Great Northern War

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the 1700–1721 war. For the related series of conflicts, see Northern Wars.
For other uses, see Northern War (disambiguation).

Great Northern War
Part of the Northern Wars

Top to bottom, left to right:
Date22 February 1700 – 10 September 1721 (1700-02-22 – 1721-09-10) (21 years, 6 months and 19 days) N.S.
Location
Northern, Central and Eastern Europe
Result Anti-Swedish coalition victory
Territorial
changes
Belligerents
Supported by:
Supported by:
Commanders and leaders
Strength
At peak:
 At peak:
Casualties and losses
200,000+ military deaths[d] 400,000+ military deaths[e]
1,000,000+ total deaths[f]

In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by

Brandenburg-Prussia
joined it in 1715.

Charles XII led the Swedish Army. Swedish allies included

Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa (1708–1710). The Ottoman Empire
temporarily hosted Charles XII of Sweden and intervened against Peter I.

The war began when Denmark–Norway, Saxony and Russia, sensing an opportunity as Sweden was ruled by the young Charles XII, formed a coalition against Sweden. Denmark invaded Sweden's ally Holstein-Gottorp, while Saxony and Russia declared war on the Swedish Empire and attacked

Pruth River Campaign
, but that peace treaty was in the end without great consequence to Russia's position.

After Poltava, the anti-Swedish coalition revived and subsequently Hanover and Prussia joined it. The remaining Swedish forces in

occupied Finland by 1714. Sweden defeated the Danish invaders at the Battle of Helsingborg. Charles XII opened up a Norwegian front but was killed in the Siege of Fredriksten
in 1718.

The war ended with the defeat of Sweden, leaving Russia as the new dominant power in the Baltic region and as a new major force in European politics. The Western powers,

Baltic Provinces, and Denmark strengthened its position in Schleswig-Holstein. In Sweden, the absolute monarchy had come to an end with the death of Charles XII, and Sweden's Age of Liberty began.[45]

Background

Further information: Dominium maris baltici

Between 1560 and 1658,

small arms fire due to proficient military drill
.

However, the Swedish state ultimately proved unable to support and maintain its army in a prolonged war. Campaigns on the continent had been proposed on the basis that the army would be financially self-supporting through plunder and taxation of newly gained land, a concept shared by most major powers of the period. The cost of the warfare proved to be much higher than the occupied countries could fund, and Sweden's coffers and resources in manpower were eventually drained in the course of long conflicts.

The foreign interventions in Russia during the Time of Troubles resulted in Swedish gains in the Treaty of Stolbovo (1617). The treaty deprived Russia of direct access to the Baltic Sea. Russian fortunes began to reverse in the final years of the 17th century, notably with the rise to power of Peter the Great, who looked to address the earlier losses and re-establish a Baltic presence. In the late 1690s, the adventurer Johann Patkul managed to ally Russia with Denmark and Saxony by the secret Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye, and in 1700 the three powers attacked.

Sweden and allies

Charles XII of Sweden and Stanisław I of Poland

allotment, which had strengthened the monarch's status and the empire's military abilities. Charles XII refrained from all kinds of luxury and alcohol and usage of the French language, since he considered these things decadent and superfluous. He preferred the life of an ordinary soldier on horseback, not that of contemporary baroque courts. He determinedly pursued his goal of dethroning his adversaries, whom he considered unworthy of their thrones due to broken promises, thereby refusing to take several chances to make peace. During the war, the most important Swedish commanders besides Charles XII were his close friend Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld, also Magnus Stenbock and Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt
.

Anna Petrovna
.

Cossack hetman
who fought for Russia but defected to Charles XII in 1708. Mazepa died in 1709 in Ottoman exile.

Army size

Swedish cavalry of the Västergötland Regiment

Sweden's army peaked in 1707–1708 with an effective strength of about 100,000 men,[10][11] and a nominal size of between 110,000[47][48] and 115,000 men. It fielded about 65,000 men at the outbreak of the war, and 40,000 in 1716. Charles XII mustered 60,000 men for the Norwegian campaign of 1718, which was reduced to 45,000 towards the end of the war.[49][50] In early 1700, the Swedish Navy consisted of 39 battleships (ships of the line) of 48,000 tonnes, eight major and six minor cruising warships and one bomb vessel (4,500 tonnes).[51] The battleship-fleet peaked in 1705–1709, with 43 ships (56,000 tonnes); as peace was concluded in 1721, only 23 battleships (32,000 tonnes) remained, several of which were unrepairable or nearing the end of their service life.[52]

Holstein-Gottorp had an army of about 2,695 when the Danes attacked in 1700 and laid siege to Tönning.[13] At the second siege in 1713–1714, the garrison had 1,600 men with the rest fighting in the War of the Spanish Succession; these would later enter Swedish service as Holstein was occupied by the Danes.[53]

By 1707, at the eve of the Russian campaign, the pro-Leszczyński followers in Poland had swollen to 20,000 men from a core of 6,000. In addition, there were 4,000 to 5,000 troops of Sapieha's army and 12,040 of the Lithuanian Crown Army, now loyal to Stanisław I.[14]

Modern estimates puts the army Mazepa brought with him to Charles XII in 1708 at 2,000 to 4,000 Cossacks, in addition to some 5,000 left behind at Baturyn who were subsequently all killed or captured in the Sack of Baturyn. It peaked at 6,000 to 12,000 men the following year when 4,000 to 8,000 Zaporozhian Cossacks joined the Swedes and Ukrainian Cossacks on 10 May – at least 11,000 had thus switched sides in total.[15][16]

Anti-Swedish coalition

Peter I of Russia, and Augustus II of Poland (left), Frederick William I of Prussia (center) and Frederick IV of Denmark (right)

Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov and Boris Sheremetev
.

Rawa Ruska
in September 1698, where the plans to attack Sweden were made, became legendary for its decadence.

