Swedish invasion of Russia

The invasion of Russia by Charles XII of Sweden was a campaign undertaken during the Great Northern War between Sweden and the allied states of Russia, Poland, and Denmark. The invasion began with Charles's crossing of the Vistula on 1 January 1708, and effectively ended with the Swedish defeat in the Battle of Poltava on 8 July 1709, though Charles continued to pose a military threat to Russia for several years while under the protection of the Ottoman Turks.

Swedish invasion of Russia
Part of Great Northern War
The Battle of Poltava by Denis Martens the Younger, painted 1726
Date 1708–1709 Location Russia Result Russian victory Destruction of the Carolean army Decline of the Swedish Empire Turning point in the Great Northern War
Belligerents
Tsardom of Russia Cossack Hetmanate Kalmyk Khanate	Swedish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Peter the Great Aleksandr Menshikov Boris Sheremetev Ivan Mazepa Ayuka Khan	Charles XII Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt
Strength
192,000[lower-alpha 1]	97,000[lower-alpha 2]
Casualties and losses
In major battles: 10,464 killed 15,502 wounded Thousands froze to death	In major battles: 5,690 killed 7,367 wounded 15,676 captured 13,759 froze to death

In the years preceding the invasion of Russia, Charles had inflicted significant defeats on the Danish and Polish forces, and enthroned the king Stanislas Leszczyński in Poland. Having consolidated his victories there, Charles turned his attentions to Russia. He entered Russia by crossing the frozen Vistula River at the head of 40,000 men, approximately half of them cavalry. This tactic was characteristic of his military style, which relied on moving armies with great speed over unexpected terrain. As a consequence of this rapid initiation of the campaign, Charles nearly gave battle with Peter the Great just one month into the campaign, reaching Hrodna, now in Belarus, a mere two hours after Russian forces had abandoned it.

Charles was a skilled military leader, and probably considered the invasion to be a risky enterprise; he had resisted the advice of his generals to invade during the Russian winter following the first Battle of Narva (1700). He chose to continue his invasion now because he expected Swedish reinforcements and the alliance of the Cossacks under Ivan Mazepa. The reinforcing Swedish army, however, was ambushed by Russians, and a Russian army under Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov had destroyed Mazepa's capital and chased him to Charles with just thirteen hundred men.

The invasion was further complicated by the scorched earth strategy formulated by Peter and his generals. The Russian armies retreated continuously, dispersing the cattle and hiding the grain in the peasant towns they passed, burning unharvested crops, and leaving no resources for the Swedish army to stave off the Russian winter. By the end of the winter of 1708–1709, the "Great Frost of 1709" had devastated the Swedish army and shrunk it to 24,000 men. In May 1709, the Swedish forces caught up to the Russians, and the two armies clashed in the Battle of Poltava. The Swedish were defeated, and the greater part of Charles's army, some 19,000 men, were forced to surrender.

Charles fled with his surviving 543 men to the protection of the Ottoman Turks to the south, who were traditionally hostile to Russia. Here, Charles was eventually able to persuade the Sultan Ahmed III to declare war on Russia. Backed by a Turkish army of 200,000 men, Charles led the Turks into the Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711). Before Charles could give battle, though, Peter was able to bribe the Turkish vizier to peace; with this, Charles's ambitions to invade Russia were ended.

The consequences of the failed invasion were far-reaching. The Swedish Empire never added new territory after the Battle of Poltava, and shortly thereafter lost more possessions. George I of Great Britain led Great Britain and Prussia into war against Sweden, and Denmark reentered the war. Russia maintained its conquered possessions in Ingria and the Baltic, was able to consolidate its hold over Ukraine and Poland, develop the new city of Saint Petersburg, and gain vital trade links in the Baltic trade. Peter the Great also gained further prestige in Europe, and won Louis XIV as an ally.

Battles

Battles during the invasion of Russia by Charles XII

Battle	Swedish numbers	Russian numbers	Swedish casualties	Russian casualties	Result
Grodno	800[5]	9,000[5]	Unknown	Unknown	Swedish victory
Holowczyn	12,500[6][7]	39,000[7]	265 killed 1,028 wounded	5,000[8][9][10][11][12][13]	Swedish victory
Neva	2,000[14]	8,000[15]	380[16]	900[15]	Swedish victory
Malatitze	4,000[17]	13,000[17]	260 killed 750 wounded[18]	1,500 killed 2,000 wounded[19]	Swedish victory
Rajovka	2,400[20]	10,000[21]	Light[21]	375[22]	Swedish victory
Lesnaya	11,500[23]	23,076[24][25]	4,000 killed 5,000 wounded 1,200 captured[23]	4,000 killed 5,000 wounded[23]	Russian victory
Desna	2,000[26]	4,000[26]	50 killed 150 wounded[27]	356 killed 1,000 wounded[28][27]	Swedish victory
Veprik	3,000	1,500	400 killed 600 wounded	1,500	Swedish victory
Oposhnya	2,000[29]	6,000[29]	19[29]	450[29]	Swedish victory
Krasnokutsk-Gorodnoye	2,500[30]	10,000[30]	132[31]	1,200[32][33]	Swedish victory
Poltava	16,500[34]	42,100[34]	6,900 killed/wounded 2,800 captured[35][36]	1,345 killed 3,290 wounded[37][38]	Decisive Russian victory
Perevolochna	12,000	9,000	12,000 captured	0	Swedish surrender

