View source for Great Northern War

{{Short description|1700–1721 conflict between Sweden and Russia}}
{{About|the 1700–1721 war|the related series of conflicts|Northern Wars}}
{{Other uses|Northern War (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Great Northern War
| partof            = the [[Northern Wars]]
| image             = Great Northern War Collage.jpg
| image_size        = 300
| caption           = From left to right: {{flatlist|
* [[Battle of Narva (1700)]]
* [[Crossing of the Düna|Charles XII crossing the Düna (1701)]]
* [[Battle of Poltava|Peter I at the Battle of Poltava (1709)]]
* [[Battle of Gadebusch|Battle of Gadebusch (1712)]]
* [[Bringing Home the Body of King Charles XII|Bringing Home the Body of King Charles XII (1718)]]
}}
| date              = 22 February 1700 – 10 September 1721<br />(21 years, 6 months and 2 weeks and 5 days, [[Gregorian calendar|N.S.]])
| place             = [[Northern Europe|Northern]], [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]]
| casus             = [[Tsardom of Russia]] and the [[Swedish Empire]] vying for hegemony over the Baltic Sea
| territory         = {{plainlist|
* '''[[Treaty of Nystad]]''': Russia gains the three dominions [[Duchy of Estonia (1561–1721)|Estonia]], [[Livonia]] and [[Ingria]] as well as parts of [[Kexholm]] and [[Viborg Province|Viborg]].
* '''[[Treaties of Stockholm (Great Northern War)|Treaties of Stockholm]]''': Prussia gains parts of [[Swedish Pomerania]]; Hanover gains [[Bremen-Verden]].
* '''[[Treaty of Frederiksborg]]''': [[Holstein-Gottorp|Holstein–Gottorp]] loses its part of the [[Duchy of Schleswig]] to [[Denmark-Norway]].<!--Holstein-Gottorp's portion of Holstein was gained by [[Denmark-Norway]] in 1773.-->
* '''[[Treaty of the Pruth]]''': Azov area is ceded back to the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Russia demolishes strategic castles such as [[Taganrog]]. [[Charles XII of Sweden]] gets safe passage from Turkey to Sweden in 1711.
}}
| result            = Anti-Swedish coalition victory:
* The [[Tsardom of Russia]] becomes the [[Russian Empire]], establishing itself as a new power in Europe
* Decline of the [[Swedish Empire]]
* Decline of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| combatant1        = {{plainlist|
* {{flag|Swedish Empire}}
* {{flagicon image|Merchant Ensign of Holstein-Gottorp (Lions sinister).svg|border=}} [[Holstein-Gottorp]]<br />{{small|(1700–1714)}}
* [[File:Royal Banner of Stanisław Leszczyński.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Warsaw Confederation (1704)|Warsaw Confederation]]<br />{{small|(1704–1709)}}
* {{flag|Ottoman Empire|1517}}<br />{{small|(1710–1714)}}
* {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Crimean_Khanate_(15th_century).svg|link=Crimean Khanate}} [[Crimean Khanate]]<br />{{small|(1710–1714)}}
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} [[Cossack Hetmanate]]<br />{{small|(1708–1714)}}
* {{flagdeco|United Provinces}} [[Dutch Republic]] {{small|(1700)}}
* {{flag|Kingdom of England|name=England}} {{small|(1700)}}
* {{flag|Kingdom of Scotland|name=Scotland}} {{small|(1700)}}
* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Ireland|1542}} {{small|(1700)}}
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]<br />{{small|(1719–1720)}}
}}
| combatant2        = {{plainlist|
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Tsardom of Russia]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} [[Cossack Hetmanate]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Kalmyk Khanate.svg|border=}} [[Kalmyk Khanate]]
* {{flagicon|Electorate of Saxony}} [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]]<br />{{small|(1700–1706, 1709–1719)}}
* [[File:Flag of Courland (state).svg|23px|border]] [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia|Duchy of Courland]]<br />{{small|(1700–1701)}}
* [[File:Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]<br />{{small|(1701–1704, 1709–1719)}}
* [[File:Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Sandomierz Confederation]]<br />{{small|(1704–1709)}}
* {{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}} [[Denmark–Norway]]<br />{{small|(1700, 1709–1720)}}
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1701}} [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] {{small|(1715–1720)}}
* {{flagicon|Electorate of Hanover}} [[Electorate of Hanover|Hanover]] {{small|(1715–1719)}}
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]<br />{{small|(1717–1719)}}
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro2.svg}} [[Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro|Montenegro]]<br />{{small|(1711–1712)}}
* {{resize|{{flagicon|Moldavia}} [[Moldavia]]}} 
}}
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} '''[[Charles XII of Sweden|Charles XII]]'''{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden|Eleonora I]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Frederick I of Sweden|Frederick I]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld|Rehnskiöld]]{{POW}}
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Magnus Stenbock|Stenbock]]{{Surrender}}[[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt|Lewenhaupt]]{{Surrender}}[[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Arvid Axel Mardefelt|Mardefelt]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Carl Gustaf Armfeldt|Armfeldt]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Johan August Meijerfeldt the Elder|Meijerfeldt]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach|Schlippenbach]] {{POW}}
