Poltava battle briefly: the most important thing

During the entire Northern War there was no more important battle than the Battle of Poltava. In short, it finally changed the course of that campaign. Sweden was at a disadvantage, and she had to make concessions to the intensified Russia.

Events the day before

Peter the First began a war against Sweden in order to gain a foothold on the Baltic coast. In his dreams, Russia was a great maritime power. It was the Baltic states that became the main theater of military operations. In 1700, the Russian army, which had just begun to experience reforms, lost the battle of Narva. King Charles XII took advantage of his success in order to take on another of his adversaries - the Polish monarch Augustus II, who supported Peter at the beginning of the conflict.

While the main Swedish forces were far to the west, the Russian Tsar transferred his country's economy to military rails. In a short time he managed to create a new army. This modern, European-trained army conducted several successful operations in the Baltics, including in Courland and on the banks of the Neva. At the mouth of this river, Peter founded the port and the future capital of the empire of St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, Charles XII finally defeated the Polish king and led him out of the war. In his absence, the Russian army occupied a considerable piece of Swedish territory, but so far it has not had to fight with the main enemy army. Karl, wishing to inflict a fatal blow to the enemy, decided to go straight to Russia, to get a decisive victory in a long conflict there. That's why the Battle of Poltava happened . To put it briefly, the place of this battle was far from the previous position of the front. Karl moved south - to the Ukrainian steppes.

Betrayal of Mazepa

On the eve of the general battle, Peter learned that the hetman of the Zaporozhye Cossacks Ivan Mazepa defected to the side of Charles XII. He promised the Swedish king help in the amount of several thousand well-trained cavalrymen. Treason brought the Russian tsar into a frenzy. The detachments of his army began to besiege and capture Cossack towns in the Ukraine. Despite the betrayal of Mazepa, some of the Zaporozhye remained loyal to Russia. These Cossacks chose the new hetman Ivan Skoropadsky.

The help of Mazepa was extremely necessary for Charles XII. The monarch with his northern army went too far from their own territory. The troops had to continue the campaign in unusual conditions. Local Cossacks helped not only with weapons, but with navigation as well as with provisions. Shaky mood of the local population forced Peter to abandon the use of the remnants of loyal Cossacks. Meanwhile, the Battle of Poltava was approaching. Summarizing his position, Charles XII decided to besiege an important Ukrainian city. He counted on the fact that Poltava quickly capitulated to his considerable army, but this did not happen.

Siege of Poltava

All spring and early summer of 1709, the Swedes stood near Poltava, trying in vain to take it by storm. Historians counted 20 such attempts, during which about 7 thousand soldiers were killed. A small Russian garrison held out, hoping for tsarist help. The besieged men undertook bold outings, to which the Swedes did not prepare, due to the fact that no one thought of such a fierce resistance.

The main Russian army under the command of Peter came to the city on June 4. At first the tsar did not want a "general battle" with Karl's army. However, to delay the campaign with each month was more and more difficult. Only a decisive victory could help Russia consolidate all its important acquisitions in the Baltics. Finally, after several military advice with his approximate Peter decided on the battle, which became the Battle of Poltava. It was too unreasonable to prepare briefly and quickly for her. Therefore, the Russian army gathered reinforcements for several days. Finally joined the Cossacks Skoropadsky. Also, the tsar hoped for a Kalmyk detachment, but he never managed to approach Poltava.

Between the Russian and the Swedish army was the river Vorskla. Due to unstable weather Peter gave the order to cross the water artery south of Poltava. This maneuver was a good decision - the Swedes were not ready for this turn of events, waiting for the Russians in a completely different area of combat operations.

Karl could still turn back and not give the general battle, which was the Battle of Poltava. A brief description of the Russian army, which he received from the defector, also did not give the Swedish generals optimism. In addition, the king did not wait for help from the Turkish sultan, who promised to bring him an auxiliary detachment. But against the background of all these circumstances, the bright character of Charles XII has affected. The brave and still young monarch decided to fight.

State of troops

June 27, 1709 (July 8, according to the new style), the Battle of Poltava took place. In short, the most important thing was the strategy of the commanders-in-chief and the size of their troops. Charles had 26 thousand soldiers, while Peter had some quantitative advantage (37 thousand). The tsar achieved this thanks to the exertion of all the forces of the state. The economy of Russia in a few years has gone a long way from agrarian to modern industrial production (at that time). Guns were poured out, foreign firearms were bought, soldiers began to receive military education on the European model.

Surprising was the fact that both monarchs directly commanded their armies on the battlefield. In the era of modern times, this function passed to the generals, but Peter and Karl were exceptions.

Course of battle

The battle began with the fact that the Swedish avant-garde organized the first attack on the Russian redoubts. This maneuver was a strategic mistake. The regiments that detached themselves from their convoy were defeated by the cavalry commanded by Alexander Menshikov.

After this fiasco, the main armies entered the battle. In the mutual opposition of the infantry for several hours, the winner could not decide in any way. The decisive was the confident attack of the Russian cavalry on the flanks. It crushed the enemy and helped the infantry to squeeze the Swedish regiments in the center.

Results

The great importance of the Battle of Poltava (it was difficult to briefly characterize it) was that after its defeat, Sweden finally lost its strategic initiative in the Northern War. The whole further campaign (the conflict lasted for another 12 years) was marked by the superiority of the Russian army.

Important were the moral results of the Battle of Poltava, briefly describe which we will now try. The news of the defeat of the undefeated Swedish army shocked not only Sweden, but also all of Europe, where Russia was finally seen as a serious military force.