the Swedish army withdrew.

Location: Fredriksten fortress, Norway

The Treaty of Nystad ended the Great Northern War on 10 September 1721, with Sweden ceding Estonia, Livonia, Ingria, Kexholm and Vyborg to Russia and receiving two million riksdaler in compensation. Russia gained the Baltic coastline and the ports that underpinned St Petersburg's trade, and Sweden lost the provinces that had made it a great power. Peter took the titles of Emperor and Father of the Fatherland, and Russia was proclaimed an empire. Sweden accepted the loss and reorganized its government, beginning the Age of Liberty in which the Riksdag limited royal power. The settlement reordered the Baltic for two centuries, until the Russian Revolution and the independence of the Baltic states in 1918.

Location: Uusikaupunki (Nystad), Finland