Great Northern War. For what grievances did Peter I decide to fight with Sweden

Started Peter I the struggle for Russia's access to the Baltic Sea and fortification on these lines was hard and lengthy. The Northern War, in which Russia and Sweden were the main opponents, stretched out for 21 years.

However, the decisive battle, which predetermined the outcome of the confrontation, took place on June 27 (July 8), 1709, six miles from the city of Poltava.

The Northern War began catastrophically for Russia - with a crushing defeat at Narva in 1700.

The defeat at Narva inflicted not only material, but also political damage on Russia - the power of Peter I in Europe was no longer taken seriously, while the Swedish king Charles XII, the winner of the "Russian barbarians", were treated with undisguised sympathy.

However, the discouraging start of the war did not break either the will or the political aspirations of Peter. Guided by the principle “for one beaten they give two unbeaten”, the Russian tsar, avoiding a general battle with the Swedes, again set about capturing their fortresses on the shores of the Baltic.

Charles XII himself contributed to this. The Swedish king, endowed with undoubted military talents, was at the same time endowed with excessive self-confidence. It was she who made the Swedish king consider Russia completely defeated and completely focus on the fight against the ally of Peter I, King of the Commonwealth Augustus II.

The pursuit of the dodgy Augustus dragged on for several years, which the Russian Tsar successfully used to reform and re-equip the army, as well as to gradually conquer Ingermanland. In 1703, Petersburg was founded at the mouth of the Neva, after which the Russians continued the tactics of leisurely "taking Swedish lands."

Charles XII decided, at the end of the war with Augustus II, to invade Russia, capturing and setting Moscow on fire, thereby putting an end to the claims of Peter I.

Route of Charles XII during the Great Northern War. Photo: Public Domain

About the dangers of self-confidence

In 1706, Augustus II was finished, and Charles began to prepare an invasion of Russia.

True, the surprise factor was not an ally of Charles XII - all his plans and intentions were clear to Peter I and his military leaders.

The Russian tsar dragged his opponent into a war of attrition, and soon the Swedish army, which invaded Russian possessions, began to experience problems with food and ammunition.

Charles XII seriously relied on the help of the Swedish king who had gone over to the side Hetman of Little Russia Ivan Mazepa, who promised the Swedes 50 thousand Cossacks, food and comfortable wintering.

In practice, however, together with Mazepa, about 10,000 Cossacks went over to the side of the Swedes. At the same time, Charles XII, not relying too much on their loyalty, did not use the Cossacks in the Battle of Poltava. It is curious that exactly for the same reason, fearing treason, Peter I also refused to use the Cossack units near Poltava.

Military happiness began to betray Charles XII. The three-month siege of Poltava, which the Swedes at first considered easy prey, ended in nothing.

Charles XII, having learned about the approach of Peter I with an army, was determined to give his enemy a general battle, despite the weakened state of his own troops and the great advantage of the Russians in the size of the army.

The Swedish generals, based on previous experience, believed that the Russians in the battle would behave passively, which would enable the Swedes to overturn the Russian army with decisive actions and put them to flight.

Unlike Charles XII, Peter I did not rely on luck and military happiness, but carefully prepared for battle, building defensive redoubts in the path of enemy movement. In addition, the Russian Tsar managed to achieve an overwhelming advantage in artillery, which would be one of the decisive factors in the battle.

On the eve of the battle, the situation was extremely unfortunate for Charles XII. He did not receive reinforcements, he was not supported by the Ottoman Empire, on whose entry into the war he counted.

In addition, "easy prey" Poltava never passed into the hands of the Swedes.

Denis Martin. " Poltava battle» (1726). Photo: Public Domain

Despite all this, Charles XII accepted the plan for a general battle. The essence of the Swedes' plan was a sudden attack by infantry at dawn with a breakthrough into the Russian rear, which was supposed to confuse the Russian army, after which the cavalry was supposed to finish the job.

Of the 37 thousand people of the army of Charles XII in the battle of Poltava, he had 8000 infantry, 7800 cavalry and about a thousand irregular cavalry. Peter I had at his disposal a 60,000-strong army, of which 25,000 infantrymen and up to 12,000 cavalry took part in the Battle of Poltava. And all this, not counting the superiority of the Russians in guns, which they had, according to various sources, from 100 to 300, while the Swedes had no more than 40 guns, which, moreover, did not have enough ammunition.

Knowing all this, the self-confident Charles XII nevertheless decided to give a pitched battle.

Swedish collapse instead of Russian

The Swedes' plan for the battle began to crumble already at the very beginning, when the regiments, intending to take the Russians by surprise, stumbled upon redoubts at night, the construction of which was not even suspected.

The stubborn battle ended with the planned retreat of the Russians to the main positions, but in the Swedish camp the impression was that the enemy had fled.

The illusion turned out to be so strong that those close to him already began to congratulate King Charles on his victory.

While the Swedes were preparing for the holiday, disaster was brewing. Carried away by the assault on the 3rd redoubt, the column of the Swedish General Roos broke away from the main forces and was defeated by the Russians. The same fate befell the cavalry detachment General Schlippenbach. Wolmar Schlippenbach himself became the first Swedish general to fall into Russian captivity that day.

At nine o'clock in the morning the main battle of the main forces began. The Swedish infantry attacked the Russian system, a fierce hand-to-hand fight ensued. The critical moment for the Russian troops came when, on the left flank, the Swedes overthrew the 1st Battalion of the Novgorod Regiment with a bayonet attack, capturing over a dozen Russian guns.

The authority of the Swedish army was extremely high. The breakthrough of the Swedes threatened to bring confusion and panic into the ranks of the Russian army. However, here Tsar Peter himself intervened in the matter, at the head of the 2nd battalion of the Novgorodians, who stopped the enemy’s advance.

L. Caravak. "Peter I in the Battle of Poltava" (1718). Photo: Public Domain

Meanwhile, the Russian infantry on the right flank under the command of General Mikhail Golitsyn put to flight the Swedish battalions opposing her. The cavalry tried to come to the rescue, but was driven back by the Russian cavalry.

Here the superiority of Russian troops in numbers began to affect. Having not achieved rapid success, the Swedish regiments were exhausted, gaps appeared between them, which led to their encirclement. In the center, the battalions of the Uppland Regiment were almost completely destroyed, where less than two dozen of 700 soldiers survived.

By 11 o'clock in the morning, the worst thing happened for Charles XII - his brave and invincible warriors turned into a disorderly flight.

Feast and surrender

The king himself had to flee, suffering losses among his inner circle.

The defeat of the Swedes was complete: the Russians got only 137 standards and banners of the enemy, the generals and field marshals of the Swedish king and even the first minister of Charles XII were captured.

In the evening of the same day, Peter I celebrated the victory in his tent, where the captured Swedish generals were also invited. The Russian tsar drank for the loyalty and courage of the Swedes and for the health of his teachers in military affairs.

Personal standard of Charles XII, captured during the Battle of Poltava. Peter-Pavel's Fortress. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / A. Sdobnikov

Despite the celebration, Peter sent part of the troops in pursuit of the retreating. The end of the Swedish army came two days later near the town of Perevolochna. Russian troops drove the Swedes into the arrow of the Vorskla and Dnieper rivers, blocking their escape routes.

Only Charles XII himself, Mazepa, a small number of close associates and a guard detachment managed to cross the Dnieper and get away from the chase. This happened a few hours before the approach of the Russian troops.

When the persecutors appeared, led by Menshikov, the broken Swedes capitulated. 16 thousand people were taken prisoner, including 3 generals, 11 colonels, 16 lieutenant colonels, 23 majors, 1 field officer, 12,575 non-commissioned officers and privates.

The losses of the Swedes directly in the battle of Poltava amounted to 9224 people killed and 2973 prisoners.

The losses of the Russian troops amounted to 1345 people killed and 3290 wounded.

Poor Karl, poor Sweden...

The defeat at Poltava turned out to be much more terrible for Charles XII than the defeat of Peter I at Narva. Poltava not only destroyed the military authority of the Swedish king, it dealt a decisive blow to the Swedish army, which never regained its former power.

The war with Russia lasted another 12 years, but it was, figuratively speaking, a delayed defeat. Russian troops gradually finished off the Swedes, occupying more and more new territories, in the end, bringing the matter to devastating landings that operated almost in the vicinity of Stockholm. To counter this with something other than unwillingness to admit defeat, the Swedes could no longer.

The fate of Charles XII himself was even more deplorable. Hiding in the possessions of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the former idol of Europe spent several years in Bendery, having no real strength to continue the war and at the same time losing power in his homeland.

In 1713, the Sultan literally put the "inmate" out of his possessions, and with difficulty, almost secretly, he made his way to the lands belonging to Sweden. True, he never returned to Stockholm - there Karl was no longer perceived as a king. The Swedish nobility was utterly irritated by the unsuccessful and devastating war, which literally destroyed the country's influence in Europe.

In 1718, Charles XII, resigned to the obvious, tried to make peace with Russia, recognizing most of the conquests of Peter I in the Baltic. The parties, however, did not come to an agreement.

In November of the same year, the king of Sweden, during his last campaign in Norway, which at that time was owned by Denmark, was killed by a stray bullet during the siege of the Fredriksten fortress.

There is a version, however, that Charles XII fell victim to the Swedish elite, who decided that she no longer needed such a failed monarch.

But the “shadow of Poltava” also hovered over the heirs of Charles. Three years after his death, in 1721, Sweden concluded the Treaty of Nystadt with Russia on terms much more difficult than those that Charles XII refused in 1718.

This battle became the decisive battle in the Northern War and one of the most striking victories of Russian weapons in history.

god of War

One of the main factors that ensured the victory of the Russian army over the enemy was artillery. Unlike the Swedish king Charles XII, Peter I did not neglect the services of the "god of war". Against four Swedish guns brought to the field near Poltava, the Russians put up 310 different-caliber guns. In a few hours, four powerful artillery strikes were brought down on the advancing enemy. All of them led to serious losses on the part of the Swedes. As a result of one of them, a third of Karl's army was captured: 6 thousand people at once.

Peter the commander

After the Poltava victory, Peter I was promoted to the rank of senior lieutenant general. This promotion is not a mere formality. For Peter, the battle of Poltava was one of major events in life and - with certain reservations - he could sacrifice his life if necessary. At one of the decisive moments of the battle, when the Swedes broke through the Russian ranks, he rode forward and, despite the aimed fire that the Swedish riflemen fired at him, galloped along the infantry line, inspiring the fighters by personal example. According to legend, he miraculously escaped death: three bullets almost reached the target. One pierced the hat, the second hit the saddle, and the third hit the pectoral cross.
“Know about Peter that life is not dear to him, if only Russia would live in bliss and glory for your well-being,” these are the famous words spoken by him before the start of the battle.