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Carl Gustaf Dücker|Dücker]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Otto Vellingk|Vellingk]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Hans Wachtmeister|Wachtmeister]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Carl Georg Siöblad|Siöblad]]
* {{flagicon|Swedish Empire}} [[Carl Gustaf Creutz|Creutz]]{{POW}}
* {{flagicon image|Merchant Ensign of Holstein-Gottorp (Lions sinister).svg|border=}} [[Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp|Frederick IV]]{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon image|Merchant Ensign of Holstein-Gottorp (Lions sinister).svg|border=}} [[Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp|Charles Frederick]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of England}}{{flagicon|Kingdom of Scotland}}{{flagicon|Kingdom of Ireland|1542}}{{flagicon image|Statenvlag.svg}} [[William III of England|William III]]<br />{{small|(personal union)}}
* [[File:Royal Banner of Stanisław Leszczyński.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Stanislaus I]]
* [[File:Royal Banner of Stanisław Leszczyński.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Józef Potocki|Potocki]]
* [[File:Royal Banner of Stanisław Leszczyński.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Jan Kazimierz Sapieha the Younger|Sapieha the Younger]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* [[File:Royal Banner of Stanisław Leszczyński.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Jan Kazimierz Sapieha the Elder|Sapieha the Elder]]
* {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire|1517}} [[Ahmed III]]
* {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire|1517}} [[Baltacı Mehmet Pasha|Baltaci Mehmet Pasha]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} [[Ivan Mazepa|Mazepa]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} [[Pylyp Orlyk|Orlyk]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} [[Kost Hordiyenko|Hordiyenko]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Crimean_Khanate_(15th_century).svg|link=Crimean Khanate}} [[Devlet II Giray]]
* {{flagicon image|Royal Standard of Great Britain (1689-1702).svg}} [[George I of Great Britain|George I]]}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} '''[[Peter the Great|Peter I]]'''
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Alexander Danilovich Menshikov|Menshikov]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Boris Sheremetev|Sheremetev]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Fyodor Apraksin|Apraksin]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Anikita Repnin|Repnin]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Mikhail Golitsyn|Golitsyn]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Carl Ewald von Rönne|Rönne]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Jacob Bruce]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Robert Bruce (1668–1720)|Robert Bruce]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}} [[Matija Zmajević|Zmajević]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Oryol ship (variant).svg}}{{flagdeco|Electorate of Saxony}} [[Charles Eugène de Croÿ|Croÿ]]{{Surrender}} [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} [[Ivan Mazepa|Mazepa]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} [[Danylo Apostol|Apostol]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|border=Cossack Hetmanate}} [[Ivan Skoropadsky|Skoropadsky]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Kalmyk Khanate.svg|border=}} [[Ayuka Khan]]
* {{flagdeco|Electorate of Saxony}} [[File:Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Augustus II]]<br /><small>(personal union)</small>
* {{flagdeco|Electorate of Saxony}} [[Jacob Heinrich von Flemming|Flemming]]
* {{flagdeco|Electorate of Saxony}} [[Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg|Schulenburg]]
* {{flagdeco|Electorate of Saxony}} [[Adam Heinrich von Steinau|Steinau]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagdeco|Electorate of Saxony}} [[Otto Arnold von Paykull|Paykull]]{{POW}}{{Executed}}
* [[File:Flag of Courland (state).svg|23px]] [[Ferdinand Kettler|Kettler]]
* [[File:Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski|Sieniawski]]
* [[File:Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Stanisław Chomętowski|Chomętowski]]
* [[File:Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki|Wiśniowiecki]]
* [[File:Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski|Lubomirski]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* [[File:Polish Royal Banner of The House of Wettin.svg|22px|alt=|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[Grzegorz Antoni Ogiński|Ogiński]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}} [[Frederick IV of Denmark|Frederick IV]]
* {{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}} [[Christian Detlev Reventlow|Reventlow]]
* {{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}} [[Jørgen Rantzau|Rantzau]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}} [[Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve|Gyldenløve]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