Frederick IV of Denmark-Norway, another cousin of Charles XII,[nb 1] succeeded Christian V in 1699 and continued his anti-Swedish policies. After the setbacks of 1700, he focused on transforming his state, an absolute monarchy, in a manner similar to Charles XI of Sweden. He did not achieve his main goal: to regain the former eastern Danish provinces lost to Sweden in the course of the 17th century. He was not able to keep northern Swedish Pomerania, Danish from 1712 to 1715. He did put an end to the Swedish threat south of Denmark. He ended Sweden's exemption from the Sound Dues (transit taxes/tariffs on cargo moved between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea).

for centuries
.

George I of the House of Hanover, elector of Hanover and, since 1714, king of Great Britain and of Ireland, took the opportunity to connect his landlocked German electorate to the North Sea.

Coalition armies

Russian guard of the Semyonovsky Regiment

Russia's army had 120,000 men in the late 1600s, not including Cossacks and Kalmucks.[54][55] It quickly grew to between 168,000[47] and 200,000 effective troops in the early years of 1702 to 1705.[19] Russia had 200,000 men under arms in 1707,[17] and the army remained at between 164,000 (1711) and 200,000 (1719) for the rest of the war.[56][18][57] Other sources mention 220,000 troops by 1710, without specifying if the number includes Cossacks and Kalmucks.[48] By the time of Peter I's death in 1725, there were 210,000 regular troops in the army.[58] Between 1710 and 1712, the Russian Navy launched their first five battleships on the Baltic Sea from Saint Petersburg, with 17 more being launched by 1721. In addition, seven more were built in Arkhangelsk, while 16 were purchased and three built by other nations.[59] By 1721, the Baltic Fleet had grown to 37 battleships, nine frigates and two bomb vessels, totalling 55,000 tonnes, not counting an estimated 50 major galleys and 120 small oared craft.[60]

Estimates has the number of Cossacks fighting for Russia at between 30,000[21] and 50,000,[22] and the Kalmucks at 15,000.[21] Other sources puts the Cossacks and Kalmucks at 40,000 to 45,000,[61] up to 100,000,[56][58] and even 150,000 to 200,000 men.[62]

For the most part, the Saxon Army had a nominal strength of 30,000 regular troops.[63][37] However, only a limited effective strength could be achieved due to severe losses; the army had 18,000 men in 1700 and, including the losses sustained at the Battle of Kliszów, 25,000 in August 1702. By 1717, it had reached an effective strength of 29,900 men.[9] There were also an unknown number of militia to provide or reinforce garrisons; in 1706, at the time of Swedish invasion of Saxony, they reportedly counted 5,000 men.[64] After the introduction of a new system in 1709, there were eight militia regiments.[65]

Two guard regiments of the Royal Danish Army

According to the military regulations of 1699, the Danish and Norwegian armies counted 23,021 and 12,848 men, respectively,[66] while a subsequent muster recalled 13,660 for the latter.[67] The Danish Army had about 38,900 mercenaries, provincial and militia troops as hostilities were renewed in 1709, excluding the contingents leased to the maritime powers in the War of the Spanish Succession,[68] while the Norwegian Army had 17,500 men.[69] As the contingents returned ahead of the Pomeranian campaign of 1715, the Danish Army was reorganised into a near-effective force of about 35,000.[23] The Norwegians had 24,379 men at New Year's Eve 1715–1716, including three regiments temporarily transferred to the Danish Army.[24] In early 1700, the Danish Navy consisted of 32 battleships and 26 cruising warships of 42,000 and 7,000 tonnes, respectively, as well as six bomb vessels, six blockships and seven galleys.[51] Denmark's battleship-fleet peaked ahead of its second intervention of 1709, with 41 ships (58,000 tonnes). In 1721, 25 battleships (38,000 tonnes) remained.[70]

In 1702, as the

Swedes invaded Poland with 21,000 men, the Polish and Lithuanian Crown armies had 13,000 to 18,140 men, and 4,000 to 7,400 men, respectively.[71][72] In 1703, the Polish Sejm agreed to raise the Polish and Lithuanian armies to 36,000 and 12,000 men, respectively.[73] In total, 90,000 Poles and Lithuanians fought at the height of the Polish civil war which started in 1704; 70,000 of which would oppose the Swedes and their Polish puppet-king, Stanisław I,[25] or about three quarters of a total of 100,000 combatants.[74]

In 1715, the year Prussia entered the war against Sweden, the standing Prussian Army counted 45,688 men. It had increased to 56,575 men in 1720, the year Prussia left the war.[26] The Hanoverian Army had about 20,000 men at its entry into the Great Northern War in 1715.[27]

Size of European armies in 1710
Population ~1650 (millions) Size of Army (thousands)
State Size ~1710
Denmark–Norway 1.3[75] 53[76]
Swedish Empire 1.1[75] 100[77]
Brandenburg-Prussia
 0.5[78] 40[79]
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 11[80] 100*[81]
Tsardom of Russia 15[82] 170[77]
Kingdom of England 4.7[83] 87[77]
Dutch Republic 1.5[84] 120[85]
Kingdom of France 18[86] 340–380[85]
Habsburg Monarchy
 8[87] 110–130[87]
Crown of Castile
Crown of Aragon		 7[86] 50[77]
Ottoman Empire 18[88] 50**[89]
* All Polish forces, on both sides in the Great Northern War. **
Janissaries
only.