So that the enemy is not afraid ...

The fighting spirit of the soldiers was to match the mood of the commander. The regiments left in reserve seemed to be asking to go to the front line, wishing to take an active part in such an important battle for the country as much as possible. Peter was even forced to justify himself to them: "The enemy is standing near the forest and is already in great fear; if all the regiments are withdrawn, he will not give battle and will leave: for this, it is necessary to make a reduction from other regiments in order to draw the enemy into battle through his belittling" . The advantage of our troops over the enemy was indeed great not only in artillery: 22 thousand against 8 thousand infantrymen and 15 thousand against 8 thousand cavalry.
In order not to frighten the enemy, Russian strategists also resorted to other tricks. For example, Peter ordered that experienced soldiers be dressed in the uniform of recruits so that the deceived enemy would direct his forces at them.

Enemy Encirclement and Surrender

The decisive moment in the battle: the spread of the rumor about the death of Charles. It quickly became clear that the rumor was exaggerated. The wounded king ordered himself to be raised like a banner, like an idol, on crossed spears. He shouted: "Swedes! Swedes!" But it was too late: the exemplary army succumbed to panic and fled.
Three days later, demoralized, she was overtaken by the cavalry under the command of Menshikov. And although the Swedes now had a numerical superiority - 16 thousand against nine - they surrendered. One of the best armies in Europe capitulated.

sue the horse

However, some Swedes were able to benefit from a crushing defeat. The batman of the Life Dragoon Karl Strokirch during the battle gave the horse to General Lagerkrun. After 22 years, the cavalryman decided that it was time to return the favor, and went to court. The case was considered, the general was accused of horse stealing and ordered to pay compensation of 710 dalers, which is equal to about 18 kilograms of silver.

Relation about victoria

Paradoxically, despite the fact that in the battle itself, the Russian troops were doomed to victory in all respects, the report about it, compiled by Peter, made a lot of noise in Europe. It was a sensation.
The Vedomosti newspaper published a letter from Peter to Tsarevich Alexei: "I announce to you a very great victory, which the Lord God has deigned to bestow on us through the indescribable courage of our soldiers, with a small bloodshed of our troops."

Memory of victory

In memory of the victory and the soldiers who died for it, a temporary oak cross was erected at the site of the battle. Peter also planned to lay a monastery here. The wooden cross was replaced by a granite one only after a hundred years. Even later - by the end of the 19th century - on the site of the mass grave they built the monument and the chapel that today's tourists see. Instead of the monastery in 1856, a temple was erected in the name of St. Sampson the Old-Receiver, which was attributed to the Exaltation of the Cross Convent. By the 300th anniversary of the battle, the chapel of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, standing on the mass grave, was restored, but like many historical monuments in Ukraine, it is still in disrepair and is almost always closed to the public.

Battles and victories

“Peter attracts our attention first of all as a diplomat, as a warrior, as an organizer of the victory,” Academician E. Tarle said about him. Peter the Great created a new regular Russian army and navy, defeated the Swedes and "cut a window" to Europe. From the reign of Peter begins a new - imperial - period of our history.

The entire course of the 21-year war with Sweden was determined by the will and instructions of Tsar Peter. All campaigns and battles took place with his detailed instructions and under his guiding hand. And often - with his direct participation.

Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov, who entered the world history as Emperor Peter I the Great (1682-1725), was born on May 30, 1672 in Moscow in the family of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) and his second wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. The death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the accession of his eldest son Fyodor (from Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, nee Miloslavskaya) pushed Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna and her relatives, the Naryshkins, into the background. Tsarina Natalya was forced to go to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

Young Peter had to fight for his right to be the autocrat of Russia. On his way there was a hostile court group, and at first he had to share the kingdom with his half-brother Ivan. The imperious and vain princess Sophia, who took care of the young princes (also Peter's half-sister), herself dreamed of the royal crown. So the young and fragile Peter, before achieving his goal, had to learn early lies, deceit, betrayal and slander and go through a series of intrigues, conspiracies and riots that were most dangerous for his life.

Hence his suspiciousness, distrust and suspicion of others, hence his recurring epileptic seizures from time to time - the result of a fright experienced in childhood. Therefore, distrust of his subjects, who could fail, fail to obey orders, betray or deceive, was simply in Peter's blood. Therefore, he had to control everything, if possible, take everything upon himself and do everything himself.

He is extremely cautious, he calculates his steps forward and tries to foresee the dangers that threaten him from everywhere and take appropriate measures. Peter practically did not receive any education (Nikita Zotov taught him to read and write), and the tsar had to acquire all his knowledge after ascending the throne and in the process of leading the country.

The people gathered on the road and waited for the leader.

Characteristics of pre-Petrine Russia by the historian S.M. Solovyov

The hobbies of the lad Peter were of a constructive nature: his lively mind was interested in military, naval, cannon and weapons business, he tried to delve into various technical inventions, was interested in science, but the main difference between the Russian tsar and all his contemporaries was, in our opinion, in motivation his activities. The main goal of Peter I was to bring Russia out of centuries of backwardness and to introduce it to the achievements of European progress, science and culture and to introduce it on an equal footing into the so-called. European concert.

There is nothing surprising in the fact that the king made a bet on foreigners. Knowledgeable and experienced people were needed to command regiments and study military science. But among the Russian courtiers there were none. The German settlement, which was so close to his palace in Preobrazhensky, was Europe in miniature for young Peter. Since 1683, his entourage includes the Swiss Franz Lefort, the Holsteiner Theodor von Sommer, the Scot Patrick Gordon, the Dutch Franz Timmerman and Karsten Brandt. With their help, "amusing" regiments were created - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky, which later became the imperial guard, bombardment company, the amusing fortress of Preshburg was built.

Then, in 1686, the first amusing ships appeared near Preshburg on the Yauza - a large shnyak and a plow with boats. During these years, Peter became interested in all the sciences that were associated with military affairs. Under the guidance of the Dutchman Timmerman, he studied arithmetic, geometry, and military sciences. Having discovered a boat in a barn shed in Izmailovo, the sovereign was carried away by the idea of ​​​​creating a regular fleet. Soon, on Lake Pleshcheyevo, near the city of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, a shipyard was founded and a “funny fleet” began to be built.

Communicating with foreigners, the king became a great admirer of the laid-back foreign life. Peter lit a German pipe, began attending German parties with dancing and drinking, and began an affair with Anna Mons. Peter's mother strongly opposed this. In order to reason with her 17-year-old son, Natalya Kirillovna decided to marry him to Evdokia Lopukhina, the daughter of the okolnichi. Peter did not contradict his mother, but he did not love his wife. Their marriage ended with the tonsure of Empress Evdokia as a nun and her exile to a monastery in 1698.

In 1689, Peter, as a result of a confrontation with his sister Sophia, became an independent ruler, imprisoning her in a monastery.

The priority of Peter I in the first years of autocracy was the continuation of the war with the Ottoman Empire and the Crimea. He decided instead of campaigns against the Crimea, undertaken during the reign of Princess Sophia, to strike at the Turkish fortress of Azov, located at the confluence of the Don River into the Sea of ​​Azov.

The first Azov campaign, which began in the spring of 1695, ended unsuccessfully in September of the same year due to the lack of a fleet and the unwillingness of the Russian army to operate far from supply bases. However, already in the autumn of 1695, preparations began for a new campaign. In Voronezh, the construction of a rowing Russian flotilla began. In a short time, a flotilla was built from different ships, led by the 36-gun ship "Apostle Peter". In May 1696, the 40,000-strong Russian army under the command of Generalissimo Shein again besieged Azov, only this time the Russian flotilla blocked the fortress from the sea. Peter I took part in the siege with the rank of captain in a galley. Without waiting for the assault, on July 19, 1696, the fortress surrendered. So the first exit of Russia to the southern seas was opened.

The result of the Azov campaigns was the capture of the fortress of Azov, the beginning of the construction of the port of Taganrog, the possibility of an attack on the Crimean peninsula from the sea, which significantly secured the southern borders of Russia. However, Peter failed to get access to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait: he remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Forces for the war with Turkey, as well as a full-fledged navy, Russia has not yet had.

To finance the construction of the fleet, new types of taxes were introduced: landowners were united in the so-called kumpanships of 10 thousand households, each of which had to build a ship with their own money. At this time, the first signs of dissatisfaction with the activities of Peter appear. The conspiracy of Zikler, who was trying to organize a streltsy uprising, was uncovered. In the summer of 1699, the first large Russian ship "Fortress" (46-gun) took the Russian ambassador to Constantinople for peace negotiations. The very existence of such a ship persuaded the Sultan to conclude peace in July 1700, which left the fortress of Azov to Russia.

During the construction of the fleet and the reorganization of the army, Peter was forced to rely on foreign specialists. Having completed the Azov campaigns, he decides to send young nobles for training abroad, and soon he himself sets off on his first trip to Europe.

As part of the Great Embassy (1697-1698), which had the goal of finding allies to continue the war with the Ottoman Empire, the tsar traveled incognito under the name of Peter Mikhailov.

Peter I with the sign of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called on a blue St. Andrew's ribbon and a star on his chest
Artist J.-M. Natya. 1717

Peter studied artillery in Brandenburg, built ships at Dutch and English shipyards, visited mines, factories, government agencies, met with the monarchs of European countries. For the first time, the Russian tsar undertook a journey outside the borders of his state. The embassy recruited several hundred shipbuilding specialists to Russia and purchased military and other equipment.

He was primarily interested in the technical achievements of Western countries, and not legal system. Having visited the English parliament incognito, where the speeches of the deputies before King William III were translated for him, the tsar said: “It’s fun to hear when the sons of the patronymic tell the king clearly the truth, this should be learned from the British.”

And yet, Peter was an adherent of absolutism, considered himself the anointed of God and vigilantly monitored the observance of his royal privileges. He was a man who early "saw through" life from its negative side, but also early matured from the consciousness of the state burden.

The English historian J. Macaulay Trevenyan (1876-1962), comparing Tsar Peter with King Charles, wrote that "Peter, for all his savagery, was a statesman, while Charles XII was just a warrior and, moreover, not wise."

Peter himself put it this way:

Which one great hero who fights for his own glory, and not for the defense of the fatherland, wanting to be the benefactor of the universe!

Julius Caesar, in his opinion, was a more reasonable leader, and the followers of Alexander the Great, who "wanted to be a giant of the whole world", were waiting for "unfortunate success." And his catchphrase: "Brother Charles always dreams of being Alexander, but I am not Darius."

