Russia and Sweden competed for hegemony, the Ottomans intervened, and the tsar abdicated in despair
The ambition of Peter I gave impetus to the rise of the **. For the sake of the country's strength, he personally went to Europe to study and travel as an ordinary soldier. During his years in Europe, he not only learned advanced science and technology, but also established contacts with European countries.
At that time, it was threatened by the Nordic hegemon Sweden, lacked access to the sea and could not develop normally.
When Peter I returned from school, he was determined to build a powerful artillery and navy. He competed against Sweden, but it was full of challenges and obstacles. Peter even caught fire for the sake of his country** and almost fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
However, it was at this critical juncture that Peter's wife, at the cost of money, saved the fate of the country. This whole process is worth savoring and reflecting on.
In the 1700-1721 Russian-Swedish struggle for supremacy, the first meeting ended in a fiasco. Peter I, a man returning from studying in Europe, suddenly became confident that he was going to advance west to retake several areas that had been forcibly occupied by Sweden in 1616.
Peter was convinced that having learned the advanced ideas and science and technology of the West, he could easily defeat Sweden and then open a permanent outlet to the sea in the Baltic.
However, the news reached the ears of King Charles XII of Sweden, who did not panic. He knew that Russia had always had such thoughts, and he also knew that Peter went to Europe twice, not only to study science and technology, but also to persuade some European countries to unite against Sweden.
Charles XII was ready.
After the Thirty Years' War, Sweden dominated Northern Europe, controlling Livonia and other territories on the European continent, and occupying the Baltic Sea. Russia, Denmark and Poland formed an anti-Swedish alliance to resist Swedish hegemony.
At the same time, Peter I also wanted to seize an outlet to the sea, to settle all feuds. Charles XII, having heard the news that the Triple Alliance was going to attack Sweden, moved ahead of schedule.
In August, when Peter I gathered his army, Charles XII had already defeated Denmark, and King Frederick IV of Denmark sent 200,000 silver coins to Sweden to appease the anger of the Swedish king in order to prevent the fall of the capital.
On the Northern Front, the 75-year-old veteran general of Sweden, Eric, defeated Augusta II of Poland near Livonia Riga. Peter went to the rescue of Augustus II, but was instead flanked by Charles XII.
Peter I had his first taste of defeat in May of that year, and in the face of a flanked attack, he chose to flee in makeup, leaving a prince alone. Finally, on November 20, 1700, 40,000 Russian troops were defeated by 8,000 elite Swedish troops, and Peter I, who retreated to Moscow, was disgraced.
Charles XII faced a dilemma: march into Moscow, where supplies could be affected and risks increased; Attacking Warsaw, Poland first, could quickly regain territory and prop up a new king.
In the end, Charles XII chose the latter, conquered Warsaw in just six months, supported the new Polish king, and became one of the greatest kings of Europe in 1704. However, stubborn ** people will not give in easily, and Peter I is gathering strength to prepare**.
From 1698 onwards, Peter I continued to train recruits, build ships and buy **, and even ordered the dissolution of the forbidden army, led by the nobility, and the reorganization of the standing army.
Thanks to the hukou system and census techniques left behind by the Mongols, the soldiers were quickly assembled. Peter I considered the Russian artillery too weak and ordered all the bells of churches and monasteries to be collected and cast into cannons.
Half a year later, 300 cannons were successfully delivered, and the artillery school also trained artillerymen who were good at using new technologies to train artillery. Peter I himself, was a good gunner.
In the autumn of 1703, King Charles XII of Sweden was attacking Poland while Peter the Great of Russia was marching westward. Using the latest army and artillery units, he achieved several victories and even brought the Russian army to the mouth of the Baltic Sea.
However, Peter the Great did not intend to make Petersburg the new capital of Russia, but only wanted to use it to pin down Sweden in order to gain a convenient outlet to the sea. He ordered the soldiers to establish Petersburg on the coast and use it as a base to create a long supply line.
In the autumn of the following year, Peter the Great ordered his troops to cross the Neva River and successfully capture a Swedish city. He knew that these new troops were full of anger, so he allowed them to let that emotion unleash.
As a result, the soldiers went on a killing spree in the town, until Peter the Great personally shot 12 of his own soldiers, and this ** was stopped. During this time, Charles XII was in Poland to deal with internal affairs.
The transfer of power in Poland went smoothly, and the new king, Leshczynski, submitted to Charles XII and promised to withdraw from the Triple Alliance. So Peter the Great fought against Charles XII alone.
