July 10 - Day of Military Glory, dedicated to the great victory of Peter I over the Swedes in the Battle of Poltava
The Battle of Poltava, which took place on June 27 (July 8), 1709, is the key battle of the Northern War of 1700-1721. The defeat by the Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter the Great of the army of the Swedish king Charles XII made it possible to turn the tide of the war in favor of Russia and lay the foundation for further victories, as a result of which our country gained access to the Baltic Sea and became an empire.
North War
Before the Poltava Victoria, Russia was actually losing the war with Sweden. The allies of Russia in the person of Denmark and the Saxon Elector and the Polish king August II turned out to be extremely unreliable. To withdraw Denmark from the war, the Swedes needed only one demonstration of serious military force near Copenhagen, and August II, after a series of serious military and political defeats that deprived him of the Polish table, signed a separate peace with Charles XII.
As a result, by 1707 Russia was left face to face with the significantly strengthened Sweden.
Despite a number of victories won by Russian troops in Ingermanland, Estland and Livonia, which made possible the founding of St. Petersburg in 1703, the specter of a heavy defeat at Narva continued to wander over Russia and its army, especially after Charles XII in 1707 brought down all his forces on the young state of Peter, hoping to quickly seize it, dismember and deprive it of statehood.
Promotional video:
Charles XII goes to Russia
The threat hanging over Russia caused a wide popular upsurge. Throughout 1707, the country was strenuously preparing for defense in the face of an imminent invasion from the enemy. Pskov, Novgorod, Smolensk, Bryansk, Kiev and other border towns were turned into impregnable fortresses. Moscow and, of course, St. Petersburg, recently recaptured from the Swedes at the mouth of the Neva, were also preparing for defense.
In the next 1708, the Swedish army, led personally by King Charles XII, defeated the Russian army at Golovchin near Mogilev, crossed the Dnieper and invaded the Russian state.
However, the approaching autumn and widespread popular resistance of the inhabitants of Belarus to the Swedish invaders forced Charles XII to turn to Little Russia, rich in bread, whose hetman Ivan Mazepa had already conducted a secret correspondence with the Swedish king, promising that he would go over to his side and all possible assistance.
Mother of Poltava Victoria
However, the betrayal of Mazepa, whom Peter I trusted very much, did not bring the Swedes either a quiet wintering or full and timely provision of food, fodder and ammunition. The bulk of the Zaporozhye Cossacks did not take the side of the traitor. On September 28, 1708, the Russian army, led personally by Peter I, defeated the Swedish corps of Levengaupt near the village of Lesnoy, which was heading from the Baltic states to join the main forces of Charles XII. The sovereign himself later called the battle at Lesnaya "the mother of Poltava Victoria". The huge convoy with a supply of food for several months and military supplies fell entirely into the hands of the Russians. As a result, wintering in Little Russia caused a huge number of problems for the Swedes. As a result of famine, epidemics and clashes with both regular and irregular Russian troops,the Swedish army had lost up to a third of its strength by the spring of 1709.
Engraving by F. Simon “ Battle of Poltava ”. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Hooray! We break, the Swedes bend …
In April 1709 Charles XII begins the siege of Poltava. Despite the fact that Poltava was not a powerful fortress and did not have serious fortifications, the city's garrison, headed by Colonel Alexei Kelin, managed to hold the city for two and a half months and repulse the assaults from the enemy. At the end of May, the main forces of the Russian army, led by Peter I and his closest associates Boris Sheremetev and Alexander Menshikov, came to the aid of the besieged. At the council of war, Peter I decided to give a general battle to the enemy.
On June 20, 1709, the Russian army crossed the Vorskla River and set up a fortified camp near the village of Semenovka, about eight versts north of Poltava. On June 25, Peter I moved his camp a couple of miles closer to the city, to the area of the village of Yakovtsy. Redoubts were erected on the path of a possible enemy offensive in a very short time, with the attack on which from the Swedes began the battle.
Shortly before dawn on June 27, 1709, Swedish infantry and cavalry, led by General Karl Roos, attacked the Russian redoubts, occupying two unfinished forward fortifications. However, in a meeting battle with Menshikov's cavalry, the Swedes were defeated, were pushed back to the Yakovetsky forest and forced to surrender.
After this unfortunate episode, the Swedes lost the initiative. A new attack followed only three hours later. At some point, the Swedes managed to break through the Russian system, strongly pushing one of the battalions of the Novgorod regiment. Then Peter I personally led the counterattack of the Novgorodians and restored the situation.
The fierce battle lasted for about two hours. By 11 o'clock in the morning, the Swedes wavered and began a retreat, which then turned into a flight. In the battle of Poltava, over 9000 Swedish soldiers died, and more than 2900, including Field Marshal Renschild, Generals Roos, Schlippenbach and Hamilton, were captured. Charles XII himself miraculously managed to escape. Together with his confidants and traitor Mazepa, he fled to Bendery (at that time the territory of the Ottoman Empire). Three days later, on June 30, the remnants of the Swedish army led by Levengaupt were overtaken by Menshikov's cavalry while crossing the Dnieper at Perevolochna and surrendered.
Russia becomes an empire
The victory at Poltava completely changed the geopolitical map of Europe at that time. Denmark and Saxony again declared war on Sweden, which had abruptly lost its power, and Russia took control of the Baltic states and then transferred the hostilities to Finland, which made it possible to eliminate the threat to St. Petersburg, which became the Russian capital in 1712.
According to the results of the Nystadt Peace, concluded in 1721, Ingermanlandia, the Swedish part of Karelia, Estland and Livonia were annexed to Russia.
Thus, thanks to the victory at Poltava, Russia entered its golden imperial era.
Dmitry Pavlenko