A Breif History of the Great Northern War
It is that time of the week, now, so let’s delve into another major era of history. If the title wasn’t clear enough, this post will be dedicated to the Great Northern War, which lasted from 1700-1721. Now, I am aware of a great many horrific wars that have been fought through history, but if there was one that I shudder at the thought of above any other, it is the Great Northern War. This is because the war was fought in Northern Europe, where it is often very cold, and I cannot handle the cold.
This war, like most wars, began with a desire for power, but it also had roots stemming from the Thirty Years’ War (I have written a post about that a few weeks ago, as well, if you’d like to read it. It may provide some context for this next conflict). Sweden, of course, was a rare nation in that they had actually benefited from the bloody stalemate that was the Thirty Years’ War. That noted, Sweden had been riding the power they had gained from the conflict for roughly half a century.
Of course, to have power, other people must be weaker. This was the case in seventeenth-century Northern Europe, as Sweden, thanks to their newfound power, dominated many states. These included but were not limited to Poland (which was constantly shifting between independence and Russian control), Denmark, Norway, Saxony, and Lithuania. Of course, some states did benefit from the Swedes, such as Holstein-Gottorp, Livonia, and Ingria. All of this would set the stage for a fairly typical confrontation between two coalitions of power.
Now, before I get into the actual descriptions of the battles and specifics of the Great Northern War, I simply want to affirm that I can only cover this in a very broad manner. This is because the reasons for which the war started and was conducted are incredibly complicated and involved many rulers, politicians, and smaller states. If you are interested in this, I would highly recommend doing some research on the topic yourself if you want more in-debth information.
One last note before I describe the war in earnest: the Electorate of Hanover and Great Britain would join the anti-Swedish alliance in 1714 and 1717, after the war had started, following the Battle of Poltava. The Great Northern War would also involve several impressive military rulers, such as Peter the Great of the Tsardom Russian Empire, Frederick IV of Denmark, and Augustus II (the Strong) of Saxony-Poland-Lithuania. These nations, of course, were opposing the Swedish coalition.
In order for these nations to attack, however, Sweden had to weaken. The chance came when Charles XII took power in Sweden, the shift in leadership appearing to be a moment of vulnerability on Sweden’s part, as Charles XII was very young when he took the throne. The Danish, Saxons, Norwegians, and Russians were the first to declare war on the Swedes in 1700, and engaged the Swedish Holstein-Gottorp first.
However, by 1706, Sweden’s forces had halted the Russian and Danish advance at Travendal and Narva and staged a counteroffensive in which they pushed Augustus II’s forces all the way to Saxony through Poland. This counteroffensive would see Frederick IV and Augustus II leaving the war for a short time, but they would rejoin in 1709 after the defeat of Charles XII (also at the Battle of Poltava).
After this key battle, won by the anti-Swedish forces, several more states joined the coalition, including Prussia and Hanover (again). The Swedes then lost the Baltic Sea, after the fall of the city of Riga, in 1710. By this point, many nations were chipping away at Sweden from all sides, and if I were the leader of Sweden then, I would have surrendered then and there. But, still strong from the Thirty Years’ War, Sweden decided to pursue victory.
However, the Swedes would miraculously defeat the Danes at the Battle of Helsingborg (1710). Nonetheless, the Russian Empire, by 1714, controlled nearly all of Finland, which was a major threat to the Swedish forces. Then came the year 1718, which was pretty eventful for the Swedes. In that year, Charles XII opened a Norwegian front with the intention of pushing back the invaders and past the Russians. The plan would backfire, however, and Charles XII would even be killed in Fredriksten in 1718.
As the war came to a close in 1721, it easily saw the defeat of Sweden, marking the end of Sweden’s era of domination of the Northern regions of Europe. At first, on the side of the victors, it seemed that Britain would gain most of the benefits from the conflict and take up occupancy in the Swedish regions, which would have greatly improved trade and power. However, the British soon became involved in the War of the Spanish Succession far to the West (which was a very, very costly war, one of the deadliest in history).
This left most of the spoils of the Great Northern War to Russia, and Russia used them well. Following the signing of the treaties of Stockholm, Nystad, and Frederiksborg, the Russian Empire became the dominant power in North-Eastern Europe. This dominance would last until the Crimean war ended in 1856 (I also have a post involving that, if you’d like to read it: “The World War One Story as it Really Happened”).
So, that concludes the Great Northern War, a conflict that really marked a drastic turning point in the history of Northern Europe. The balance of power shifted from Sweden to Russia, and, with the construction of Petersburg by Peter the Great, Russia would also emerge as a large trading nation by the mid eighteenth century. If you made it to the end of this post, thank you for reading, and I do hope you enjoyed it.