Peter was faced with a difficult task, he appealed to Britain for help, hoping that Britain would intervene and mediate, but his request was rejected by the British***. Subsequently, the ambassador of ** continued to lobby in the United Kingdom, hoping to get help from the United Kingdom.
However, the British offered conditions that were unacceptable to **, and they only wanted one of Kiev, Vladimir and Siberia. Peter rejected this condition and decided to fight Sweden alone.
In 1707, the War of the Spanish Succession was raging in Europe, and the situation on the front was tense, and no one could help but was afraid of Peter. Compared to Sweden, an ally of 80 years ago, Europe is reluctant to get too close to Russia.
In the second encounter, the Russian army used an empty city, and the Swedish army encountered severe cold. In January 1708, Charles XII again led the 450,000 troops, crossed Poland and stormed Moscow directly.
Peter after careful consideration decided not to go head-to-head with the Swedish army, but to use the retreat tactic of "fleeing and hiding grain". On January 26, in Grodno, in the north of Russia, the Swedish army had just arrived, and seeing the fresh footprints of the city, it was concluded that Peter had just left, and this trick worked so well that Charles pounced several times.
In Ukraine, to the south, however, a Cossack chieftain appointed by Peter ostensibly agreed to Peter, but secretly cooperated with Sweden to encircle Moscow at the behest of Charlie.
From the beginning of the year to the winter of this year, the Cossack chieftain did not wait for news from Charlie. Charles searched the north of Russia for a long time, but could not find Peter I's army and fought a decisive battle.
On the contrary, Sweden's 4The army of 50,000 is sinking into the quagmire step by step. Having penetrated too deep into Russian territory, the Swedish army lost supplies. Charlie also did not think of asking the logistics army in Sweden to send supplies, but when the supplies were delivered to the port of Riga, they were intercepted by the Russian army.
Charlie frowned for a moment. What worries Charles even more is that Peter I learned of the defection of the Cossack chieftain in the middle of the year, so he sent a crack army to attack the nest of the Cossack tribe.
The chief fled in a hurry and joined Charles XII ahead of schedule. The chieftain fled without running with his army, taking with him less than two thousand cavalry. The Cossacks who remained in place agreed that it was better to submit to Russia, so the rest of the Cossack troops went to Moscow to resist Sweden with Peter.
Charlie did not wait for a large number of reinforcements, and decided to take a risk and persuade the Ottoman Empire in southern Russia to flank Russia together. If things go well, then Sweden and the Ottomans could easily conquer and divide Russia.
But the Ottoman Sultan was unmoved and did not reply.
Swedish soldiers suffered from hunger and bitter cold on the territory of Russia in the cold winter, but survived 2The 40,000 soldiers were so brave that they frightened the Russian defenders along the way.
In Poltava on the Dnieper, the Swedish army encountered the main Russian forces in the spring, but during the battle on June 25, Charles XII was shot in the leg by a Russian scout, but after being shot in the leg, he still decided to attack the next day.
Although he had only slept for four hours, he ordered himself to be carried out of the tent and lay on a stretcher to direct the battle. Although the Swedish army had not suffered defeat since entering Russian territory, Charles XII was determined to personally witness the demise of the Swedish army.
Although his body was shaken by the shells, he continued to analyze the battle situation on a stretcher.
Firm faith, fearless command.
In this battle, which decided the fate of Russia, Peter I personally went into battle, disguised as a lieutenant, mixed among the soldiers, and directed the artillery bombardment of the Swedish army.
Although the 18th century battles had turned into artillery fire, Peter's personal command allowed Russian artillery to play an important role on the battlefield, firing far more efficiently than Sweden, and in the end Russia gained the upper hand.
In this battle, Peter I's decision-making and courage were reflected not only in his personal command, but also in his determination to take risks and personally learn advanced science and technology.
Eventually, after the Swedish shells were finished, the knights led by Charles XII decided to surrender in order to protect the lives of the entire army. This battle not only decided the fate of Russia, but also allowed the decision-making and courage of Peter I to be demonstrated.
In the afternoon, only infantry and a small number of Cossack cavalry in the Swedish army were struggling to resist, but the battle lasted only an hour or two, and the smell of defeat was already permeating the Swedish army.
In the end, Charles' infantry also surrendered, and Charles and the Cossack chieftains crossed the Dnieper and defected to Turkey. In the evening, Peter counted the battlefield, and the number of Swedes was close to 4,000, and the number of European troops was about the same, but nearly 20,000 Swedish soldiers were taken prisoner, including some high-ranking soldiers and three main generals.