* {{flagicon|Denmark–Norway}} [[Peter Tordenskjold|Tordenskjold]]
* {{flagicon|Prussia|1701}} [[Frederick William I of Prussia|Frederick William I]]
* {{flagicon|Prussia|1701}} [[Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau|Leopold I]]
* {{flagicon|Electorate of Hanover}}{{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[George I of Great Britain|George I]]<br /><small>(personal union)</small>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro2.svg}} [[Danilo I, Metropolitan of Cetinje|Danilo I]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Moldavia.svg}} [[Dimitrie Cantemir|Cantemir]]
}}
| strength1         = {{plainlist|
* '''Swedish Empire:'''<br />76,000<ref name="Stormakten">{{Harvnb|Larsson|2009|p=78}}</ref>
* '''Holstein-Gottorp:'''<br />5,000<ref name="Bengt">{{Harvnb|Liljegren|2000|p=}}</ref>
* '''Brunswick-Lüneburg:'''<br />10,000
* '''Warsaw Confederation:'''<br />24,000<ref name="From 214">{{Harvnb|From|2007|p=214}}</ref>
* '''Ottoman Empire:'''<br />130,000 (limited campaigns)<ref name="Stone">A Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya, [[David R. Stone]]. Greenwood Publishing Group (2006). p. 57.</ref>
* '''Cossack Hetmanate:'''<br />4,000<ref name="From 234">{{Harvnb|From|2007|p=240}}</ref>
* '''Dutch Republic:'''<br />13 ships of the line<ref name="Ericson">Ericson, ''Sjöslag och rysshärjningar'' (2011) Stockholm, Norstedts. p. 55. {{ISBN|978-91-1-303042-5}}</ref>
* '''England:'''<br />12 ships of the line<ref name="Ericson" />
* '''Total:'''<br />249,000
}}
| strength2         = {{plainlist|
* '''Tsardom of Russia:'''<br />110,000<ref name="Boris">{{Harvnb|Grigorjev|Bespalov|2012|p=52}}</ref>
* '''Cossack Hetmanate:'''<br />30,000<ref name="Boris" />
* '''Saxony:'''<br />30,000<ref name="Höglund">{{Harvnb|Höglund|Sallnäs|2000|p=51}}</ref>
* '''Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth:'''<br />50,000<ref name="Gierowski 258-261">Józef Andrzej Gierowski – ''Historia Polski 1505–1764'' (History of Poland 1505–1764), pp. 258–261</ref>
* '''Denmark–Norway:'''<br />40,000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tacitus.nu/karoliner/armeer/danmark/index.htm |title=Tacitus.nu, Örjan Martinsson. Danish force |publisher=Tacitus.nu |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-date=13 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013134255/http://www.tacitus.nu/karoliner/armeer/danmark/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* '''Prussia:'''<br />50,000
* '''Hanover:'''<br />20,000<ref name="Höglund1">{{Harvnb|Höglund|Sallnäs|2000|p=132}}</ref>
* '''Total:'''<br />340,000
}}
| casualties1       = '''Total: 200,000 dead'''<hr>{{plainlist|
* 25,000 killed in combat
* 175,000 killed by famine, disease and exhaustion<ref>Ericson, Lars, ''Svenska knektar'' (2004) Lund: Historiska media{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref>}} (including over 40,000 Finns who died in combat or other ways).<ref>Teemu Keskisarja (2019). Murhanenkeli. p. 244. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Siltala. {{ISBN|978-952-234-638-4}}.</ref>
| casualties2       = '''Total: 295,000 dead'''<hr>{{plainlist|
* 20,000 Russians killed in combat<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Boris Urlanis |Урланис Б. Ц.]] |script-title=ru:Войны и народонаселение Европы |location=Moscow |date=1960 |publisher=Изд-во соц.-экон. лит-ры |page=55}}</ref>
* 110,000+ killed by famine, disease and exhaustion. Likely much higher figure based on the circumstances of campaigns and battles.<ref>Pitirim Sorokin "Social and Cultural Dynamics", vol. 3</ref>
* 14,000–20,000 Poles, Saxons and 8,000 Danes (70,000 Danes total) killed in the larger battles between 1709–1719.<ref>Lindegren, Jan, ''Det danska och svenska resurssystemet i komparation'' (1995) Umeå : Björkås : Mitthögsk{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref>}}
| Battles won1      = 21
| Battles won2      = 5
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Great Northern War}}
{{Campaignbox Dano–Swedish Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Polish–Swedish Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Russo–Swedish Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Russo-Ottoman Wars}}
}}
The '''Great Northern War''' (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the [[Tsardom of Russia]] successfully contested the supremacy of the [[Swedish Empire]] in [[Northern Europe|Northern]], [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]]. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were [[Peter the Great|Peter I]] of Russia, [[Frederick IV of Denmark|Frederick IV]] of [[Denmark–Norway]] and [[Augustus II the Strong]] of [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]]–[[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland–Lithuania]]. Frederick IV and Augustus II were defeated by Sweden, under [[Charles XII]], and forced out of the alliance in 1700 and 1706 respectively, but rejoined it in 1709 after the defeat of Charles XII at the [[Battle of Poltava]]. [[George I of Great Britain]] and the [[Electorate of Hanover]] joined the coalition in 1714 for Hanover and in 1717 for Britain, and [[Frederick William I of Prussia|Frederick William I]] of [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] joined it in 1715.

