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THE GREAT
NORTHERN WAR: ACCESS TO THE BALTIC SEA |
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While
Peter conducted talks concerning Russia's access to the
anti-Swedish coalition, he simultaneously strove to avoid her
automatic entry to the war against Sweden before the
conclusion of the peace with Turkey, with which Russia
remained in the state of formal war since the times of the
First Azov Expedition. Meanwhile the Allies were in hurry to
declare the war on Sweden - in 1700 Augustus II as the
king of Saxony (Poland formally was not a part to the
alliance) led his army to Riga, while the Danes
entered Holstein, whose ruler stood by Sweden. This
was the beginning of the long
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and
destructive war known as the Great Northern War
(1700-1721). However, the
despised by everybody Charles XII proved to be an outstanding
military leader. First he made short with Denmark, as he
suddenly landed with his army at Copenhagen and forced the
Danes to conclude the peace. At the same time in
Constantinople was concluded the peace between Russia and
Turkey. As soon as Peter I learned about it, he immediately
went to Livonia with a 10-thousand-strong army and besieged
Narva (Ivangorod). But the Swedish army surprisingly quickly
came to the aid of the besieged, and in November 1700 at Narva
the Russians suffered a major defeat. Interesting enough, the
Swedish king and the Russian czar drew completely different
conclusions. Intoxicated by an easy victory Charles, instead
of pursuing the crushed Russian army as far as to Novgorod or
farther, shifted military operations into Poland, chiefly to
take the Polish crown from Augustus and give it to his own
protégé. Therefore, for several years the war was waged
chiefly on a secondary theatre in Poland, while to the main
theatre, in Livonia, Charles did not attach much attention,
convinced that sooner or later he will make short with Russia
at will. Unlike the politically short-sighted Swedish king,
the far-seeing Russian czar had learnt from the Narva lesson
and, with some exaggeration, one may say that it had brought
him more benefits than some victories. First of all he started
formation of a new, powerful army, and paid a lot of attention
to its training and armament.
Throughout the whole Russia were formed new regiments; their
training put emphasis on preparing new commanders - in the
army crushed at Narva commanding posts were occupied by the
foreigners, who, frankly speaking, did not distinguish
themselves either with professional proficiency or bravery.
Bells from all the churches and monasteries were collected for
production of new guns, which was continued day and night,
whether a working day or holiday. After such preparations the
Russian armies already towards 1701 rebuilt its combat
capabilities and was able to undertake a counter-offensive.
One army, under the command of Boris Sheremetyev, entered
Livonia and took Marienburg (Alist) and Wolmar (Vladimirets).
Another army, under the command of the czar himself, operated
in the area between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga.
There, in 1702, the Russians took a strong fortress on the
southern shore of the Ladoga, Noteburg (Oryeshek), which peter
ordered to rename Shlisselburg (Schlüßelburg,
"key-fortress"). And in the spring of 1703 the
Russians seized the mouth of Neva. There the czar decided to
build a fortress, which would became the main Russian port in
the Baltic Sea and an outpost near Swedish frontiers. The
foundation of the new city, Petersburg (or rather
St.Petersburg, from St.Peter), has been dated on 16 (27) May
1703, because on that day on one of the islands in the mouth
of Neva, so-called Hare Island, started the construction of
the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul. Construction progressed
quickly and towards the end of the year 300 guns were placed
along the earthen walls; any incursion of the Swedish fleet
into the Neva became practically impossible.
Since 1706 the earthen walls were replaced by brick ones, up
to 12 metres tall. In the second half of the 18th century the
walls were reveted with granite plates. The construction of
the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul was completed in 1787. The
city was built in extremely difficult conditions. Changeable
and capricious weather, numerous islands in the mouth of the
Neva and its tributaries, low banks, and hard loam - all that
required superhuman efforts from all the participants of the
grandiose construction. Peter ordered to bring workers, mostly
serfs, from all over the Russia. Thousands died of diseases
and physical exhaustion, but the city was growing at a rate
unseen either before or later, and in 1712 it became the new
capital of the country. Since its very beginning Petersburg
played an important role as a sea port, and Russian ships and
galleys entered the Baltic Sea. In 1703 the Russians landed on
the Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland (approx. 30km west of
Petersburg) and founded there a wooden fort, which later grew
to a strong fortress - Kronshtadt. Thanks to Kronshtadt
increased the safety of Petersburg.