Peter drove the captives into Moscow, and the whole city cheered. After the battle, Russia relieved its fears of invasion and the newly built northern city of Petersburg became more secure.
Sweden was demoralized, while ** gained suzerainty over the Baltics and all of Ukraine. This means that ** finally has an excellent outlet to the sea.
Charles XII, with the support of the Ottoman Empire, was not willing to accept the retreat of Russia and decided to regain his strength here. In the palace of the Ottoman Sultan, the Sultan gave him a city and 8,000 soldiers to rebuild his army there.
Sultan Ahmet III was well aware of the dispute between Turkey and Russia, and he decided to keep Charles for the time being to observe his loyalty. In order to make a comeback, Charles converted to Islam in order to gain the trust of the Sultan.
He constantly lobbied Ahmet III to attack Russia, warning him that if he did not take the initiative, it would be too late until Russia trained new troops to seize the Black Sea and the Bosphorus.
Although Charles was a Protestant, he had to convert to Islam in order to gain support in Islamic countries.
In 1710, the war between Charles and the Ottoman Sultan changed dramatically. The Ottoman Sultan, who originally decided to recruit 200,000 troops to go to **, changed his mind under Charlie's persuasion and received intelligence that the Russian army had been disbanded, so he quickly decided to attack.
However, it was at this time that Peter I had just achieved a victory, and his army was in the stage of recuperation, barely scraping together only 3An army of 80,000 people.
This made Russia face the Ottoman army, facing a situation of hitting a stone with an egg. If it goes head-to-head, the victory just won may be dim; If the city gates are opened directly and surrendered, the rule of Russia will be in the hands of foreigners.
Peter I was in untold agony, and he pondered all night, finally sending a signed peace letter to his wife Catherine in the early morning. Catherine did not give up, she sold all her dowry, borrowed a lot of money from some princes, and collected 230,000 roubles, and a lieutenant governor acted as ambassador for peace.
The Sultan received money and jewels and withdrew his troops contentedly. But before leaving, he demanded that Peter self-destruct Azov, the most powerful Russian fortress in the Black Sea.
Although Peter I was in great pain, he complied.
The Sultan was dissatisfied with the presumptuous behavior of King Charles XII of Sweden and made additional conditions: that Charles XII be spared and that a safe passage would be opened for him, and that Russia could not interfere in the internal affairs of Poland.
Peter I complied, but Charles XII was displeased. He asked the Sultan to attack north again, but the Sultan was not impressed by his words, as the Ottomans had no intention of igniting another war in Europe.
Charles XII was eventually surrendered in battle against the 20,000 troops of the Sudan and handed over to the Russian ambassador. With all kinds of good things being said, Charlie finally recognized the reality and decided to reconcile with Russia.
He was sent some guards and money, and returned to Sweden under the escort of a handful of soldiers. Sweden was in disarray, and after Britain united Denmark and Prussia to organize an alliance against Sweden, Charles reorganized his army, but was eventually killed in a battle in December 1717 at the age of 36.
Sweden was somewhat passive in its resistance, and it was difficult to resist the hostility of European countries. In November 1719, the Swedish Parliament signed the Treaty of Stockholm.
Subsequently, ** attacked Sweden several times, destroying several Swedish ports, and finally forcing Sweden to sign the Treaty of Nystadt in August 1721. Since then, the ** has acquired parts of Livonia, Estonia, Ingria, and Finland, and its westward march has been a great success.
When Peter I returned from the front in October 1721 and entered Moscow, the crowds on both sides of the road greeted him with cheers. Peter was thrilled to hear that he had become the "Father of the Nation", the Emperor of All Russia, and the highly respected "Peter the Great".
In the epilogue, Charles XII is an ambitious emperor who, like Napoleon later in life, is succumbed to the bitter cold of Russia. For Russia, if it had not been for Peter I's tireless efforts in the early 18th century to secure an outlet for Russia to the sea and lead the Russians against the Swedish attack, Russia would have ceased to exist by the end of the 18th century when the European continent emerged.
However, we should not forget that at many critical junctures, there are many long-neglected figures that deserve to be remembered. For example, Catherine sold all her possessions and saved Russia with her money power.
Of course, the Russians should also rejoice that Sultan Ahmet III was a money-loving emperor who kept his promise not to attack Russia for the sake of wealth.