Great Northern War of 1700-21

Categories / Army. Navy
GREAT NORTHERN WAR OF 1700-21 was the war declared by a coalition of states from Central and Eastern Europe (the main participants were Russia, Denmark and Saxony) against Sweden. It was started by an offensive attack by Saxon troops in Livonia, Danish troops in Golschtein and Russian troops in Estland (the Siege of Narva). The Swedish king Karl XII knocked Denmark out of the war by landing in Copenhagen; on 19 November 1700, he defeated Peter the Great's army near Narva; and in spring 1701, he defeated Saxon troops near Riga, marching on through the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to Saxony. Seizing this opportunity, Peter the Great restored and reformed his army and launched an attack on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. On 11 October 1702, Russian troops took Noteborg, (see Schlisselburg Fortress); in spring 1703, they took Nyenschantz, Yam, and Koporye. On 16 (27) May 1703, the St. Petersburg fortress (St. Peter and Paul Fortress) was laid, becoming St. Petersburg's nucleus. In 1704, Russian troops occupied Narva and Derpt. In 1708, Karl XII, having defeated Saxony, started the Russian Campaign, which ended with the defeat of the Swedish army near Poltava on 27 June 1709 (in memory of this victory the St. Sampson’s Cathedral was erected in St. Petersburg). In 1710, Russian troops occupied Riga, Kexholm (Priozersk) and Vyborg, and conquered Livonia; in 1714, they conquered Finland; in 1712-16, they drove the Swedes from Pomerania. In 1714 and in 1720, the Russian Baltic Navy achieved victory in Gangut and Grengam; in 1718-20, Russian troops landed and looted the shore of Sweden. The war ended with the Treaty of Nystad signed on 30 August (10 September) 1721, according to which Russia got the shore of the Gulf of Finland, Estland and Livonia. The Northern War became the main stimulator for reforms accomplished by Peter I, touching all spheres of life in the country. The foundation of St. Petersburg was executed through the course of the war, marking Russia's direct access to the Baltic Sea. Peter the Great considered this city to be his main achievement and, offering peace to Karl XII in 1705-08, he agreed to renounce all the conquests with the exception of St. Petersburg. The memory of the Great Northern War's military actions is kept alive by many historical traditions kept up to the present day by people from St. Petersburg's outskirts.

Reference: Мышлаевский А. З. Петр Великий: Война в Финляндии в 1712-1714 гг.: Совмест. операция сухопут. армии, галер. и корабел. флотов. СПб., 1896; История Северной войны, 1700-1721 гг. М., 1987; Анисимов Е. В. Время петровских реформ. Л., 1989.

G. V. Kalashnikov. Karl XII, King
Peter I, Emperor
Петропавловская крепость
Мышлаевский А. З. Петр Великий: Война в Финляндии в 1712-1714 гг.: Совмест. операция сухопут. армии, галер. и корабел. флотов СПб., 1896
Павленко Н. И. Петр Великий. М., 1998
Анисимов Е. В. Время петровских реформ. Л., 1989
История Северной войны, 1700 - 1721 гг. М., 1987 Shlisselburg Fortress.
St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Sampson’s Cathedral
Baltic Fleet
1710
1721