1700: Denmark, Riga and Narva

Main articles:
Landing on Humlebæk, Peace of Travendal, Siege of Riga (1700), and Battle of Narva (1700)
The bombardment of Copenhagen, 1700

Dünamünde and laid siege to Riga.[90][91]

Sound blockade and, in conjunction with an Anglo-Dutch fleet, carried out a bombardment of Copenhagen from 20 to 26 July. This allowed Charles XII to land an army at Humlebæk near the Danish capital, Copenhagen, while a Swedish-Hanoverian force broke through the Danish defenses at Reinbek to relieve Tönning. The surprise move and pressure by the Maritime Powers forced Denmark–Norway to withdraw from the war in August 1700 according to the terms of the Peace of Travendal.[91][92]

Charles XII was now able to speedily deploy his army to the eastern coast of the

Peter I was already on its way to invade Swedish Ingria,[92] where it laid siege to Narva in October. In November, the Russian and Swedish armies met at the First Battle of Narva where the Russians suffered a crushing defeat.[93]

After the dissolution of the first coalition through the

Benedict Oxenstjerna, attempted to use the bidding for the favour of Sweden by France and the Maritime Powers (then on the eve of the War of the Spanish Succession)[94]
to end the war and make Charles an arbiter of Europe.

1701–1706: Poland-Lithuania and Saxony

Main articles: Swedish invasion of Poland (1701–1706), Civil war in Poland (1704–1706), and Swedish invasion of Saxony
Swedish invasion of Poland
, 1701

Charles XII then turned south to meet

Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formally neutral at this point, as Augustus started the war as Elector of Saxony. Charles XII, however, defeated the Saxons and Russians at the Crossing of the Düna in 1701 and subsequently occupied the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a Polish vassal state. Disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by the Swedish parliament, Charles XII then invaded Poland and Lithuania, decisively defeating the Saxon-Polish forces in the Battle of Kliszów in 1702 and in the Battle of Pultusk in 1703. This successful invasion enabled Charles XII to dethrone Augustus II and coerce the Polish sejm to replace him with Stanisław Leszczyński in 1704,[95] with help of the newly formed Swedish-led Warsaw Confederation. In response, an anti-Swedish Sandomierz Confederation in support of Augustus II was created the same year.[96] In 1705, Leszczyński was crowned Stanisław I of Poland and Lithuania, following which a Swedish–Polish treaty was signed; in practice, it subordinated the Commonwealth to Sweden both economically and militarily.[97]

August II resisted, still possessing control of his native Saxony, but was decisively defeated at the

breaking on the wheel in 1707, an incident which, given his diplomatic immunity, infuriated opinion against the Swedish king, who was then expected to win the war against the only hostile power remaining, Tsar Peter's Russia.[99]

1702–1710: Russia and the Baltic provinces

Main articles:
Pursuit of Krasnokutsk, Battle of Poltava, Siege of Riga (1709–1710), and Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia
Peter the Great assaults the island fortress of Nöteborg, which he renamed Shlisselburg, recognising it as the "key" to taking Ingria.
Decisive Russian victory at Poltava 1709

The

River Neva.[100] Thanks to General Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt, whose outnumbered forces fended the Russians off in the battles of Gemäuerthof and Jakobstadt
, Sweden was able to maintain control of most of its Baltic provinces. Before going to war, Peter had made preparations for a navy and a modern-style army, based primarily on infantry drilled in the use of firearms.

The Nyen fortress was soon abandoned and demolished by Peter, who built nearby a superior fortress as a beginning to the city of Saint Petersburg. By 1704, other fortresses were situated on the island of Kotlin and the sand flats to its south. These became known as Kronstadt and Kronslot.[100] The Swedes attempted a raid on the Neva fort on 13 July 1704 with ships and landing armies, but the Russian fortifications held. In 1705, repeated Swedish attacks were made against Russian fortifications in the area, to little effect. A major attack on 15 July 1705 ended in the deaths of more than 500 Swedish men, or a third of its forces.[101]

In view of continued failure to check Russian consolidation, and with declining manpower, Sweden opted to blockade Saint Petersburg in 1705. In the summer of 1706, Swedish General

Peter I led an army of 20,000 men in an attempt to take the Swedish town and fortress of Viborg. However, bad roads proved impassable to his heavy siege guns. The troops, who arrived on 12 October, therefore had to abandon the siege after only a few days. On 12 May 1708, a Russian galley fleet made a lightning raid on Borgå
and managed to return to Kronslot just one day before the Swedish battle fleet returned to the blockade, after being delayed by unfavourable winds.

In August 1708, a Swedish army of 12,000 men under General

Peter I took advantage of this by redeploying a large number of men from Ingria to Ukraine.[102]

Charles spent the years 1702–06 in a prolonged struggle with

Riga in June 1701 and took Warsaw the following year, but trying to force a decisive defeat proved elusive. Russia left Poland in the spring of 1706, abandoning artillery but escaping from the pursuing Swedes, who stopped at Pinsk.[103] Charles wanted not just to defeat the Commonwealth army but to depose Augustus, whom he regarded as especially treasonous, and have him replaced with someone who would be a Swedish ally, though this proved hard to achieve. After years of marches and fighting around Poland he finally had to invade Augustus' hereditary Saxony to take him out of the war.[98] In the treaty of Altranstädt (1706)
, Augustus was finally forced to step down from the Polish throne, but Charles had already lost the valuable advantage of time over his main enemy in the east, Peter I, who then had the time to recover and build up an army that was both new and better.

At this point, in 1707, Peter offered to return everything he had so far occupied (essentially Ingria) except Saint Petersburg and the line of the Neva,

to invade Russia. Though his primary goal was Moscow, the strength of his forces was sapped by the cold weather (the winter of 1708/09 being one of the most severe in modern European history)[105] and Peter's use of scorched earth tactics.[106] When the main army turned south to recover in Ukraine,[107] the second army with supplies and reinforcements was intercepted and routed at Lesnaya—and so were the supplies and reinforcements of Swedish ally Ivan Mazepa in Baturyn. Charles was crushingly defeated by a larger Russian force under Peter in the Battle of Poltava and fled to the Ottoman Empire while the remains of his army surrendered at Perevolochna.[108]

This shattering defeat in 1709 did not end the war, although it decided it. Denmark and Saxony joined the war again and Augustus the Strong, through the politics of Boris Kurakin, regained the Polish throne.[109] Peter continued his campaigns in the Baltics, and eventually he built up a powerful navy. In 1710 the Russian forces captured Riga,[110] at the time the most populated city in the Swedish realm, and Tallinn, evicting the Swedes from the Baltic provinces, now integrated in the Russian Tsardom by the capitulation of Estonia and Livonia.