Charles XII led the Swedish army. Swedish allies included [[Holstein-Gottorp]], several Polish magnates under [[Stanislaus I Leszczyński]] (1704–1710) and [[Cossacks]] under the [[Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host|Ukrainian Hetman]] [[Ivan Mazepa]] (1708–1710). The [[Ottoman Empire]] temporarily hosted Charles XII of Sweden and intervened against Peter I.

The war began when an alliance of [[Denmark–Norway]], [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]] and [[Tsardom of Russia|Russia]], sensing an opportunity as Sweden was ruled by the young Charles XII, declared war on the Swedish Empire and launched a threefold attack on Swedish Holstein-Gottorp, [[Swedish Livonia]], and [[Swedish Ingria]]. Sweden parried the Danish and Russian attacks at [[Peace of Travendal|Travendal]] (August 1700) and [[Battle of Narva (1700)|Narva]] (November 1700) respectively, and in a counter-offensive pushed Augustus II's forces through the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] to Saxony, dethroning Augustus on the way (September 1706) and forcing him to acknowledge defeat in the [[Treaty of Altranstädt (1706)|Treaty of Altranstädt]] (October 1706). The treaty also secured the extradition and execution of [[Johann Reinhold Patkul]], architect of the alliance seven years earlier. Meanwhile, the forces of Peter I had recovered from defeat at [[Narva]] and gained ground in Sweden's Baltic provinces, where they cemented Russian access to the [[Baltic Sea]] by founding [[Saint Petersburg]] in 1703. Charles XII moved from Saxony [[Charles XII invasion of Russia|into Russia]] to confront Peter, but the campaign ended in 1709 with the destruction of the main Swedish army at the decisive [[Battle of Poltava]] (in present-day [[Ukraine]]) and Charles' exile in the Ottoman town of [[Bender, Moldova|Bender]]. The Ottoman Empire defeated the Russian-Moldavian army in the [[Pruth River Campaign]], but that peace treaty was in the end without great consequence to Russia's position.