The Grand Embassy did not achieve its main goal: it was not possible to create a coalition against the Ottoman Empire due to the preparation of a number of European powers for the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). However, thanks to this war, there were favorable conditions for Russia's struggle for the Baltic. Thus, there was a reorientation of Russia's foreign policy from the south to the north.

After returning from the Grand Embassy, ​​the tsar began to prepare for a war with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea. In 1699, the Northern Alliance was created against the Swedish king Charles XII, which, in addition to Russia, included Denmark-Norway, Saxony, and, since 1704, the Commonwealth, headed by the Saxon elector and the Polish king Augustus II. The driving force behind the union was the desire of August II to take away Livonia from Sweden, Frederick IV of Denmark - Schleswig and Skane. For help, they promised Russia the return of lands that previously belonged to the Russians (Ingermanland and Karelia). No one then suspected that the Great Northern War (1700-1721) would last for twenty-one years.

Two giant figures towered in the first quarter of the 18th century, obscuring all the acting characters of both the Northern War and Europe in general - the Russian reformer Tsar Peter I and the Swedish warrior king Charles XII. Each of them in their own country and in their field left an indelible mark in the minds of their descendants, although not always a grateful memory.

Fate brought them into a cruel and uncompromising confrontation, from which one came out victorious and lived to the unanimous and universal reverence and recognition of his subjects, and the second found his premature and dramatic death, either from an enemy bullet, or as a result of an insidious conspiracy, providing his subjects with a pretext for fierce and still ongoing disputes regarding their deeds and personality.

Peter I demonstrated in the confrontation with Charles XII the genuine art of a talented and cautious (but far from cowardly, as Charles XII mistakenly believed) strategist. It seems to us that the king already at an early stage unraveled the explosive and carried away character of the king, who was ready to put everything at stake for the sake of a fleeting victory and satisfaction of his vanity (a vivid example of this is the assault on the insignificant fortress of Veprik), and countered it with cautious maneuvering, far-sightedness and cold calculation. “The search for a general battle is very dangerous, because in one hour the whole thing can be refuted,” he instructs the diplomatic representatives of Baron J.R. who were in Poland. Patkul and Prince G.F. Dolgorukov.

Peter cherishes his army and constantly reminds his generals to be careful in contacts with the Swedish army. “From the enemy to be in fear and to have every caution and send for the sake of conducting frequent parties and having truly found out about the enemy’s condition and his strength and asking God for help, repair the enemy as far as possible,” he teaches the quite experienced General Rodion Bour in 1707 d. “Non-fear harms a person everywhere,” he never tires of repeating on the eve of Poltava.

At the same time, he correctly and boldly recommends to his generals not to sit behind the walls of fortresses, because sooner or later any fortress surrenders or is taken by storm, and therefore it is necessary to seek meetings with the enemy in open battle: “True, the fortress rebuffs the enemy, but the Europeans not for long. Victory will be decided by the art of war and the courage of the commanders and the fearlessness of the soldiers ... It is convenient to sit behind the wall against the Asians.

Peter is a talented diplomat, his policy towards all European powers was balanced and cautious. There is no hint of adventurism in his diplomacy. He knew, for example, that Augustus II was an unreliable ally who deceived him at every turn, but Peter understood that he had no other allies. And he needed August, on the one hand, to distract the Swedes from the invasion of Russia longer, and on the other, as a counterbalance to Stanislav Leshchinsky, the henchman of Charles XII, in order to have at least part of the Poles on his side. After Poltava, he worked hard and hard to recreate the destroyed anti-Swedish coalition and achieved success. He also skillfully played on the interest of Holland and England in trade relations with Russia and significantly neutralized the hostility of these countries to his plans.

And one more thing: Peter was constantly learning, especially from Karl and in general from the Swedish army and state. The Narva of 1700 served him as a great lesson. Peter looked at the war as a school for the people, in which teachers (Swedes) gave hard lessons to Russians, and they severely beat them for a poorly learned lesson, but then the students must study more diligently until they start beating their teachers.

The result of his far-reaching conclusions was the creation of a modern combat-ready army and navy. At the same time, suppressing his pride, he was ready to admit his mistakes, as, for example, he did after the unsuccessful Prut campaign: “Now I am in the same condition as my brother Karl was at Poltava. I made the same mistake as he did: I entered the enemy's land without taking the necessary measures to maintain my army.

Peter was a very gifted military leader. Of course, his military abilities were discovered after Narva. Gaining experience, he became more and more convinced that it was dangerous to blindly rely on foreign generals - what a mercenary like Field Marshal de Croix cost him near Narva! In the future, he increasingly began to take on the most important decisions, relying on the advice and recommendations of his associates. After Narva, almost the entire course of the war was determined by the will and instructions of Tsar Peter, and all major campaigns and battles did not take place without his knowledge, detailed instructions and guiding hand.

As the most striking evidence of Peter's talent as a commander, one can cite his idea of ​​building 10 redoubts in the forefield of the Poltava battle, which played an almost decisive role in the defeat of the Swedish army. And his idea of ​​​​artillery as a particularly important type of weapon? It was thanks to him that powerful artillery appeared in the Russian army, which was given exclusively great importance and during the sieges of fortresses, and in field and naval battles. Recall what a big role artillery played in the battle of Poltava, in which the Swedish army was forced to oppose the Russians with only a few guns, and even those without charges.

Of course, the invited foreigners greatly contributed to Peter's victories, but all or almost all military tasks were solved by the tsar himself and only by him. Turenne, as he said, over time he had his own, Russians - only there was not a single Sully!

The enumeration of Peter's military merits could be continued. Peter understood very well: if he died in battle, his whole work would be lost. Nevertheless, we recall that the tsar, already during the capture of Shlisselburg and Noteburg, was nearby, in the same ranks, with the besiegers of these fortresses. Near Poltava, he was ahead of his regiments, repulsing the attack of Levenhaupt's infantrymen, and in the battle they shot his hat. What about Lesnaya, Nyuenschantz, Narva (1704), Gangut (1714)? Was he not there at the head or in front of the troops? Peter took a direct part in naval battles.

In 1710, Turkey intervened in the war. After the defeat in the Prut campaign in 1711, Russia returned Azov to Turkey and destroyed Taganrog, but due to this, it was possible to conclude another truce with the Turks.

On August 30 (September 10), 1721, the Peace of Nystadt was concluded between Russia and Sweden, which ended the 21-year war. Russia received access to the Baltic Sea, annexed the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estonia and Livonia. Russia became a great European power, in commemoration of which, on October 22 (November 2), 1721, Peter, at the request of the senators, took the title of Father of the Fatherland, Emperor of All Russia.

Compared with Charles XII, with the legacy of Peter the Great in Russia, the situation is still more or less unambiguous. With only rare exceptions, he is criticized for carrying out his reforms too quickly and mercilessly, goading and spurring Russia like a driven horse, paying no attention to either human losses or material and moral costs. Now it is easy to say that the introduction of the country to European values ​​could have been carried out more deliberately, systematically and gradually, without the use of violence. But the question is: did Peter have such an opportunity? And would Russia not have slipped to the margins of world development and become an easy prey for its European neighbors, if it were not for Peter with his accelerated and costly reforms?

You are fighting not for Peter, but for the state handed over to Peter. And about Peter, know that life is not dear to him, if only Russia lived, her glory, honor and prosperity!

The famous appeal of Peter to the soldiers in front of Poltava

Peter I, who constantly pushed his ideas to his assistants and ministers, was not truly understood by any of his contemporaries. The king was doomed to loneliness - such is always the lot of people of genius. And he was outraged and unbalanced.

Peter carried out a reform of state administration, reforms were carried out in the army, a navy was created, a reform of church administration was carried out, aimed at eliminating church jurisdiction autonomous from the state and subordinating the Russian church hierarchy to the Emperor. Financial reform was also carried out, measures were taken to develop industry and trade.

Secular educational institutions began to appear, translations of many books into Russian, and the first Russian newspaper was founded. Success in the service of Peter made the nobles dependent on education.

Peter was clearly aware of the need for enlightenment, and took a number of decisive measures to this end. On January 14, 1700, a school of mathematical and navigational sciences was opened in Moscow. In 1701-1721. artillery, engineering and medical schools were opened in Moscow, an engineering school and a naval academy in St. Petersburg, mining schools at the Olonets and Ural factories. In 1705, the first gymnasium in Russia was opened. The goals of mass education were to be served by the digital schools created by decree of 1714 in provincial cities, called upon "to teach children of all ranks to read and write, numbers and geometry." It was supposed to create two such schools in each province, where education was supposed to be free. For soldiers' children, garrison schools were opened, for the training of priests, starting from 1721, a network of theological schools was created. Peter's decrees introduced compulsory education for nobles and clergy, but a similar measure for the urban population met with fierce resistance and was canceled. Peter's attempt to create an all-estate elementary school failed (the creation of a network of schools ceased after his death, most of the digital schools under his successors were redesigned into class schools for the training of the clergy), but nevertheless, during his reign, the foundations were laid for the spread of education in Russia.

Peter created new printing houses, in which for 1700-1725. 1312 book titles were printed (twice as many as in the entire previous history of Russian book printing). Thanks to the rise of printing, paper consumption increased from 4,000 to 8,000 sheets at the end of the 17th century to 50,000 sheets in 1719.

There have been changes in the Russian language, which included 4.5 thousand new words borrowed from European languages.

In 1724, Peter approved the charter of the Academy of Sciences being organized (opened in 1725 after his death).

Of particular importance was the construction of stone St. Petersburg, in which foreign architects took part and which was carried out according to the plan developed by the tsar. He created a new urban environment with previously unfamiliar forms of life and pastime (theatre, masquerades).

The reforms carried out by Peter I affected not only politics, economics, but also art. Peter invited foreign artists to Russia and at the same time sent talented young people to study "arts" abroad. In the second quarter of the XVIII century. "Peter's pensioners" began to return to Russia, bringing with them new artistic experience and acquired skills.

Peter tried to change the position of women in Russian society. He by special decrees (1700, 1702 and 1724) forbade forced marriage and marriage. Legislative prescriptions 1696-1704 about public festivities introduced the obligation to participate in the celebrations and festivities of all Russians, including "female".

From the "old" in the structure of the nobility under Peter, the former serfdom of the service class remained unchanged through the personal service of each service person to the state. But in this enslavement, its form has somewhat changed. Now they were obliged to serve in the regular regiments and in the navy, as well as in the civil service in all those administrative and judicial institutions that were transformed from the old ones and arose again. The decree on uniform inheritance of 1714 regulated the legal status of the nobility and secured the legal merger of such forms of land ownership as an estate and an estate.