Formation of a new anti-Swedish alliance

After Poltava, Peter the Great and Augustus the Strong allied again in the

Brandenburg-Prussia allied with Russia in the Treaty of Schwedt. George I of Great Britain and Hanover concluded three alliances in 1715: the Treaty of Berlin with Denmark–Norway, the Treaty of Stettin with Brandenburg-Prussia, and the Treaty of Greifswald
with Russia.

1709–1714: Ottoman Empire

Main articles:
Pruth Campaign and Skirmish at Bender

When his army surrendered, Charles XII of Sweden and a few soldiers escaped to

Pruth river. However, Peter managed to negotiate a retreat, making a few territorial concessions and promising to withdraw his forces from the Holy Roman Empire as well as allowing Charles's return to Sweden. These terms were laid out in the Treaty of Adrianople (1713). Charles showed no interest in returning, established a provisional court in his colony, and sought to persuade the sultan to engage in an Ottoman-Swedish assault on Russia. The sultan put an end to the generous hospitality granted and had the king arrested in what became known as the "kalabalik" in 1713. Charles was then confined at Timurtash and Demotika; later he abandoned his hopes for an Ottoman front and returned to Sweden in a 14-day ride.[111]

1710–1721: Finland

Main articles:
The Great Wrath, and Battle of Grengam
Battle of Gangut (Hanko)[112]

The war between Russia and Sweden continued after the disaster of

Kymijoki river using scorched earth tactics. Apraksin's forces reached the river but chose not to cross it and instead withdrew back to Viborg, likely due to problems in supply.[114] Swedish efforts to maintain their defences were greatly hampered by the drain of manpower by the continental army and various garrisons around the Baltic Sea as well as by the plague outbreak that struck Finland and Sweden between 1710 and 1713, which devastated the land killing, amongst others, over half of the population of Helsingfors (Helsinki).[115]

The final days of the siege of Viborg, by Alexei Rostovtsev

After the failure of 1712, Peter the Great ordered that further campaigns in war-ravaged regions of Finland with poor transportation networks were to be performed along the coastline and the seaways near the coast. Alarmed by the Russian preparations Lybecker requested naval units to be brought in as soon as possible in the spring of 1713. However, like so often, Swedish naval units arrived only after the initial Russian spring campaign had ended.[116] Nominally under the command of Apraksin, but accompanied by Peter the Great, a fleet of coastal ships together with 12,000 men—infantry and artillery—began the campaign by sailing from Kronstadt on 2 May 1713; a further 4,000 cavalry were later sent overland to join with the army. The fleet had already arrived at Helsinki on 8 May and were met by 1,800 Swedish infantry under General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt, which started the Battle of Helsinki.[117] Together with rowers from the ships the Russians had 20,000 men at their disposal even without the cavalry. The defenders, however, managed to fend off landing attempts by the attackers until the Russians landed at their flank at Sandviken, which forced Armfelt to retire towards Porvoo (Borgå) after setting afire both the town and all the supplies stored there as well as bridges leading north from the town. It was only on 12 May that a Swedish squadron under Admiral Erik Johan Lillie made it to Helsinki but there was nothing it could do.[118]

The bulk of the Russian forces moved along the coast towards Borgå and the forces of Lybecker, whom Armfelt had joined. On 21–22 May 1713 a Russian force of 10,000 men landed at Pernå (Pernaja) and constructed fortifications there. Large stores of supplies and munitions were transported from Viborg and Saint Petersburg to the new base of operations. Russian cavalry managed to link up with the rest of the army there as well. Lybecker's army of 7000 infantry and 3000 cavalry avoided contact with the Russians and instead kept withdrawing further inland without even contesting the control of Borgå region or the important coastal road between Helsinki (Helsingfors) and Turku (Åbo). This also severed the contact between Swedish fleet and ground forces and prevented Swedish naval units from supplying it. Soldiers in the Swedish army fighting in Finland resented being repeatedly ordered to withdraw without even seeing the enemy. Lybecker was soon recalled to Stockholm for a hearing and Armfelt was ordered to the command of the army. Under his command the army in Finland stopped to engage the advancing Russians at Pälkäne in October 1713, where a Russian flanking manoeuvre forced him to withdraw to avoid getting encircled. The armies met again later at Napue in February 1714, where the Russians won a decisive victory.[119]

In 1714, far greater Swedish naval assets were diverted towards Finland, which managed to cut the coastal sea route past

Great Wrath.[120]

1710–1716: Sweden and Northern Germany

Main articles:
Landing on Groß Stresow
Danish town of Altona burned down by Magnus Stenbock in 1713. Russian forces retaliated by burning down the Swedish town of Wolgast in the same year.