Situation in Livonia improved, especially after the taking of
Narva and Derpt (Yuriev) in 1704, but there still was no
decisive breakthrough in the war with Sweden, and it seemed
that Charles XII got hopelessly stuck in Poland. The Swedens
had occupied most of Poland and staged the election of the new
Polish king, Stanisław Leszczyński, and then they
occupied Saxony and forced Augustus II to conclude the peace
in the village of Altranstadt (1706). Augustus was forced to
renounce the crown of Poland, break the alliance with Russia,
and allow the Swedish army to spend the winter in Saxony. The
Swedens had actually stayed in Saxony for a year, after which
they marched out to the East. Originally Charles planned to
take Moscow in a swift campaign, but soon he was forced to
review his plans. Despite of their original successes - taking
of Moguilev and the successful battle of Golovchin (north-west
of Moguilev) in July 1708 - the Swedens had realised that the
road to Moscow was heavily guarded, and fighting their way
eastward promised to become a risky business. Therefore
Charles decided to turn southward and seek the decisive
victory in Russia Minor. While making such a decision, Charles chiefly counted on an
uprising of the Cossacks against Russia; such a persuasive
promise was made to him by the Cossack hetman (since 1687),
Ivan Mazepa. This former majordomo of the Polish king John
Casimir used to change his masters and allegiances quite
often. With the coming to power of Peter I, Mazepa in general
stood by him loyally, but once the pivotal contest between the
Russian czar and Charles XII was coming closer, he suddenly
got imbued with the idea of acquiring a fiefdom for himself,
under either Swedish or Polish protectorate. At any rate
Mazepa held secret talks with Leszczyński, to whom he
promised to return Kiev. However, the Swedens' march southward from the beginning did
not augur well. Immediately after leaving Moguilev, in the end
of September 1708, Swedish General Adam Löwenhaupt was
heavily beaten in the battle of Lesnaya. Then Mazepa failed to
bring to the Swedens more than two thousand Cossacks, and
attempts to spark an uprising through manifestoes and public
letters did not bring any results. Quite contrary - in the
Swedish rears unfolded a partisan war, which cut the Swedens
off from their supply bases in Poland on the eve of a severe
winter, which exhausted their forces. In the spring of 1709
the Swedens approached Poltava and besieged it, but failed to
take it, while three Russian armies were already pursuing
them: there were 40,000 soldiers under the command of the
czar, Sheremetyev and Alexander Menshikov. They clashed with
the Swedens in the battle of Poltava on 27 June (8 July) 1709.
In course of the bloody battle the Swedens were totally
destroyed; everybody, who did not flee in panic, was captured.
Wounded Charles left his troops and together with Mazepa fled
towards the Turkish border.
The battle of Poltava passed to the History as one of the
greatest Russian military victories, which became a turning
point of the Great Northern War, as well as fates of Europe.
For more than hundred years Swedish forces were considered
invincible both on land and at sea. The 17th century indeed
witnessed unseen before victories of the distant Scandinavian
country, which decided about the outcome of the Thirty Years'
War, and won a number of wars with Poland and Denmark,
ultimately winning almost complete control over the coasts of
the Baltic Sea. The Swedens introduced a lot of novelties in
the art of war, the most modern ones in that epoque, and other
European countries followed their example. They formed
musketeer regiments after the Swedish model, they armed and
trained them after the Swedish regulations, and applied
Swedish tactics on the battlefields. The glory of the Swedish
victories produced legends... which turned into dust on the
battlefield of Poltava. The Russian victory had shaken Europe.
Former allies regained their hearts - Denmark again declared
war on Sweden, and Augustus II declared the peace of
Altranstadt void and returned to Poland. Meanwhile Charles XII, in refuge in Turkey, undertook all the
possible efforts to win Turkey over to declare war on Russia.
His activities in Turkey worried Peter, who in his turn tried
to convince Turkey to expel Charles out of her boundaries.
Eventually, after some hesitation, Constantinople resolved to
stand against Russia. In order to forestall any possible
developments, Peter with his army entered Moldavia.
Simultaneously he sent appeals to the Balkan Slavs to launch
an uprising against the Turks. He mustered support in that
matter from the Moldavian hospodar Demetrius Cantemir, who put
big hopes in anti-Turkish uprising in Moldavia and Wallachia.