Portrait of Peter I
Artist P. Delaroche. 1838

From the reign of Peter I, the peasants began to be divided into serfs (landlords), monastic and state peasants. All three categories were recorded in the revision tales and subjected to a poll tax. Since 1724, the owner's peasants could leave their villages to work and for other needs only with the written permission of the master, witnessed by the zemstvo commissar and the colonel of the regiment that was stationed in the area. Thus, the landowner's power over the personality of the peasants received even more opportunities to increase, taking both the personality and property of the privately owned peasant into their unaccountable disposal. From that time on, this new state of the rural worker received the name of the "serf" or "revisionist" soul.

In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening the state and introducing the elite to European culture with the simultaneous strengthening of absolutism. In the course of the reforms, Russia's technical and economic lag behind a number of others was overcome. European states, access to the Baltic Sea was won, transformations were carried out in many areas of the life of Russian society. Gradually, among the nobility, a different system of values, worldview, aesthetic ideas took shape, which was fundamentally different from the values ​​and worldview of most representatives of other estates. In the same time popular forces were extremely exhausted, the preconditions were created (Decree of Succession of 1722) for a crisis supreme power which led to the "epoch palace coups". The decree of 1722 violated the usual way of succession to the throne, but Peter did not have time to appoint an heir before his death.

In the last years of his reign, Peter was very ill. In the summer of 1724, his illness intensified, in September he felt better, but after a while the attacks became more painful. (An autopsy after death showed the following: “a sharp narrowing in the region of the back of the urethra, hardening of the neck of the bladder and anton fire.” Death followed from inflammation of the bladder, which turned into gangrene due to urinary retention).

In October, Peter went to inspect the Ladoga Canal, against the advice of his life physician Blumentrost. From Olonets, Peter traveled to Staraya Russa and in November went to St. Petersburg by water. At Lakhta, he had to, standing waist-deep in water, rescue a boat with soldiers that had run aground. The attacks of the disease intensified, but Peter, not paying attention to them, continued to deal with public affairs. On January 17, 1725, he had such a bad time that he ordered a camp church to be built in the room next to his bedroom, and on January 22 he confessed. The strength began to leave the patient, he no longer screamed, as before, from severe pain, but only moaned.

At the beginning of the sixth hour in the morning on January 28 (February 8), 1725, Peter the Great died in his Winter Palace near the Winter Canal. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. The palace, cathedral, fortress and city were built by him.

BESPALOV A.V., Doctor of History, Professor

Literature

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Agapeev N.I. Experience in the history of the development of strategy and tactics of mercenary and standing armies of new states. SPb., 1902

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Artamonov V.A. Russian-Polish alliance in the campaign of 1708-1709. SS, 1972, No. 4

Artamonov V.A. Kalisz battle October 18, 1706 To the 300th anniversary of the victory of the cavalry of General A.D. Menshikov. M.: Zeikhgauz, 2007

Artamonov V.A. Mother of the Poltava victory. Battle of Lesnaya. To the 300th anniversary of the victory of Peter the Great at Lesnaya. SPb., 2008

Artamonov V.A. Poltava battle. To the 300th anniversary of the Poltava victory. M, 2009

Bespyatykh Yu.N. Russia and Finland during the Great Northern War 1700-1721. L., 1980

Buganov V.I., Buganov A.V. Generals of the 18th century M., 1992

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Bespalov A.V. Battles of the Northern War (1700-1721). M., 2005

Bazilevich K. Peter I - statesman, reformer, commander. M.: Military Publishing, 1946

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Borisov V.E., Baltiysky A.A., Noskov A.A. Battle of Poltava 1709-June 27, 1909. St. Petersburg, 1909

Buturlin D.P. Military history of Russian campaigns. Ch. 1-2. St. Petersburg, 1817-1823

Volynsky N.P. The gradual development of the Russian regular cavalry in the era of the Great Peter... Ch. 1-4. SPb., 1902

Vozgrin V.E. Russia and European countries during the Northern War: the history of diplomatic relations in 1697-1710. L., 1986

Gordenev M.Yu. Maritime traditions and solemn ceremonies of the Russian Imperial Navy. M., 2007

Golikov I.I. Acts of Peter the Great, the wise reformer of Russia, collected from reliable sources and arranged by years. T. 1-12. M., 1788-1789

Golikov I.I. Supplement to the Acts of Peter the Great. T. 1-18. M., 1790-1797

Epifanov P. The beginning of the organization of the Russian regular army of Peter I (1699-1705). Scientific notes of Moscow State University. Issue. 87. History of the USSR, 1946

Epifanov P.P. Russia in the Northern War. Questions of history. No. 6, 7. 1971

History of the Northern War 1700-1721. Rostunov I.I., Avdeev V.A., Osipova M.N., Sokolov Yu.F. Moscow: Nauka, 1987

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History of Sweden. Ya. Mellin, A.V. Johansson, S. Hedeberg. M., 2002

History of Norway. M., 1980

History of Denmark from ancient times to the beginning of the twentieth century. M., 1996

Kan A.S. History of the Scandinavian countries. M., 1980

Kan A.S. Sweden and Russia in the past and present. M., 1999

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Krotov P.A. Battle of Poltava. To the 300th Anniversary. SPb., 2009

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Leonov O., Ulyanov I. Regular infantry 1698-1801. M., 1995

Monakov M.S., Rodionov B.I. History of the Russian fleet, M .: Kuchkovo field - Marine newspaper, Kronstadt, 2006

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Tarle E.V. Russian fleet and foreign policy Peter I. St. Petersburg, 1994

Taratorin V.V. Cavalry at War: A History of Cavalry from Ancient Times to the Napoleonic Wars. Minsk, 1999

Tatarnikov K.V. Russian field army 1700-1730. Uniforms and equipment. M., 2008

Telpukhovsky B. Northern War (1700-1721). The military activity of Peter I. M., 1946

Proceedings of the RVIO. T. III. SPb., 1909

Ustryalov N.G. History of the reign of Peter the Great. T. 1-4. SPb., 1863

Theodosi D. Life and glorious deeds of Peter the Great ... T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1774

Tsar Peter and King Charles. Two rulers and their peoples. M., 1999

Shafirov P.P. Reasoning, what are the legitimate reasons for e.v. Peter the Great to start a war against King Charles XII of Sweden in 1700 had ... SPb., 1717

Stenzel A. History of wars at sea, M.: Izographus and EKSMO-PRESS, 2002

Englund P. Poltava. The story of the death of one army. M., 1995

Internet

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Thunderstorm of the twelfth year
It has come - who helped us here?
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Barclay, winter or Russian god?...

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Rurikovich Yaroslav Wise Vladimirovich

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Markov Sergey Leonidovich

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Gagen Nikolai Alexandrovich

On June 22, trains with units of the 153rd Infantry Division arrived in Vitebsk. Covering the city from the west, the Hagen division (together with the heavy artillery regiment attached to the division) occupied a 40 km long defense zone, it was opposed by the 39th German motorized corps.

After 7 days of fierce fighting, the battle formations of the division were not broken through. The Germans no longer contacted the division, bypassed it and continued the offensive. The division flashed in the message of the German radio as destroyed. Meanwhile, the 153rd Rifle Division, without ammunition and fuel, began to break through the ring. Hagen led the division out of the encirclement with heavy weapons.

For the steadfastness and heroism shown during the Elninsk operation on September 18, 1941, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 308, the division received the honorary name "Guards".
From 01/31/1942 to 09/12/1942 and from 10/21/1942 to 04/25/1943 - commander of the 4th Guards Rifle Corps,
from May 1943 to October 1944 - commander of the 57th Army,
from January 1945 - the 26th Army.

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Khvorostinin Dmitry Ivanovich

Outstanding commander of the second half of the XVI century. Oprichnik.
Genus. OK. 1520, died on August 7 (17), 1591. At the voivodship posts since 1560. Participated in almost all military enterprises during the independent reign of Ivan IV and the reign of Fyodor Ioannovich. He has several field battles won (including: the defeat of the Tatars near Zaraisk (1570), Molodinskaya battle(during the decisive battle he led the Russian detachments in Gulyai-Gorod), the defeat of the Swedes at Lyamits (1582) and not far from Narva (1590)). He led the suppression of the Cheremis uprising in 1583-1584, for which he received the boyar rank.
According to the totality of the merits of D.I. Khvorostinin is much higher than M.I. Vorotynsky. Vorotynsky was more noble and therefore he was more often entrusted with the general leadership of the regiments. But, according to the commander's talents, he was far from Khvorostinin.

He was the Supreme Commander of all the armed forces of the Soviet Union. Thanks to his talent as a Commander and an Outstanding Statesman, the USSR won the bloodiest WAR in the history of mankind. Most of the battles of the Second World War were won with his direct participation in the development of their plans.

Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich

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Slashchev Yakov Alexandrovich

Denikin Anton Ivanovich

One of the most talented and successful commanders of the First World War. A native of a poor family, he made a brilliant military career, relying solely on his own virtues. Member of the REV, WWI, graduate of the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. He fully realized his talent commanding the legendary "Iron" brigade, then deployed into a division. Participant and one of the main characters of the Brusilov breakthrough. He remained a man of honor even after the collapse of the army, a prisoner of Bykhov. Member of the ice campaign and commander of the All-Russian Union of Youth. For more than a year and a half, having very modest resources and far inferior in number to the Bolsheviks, he won victory after victory, freeing a huge territory.
Also, do not forget that Anton Ivanovich is a wonderful and very successful publicist, and his books are still very popular. An extraordinary, talented commander, an honest Russian man in a difficult time for the Motherland, who was not afraid to light a torch of hope.

Chuikov Vasily Ivanovich

"There is a city in vast Russia to which my heart is given, it went down in history as STALINGRAD ..." V.I. Chuikov

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

Uvarov Fedor Petrovich

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Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich

The Greatest Commander WWII. Two people in history were awarded the Order of Victory twice: Vasilevsky and Zhukov, but after the Second World War, it was Vasilevsky who became the Minister of Defense of the USSR. His military genius is unsurpassed by ANY military leader in the world.

Romanov Mikhail Timofeevich

The heroic defense of Mogilev, for the first time all-round anti-tank defense of the city.

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

Creator of the modern Airborne Forces. When for the first time the BMD parachuted with the crew, the commander in it was his son. In my opinion, this fact speaks of such a remarkable person as V.F. Margelov, everyone. About his devotion to the Airborne Forces!

Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich

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Loris-Melikov Mikhail Tarielovich

Known mainly as one of the secondary characters in the story "Hadji Murad" by L.N. Tolstoy, Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov went through all the Caucasian and Turkish campaigns of the second half of the middle of the 19th century.