After Poltava, the anti-Swedish coalition revived and subsequently Hanover and Prussia joined it. The remaining Swedish forces in [[The plague during the Great Northern War|plague-stricken areas]] south and east of the Baltic Sea were evicted, with the last city, [[Tallinn]], falling in the autumn of 1710. The coalition members partitioned most of the [[Dominions of Sweden|Swedish dominions]] among themselves, destroying the Swedish ''[[dominium maris baltici]]''. Sweden proper was invaded from the west by Denmark–Norway and from the east by Russia, which had [[Greater Wrath|occupied Finland]] by 1714. Sweden defeated the Danish invaders at the [[Battle of Helsingborg]]. Charles XII [[Norway during the Great Northern War|opened up a Norwegian front]] but was killed in the [[Siege of Fredriksten]] in 1718.

The war ended with the defeat of Sweden, leaving Russia as the new dominant power in the Baltic region and as a new major force in European politics. The Western powers, [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and [[Kingdom of France|France]], became caught up in the separate [[War of the Spanish Succession]] (1701–1714), which broke out over the Bourbon [[Philip of Anjou]]'s succession to the [[Enlightenment in Spain|Spanish throne]] and a possible joining of France and Spain. The formal conclusion of the Great Northern War came with the Swedish-Hanoverian and Swedish-Prussian [[Treaties of Stockholm (Great Northern War)|Treaties of Stockholm]] (1719), the Dano-Swedish [[Treaty of Frederiksborg]] (1720), and the Russo-Swedish [[Treaty of Nystad]] (1721). By these treaties Sweden ceded its exemption from the [[Sound Dues]]{{sfn|Gosse|1911|p=206}} and lost the Baltic provinces and the southern part of [[Swedish Pomerania]]. The peace treaties also ended its alliance with Holstein-Gottorp. Hanover gained [[Bremen-Verden]], Brandenburg-Prussia incorporated the [[Oder]] estuary ([[Oder Lagoon|Stettin Lagoons]]), Russia secured the [[Baltic Provinces]], and Denmark strengthened its position in [[Schleswig-Holstein]]. In Sweden, the [[absolute monarchy]] had come to an end with the death of Charles XII, and Sweden's [[Age of Liberty]] began.{{sfn|Gosse|1911|p=216}}

== Background ==
{{Further|Dominium maris baltici}}

Between 1560 and 1658, [[Sweden proper|Sweden]] created a [[Baltic region|Baltic]] empire centred on the [[Gulf of Finland]] and comprising the provinces of [[Karelia]], [[Ingria]], [[Estonia]], and [[Livonia]]. During the [[Thirty Years' War]] Sweden gained tracts in Germany as well, including Western [[Pomerania]], [[Wismar]], the [[Duchy of Bremen]], and [[Verden, Germany|Verden]]. During the same period, Sweden conquered Danish and Norwegian [[Scania|provinces]] north of [[Øresund|the Sound]] (1645; 1658). These victories may be ascribed to a well-trained army, which despite its comparatively small size, was far more professional than most continental armies, and also to a modernization of administration (both civilian and military) in the course of the 17th century, which enabled the monarchy to harness the resources of the country and its empire effectively. Fighting in the field, the Swedish army (which during the Thirty Years' War contained more German and Scottish [[Mercenary|mercenaries]] than ethnic Swedes, but was administered by the Swedish Crown<ref name="Brzezinski">Richard Brzezinski. Lützen 1632: Climax of the Thirty Years' War. Osprey Publishing, 2001. p. 19</ref>) was able, in particular, to make quick, sustained marches across large tracts of land and to maintain a high rate of [[small arms]] fire due to proficient [[Military exercise|military drill]].

