The story
On June 27, 1709 (July 8 in the modern calendar), Peter the Great's Russian army defeated the Swedish army of King Charles XII near Poltava in Ukraine. Charles, one of the finest battlefield commanders of the age, had invaded Russia in 1708 in the Great Northern War, then turned south toward Ukraine, expecting help from the Cossack hetman Ivan Mazepa, who had turned against Peter. The help did not come in force, the Swedes ran short of supplies and powder, and Charles was wounded in the foot before the battle.
At Poltava about 40,000 Russians, supported by fortified redoubts and many cannon, faced fewer than 25,000 Swedes. The Swedish attack broke on the Russian lines, and within hours the army was destroyed. A few days later most of the survivors surrendered at Perevolochna on the Dnieper. Charles fled to the Ottoman Empire with Mazepa and about a thousand men, and stayed for years. Sweden lost the war in 1721 and its Baltic empire, and Russia kept the lands on the Gulf of Finland where St. Petersburg stood. Peter used the victory to claim a place among Europe's powers, and he took the title Emperor in 1721.
Why it mattered
- Sweden declined as a great power while Russia rose to dominate the Baltic region.
- The Treaty of Nystad in 1721 gave Russia Livonia, Estonia and Ingria, and Peter proclaimed the Russian Empire the same year.
- Mazepa's defeat ended hopes for a Cossack state independent from Russia and tightened Moscow's control over Ukraine.
Sources
- Poltava Britannica
- The Battle of Poltava: 8 July 1709 The Past
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