Having shown himself excellently during the Caucasian War, during the Kars campaign of the Crimean War, Loris-Melikov led intelligence, and then successfully served as commander-in-chief during the difficult Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, having won a number of important victories over the united Turkish troops and in the third once captured Kars, by that time considered impregnable.

Kappel Vladimir Oskarovich

Without exaggeration - the best commander of the army of Admiral Kolchak. Under his command, in 1918, Russia's gold reserves were captured in Kazan. At the age of 36 - lieutenant general, commander of the Eastern Front. The Siberian Ice Campaign is associated with this name. In January 1920, he led 30,000 "Kappelevites" to Irkutsk to capture Irkutsk and release the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral Kolchak, from captivity. The death of the general from pneumonia largely determined the tragic outcome of this campaign and the death of the Admiral ...

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Stalin during the Patriotic War led all the armed forces of our country and coordinated their combat operations. It is impossible not to note his merits in the competent planning and organization of military operations, in the skillful selection of military leaders and their assistants. Joseph Stalin proved himself not only as an outstanding commander who skillfully led all fronts, but also as an excellent organizer who did a great job of increasing the country's defense capability both in the pre-war and war years.

A short list of military awards I.V. Stalin received during the Second World War:
Order of Suvorov, 1st class
Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
Order "Victory"
Medal "Gold Star" Hero of the Soviet Union
Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
Medal "For the Victory over Japan"

Ivan the Terrible

He conquered the Astrakhan kingdom, to which Russia paid tribute. Destroyed the Livonian Order. Expanded the borders of Russia far beyond the Urals.

Stalin (Dzhugashvilli) Joseph

Platov Matvei Ivanovich

Ataman of the Great Don Army (since 1801), cavalry general (1809), who took part in all the wars of the Russian Empire in the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
In 1771 he distinguished himself in the attack and capture of the Perekop line and Kinburn. From 1772 he began to command a Cossack regiment. During the 2nd Turkish war, he distinguished himself during the assault on Ochakov and Ishmael. Participated in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau.
During the Patriotic War of 1812, he first commanded all the Cossack regiments on the border, and then, covering the retreat of the army, defeated the enemy near the town of Mir and Romanovo. In the battle near the village of Semlevo, Platov's army defeated the French and captured a colonel from the army of Marshal Murat. During the retreat of the French army, Platov, pursuing her, defeated her at Gorodnya, the Kolotsk Monastery, Gzhatsk, Tsarevo-Zaimishcha, near Dukhovshchina and while crossing the Vop River. For merit he was elevated to the dignity of a count. In November, Platov occupied Smolensk from battle and defeated the troops of Marshal Ney near Dubrovna. At the beginning of January 1813 he entered the borders of Prussia and overlaid Danzig; in September, he received command of a special corps, with which he participated in the battle of Leipzig and, pursuing the enemy, captured about 15 thousand people. In 1814 he fought at the head of his regiments in the capture of Nemur, at Arcy-sur-Aube, Cezanne, Villeneuve. He was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

Izylmetiev Ivan Nikolaevich

Commanded the frigate "Aurora". He made the transition from St. Petersburg to Kamchatka in a record time for those times in 66 days. In the bay, Callao eluded the Anglo-French squadron. Arriving in Petropavlovsk, together with the governor of the Kamchatka Territory, Zavoyko V. organized the defense of the city, during which the sailors from the Aurora, together with the local residents, threw into the sea an outnumbering Anglo-French landing force. Then he took the Aurora to the Amur Estuary, hiding it there .After these events, the British public demanded trial of the admirals who lost the Russian frigate.

Skopin-Shuisky Mikhail Vasilievich

A talented commander who proved himself during the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1608, Skopin-Shuisky was sent by Tsar Vasily Shuisky to negotiate with the Swedes in Novgorod the Great. He managed to agree on Swedish assistance to Russia in the fight against False Dmitry II. The Swedes recognized Skopin-Shuisky as the undisputed leader. In 1609, with the Russian-Swedish army, he came to the rescue of the capital, which was under siege by False Dmitry II. In the battles near Torzhok, Tver and Dmitrov, he defeated detachments of adherents of the impostor, liberated the Volga region from them. He removed the blockade from Moscow and entered it in March 1610.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

Well, who else if not him - the only Russian commander who did not lose, who did not lose more than one battle !!!

Stalin (Dzhugashvili) Joseph Vissarionovich

Comrade Stalin, in addition to the atomic and missile projects, together with General of the Army Alexei Innokentevich Antonov, participated in the development and implementation of almost all significant operations of the Soviet troops in the Second World War, brilliantly organized the work of the rear, even in the first difficult years of the war.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union, Supreme Commander. Brilliant military leadership of the USSR in World War II.

Dolgorukov Yury Alekseevich

An outstanding statesman and military leader of the era of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, prince. Commanding the Russian army in Lithuania, in 1658 he defeated hetman V. Gonsevsky in the battle of Verki, taking him prisoner. This was the first time after 1500 when a Russian governor captured the hetman. In 1660, at the head of an army sent under Mogilev, besieged by the Polish-Lithuanian troops, he won a strategic victory over the enemy on the Basya River near the village of Gubarevo, forcing hetmans P. Sapega and S. Czarnetsky to retreat from the city. Thanks to the actions of Dolgorukov, the "front line" in Belarus along the Dnieper was preserved until the end of the war of 1654-1667. In 1670, he led an army sent to fight against the Cossacks of Stenka Razin, in the shortest possible time suppressed the Cossack rebellion, which later led to the Don Cossacks swearing allegiance to the tsar and the transformation of the Cossacks from robbers into "sovereign servants".

Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich

Kondratenko Roman Isidorovich

Warrior of honor without fear and reproach, the soul of the defense of Port Arthur.

Alekseev Mikhail Vasilievich

An outstanding member of the Russian Academy of the General Staff. The developer and executor of the Galician operation - the first brilliant victory of the Russian army in the Great War.
Saved from the encirclement of the troops of the North-Western Front during the "Great Retreat" of 1915.
Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in 1916-1917
Supreme Commander of the Russian Army in 1917
Developed and implemented strategic plans offensive operations 1916 - 1917
He continued to defend the need to preserve the Eastern Front after 1917 (the Volunteer Army is the basis of the new Eastern Front in the ongoing Great War).
Slandered and slandered in relation to various so-called. "Masonic military lodges", "conspiracy of generals against the Sovereign", etc., etc. - in terms of emigrant and modern historical journalism.

Platov Matvei Ivanovich

Military ataman of the Don Cossack army. He began active military service at the age of 13. A member of several military companies, he is best known as the commander of the Cossack troops during the Patriotic War of 1812 and during the subsequent Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army. Thanks to the successful actions of the Cossacks under his command, Napoleon's saying went down in history:
- Happy is the commander who has Cossacks. If I had an army of Cossacks alone, then I would conquer all of Europe.

Kosich Andrey Ivanovich

1. During his long life (1833 - 1917) A. I. Kosich went from non-commissioned officer to general, commander of one of the largest military districts of the Russian Empire. He took an active part in almost all military campaigns from the Crimean to the Russian-Japanese. He was distinguished by personal courage and bravery.
2. According to many, "one of the most educated generals of the Russian army." Left a lot of literary and scientific works and memories. He patronized the sciences and education. He has established himself as a talented administrator.
3. His example served the development of many Russian military leaders, in particular, Gen. A. I. Denikin.
4. He was a resolute opponent of the use of the army against his people, in which he disagreed with P. A. Stolypin. "The army should shoot at the enemy, not at its own people."

Oktyabrsky Philip Sergeevich

Admiral, Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. One of the leaders of the Defense of Sevastopol in 1941 - 1942, as well as the Crimean operation of 1944. During the Great Patriotic War, Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky was one of the leaders of the heroic defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. Being the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, at the same time in 1941-1942 he was the commander of the Sevastopol Defense Region.

Three orders of Lenin
three orders of the Red Banner
two orders of Ushakov 1st degree
Order of Nakhimov 1st class
Order of Suvorov 2nd class
Order of the Red Star
medals

Brusilov Alexey Alekseevich

One of the best Russian generals of the First World War. In June 1916, the troops of the Southwestern Front under the command of Adjutant General Brusilov A.A., simultaneously striking in several directions, broke through the enemy’s defense in depth and advanced 65 km. In military history, this operation was called the Brusilovsky breakthrough.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

A commander who has not lost a single battle in his career. He took the impregnable fortress of Ishmael, the first time.

Minikh Khristofor Antonovich

Due to the ambiguous attitude to the period of the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the largely underestimated commander, who was the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops throughout her reign.

Commander of the Russian troops during the War of the Polish Succession and architect of the victory of Russian arms in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

He was the Supreme Commander during the Great Patriotic War, in which our country won, and made all strategic decisions.

Antonov Alexey Inokent'evich

Chief strategist of the USSR in 1943-45, practically unknown to society
"Kutuzov" World War II

Humble and dedicated. Victorious. The author of all operations since the spring of 1943 and the victory itself. Others gained fame - Stalin and the commanders of the fronts.

Dovator Lev Mikhailovich

Soviet military leader, major general, Hero of the Soviet Union. Known for successful operations to destroy German troops during the Great Patriotic War. The German command appointed a large reward for the head of Dovator.
Together with the 8th Guards Division named after Major General I.V. Panfilov, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade of General M.E. Katukov and other troops of the 16th Army, his corps defended the approaches to Moscow in the Volokolamsk direction.

Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich

Russian admiral who gave his life for the liberation of the Fatherland.
Oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers late XIX- early XX centuries, military and political figure, naval commander, full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, leader of the White movement, Supreme Ruler of Russia.

Vladimir Svyatoslavich

981 - the conquest of Cherven and Przemysl. 983 - the conquest of the Yatvags. 984 - the conquest of the natives. 985 - successful campaigns against the Bulgars, the taxation of the Khazar Khaganate. 988 - the conquest of the Taman Peninsula. 991 - the subjugation of the White Croats. 992 - successfully defended Cherven Rus in the war against Poland. in addition, the saint is equal to the apostles.

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

Author and initiator of creation technical means Airborne Forces and methods of using units and formations of the Airborne Forces, many of which embody the image of the Airborne Forces of the USSR Armed Forces and the Russian Armed Forces, which currently exists.

General Pavel Fedoseevich Pavlenko:
In the history of the Airborne Forces, and in the Armed Forces of Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, his name will remain forever. He personified a whole era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces, their authority and popularity are associated with his name, not only in our country, but also abroad ...