However, the Swedish state ultimately proved unable to support and maintain its army in a prolonged war. Campaigns on the continent had been proposed on the basis that the army would be financially self-supporting through plunder and taxation of newly gained land, a concept shared by most major powers of the period. The cost of the warfare proved to be much higher than the occupied countries could fund, and Sweden's coffers and resources in manpower were eventually drained in the course of long conflicts.

The foreign interventions in Russia during the [[Time of Troubles]] resulted in Swedish gains in the [[Treaty of Stolbovo]] (1617). The treaty deprived Russia of direct access to the [[Baltic Sea]]. Russian fortunes began to reverse in the final years of the 17th century, notably with the rise to power of [[Peter the Great]], who looked to address the earlier losses and re-establish a Baltic presence. In the late 1690s, the adventurer [[Johann Patkul]] managed to ally Russia with Denmark and [[Saxony]] by the secret [[Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye]], and in 1700 the three powers attacked.

== Opposing parties ==
{{multiple image
<!-- Essential parameters -->
| align = left
| footer = [[Charles XII of Sweden]] (left) and [[Peter I of Russia]] (right)
<!-- Image 1 -->
| image1 = Copy_Charles_XII_-_Nationalmuseum_-_17886.png
| width1 = 158
<!-- Image 2 -->
| image2 = Peter de Grote.jpg
| width2 = 155
| total_width = 350
}}

=== Swedish camp ===
[[Charles XII of Sweden]]<ref group="nb" name="cousins">[[Charles XII of Sweden]], [[Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp|Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp]], [[Augustus II]] and [[Frederick IV of Denmark-Norway]] were all grandsons of [[Frederik III of Denmark-Norway]]</ref> succeeded [[Charles XI of Sweden]] in 1697, aged 14. From his predecessor, he took over the Swedish Empire as an absolute monarch. Charles XI had tried to keep the empire out of wars, and concentrated on inner reforms such as [[Reduction (Sweden)|reduction]] and [[Swedish allotment system|allotment]], which had strengthened the monarch's status and the empire's military abilities. Charles XII refrained from all kinds of luxury and alcohol and usage of the French language, since he considered these things decadent and superfluous. He preferred the life of an ordinary soldier on horseback, not that of contemporary baroque courts. He determinedly pursued his goal of dethroning his adversaries, whom he considered unworthy of their thrones due to broken promises, thereby refusing to take several chances to make peace. During the war, the most important Swedish commanders besides Charles XII were his close friend [[Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld]], also [[Magnus Stenbock]] and [[Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt]].

[[Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp|Charles Frederick]], son of [[Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp]] (a cousin of Charles XII)<ref group=nb name=cousins /> and [[Hedvig Sophia of Sweden|Hedvig Sophia]], daughter of Charles XI of Sweden, had been the Swedish heir since 1702. He claimed the throne upon Charles XII's death in 1718, but was supplanted by [[Ulrike Eleonora]]. Charles Frederick was married to a daughter of Peter I, [[Anna Petrovna]].

[[Ivan Mazepa]] was a [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] [[Cossack]] [[hetman]] who fought for Russia but defected to Charles XII in 1708. Mazepa died in 1709 in Ottoman exile.

=== Allied camp ===
[[File:August II of Poland and Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia.PNG|thumb|[[Augustus II of Poland]] (left) and [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] (right)]]
[[Peter the Great]] became Tsar in 1682 upon the death of his elder brother [[Feodor III of Russia|Feodor]] but did not become the actual ruler until 1689. He commenced reforming the country, turning the [[Tsardom of Russia|Russian tsardom]] into a [[Russian Empire|modernized empire]] relying on trade and on a strong, professional army and navy. He greatly expanded the size of Russia during his reign while providing access to the Baltic, Black, and Caspian seas. Beside Peter, the principal Russian commanders were [[Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov]] and [[Boris Sheremetev]].

[[Augustus II the Strong]], [[Electorate of Saxony|elector of Saxony]] and another cousin of Charles XII,<ref group=nb name=cousins /> gained the Polish crown after the death of King [[John III Sobieski]] in 1696. His ambitions to transform the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] into an absolute monarchy were not realized due to the zealous nature of the Polish nobility and the previously initiated laws that decreased the power of the monarch. His meeting with Peter the Great in [[Rawa Ruska]] in September 1698, where the plans to attack Sweden were made, became legendary for its decadence.