In 1710, the Swedish army in Poland retreated to Swedish Pomerania, pursued by the coalition. In 1711, siege was laid to Stralsund. Yet the town could not be taken due to the arrival of a Swedish relief army, led by general Magnus Stenbock, which secured the Pomeranian pocket before turning west to defeat an allied army in the Battle of Gadebusch. Pursued by coalition forces, Stenbock and his army was trapped and surrendered during the Siege of Tönning.[121]

In 1714, Charles XII returned from the Ottoman Empire, arriving in

escaping only days before Stralsund fell. When Wismar surrendered in 1716, all of Sweden's Baltic and German possessions were lost.[124]

1715–1721: Intervention of the Maritime Powers

George I, king of Great Britain and elector of Hanover

As Sweden prohibited merchants from trading with Swedish ports occupied by Russia, 107 ships of varying nationalities were seized by licensed Swedish privateers between 1710 and June 1714. The resulting damage to trade compelled the Dutch and British navies to send a squadron each into the Baltic Sea in 1715 to protect their merchants; George I's pro-war lobby also hoped this would draw Britain into an open war against Sweden for Hanoverian interests. Charles XII ordered the privateers to avoid engaging the Dutch and British warships, allowing their merchants as well as three battleships purchased by Russia safe passage.[125][126] With the fleet returning home for winter, a squadron of eight British ships were left to operate with the Danes until the fall of Stralsund.[127] New naval squadrons were sent in 1716 with British instructions to defend Danish Zealand from Swedish attacks and to protect the planned allied invasion of Scania. The combined fleets initiated a loose blockade of the Swedish Karlskrona Naval Base, while the Dutch warships escorted the merchants. The invasion was, however, cancelled due to rising distrust among the allies and the Swedish coastline-defense which Peter I deemed too risky to attack.[128][129][130]

The continued Swedish threat and their presumed support for the Jacobite cause prompted an even more aggressive stance in 1717,[g] with Britain proclaiming a prohibition of Swedish trade.[133] A new British squadron of 36 warships (25 battleships) and several smaller vessels commanded by George Byng was sent in April with instructions to capture or destroy any Swedish ships they might encounter, and to enforce the trade blockade; the Dutch, on the other hand, refused to get involved as to not risk their trade. The Swedish fleets were driven into- and blockaded at the ports of Gothenburg and Karlskrona, whose formidable defenses deterred the allies from a direct attack. Many privateers were hunted down and captured, as was a large Swedish frigate after an attack by two larger British ships. Fruitless attempts were also made to prevent trade to Sweden from Danzig, Lübeck and other neutral German ports. Charles XII, who remained unprovoked despite the clear acts of war, left the British fleet out on a limb by simply not answering; with mounting operational costs, it was quickly reduced in size and eventually returned home by November.[134][135] The following year a new squadron of ten ships was sent under John Norris (who had also commanded in 1715 and 1716) and the Swedish ports were once again blockaded.[136]

As Charles XII was killed in Norway in November 1718, bringing an abrupt end to any peace talks with Russia, his successor Ulrika Eleonora opened up for negotiations with Britain in search for allies. By now, the view of Russia as an aggressive and expansive naval power had grown stronger in the British parliament. Sweden revoked the decree that allowed Swedish privateers to attack merchants, while Britain ceased to blockade Swedish ports. With the Treaties of Stockholm, the two nations returned to the terms of the friendship pact of 1700.[137][138][139] Over the next years, British squadrons once again sailed into the Baltic, now with instructions to work alongside Sweden's fleet to defend its coast and encourage Russia to negotiate; in 1719, it included 17 battleships with additional smaller vessels. Russia and Britain came close to open war, but their commerce continued until peace between Russia and Sweden was finally signed in 1721.[129][140][141]

1716–1718: Norway

Main articles:
Great Northern War and Norway, Siege of Fredriksten, and Carolean Death March
Representation of Charles XII of Sweden, shot dead during the Siege of Fredriksten in 1718

After Charles XII had returned from the Ottoman Empire and resumed personal control of the war effort, he initiated two

Norwegian Campaigns, starting in February 1716, to force Denmark–Norway into a separate peace treaty. Furthermore, he attempted to bar Great Britain access to the Baltic Sea. In search for allies, Charles XII also negotiated with British Jacobites. The Norwegian campaigns were halted and the army withdrawn when Charles XII was shot dead while besieging Norwegian Fredriksten on 30 November 1718 (OS). He was succeeded by his sister, Ulrika Eleonora.[142]

1719–1721: Sweden

Main article: Russian Pillage of 1719–1721
The Battle of Grengam. A 1721 etching by Alexey Zubov.

After the death of Charles XII, Sweden still refused to make peace with Russia on Peter's terms. Despite a continued Swedish naval presence and strong patrols to protect the coast, small Russian raids took place in 1716 at Öregrund, while in July 1717 a Russian squadron landed troops at Gotland who raided for supplies. To place pressure on Sweden, Russia sent a large fleet to the Swedish east coast in July 1719. There, under protection of the Russian battlefleet, the Russian galley fleet was split into three groups. One group headed for the coast of Uppland, the second to the vicinity of Stockholm, and the last to coast of Södermanland. Together they carried a landing force of nearly 30,000 men. Raiding continued for a month and devastated amongst others the towns of Norrtälje, Södertälje, Nyköping, and Norrköping, and almost all the buildings in the archipelago of Stockholm were burned. A smaller Russian force advanced on the Swedish capital but was stopped at the Battle of Stäket on 13 August. Swedish and British fleets, now allied with Sweden, sailed from the west coast of Sweden but failed to catch the raiders.[143]

After the Treaty of Frederiksborg in early 1720, Sweden was no longer at war with Denmark, which allowed more forces to be placed against the Russians. This did not prevent Russian galleys from raiding the town of Umeå once again. Later, in July 1720, a squadron from the Swedish battlefleet engaged the Russian galley fleet in the Battle of Grengam. While the result of the battle is contested, it ended Russian galley raids in 1720. As negotiations for peace did not progress, the Russian galleys were once again sent to raid the Swedish coast in 1721, targeting primarily the Swedish coast between Gävle and Piteå.[144]

Peace

Main articles: Treaty of Frederiksborg, Treaties of Stockholm (Great Northern War), and Treaty of Nystad
Campaigns and territorial changes 1700–1709 (left) and 1709–1721 (right)