Colonel Nikolai Fedorovich Ivanov:
Under more than twenty years of Margelov's leadership, the landing troops became one of the most mobile in the combat structure of the Armed Forces, prestigious service in them, especially revered by the people ... The photograph of Vasily Filippovich in demobilization albums went from the soldiers at the highest price - for a set of badges. The competition for the Ryazan Airborne School blocked the figures of VGIK and GITIS, and applicants who failed their exams for two or three months, before snow and frost, lived in the forests near Ryazan in the hope that someone would not withstand the stress and it would be possible to take his place .

Nakhimov Pavel Stepanovich

Successes in the Crimean War of 1853-56, victory in the Battle of Sinop in 1853, defense of Sevastopol in 1854-55.

Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich

Participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-91 and the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-90. He distinguished himself during the war with France in 1806-07 at Preussisch-Eylau, from 1807 he commanded a division. During the Russo-Swedish War of 1808-09 he commanded a corps; led a successful crossing through the Kvarken Strait in the winter of 1809. In 1809-10, the Governor-General of Finland. From January 1810 to September 1812, the Minister of War, did a lot of work to strengthen the Russian army, singled out the intelligence and counterintelligence service into a separate production. In the Patriotic War of 1812 he commanded the 1st Western Army, and he, as Minister of War, was subordinate to the 2nd Western Army. In the conditions of a significant superiority of the enemy, he showed the talent of a commander and successfully carried out the withdrawal and connection of the two armies, which earned such words from M.I. Kutuzov as THANK YOU FATHER !!! SAVE THE ARMY!!! SAVE RUSSIA!!!. However, the retreat caused discontent in the noble circles and the army, and on August 17, Barclay handed over the command of the armies to M.I. Kutuzov. In the Battle of Borodino, he commanded the right wing of the Russian army, showing stamina and skill in defense. He recognized the position near Moscow chosen by L. L. Bennigsen as unsuccessful and supported the proposal of M. I. Kutuzov to leave Moscow at the military council in Fili. In September 1812 he left the army due to illness. In February 1813 he was appointed commander of the 3rd, and then the Russian-Prussian army, which he successfully commanded during the foreign campaigns of the Russian army of 1813-14 (Kulm, Leipzig, Paris). He was buried in the Beklor estate in Livonia (now Jõgeveste Estonia)

Budyonny Semyon Mikhailovich

Commander of the First Cavalry Army of the Red Army during the Civil War. First cavalry army, which he led until October 1923, played an important role in a number of major operations of the Civil War to defeat the troops of Denikin and Wrangel in Northern Tavria and the Crimea.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Victory in the Great Patriotic War, saving the entire planet from absolute evil, and our country from extinction.
Stalin from the first hours of the war exercised control over the country, front and rear. On land, at sea and in the air.
His merit is not one or even ten battles or campaigns, his merit is the Victory, made up of hundreds of battles of the Great Patriotic War: the battle of Moscow, the battles in the North Caucasus, the Battle of Stalingrad, the battle of Kursk, the battle of Leningrad and many others before the capture Berlin, success in which was achieved thanks to the monotonous inhuman work of the genius of the Supreme Commander.

Miloradovich

Bagration, Miloradovich, Davydov - some very special breed of people. Now they don't do that. The heroes of 1812 were distinguished by complete recklessness, complete contempt for death. And after all, it was General Miloradovich, who went through all the wars for Russia without a single scratch, who became the first victim of individual terror. After Kakhovsky's shot on Senate Square This is the way the Russian revolution proceeded, all the way to the basement of the Ipatiev House. Removing the best.

Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich

October 3, 2013 marks the 80th anniversary of the death in the French city of Cannes of a Russian military figure, commander of the Caucasian Front, hero of Mukden, Sarykamysh, Van, Erzerum (due to the complete defeat of the 90,000th Turkish army of Russia, Constantinople and the Bosphorus with the Dardanelles retreated), the savior of the Armenian people from the complete Turkish genocide, holder of three orders of George and the highest order of France, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor, General Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich.

Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich

Hero of the Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813 At one time they called the Caucasian Suvorov. On October 19, 1812, at the Aslanduz ford across the Araks, at the head of a detachment of 2221 people with 6 guns, Pyotr Stepanovich defeated the Persian army of 30,000 people with 12 guns. In other battles, he also acted not by number, but by skill.

Drozdovsky Mikhail Gordeevich

He managed to bring his subordinate troops to the Don in full force, fought extremely effectively in the conditions of the civil war.

Denikin Anton Ivanovich

Russian military leader, political and public figure, writer, memoirist, publicist and military documentary.
Member of the Russo-Japanese War. One of the most productive generals of the Russian Imperial Army during the First World War. Commander of the 4th Rifle "Iron" Brigade (1914-1916, since 1915 - deployed under his command into a division), 8th Army Corps (1916-1917). Lieutenant General of the General Staff (1916), commander of the Western and Southwestern Fronts (1917). An active participant in the military congresses of 1917, an opponent of the democratization of the army. He expressed support for the Kornilov speech, for which he was arrested by the Provisional Government, a member of the Berdichevsky and Bykhov sittings of generals (1917).
One of the main leaders of the White movement during the Civil War, its leader in the South of Russia (1918-1920). He achieved the greatest military and political results among all the leaders of the White movement. Pioneer, one of the main organizers, and then commander of the Volunteer Army (1918-1919). Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (1919-1920), Deputy Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Admiral Kolchak (1919-1920).
Since April 1920 - an emigrant, one of the main political figures of the Russian emigration. The author of the memoirs "Essays on the Russian Troubles" (1921-1926) - a fundamental historical and biographical work about the Civil War in Russia, the memoirs "The Old Army" (1929-1931), the autobiographical story "The Way of the Russian Officer" (published in 1953) and a number of other works.

Saltykov Pyotr Semyonovich

Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army Seven Years' War, was the main architect of the key victories of the Russian troops.

Romodanovsky Grigory Grigorievich

An outstanding military leader of the 17th century, prince and governor. In 1655, he won his first victory over the Polish hetman S. Pototsky near Gorodok in Galicia. Later, being the commander of the army of the Belgorod category (military administrative district), he played a major role in organizing the defense of the southern border of Russia. In 1662, he won the biggest victory in the Russian-Polish war for Ukraine in the battle of Kanev, defeating the traitorous hetman Y. Khmelnitsky and the Poles who helped him. In 1664, near Voronezh, he forced the famous Polish commander Stefan Czarnecki to flee, forcing the army of King Jan Casimir to retreat. Repeatedly beat the Crimean Tatars. In 1677 he defeated the 100,000th Turkish army of Ibrahim Pasha near Buzhin, in 1678 he defeated the Turkish corps of Kaplan Pasha near Chigirin. Thanks to his military talents, Ukraine did not become another Ottoman province and the Turks did not take Kyiv.

Dragomirov Mikhail Ivanovich

Brilliant crossing of the Danube in 1877
- Creation of a tactics textbook
- Creation of the original concept of military education
- Leadership of the NAGSH in 1878-1889
- Huge influence in military matters for the whole 25th anniversary

Yaroslav the Wise

Kovpak Sidor Artemevich

Member of the First World War (he served in the 186th Aslanduz Infantry Regiment) and the Civil War. During the First World War, he fought on the Southwestern Front, a member of the Brusilov breakthrough. In April 1915, as part of the guard of honor, he was personally awarded the St. George Cross by Nicholas II. In total, he was awarded St. George's crosses III and IV degrees and medals "For Courage" ("George" medals) III and IV degrees.

During the Civil War, he led a local partisan detachment that fought in Ukraine against the German invaders together with the detachments of A. Ya. Parkhomenko, then was a fighter of the 25th Chapaev division on Eastern Front, where he was engaged in the disarmament of the Cossacks, participated in battles with the armies of Generals A.I. Denikin and Wrangel on the Southern Front.

In 1941-1942, Kovpak's formation carried out raids behind enemy lines in the Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, in 1942-1943 - a raid from the Bryansk forests on the Right-Bank Ukraine in the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr and Kyiv regions; in 1943 - the Carpathian raid. The Sumy partisan formation under the command of Kovpak fought over 10 thousand kilometers in the rear of the Nazi troops, defeated the enemy garrisons in 39 settlements. Kovpak's raids played a big role in the deployment of the partisan movement against the German occupiers.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union:
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 18, 1942, for the exemplary performance of combat missions behind enemy lines, the courage and heroism shown in their performance, Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 708)
The second medal "Gold Star" (No.) Major General Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 4, 1944 for the successful conduct of the Carpathian raid
four Orders of Lenin (18.5.1942, 4.1.1944, 23.1.1948, 25.5.1967)
Order of the Red Banner (24.12.1942)
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st class. (7.8.1944)
Order of Suvorov, 1st class (2 May 1945)
medals
foreign orders and medals (Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia)

Donskoy Dmitry Ivanovich

His army won the Kulikovo victory.

Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich

Successfully commanded Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War. Among other things, he stopped the Germans near Moscow, took Berlin.

Prophetic Oleg

Your shield is on the gates of Tsaregrad.
A.S. Pushkin.

Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich

Soldier, several wars (including World War I and World War II). passed the way to Marshal of the USSR and Poland. Military intellectual. not resorting to "obscene leadership." he knew tactics in military affairs to the subtleties. practice, strategy and operational art.

Denikin Anton Ivanovich

The commander under whose command the white army with smaller forces for 1.5 years won victories over the red army and captured North Caucasus, Crimea, Novorossia, Donbass, Ukraine, Don, part of the Volga region and the central black earth provinces of Russia. He retained the dignity of the Russian name during the Second World War, refusing to cooperate with the Nazis, despite his uncompromisingly anti-Soviet position

Kornilov Lavr Georgievich

KORNILOV Lavr Georgievich (08.18.1870-04.31.1918) Colonel (02.1905). Major General (12.1912). Lieutenant General (08.26.1914). Infantry General (06.30.1917). with a gold medal from the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff (1898). Officer at the headquarters of the Turkestan Military District, 1889-1904. Participant Russo-Japanese War 1904 - 1905: Headquarters officer of the 1st Rifle Brigade (at its headquarters). While retreating from Mukden, the brigade was surrounded. Having led the rearguard, he broke through the encirclement with a bayonet attack, ensuring the freedom of defensive combat operations of the brigade. Military attache in China, 04/01/1907 - 02/24/1911. Participant in the First World War: commander of the 48th Infantry Division of the 8th Army (General Brusilov). During the general retreat, the 48th division was surrounded and General Kornilov, who was wounded on 04.1915, was captured near the Duklinsky Pass (Carpathians); 08.1914-04.1915. Captured by the Austrians, 04.1915-06.1916. Dressed in the uniform of an Austrian soldier, he escaped from captivity on 06.1915. Commander of the 25th Rifle Corps, 06.1916-04.1917. Commander of the Petrograd Military District, 03-04.1917. Commander of the 8th Army, 04.24-07.08.1917. On 05/19/1917, by his order, he introduced the formation of the first volunteer "1st Shock Detachment of the 8th Army" under the command of Captain Nezhentsev. Commander of the Southwestern Front...

Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich

01/28/1887 - 09/05/1919 life. Head of a division of the Red Army, participant in the First World War and the Civil War.
Cavalier of three St. George's crosses and the St. George medal. Cavalier of the Order of the Red Banner.
On his account:
- Organization of the county Red Guard of 14 detachments.
- Participation in the campaign against General Kaledin (near Tsaritsyn).
- Participation in the campaign of the Special Army against Uralsk.
- An initiative to reorganize the Red Guard detachments into two regiments of the Red Army: them. Stepan Razin and them. Pugachev, united in the Pugachev brigade under the command of Chapaev.
- Participation in battles with the Czechoslovaks and the People's Army, from whom Nikolaevsk was recaptured, renamed in honor of the brigade in Pugachevsk.
- Since September 19, 1918, the commander of the 2nd Nikolaev division.
- From February 1919 - Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Nikolaevsky district.
- From May 1919 - brigade commander of the Special Alexander-Gai Brigade. Cavalry General A. A. Brusilov showed the ability to manage large operational military formations - the army (8th - 05.08. May 21, 1917), a group of fronts (Supreme Commander-in-Chief - May 22, 1917 - July 19, 1917).
The personal contribution of A. A. Brusilov manifested itself in many successful operations of the Russian army during the First World War - the Battle of Galicia in 1914, the Carpathian battle of 1914/15, the Lutsk and Czartoryi operations of 1915 and, of course, in the Offensive of the South-Western Front in 1916 city ​​(the famous Brusilovsky breakthrough).

M.D. Skobelev

Why was he called the "white general"? The simplest explanation is a uniform and a white horse. But he was not the only one who wore a white general's military uniform ...

Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich

He commanded a tank corps, the 60th Army, from April 1944 - the 3rd Belorussian Front. He showed a bright talent and especially distinguished himself during the Belarusian and East Prussian operations. Distinguished by the ability to conduct highly maneuverable combat operations. Mortally wounded in February 1945.

Peter I . Board (16 82 – 1725 ).

From the first days of his reign, Peter sought to concentrate power in his hands. Absolute monarchy is the last form of the feudal state that arises during the period of the birth of capitalist relations. Its main feature is that the head of state is the source of legislative and executive power. Absolutism is a form of government in which power belongs to the monarch.

The young tsar considered the clergy to be his main opponent. In 1721, he abolished the patriarchate and introduced the Synod, placing the affairs of religion under the control of secular officials. From 1722, the Synod was supervised by the Chief Procurator of the Synod. This meant the victory of secular power over the spiritual.

In 1711, the Senate was created - the supreme governing body of the country, the highest administrative body for judicial, financial, military and foreign affairs. Members of the Senate were appointed by the autocrat. To control and supervise the execution of state laws and orders in 1722, the position of Prosecutor General was introduced at the head of the Senate (P.I. Yaguzhinsky was appointed). He exercised control over the activities of all government agencies and reported on the abuses of officials of the central and local apparatus.

In 1718, instead of orders, 12 colleges were created, which were in charge of political, industrial and financial affairs. Collegiums differed from orders in structure and functions (president, vice president, advisers, assessors, secretaries) and were formed from representatives of the nobility.

The procedure for considering cases in the boards was developed by the General Regulations, on the basis of which the entire internal routine of the institution was built. The boards were subordinate to the provincial, provincial and county administrations.

In order to strengthen local power, a reform of the local self-government system was carried out. In 1718 the country was divided into eight provinces: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Arkhangelsk, Azov, Kazan, Smolensk, Siberia. The governors were at the head of the provinces, endowed with full administrative-police and judicial power. The provinces were divided into provinces, and the provinces into counties, headed by local nobles. In 1719 the provinces were divided into 50 provinces. In the power of the governors remained the functions of managing the city and commanding the troops stationed within its borders. On other issues, decisions were made by the boards and the Senate.

City government was concentrated in the hands of the city leaders. In 1702, the Chief Magistrate was created, which controlled the affairs of the city magistrates. They were elected by the propertied population to conduct intracity affairs - tax collection and judicial office work in litigation between citizens.

In 1722, a decree on succession to the throne was issued, according to which the emperor himself appointed a successor.

From 1721, Peter I began to be called the emperor, and Russia turned into an empire. These titles completed the design of Russian absolutism.

North War (1700-1721).

Causes of the Northern War:

1.Peter I (1682-1725) decided to join the fight with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea.

2. the need to establish direct trade relations with European countries;

3.capture of new territories.

Peter 1 began preparations for war immediately after returning from the Great Embassy. In 1699, the Northern Union was created, which included: Russia, the Commonwealth (Poland), Denmark and Saxony.

Northern War 1700-1721 began the day after the conclusion of a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire. On August 19, 1700, Peter moved his troops to Narva. But, the battle turned into a complete defeat of the 35,000th army of the Russian Tsar, which on September 30 was attacked by Charles 12 with only 8.5 thousand soldiers. The retreat of the entire army was then covered by the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments. Deciding that Russia was no longer dangerous, Charles 12 directed his forces against Augustus 2 and withdrew his army to Livonia. Here are the further events of the Northern War briefly.

Peter 1, having drawn the appropriate conclusions, began to reorganize the army according to the European model. Already in the autumn of 1702, the Noteburg fortress was taken, then Nyenschanz (the Peter and Paul Fortress was founded not far from this fortification in 1703), and in the fall of 1704, the army of Peter 1 captured Narva and Derpt (Tartu). Russia gained access to the Baltic.

After these events, Peter 1 invited Charles 12 to make peace, but his proposal was rejected. The Great Northern War continued. Charles 12 launched a campaign against Russia in 1706. He was able to capture Minsk and Mogilev, received the support of Hetman Mazepa of Little Russia. However, continuing to advance south, the army lost both its ammunition convoy and reinforcements, since Lewenhaupt's corps, which was going to join with Karl, was defeated by the army under the command of Menshikov on September 28, 1708.

The army of Charles 12 suffered a crushing defeat on June 27, 1709 in the Battle of Poltava. The ruler of Sweden, as well as Hetman Mazepa, were forced to flee to Turkish lands, after which the Ottoman Empire entered the war, by 1711 having regained Azov. In 1713, Sweden completely lost all its possessions in Europe. Created by Peter the Great, the Baltic fleet won its first victory in 1714 in the battle of Cape Gangut. But there was no unanimity among the countries - participants of the Northern Union. The war, which required the exertion of all the forces of the country, dragged on.

The Russians gradually ousted Karl from the territory of Finland. Feeling a serious threat, the Ruler of Sweden in 1718 began peace negotiations, which ended in failure and led to the intensification of the actions of the Russian army. In the period from 1719 to 1720. military landings were already landing on Swedish lands. The peace treaty was concluded in Nystadt on August 30, 1721. Russia, building Finland in Sweden, received: Ingria, Estonia, Karelia, Livonia.

On the occasion of the victory, the Russian Senate presented Peter 1 with the title of emperor, and the country became known as an empire. The Northern War under Peter 1 allowed Russia to strengthen its status as a world power, as well as to get the largest port city of St. Petersburg (it was founded in 1703).

Poltava battle
	Near Poltava, Ukraine
	Decisive Russian victory
Opponents
Commanders
Carl Gustav Rehnschild	Alexander Danilovich Menshikov
Side forces
General Forces: 26,000 Swedes (about 11,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry), 1,000 Wallachian hussars, 41 guns, about 2,000 Cossacks Total: about 37,000 Forces in battle: 8270 infantry, 7800 dragoons and reytars, 1000 hussars, 4 guns Did not take part in the battle: Cossacks	General Forces: about 37,000 infantry (87 battalions), 23,700 cavalry (27 regiments and 5 squadrons), 102 guns Total: about 60,000 Forces in battle: 25,000 infantry, 9,000 dragoons, Cossacks and Kalmyks, another 3,000 Kalmyks came to the end of the battle Poltava garrison: 4200 infantry, 2000 Cossacks, 28 guns

Poltava battle- the largest battle of the Northern War between the Russian troops under the command of Peter I and the Swedish army of Charles XII. It took place on the morning of June 27 (July 8), 1709, 6 versts from the city of Poltava on Ukrainian lands (the Left Bank of the Dnieper). The decisive victory of the Russian army led to a turning point in the Northern War in favor of Russia and put an end to the dominance of Sweden as the main military force in Europe.

After the Battle of Narva in 1700, Charles XII invaded Europe and a long war broke out with the participation of many states, in which the army of Charles XII was able to advance far south, winning victories.

After Peter I conquered part of Livonia from Charles XII and founded a new fortress city of St. Petersburg at the mouth of the Neva, Charles decided to attack central Russia with the capture of Moscow. During the campaign, he decided to lead his army to Little Russia, whose hetman - Mazepa - went over to the side of Charles, but was not supported by the bulk of the Cossacks. By the time Charles' army approached Poltava, he had lost up to a third of the army, his rear was attacked by Peter's light cavalry - Cossacks and Kalmyks, and was wounded just before the battle. The battle was lost by Charles, and he fled to the Ottoman Empire.

background

In October 1708, Peter I became aware of the betrayal and defection to the side of Charles XII, Hetman Mazepa, who negotiated with the king for quite a long time, promising him, in case of arrival in Ukraine, up to 50 thousand Cossack troops, food and comfortable wintering. On October 28, 1708, Mazepa, at the head of a detachment of Cossacks, arrived at Karl's headquarters. It was in this year that Peter I amnestied and recalled from exile (accused of betrayal on the slander of Mazepa) the Ukrainian colonel Paliy Semyon (real name Gurko); thus the sovereign of Russia enlisted the support of the Cossacks.

Of the many thousands of Ukrainian Cossacks (registered Cossacks, there were 30 thousand, Zaporozhye Cossacks - 10-12 thousand), Mazepa managed to bring only up to 10 thousand people, about 3 thousand registered Cossacks and about 7 thousand Cossacks. But even those soon began to scatter from the camp of the Swedish army. Such unreliable allies, of which about 2 thousand remained, King Charles XII was afraid to use them in battle, and therefore left them in the wagon train.