Notes

1. 121,000 Russians of which 57,500 directly under Peter I stationed between Severia and Smolensk, 24,500 at Saint Petersburg under Fyodor Apraksin, 16,000 at Dorpat under Christian Felix Bauer, 12,000 at Kiev under Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn[1] and 11,000 at Moscow.[2] Another 12,000 men were used to beat the Bulavin Rebellion, however these were only able to assist in the fight against the Swedes at the end of the campaign.[3] 35,000–40,000 Cossacks by Ivan Mazepa and Konstantyn Hordijenkas and 10,000 Kalmyk troops by Ayuka Khan.[2] 23,500 Poles under Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski in Poland.[1]
2. 77,000 Swedes of which 33,000 directly under Charles XII at Grodno, 22,000 in Livonia, Ingria and Courland under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt, 14,000 in Finland under Georg Lybecker and 8,000 in Poland under Ernst Detlof von Krassow[4] with about 20,000 Poles under Stanisław I.[1]

1. Dorrell, Nicholas. The Dawn of the Tsarist Empire: Poltava & the Russian Campaigns of 1708—1709, Partizan Press (2009). pp. 52–62
2. Konovaltjuk & Lyth, Pavel & Einar (2009). Vägen till Poltava. Slaget vid Lesnaja 1708 (in Swedish). Svenskt Militärhistorisk Biblioteks Förlag. p. 39
3. Gordon A. The History of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia: To which is Prefixed a Short General History of the Country from the Rise of that Monarchy: and an Account of the Author's Life, Volume 1. Aberdeen. 1755. pp. 266
4. Peter From. Katastrofen vid Poltava. Lund, 2007. p. 50
5. Peter From, Katastrofen vid Poltava (2007), Lund, Historiska media. pp. 77.
6. Liljegren, B "Karl XII: En Biografi", 2000, p. 156
7. Nationalencyklopedin
8. Ericson, Lars (ed) (2003). Svenska slagfält (in Swedish). Wahlström & Widstrand. p. 280. ISBN 91-46-21087-3.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
9. Kuvaja, Christer (2008). Karolinska krigare 1660–1721 (in Swedish). Helsingfors: Schildts Förlags AB. p. 181. ISBN 978-951-50-1823-6.
10. Ullgren, Peter (2008). Det stora nordiska kriget 1700–1721 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Prisma. p. 169. ISBN 978-91-518-5107-5.
11. Englund, Peter (1988). Poltava (in Swedish). Stockholm: Atlantis. p. 38. ISBN 91-7486-834-9.
12. Cooper, Leonard (1968). Many Roads to Moscow: Three Historic Invasions. London: Hamish Hamilton. p. 42. ISBN 0-241-01574-X.
13. Charles XII and the Collapse of the Swedish Empire, 1682- 1719 - R. Nisbet Bain
14. Dorrell, Nicholas. The Dawn of the Tsarist Empire: Poltava & the Russian Campaigns of 1708—1709, Partizan Press (2009). pp 121
15. Ett kort dock tydeligit utdrag utur then öfwer konung Carl den Tolftes lefwerne och konglida dater, Jöran Andersson Nordberg (1745). pp 585
16. Peter From, Katastrofen vid Poltava (2007), Lund, Historiska media. pp. 174.
17. Clodfelter, Micheal (2002). Warfare and Armed Conflict. McFarland. pp. 94, 97.
18. Peter From, Katastrofen vid Poltava (2007), Lund, Historiska media. pp. 196.
19. Swedish Wikipedia
20. Bengt Liljegren, Karl XII: En biografi. (2000) Lund, Historiska media. pp 159. ISBN 91-85377-14-7
21. Dorrell, Nicholas. The Dawn of the Tsarist Empire: Poltava & the Russian Campaigns of 1708—1709, Partizan Press (2009). pp 98
22. Тарле Евгений Викторович Северная война и шведское нашествие на Россию. — Сочинения. — Москва: Издательство Академии Наук СССР, 1959. — Т. 10. — С. 363—800. — 841 с.
23. Massie (2001)
24. Nicholas Dorrell (2009)
25. Moltusov, Valerij Aleksejevitj (2009). Poltava 1709: Vändpunkten (in Swedish). SMB. p. 83. ISBN 978-91-85789-75-7.
26. Ett kort dock tydeligit utdrag utur then öfwer konung Carl den Tolftes lefwerne och konglida dater, Jöran Andersson Nordberg (1745). pp 593
27. Peter From, Katastrofen vid Poltava (2007), Lund, Historiska media. pp. 240.
28. Karl XII:s ryska fälttåg: källstudier, Hans Villius (1951). pp 60
29. Dorrell, Nicholas. The Dawn of the Tsarist Empire: Poltava & the Russian Campaigns of 1708—1709, Partizan Press (2009). pp 155
30. Lanciai Christian, Segern och nederlaget (1974) p. 107
31. Nordisk Familjebok
32. Anders Fryxell: Berättelser ur svenska historien, Volym 15. p. 166, 1861
33. Peter Frost, Katastrofen vid Poltava (2007) p. 259
34. Moltusov, Valerij Aleksejevitj (2009). Poltava 1709: Vändpunkten (in Swedish). SMB. p. 93. ISBN 978-91-85789-75-7.
35. Peter Englund: Poltava, p.215. Atlantis 1988. ISBN 91-7486-834-9.
36. (in Swedish) Christer Kuvaja: Karolinska krigare 1660–1721, p.192. Schildts Förlags AB 2008. ISBN 978-951-50-1823-6.
37. Encyclopedia of Ukraine
38. (in Russian) Istorīia Petra Velikago, p. 355