By the time of Charles XII's death, the anti-Swedish allies became increasingly divided on how to fill the power gap left behind by the defeated and retreating Swedish armies. George I and Frederik IV both coveted hegemony in northern Germany, while Augustus the Strong was concerned about the ambitions of Frederick William I on the southeastern Baltic coast. Peter the Great, whose forces were spread all around the Baltic Sea, envisioned hegemony in East Central Europe and sought to establish naval bases as far west as Mecklenburg. In January 1719, George I, Augustus and emperor Charles VI concluded a treaty in Vienna [no] aimed at reducing Russia's frontiers to the pre-war limits.[142]

Hanover-Great Britain and Brandenburg-Prussia thereupon negotiated separate peace treaties with Sweden, the treaties of Stockholm in 1719 and early 1720, which partitioned Sweden's northern German dominions among the parties. The negotiations were mediated by French diplomats, who sought to prevent a complete collapse of Sweden's position on the southern Baltic coast and assured that Sweden was to retain Wismar and northern Swedish Pomerania. Hanover gained Swedish Bremen-Verden, while Brandenburg-Prussia incorporated southern Swedish Pomerania.[138] In addition to the rivalries in the anti-Swedish coalition, there was an inner-Swedish rivalry between Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and Frederick I of Hesse-Cassel for the Swedish throne. The Gottorp party succumbed and Ulrike Eleonora, wife of Frederick I, transferred power to her husband in May 1720. When peace was concluded with Denmark, the anti-Swedish coalition had already fallen apart, and Denmark was not in a military position to negotiate a return of its former eastern provinces across the sound. Frederick I was, however, willing to cede Swedish support for his rival in Holstein-Gottorp, which came under Danish control with its northern part annexed, and furthermore cede the Swedish privilege of exemption from the Sound Dues. A respective treaty was concluded in Frederiksborg in June 1720.[138]

When Sweden finally was at peace with Hanover, Great Britain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark–Norway, it hoped that the anti-Russian sentiments of the Vienna parties and France would culminate in an alliance that would restore its Russian-occupied eastern provinces. Yet, primarily due to internal conflicts in Great Britain and France, that did not happen. Therefore, the war was finally concluded by the Treaty of Nystad between Russia and Sweden in Uusikaupunki (Nystad) on 30 August 1721 (OS). Finland was returned to Sweden, while the majority of Russia's conquests (Swedish Estonia, Livonia, Ingria, Kexholm and a portion of Karelia) were ceded to the tsardom.[145] Sweden's dissatisfaction with the result led to fruitless attempts at recovering the lost territories in the course of the following century, such as the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743, and the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790.[138]

Saxe-Poland-Lithuania and Sweden did not conclude a formal peace treaty; instead, they renewed the

Second Northern War in 1660.[146]

Sweden had lost almost all of its "overseas" holdings gained in the 17th century and ceased to be a major power. Russia gained its Baltic territories and became one of the great powers of Europe.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^
    Frederik III of Denmark-Norway
  1. ^ a b The Commonwealth was initially not at war with Sweden. In 1701, however, Charles XII occupied the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a Polish vassal state. In 1702, he invaded the Commonwealth, resulting in the creation of a confederacy against the Swedes. In 1704, the Swedish-led Warsaw Confederation was formed which declared Stanisław Leszczyński king. A Polish civil war began as supporters of Augustus II responded with the Sandomierz Confederation that same year, declaring war on Sweden. When Leszczyński was crowned king in 1705, he allied Poland with Sweden by the treaty of Warsaw. Augustus II admitted defeat in 1706 by the treaty of Altranstädt, renouncing the Polish Crown; anti-Leszczyński elements in the Commonwealth fought on until his return following the decisive Swedish defeat at Poltava in 1709.[1][2] A formal Swedish-Polish peace treaty was not concluded until 1732, resulting in status quo ante bellum.[3]
  2. ^ a b The Cossack Hetmanate, often collectively referring to the Cossacks on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnieper and the largely autonomous Zaporozhian Cossacks, was a Russian protectorate under Hetman Ivan Mazepa.[4] In October 1708, as the Swedish Army advanced into the Hetmanate, Mazepa defected to Charles XII with several thousand followers.[5] A civil war ensued when the Russians and their loyal Cossacks elected a new hetman, Ivan Skoropadsky, whose puppet rule saw reduced Cossack autonomy.[6] Cossack leader Paliy was previously slandered and sent into exile by Mazepa, before Peter I returned him from exile due to Paliy's popularity among the Cossacks, proving helpful in a fight against Mazepa at Poltava in 1709.[7] When Mazepa died in the Ottoman Empire after the defeat at Poltava, Pylyp Orlyk was chosen in 1710 as the new hetman in exile. He launched several campaigns against the Russians and their Cossack allies but was ultimately defeated and went into permanent exile in 1714.[8]
  3. ^ While Saxony's active participation in the Great Northern War ended in 1717,[9] a formal Swedish-Saxon peace treaty was not concluded until 1729, resulting in status quo ante bellum.[3]
  4. ^ Sweden suffered at least 200,000 deaths, of which 120,000 were allotted soldiers, and 80,000 mercenaries, artillerists and navy-personnel from Sweden proper as well as its overseas territories.[28] Other estimates include at least 50,000 men dead from the overseas territories, and 200,000 from Sweden proper,[29] including 40,000[30] to 50,000 Finns; of these, 170,000 were from the army and 20,000 navy-personnel, while 15,000 were officers and NCOs.[31] Losses for Sweden's allies are unknown.
  5. ^ The Russian Army lost c. 300,000 military personnel in the war,[32][33][34] 30,000 to 40,000 of which died as a result of combat (out of some 120,000 killed, wounded and shell-shocked).[35][36] Saxony lost up to 40,000 men prior to 1707,[37] while its losses after 1709 are unknown. Denmark–Norway lost up to 60,000 men from 1709 to 1719,[38] while its losses in 1700 are unknown. Losses for their remaining allies are unknown.
  6. ^ It is probable that more than a million people died in the Great Northern War,[39] with Sweden alone suffering 350,000 deaths on a population of 2,500,000, including overseas territories.[40] The population of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was reduced to 6,500,000 by 1720, from 8,000,000 before the war.[41] An estimated 400,000 soldiers and civilians on both sides died in the war from direct war-related violence.[42]
  7. ^ According to Frost, Britain declared war on Sweden in 1717.[131] Grainger, on the other hand, states that Britain declared no formal war but conducted acts of war.[132]