In the spring of 1709, Charles XII, being with his army on the territory of Russia, decided to resume the offensive against Moscow through Kharkov and Belgorod. The strength of his army was significantly reduced and amounted to 35 thousand people. In an effort to create favorable conditions for the offensive, Karl decides to quickly capture Poltava, located on the right bank of the Vorskla.

On April 30, Swedish troops began the siege of Poltava. Under the leadership of Colonel A. S. Kelin, its garrison of 4.2 thousand soldiers (Tver and Ustyug soldier regiments and one battalion each from three more regiments - Perm, Apraksin and Fekhtenheim), 2 thousand Cossacks of the Poltava Cossack regiment (Colonel Ivan Levenets) and 2.6 thousand armed citizens successfully repulsed a number of assaults. From April to June, the Swedes undertook 20 assaults on Poltava and lost more than 6 thousand people under its walls. At the end of May, the main forces of the Russian army, led by Peter, approached Poltava. They were located on the opposite left bank of the Vorskla River from Poltava. After Peter decided on a general battle at the military council on June 16, on the same day the Russian advance detachment crossed Vorskla north of Poltava, near the village of Petrovka, making it possible for the entire army to cross.

On June 19, the main forces of the Russian troops marched to the crossing and the next day they crossed the Vorskla. Peter I encamped the army near the village of Semyonovka. On June 25, the Russian army relocated even further south, taking up a position 5 kilometers from Poltava, near the village of Yakovtsy. The total strength of the two armies was impressive: the Russian army consisted of 60,000 soldiers and 102 artillery pieces. Charles XII had up to 37 thousand soldiers (including up to ten thousand Zaporozhye and Ukrainian Cossacks of Hetman Mazepa) and 41 guns (30 cannons, 2 howitzers, 8 mortars and 1 shotgun). A smaller number of troops took part directly in the battle of Poltava. On the Swedish side there are about 8,000 infantry (18 battalions), 7,800 cavalry and about 1,000 irregular cavalry, and on the Russian side - about 25,000 infantry, some of which, even being present on the field, did not take part in the battle. In addition, cavalry units numbering 9,000 soldiers and Cossacks (including Ukrainians loyal to Peter) participated in the battle from the Russian side. On the Russian side, 73 artillery pieces were involved in the battle against 4 Swedish ones. Charges for the Swedish artillery were almost completely used up during the days of the siege of Poltava.

On June 26, the Russians began to build a forward position. Ten redoubts were erected, which occupied two battalions of the Belgorod Infantry Regiment of Colonel Savva Aigustov under the command of Lieutenant Colonels Neklyudov and Nechaev. Behind the redoubts were 17 cavalry regiments under the command of A. D. Menshikov.

Charles XII, having received information about the imminent approach to the Russians of a large Kalmyk detachment, decided to attack Peter's army before the Kalmyks completely disrupted his communications. Wounded during reconnaissance on June 17, the king handed over command to Field Marshal K. G. Renschild, who received 20 thousand soldiers at his disposal. About 10 thousand people, including Mazepa's Cossacks, remained in the camp near Poltava.

On the eve of the battle, Peter I traveled around all the regiments. His brief patriotic appeals to soldiers and officers formed the basis of the famous order, which required the soldiers to fight not for Peter, but for "Russia and Russian piety ..."

Tried to raise the spirit of his army and Charles XII. Inspiring the soldiers, Karl announced that tomorrow they would dine in the Russian wagon train, where a lot of booty awaited them.

The course of the battle

Swedish attack on redoubts

At two o'clock in the morning on June 27, the Swedish infantry advanced from Poltava in four columns, followed by six horse columns. By dawn, the Swedes took to the field in front of the Russian redoubts. Prince Menshikov, having lined up his dragoons in battle formation, moved towards the Swedes, wanting to meet them as soon as possible and thereby gain time to prepare for the battle of the main forces.

When the Swedes saw the advancing Russian dragoons, their cavalry quickly rode between the columns of their infantry and swiftly rushed to the Russian cavalry. By three o'clock in the morning, a heated battle was already in full swing in front of the redoubts. At first, the Swedish cuirassiers pressed the Russian cavalry, but, quickly recovering, the Russian cavalry pushed the Swedes back with repeated blows.

The Swedish cavalry retreated and the infantry went on the attack. The tasks of the infantry were as follows: one part of the infantry should pass the redoubts without a fight in the direction of the main camp of the Russian troops, while the other part of it, under the command of Ross, was to take longitudinal redoubts in order to prevent the enemy from conducting destructive fire on the Swedish infantry, which was advancing towards the fortified camp Russians. The Swedes took the first and second advanced redoubts. Attacks on the third and other redoubts were repulsed.

The fierce stubborn battle lasted more than an hour; during this time, the main forces of the Russians managed to prepare for battle, and therefore Tsar Peter orders the cavalry and defenders of the redoubts to retreat to main position near the fortified camp. However, Menshikov did not obey the order of the king and, dreaming of putting an end to the Swedes at the redoubts, continued the battle. Soon, however, he was forced to retreat.

Field Marshal Renschild regrouped troops, trying to bypass the Russian redoubts on the left. After capturing two redoubts, the Swedes attacked Menshikov's cavalry, but the Swedish cavalry forced them to retreat. According to Swedish historiography, Menshikov fled. However, the Swedish cavalry, obeying the general plan of the battle, did not develop success.

During the equestrian battle, six right-flank battalions of General Ross stormed the 8th redoubt, but they could not take it, losing up to half of their personnel during the attack. With the left-flank maneuver of the Swedish troops, a gap formed between them and Ross's battalions and the latter were lost from sight. In an effort to find them, Rehnschild sent 2 more infantry battalions to search for them. However, Ross's troops were defeated by the Russian cavalry.

Meanwhile, Field Marshal Rehnschild, seeing the retreat of the Russian cavalry and infantry, orders his infantry to break through the line of Russian fortifications. This order is immediately executed.

Having broken through the redoubts, the bulk of the Swedes came under heavy artillery and rifle fire from the Russian camp and retreated in disorder to the Budischensky forest. At about six o'clock in the morning, Peter led the army out of the camp and built it in two lines, having infantry in the center, Menshikov's cavalry on the left flank, and General R. H. Bour's cavalry on the right. A reserve of nine infantry battalions was left in the camp. Rehnschild lined up the Swedes opposite the Russian army.

Decisive battle

At 9 o'clock in the morning, the remnants of the Swedish infantry, the number of which was about 4 thousand people, lined up in one line, attacked the Russian infantry, lined up in two lines of about 8 thousand each. First, the opponents entered into a gunfight, then began hand-to-hand combat.

Encouraged by the presence of the king, the right wing of the Swedish infantry furiously attacked the left flank of the Russian army. Under the onslaught of the Swedes, the first line of Russian troops began to retreat. The pressure of the enemy, according to Englund, succumbed to the Kazan, Pskov, Siberian, Moscow, Butyrsky and Novgorod regiments (the advanced battalions of these regiments). In the front line of the Russian infantry, a dangerous break in the battle formation formed: the Swedes "overturned" the 1st battalion of the Novgorod regiment with a bayonet attack. Tsar Peter I noticed this in time, took the 2nd battalion of the Novogorodsky regiment and, at the head of it, rushed to a dangerous place.

The arrival of the king put an end to the successes of the Swedes and order on the left flank was restored. First, in two or three places, under the onslaught of the Russians, the Swedes faltered.

The second line of Russian infantry joined the first, increasing the pressure on the enemy, and the melting thin line of the Swedes did not receive any reinforcements. The flanks of the Russian army covered the battle formation of the Swedes. The Swedes are already tired of the intense battle.

Charles XII tried to inspire his warriors and appeared in the place of the hottest fight. But the ball broke the stretcher of the king, and he fell. Through the ranks of the Swedish army, the news of the death of the king swept with lightning speed. Panic broke out among the Swedes.

Waking up from the fall, Charles XII orders to put himself on crossed peaks and raise him high so that everyone can see him, but this measure did not help either. Under the onslaught of the Russian forces, the Swedes, who had lost their formation, began a disorderly retreat, which turned into a real flight by 11 o'clock. The fainting king barely had time to be taken out of the battlefield, put in a carriage and sent to Perevolochna.

According to Englund, the most tragic fate awaited the two battalions of the Uppland Regiment, which were surrounded and completely destroyed (out of 700 people, a few dozen survived).

Side losses

Menshikov, having received reinforcements of 3,000 Kalmyk cavalry by the evening, pursued the enemy to Perevolochna on the banks of the Dnieper, where about 16,000 Swedes were captured.

In the battle, the Swedes lost over 11 thousand soldiers. Russian losses were 1,345 killed and 3,290 wounded.

Results

As a result of the Battle of Poltava, the army of King Charles XII was so bloodless that it could no longer conduct active offensive operations. He himself managed to escape with Mazepa and hid in the territory of the Ottoman Empire in Bendery. The military power of Sweden was undermined, and in the Northern War there was a turning point in favor of Russia. During the Battle of Poltava, Peter used tactics that are still mentioned in military schools. Shortly before the battle, Peter dressed the experienced soldiers in the uniform of the young ones. Karl, knowing that the form of experienced fighters is different from the form of young ones, led his army to young fighters and fell into a trap.

Cards

The actions of the Russian troops are shown from the moment of the attempt to liberate Poltava because of the Vorskla and until the end of the Poltava battle.

Unfortunately, this most informative scheme cannot be placed here due to its dubious legal status - the original was published in the USSR with a total circulation of about 1,000,000 copies (!).

event memory

• On the site of the battle at the beginning of the 20th century, the Poltava Battle Field Museum-Reserve (now the National Museum-Reserve) was founded. A museum was built on its territory, monuments to Peter I, Russian and Swedish soldiers were erected, on the site of the camp of Peter I, etc.
• In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava (which took place on the day of St. Sampson the Hospitable) in 1735, a sculptural group "Samson Tearing the Lion's Mouth" was installed in Peterhof, designed by Carlo Rastrelli. The lion was associated with Sweden, whose coat of arms contains this heraldic beast.

Monuments in Poltava:

• Monument of Glory
• Monument at the resting place of Peter I after the battle
• Monument to Colonel Kelin and the valiant defenders of Poltava.

On coins

In honor of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, on June 1, 2009, the Bank of Russia issued the following commemorative silver coins (only reverses are shown):

In fiction

• A.S. Pushkin, "Poltava" - in the novel "Poltava Peremoga" by Oleg Kudrin (shortlist of the Nonconformism-2010 Prize, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow), the event is considered, "replayed" in the genre of alternative history.

Images

Documentary film

• "Poltava battle. 300 years later." — Russia, 2008

Art films

• Servant of the Sovereigns (film)
• Prayer for Hetman Mazepa (film)