[[Frederick IV of Denmark]]-Norway, another cousin of Charles XII,<ref group=nb name=cousins /> succeeded [[Christian V of Denmark|Christian V]] in 1699 and continued his anti-Swedish policies. After the setbacks of 1700, he focused on transforming his state, an absolute monarchy, in a manner similar to Charles XI of Sweden. He did not achieve his main goal: to regain the former eastern Danish provinces lost to Sweden in the course of the 17th century. He was not able to keep northern Swedish Pomerania, Danish from 1712 to 1715. He did put an end to the Swedish threat south of Denmark. He ended Sweden's exemption from the [[Sound Dues]] (transit taxes/tariffs on cargo moved between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea).

[[Frederick William I of Prussia|Frederick William I]] entered the war as [[Electorate of Brandenburg|elector of Brandenburg]] and [[Kingdom of Prussia|king in Prussia]]—the royal title had been secured in 1701. He was determined to gain the [[Oder]] estuary with its access to the [[Baltic Sea]] for the Brandenburgian core areas, which had been a state goal [[Brandenburg-Pomeranian conflict|for centuries]].

[[George I of Great Britain|George I]] of the [[House of Hanover]], elector of [[Electorate of Hanover|Hanover]] and, since 1714, king of Great Britain and of Ireland, took the opportunity to connect his landlocked German electorate to the [[North Sea]].

=== Army size ===
In 1700, [[Charles XII]] had a standing army of 77,000 men (based on annual training). By 1707 this number had swollen to at least 120,000 despite casualties.

Russia was able to mobilize a larger army but could not put all of it into action simultaneously. The Russian mobilization system was ineffective and the expanding nation needed to be defended in many locations. A grand mobilization covering Russia's vast territories would have been unrealistic. Peter I tried to raise his army's morale to Swedish levels. Denmark contributed 20,000 men in their invasion of Holstein-Gottorp and more on other fronts. Poland and Saxony together could mobilize at least 100,000 men.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Army sizes by combatant in 1700
!Type
!Sweden<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Gabriele |title=Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720 |last2=Rava |first2=Giuseppe |date=2019 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-3349-5 |series=Men-at-arms |location=Oxford |pages=39–40}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Gabriele |title=Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720 |last2=Rava |first2=Giuseppe |date=2019 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-3349-5 |series=Men-at-arms |location=Oxford |pages=42–45}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Gabriele |title=Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720 |last2=Rava |first2=Giuseppe |date=2019 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-3349-5 |series=Men-at-arms |location=Oxford |pages=48–51}}</ref>
!Russia<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Gabriele |title=Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720 |last2=Rava |first2=Giuseppe |date=2019 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-3349-5 |series=Men-at-arms |location=Oxford |pages=21–25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Peter the Great's army. 2: Cavalry / ext by Angus Konstam. Colour plates by David Rickman |date=1993 |publisher=Osprey |isbn=978-1-85532-348-3 |editor-last=Konstam |editor-first=Angus |series=Osprey military Men-at-arms series |location=London |page=7 33}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Peter the Great's army. 1: Infantry / ext by Angus Konstam. Colour plates by David Rickman |date=1993 |publisher=Osprey |isbn=978-1-85532-315-5 |editor-last=Konstam |editor-first=Angus |series=Osprey military Men-at-arms series |location=London |pages=8–12}}</ref>
!Denmark-Norway<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Gabriele |title=Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720 |last2=Rava |first2=Giuseppe |date=2019 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-3349-5 |series=Men-at-arms |location=Oxford |pages=64–68}}</ref>
!Poland-Lithuania<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Gabriele |title=Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720 |last2=Rava |first2=Giuseppe |date=2019 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-3349-5 |series=Men-at-arms |location=Oxford |pages=59–61}}</ref>
!Saxony**<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Gabriele |title=Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720 |last2=Rava |first2=Giuseppe |date=2019 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-3349-5 |series=Men-at-arms |location=Oxford |pages=51–53}}</ref>
|-
|infantry
|1,900 life guards
33,456 musketeers
19,584 pikemen
6,528 grenadiers
8,400 militia
|49,400 line infantry 
|27,600 line infantry
1,200 naval infantry
1,540 grenadiers
9,600 militia (768 
grenadiers)
|2,000 line infantry
150 halberdiers
|22,500 line infantry
1,500 grenadiers
|-
|heavy/line
cavalry
|1,500 mounted lifeguard
100 Horse drabants
15,000 heavy cavalry
1,800 noble cavalry
|11,553 noble cavalry
|402 life guards
402 horse guards
57 drabant guard
4,556 line cavalry
|2,100 winged hussars
2,800 pancerni
2,200 heavy cavalry
|900 Garde du Corps
1,800 cuirassiers
|-
|other cavalry*
|10,000 dragoons
4,000 baltic militia dragoons
|1,798 dragoons
20,000 Ukrainian cossacks
15,000 Zaporozhian cossacks
15,000 Don Cossacks
|7,504 dragoons
804 militia dragoons
|4,000 dragoons
1,710 light cavalry
|unspecified amount of dragoons
|-
|'''Total'''
|69,868 infantry
32,400 cavalry 
|49,400 infantry
63,351 cavalry 
|39,940 infantry
13,723 cavalry
|2,150 infantry
12,810 cavalry
|
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> The difference between heavy and other cavalry is often unclear as Swedish cavalry was used as heavy shock cavalry yet was unarmoured.