But the uprising did not assume big scale, and the Russian
army marching to the River Prut was encircled in 1711. The
Turkish army outnumbered the Russians and further development
of the situation could bring a disaster. The situation was
saved by the peace talks, during which Russian diplomats had
demonstrated far-going flexibility and generosity in bribing
Turkish officials. The clauses of so-called Peace of the Prut
obliged Russia to return to Turkey territories acquired on the
Sea of Azov, with Azov and Taganrog, and interfere not with
Polish affairs. Livonia was not mentioned in the Russo-Turkish
accord, so Charles XII gained nothing from setting Turkey at
odds with Russia. The Great Northern War continued, although
now the strategic initiative was on the Russian side.
After Poltava the war turned into an infinite parade of
Russian victories on all the fronts: the Swedens were
dislodged from Livonia, Estonia, Karelia, and later also from
Finland. The Russians also cleared Poland of the troops of
Charles and Leszczyński, and entered Pomerania. Together
with the Prussians, who on that occasion declared war on
Sweden, they occupied Swedish possessions in Pomerania and
Mecklenburg. In 1713 Menshikov took Stettin and handed it over
to the Prussians. Also the Swedish navy suffered heavy
defeats: in 1714 off the Cape Gangut (nowadays Hanko in
south-west Finland), and in 1720 off the Gronhamn Island in
the Aland archipelago. Peter also tried to involve France in
the war along the allies and in 1717 once again he travelled
with embassy to the West. The embassy did not bring any
political results, but Peter did not return from the voyage
empty-handed: he bought there a huge collection of anatomical
preparates, as well as specimens of exotic animals, birds,
reptiles and insects, and donated them all to the Academy of
Sciences. In 1718 started peace talks between Sweden and Russia, broken
after the sudden death of Charles XII, who at the end of the
year was killed during the siége of the fortress
Frederikshald in Norway. Charles' successors tried to turn the
fates of the war over, but Russian landings in Sweden, and
especially a large landing staged near Stockholm, forced them
to resume peace talks. The peace treaty, that finished the
Great Northern War, was signed in 1721 in Nystad (nowadays
Uusikaupunki in south-west Finland). By the terms of the
Treaty of Nystad, Russia acquired all the Karelia with Vyborg,
Ingria or Ingermanland (areas along the Gulf of Finland
between Karelia and Estonia), Estonia with islands of Osel (Saaremaa)
and Dago (Hiiumaa), and Livonia with Riga. Sweden recovered
Finland. In Livonia and Estonia Russia left intact existing
rights and privileges of both provinces, in particular the
freedom of the Protestant religion - it fit the interests of
the local German gentry, who were the greatest landowners in
Livonia and Estonia, and under the leadership of Johann Patkul
supported Russia in her war with Sweden. Since then the Baltic
Germans of Livonia and Estonia (and later also Courland) had
been playing a particularly distinct and active role in the
political life of Russia, enjoying big influence at the court
in Petersburg, and occupying the highest civil and military
offices.
The Treaty of Nystad became Russia's great political triumph -
Russia acquired broad access to the Baltic Sea from Vyborg to
Riga with big ports in Riga and Reval, and the port in
Petersburg under construction since 1713. Unlimited
opportunities of sea trade and contacts with Europe via the
Baltic Sea had opened. Celebration of the conclusion of the
peace was very solemn; on that occasion Peter I assumed the
title of emperor. His new title was immediately recognized in
Prussia and Holland. Sweden recognized it in 1723, and other
European countries did it even later; the last one was Poland,
which did recognize the imperial title until 1764.
The Great Northern War filled most of Peter I's policy, but
the czar did not forget about the questions of the South and
the East. In 1717 he sent an expedition to the Central Asia,
but it perished almost entirely, so only fragmentary
information concerning its fates have reached us. A
substantial although short-lived success was the war with
Persia. It was provoked by the predicaments of the czar of
Kartlia (eastern Georgia), Vakhtang VI, to put the end to the
Persian domination and unite with Russia. During the Persian
campaign, which the czar originally led in person, Russian
troops took Derbent and Baku on the western, and Rasht on the
southern shores of the Caspian Sea. According to the peace
treaty signed in Petersburg in 1723, Russia kept occupied
territories, as well as Persian provinces of Mazandaran and
Astrabad. This way Russian possessions spread along a narrow
strip around the Caspian Sea from the mouth of Terek in the
north to the south-east. But it was impossible to hold those
possessions and in 1732 Russia returned them to Persia. |
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