Citations

  1. ^ Markiewicz 2001, pp. 176–178.
  2. ^ Frost 2000, pp. 263–271.
  3. ^ a b Ullgren 2008, p. 324.
  4. ^ Shamenkov 2015, p. 64.
  5. ^ Magocsi 2010, pp. 259–260.
  6. ^ Magocsi 2010, pp. 20, 260–262.
  7. ^ Д. Ю. Степанов. ПАЛИЙ СЕМЁН ФИЛИППОВИЧ [PALIY SEMYON FILIPPOVICH]. old.bigenc.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  8. ^ Magocsi 2010, pp. 262–263.
  9. ^ a b c Querengässer 2015, p. 254.
  10. ^ a b Silfverstolpe 1864, p. 151.
  11. ^ a b Glete 2010, p. 206.
  12. ^ a b Glete 2010, p. 429.
  13. ^ a b Generalstaben 1900, p. 270.
  14. ^ a b Dorrell 2009, p. 52.
  15. ^ a b Dorrell 2009, pp. 133, 156, 177.
  16. ^ a b Stone 2001, p. 256.
  17. ^ a b Pintner 1978, p. 29.
  18. ^ a b Black 1991, p. 28.
  19. ^ a b Dudink & Hagemann 2020, p. 51.
  20. ^ Glete 2010, p. 433.
  21. ^ a b c d Гришинский, Никольский & Кладо 1911, p. 176.
  22. ^ a b Dorrell 2009, p. 40.
  23. ^ a b Generalstaben 1920, pp. 226–229.
  24. ^ a b Generalstaben 1927, p. 61.
  25. ^ a b Stone 1983, p. 62.
  26. ^ a b Summerfield 2015, p. 254.
  27. ^ a b Martinsson 2015, p. 134.
  28. ^ Silfverstolpe 1864, pp. 153–154.
  29. ^ Höglund & Sallnäs 2000, p. 20.
  30. ^ Keskisarja 2019, p. 244.
  31. ^ Ullgren 2008, p. 326.
  32. ^ Lieven 2006, p. 537.
  33. ^ Krinko 2019, p. 292.
  34. ISBN 5-7055-0864-6
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  35. ^ Урланис 1960, pp. 54–55.
  36. ^ Fuller 1992, p. 49.
  37. ^ a b Höglund, Sallnäs & Bespalov 2006, p. 51.
  38. ^ Lindegren 1995, pp. 11–50.
  39. ^ Gasper 2012, p. 52.
  40. ^ Clodfelter 2017, p. 90.
  41. ^ Markiewicz 2001, p. 181.
  42. ^ Mackenbach 2020, p. 358.
  43. ISBN 978-1-911512-88-2
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  44. ^ a b Gosse 1911, p. 206.
  45. ^ Gosse 1911, p. 216.
  46. ^ Richard Brzezinski. Lützen 1632: Climax of the Thirty Years' War. Osprey Publishing, 2001. p. 19
  47. ^ a b Chandler 1990, p. 66.
  48. ^ a b Kennedy 1988, p. 99.
  49. ^ Martinsson 2015, pp. 133–134, 139.
  50. ^ Nolan 2008, p. 369.
  51. ^ a b Glete 2010, p. 427.
  52. ^ Glete 2010, pp. 429–430.
  53. ^ Kling 2015, pp. 42–43.
  54. ^ Martinsson 2015, p. 133.
  55. ^ Generalstaben 1900, p. 185.
  56. ^ a b Anderson 2014, p. 96.
  57. ^ Frost 2000, pp. 240–241.
  58. ^ a b Riasanovsky 1984, p. 229.
  59. ^ Glete 2010, p. 215.
  60. ^ Glete 2010, pp. 433–434.
  61. ^ Frost 2000, p. 240.
  62. ^ Generalstaben 1900, p. 186.
  63. ^ Generalstaben 1900, pp. 182–183.
  64. ^ Beust 1803, p. 250.
  65. ^ Querengässer 2015, p. 253.
  66. ^ Generalstaben 1900, pp. 99, 147.
  67. ^ Generalstaben 1900, pp. 482–483.
  68. ^ Generalstaben 1903, pp. 52–61, 85.
  69. ^ Generalstaben 1903, pp. 94–97.
  70. ^ Glete 2010, pp. 429, 433.
  71. ^ Frost 2000, pp. 264, 268.
  72. ^ Paradowski 2015, p. 99.
  73. ^ Frost 2000, p. 266.
  74. ^ Frost 2000, pp. 248, 264.
  75. ^ a b Ladewig-Petersen, E. (1999). "Nyt om trediveårskrigen." Historisk Tidsskrift., p. 101.
  76. ^ Petersen, Nikolaj Pilgård (2002). Hærstørrelse og fortifikationsudvikling i Danmark-Norge 1500–1720. Aarhus universitet: Universitetsspeciale i historie, pp. 11, 43–44.
  77. ^ a b c d Parker, Geoffrey (1976). "The 'Military Revolution', 1560–1660 – a myth?". Journal of modern history, vol. 48, p. 206.
  78. ^ "Population of Germany." Tacitus.nu. Archived 28 June 2004 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2016
  79. ^ Craig, Gordon A. (1964). The Politics of the Prussian Army: 1640–1945. London: Oxford University Press, p. 7.
  80. ^ "Population of Central Europe." Tacitus.nu. Archived 12 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2016
  81. ^ Nolan, Cathal J. (2008), Wars of the Age of Louis XIV, 1650–1715. London: Greenwood Press, pp. 368–369.
  82. ^ "Population of Eastern Europe." Tacitus.nu. Archived 8 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2016
  83. ^ "Population of the British Isles." Tacitus.nu. Archived 2 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2016
  84. ^ "The Netherlands." Population statistics. Archived 26 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2016
  85. ^ a b Glete, Jan (2002). War and the State in Early Modern Europe. London : Routledge, p. 156.
  86. ^ a b "Population of Western Europe." Tacitus.nu. Archived 1 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2016
  87. ^ a b Hochedlinger, Michael (2003). Austria's Wars of Emergence, 1683–1797. London: Routledge, pp. 26, 102.
  88. ^ "Population of Eastern Balkans." Tacitus.nu. Archived 4 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2016
  89. ^ Ágoston, Gabor (2010), "Ottoman-Habsburg rivalry and military transformation." In: Tallet, Frank & Trim, D.B.J. (eds.). European Warfare, 1350–1750. Cambridge University Press, p. 128.
  90. ^ Frost 2000, pp. 227–229.
  91. ^ a b Kling 2015, pp. 41–42.
  92. ^ a b Frost 2000, p. 229.
  93. ^ Frost 2000, p. 230.
  94. ^ Gosse 1911, p. 205.
  95. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 694.
  96. ^ Frost 2000, pp. 267–268.
  97. ^ Markiewicz 2001, p. 177.
  98. ^ a b Tucker 2010, p. 701.
  99. ^ Frost 2000, pp. 230, 263ff.
  100. ^ a b Tucker 2010, p. 691.
  101. ^ Mattila (1983), pp. 10–19.
  102. ^ Mattila (1983), pp. 20–27.
  103. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 700.
  104. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 703.
  105. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 707.
  106. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 704.
  107. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 706.
  108. ^ Frost 2000, pp. 231, 286ff.
  109. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 710.
  110. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 711.
  111. ^ Petersen (2007), pp. 268–272, 275; Bengtsson (1960), pp. 393ff, 409ff, 420–445
  112. ^ The Russian Victory at Gangut (Hanko), 1714 by Maurice Baquoi, etched 1724
  113. ^ Mattila (1983), pp. 27–31.
  114. ^ Mattila (1983), pp. 32–33.
  115. ^ Mattila (1983), p. 30.
  116. ^ Mattila (1983), p. 33.
  117. ISBN 978-952-222-675-4
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  118. ^ Mattila (1983), pp. 33–35.
  119. ^ Mattila (1983), p. 35.
  120. ^ Mattila (1983), pp. 38–46.
  121. ^ Wilson 1998, p. 140
  122. ^ Torke 2005, p. 165
  123. ^ Meier 2008, p. 23
  124. ^ North 2008, p. 53
  125. ^ MacDougall 2022, pp. 48–50.
  126. ^ Grainger 2014, pp. 82–86, 94.
  127. ^ Grainger 2014, pp. 87–88.
  128. ^ MacDougall 2022, pp. 50–52.
  129. ^ a b Anderson 2016, p. 214.
  130. ^ Grainger 2014, pp. 91–93.
  131. ^ Frost 2000, p. 295.
  132. ^ Grainger 2014, pp. 99, 105, 118–119.
  133. ^ Grainger 2014, pp. 94–96.
  134. ^ MacDougall 2022, p. 52.
  135. ^ Grainger 2014, pp. 95–100.
  136. ^ Grainger 2014, pp. 101–103.
  137. ^ MacDougall 2022, pp. 53–56.
  138. ^ a b c d Frost 2000, p. 296.
  139. ^ Grainger 2014, p. 104.
  140. ^ MacDougall 2022, pp. 56–57.
  141. ^ Grainger 2014, pp. 105–115, 119.
  142. ^ a b Frost 2000, pp. 295–296.
  143. ^ Mattila (1983), p. 47.
  144. ^ Mattila (1983), pp. 48–51.
  145. ^ Rambaud, Arthur (1890). Recueil des instructions données aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France depuis les traités de Westphalie jusqu'à la Révolution française. Paris: Ancienne Librairie Germer Baillière et Cie. p. 232.
  146. ^ Donnert 1997, p. 510

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Bain, R. Nisbet. Charles XII and the Collapse of the Swedish Empire, 1682–1719 (1899) online
  • Englund, Peter. Battle That Shook Europe: Poltava & the Birth of the Russian Empire (2003)
  • Hatton, Ragnhild M. "Charles XII and the Great Northern War." in J.S. Bromley, ed., New Cambridge Modern History VI: The Rise of Great Britain and Russia 1688–1725 (1970) pp 648–80.
  • Lisk, Jill. The struggle for supremacy in the Baltic, 1600–1725 (1968).
  • Lunde, Henrik O. A Warrior Dynasty: The Rise and Decline of Sweden as a Military Superpower (Casemate, 2014).
  • McKay, Derek, and H. M. Scott. The Rise of the Great Powers 1648–1815 (1983) pp 77–93.
  • Moulton, James R. Peter the Great and the Russian Military Campaigns During the Final Years of the Great Northern War, 1719–1721 (University Press of America, 2005).
  • Oakley, Stewart P. War and Peace in the Baltic, 1560–1790 (Routledge, 2005).
  • Sumner, B. H. (1951). Peter the Great and the Emergence of Russia. The English Universities Press Ltd.
  • Stiles, Andrina. Sweden and the Baltic 1523–1721 (Hodder & Stoughton, 1992).
  • Wilson, Derek. "Poltava: The battle that changed the world." History Today 59.3 (2009): 23.

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