<nowiki>**</nowiki> The Saxon army and corresponding militia does not have full details available.

{|align=left class="wikitable"
|colspan=3 style="text-align:center;"|<big>'''''Size of European armies in 1710'''''</big>
|-
|colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| '''''Population ~1650 (millions)'''''
|colspan=1 style="text-align:center;"| '''''Size of Army (thousands)'''''
|-
! align="left" width="200" | '''State'''
! align="left" width="100" | '''Size'''
! align="left" width="100" | '''~1710'''
|-
| [[Denmark–Norway]] || 1.3<ref name="Ladewig">Ladewig-Petersen, E. (1999). "Nyt om trediveårskrigen." ''Historisk Tidsskrift.'', p. 101.</ref> ||53<ref name="Petersen">Petersen, Nikolaj Pilgård (2002). ''Hærstørrelse og fortifikationsudvikling i Danmark-Norge 1500–1720.'' Aarhus universitet: Universitetsspeciale i historie, pp. 11, 43–44.</ref>
|-
|  [[Swedish Empire]] || 1.1<ref name="Ladewig"/>  || 100<ref name="Parker">Parker, Geoffrey (1976). "The 'Military Revolution', 1560–1660 – a myth?". ''Journal of modern history'', vol. 48, p. 206.</ref>
|-
| [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] || 0.5<ref>[http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/germany.htm  "Population of Germany." ''Tacitus.nu.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040628023402/http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/germany.htm |date=28 June 2004 }} Retrieved 28 December 2016</ref> ||40<ref>Craig, Gordon A. (1964). ''The Politics of the Prussian Army: 1640–1945.'' London: Oxford University Press, p. 7.</ref>
|-
| [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] ||11<ref>[http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/centraleurope.htm "Population of Central Europe." ''Tacitus.nu.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512112129/http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/centraleurope.htm |date=12 May 2022 }} Retrieved 28 December 2016</ref>|| 100*<ref name="Nolan">Nolan, Cathal J. (2008), ''Wars of the Age of Louis XIV, 1650–1715.'' London: Greenwood Press, pp. 368–369.</ref> 
|-
| [[Tsardom of Russia]] ||15<ref>[http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/russia.htm "Population of Eastern Europe." ''Tacitus.nu''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108232321/http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/russia.htm |date=8 January 2018 }} Retrieved 28 December 2016</ref> ||170<ref name="Parker"/>
|-
| [[Kingdom of England]] || 4.7<ref>[http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/british.htm "Population of the British Isles." ''Tacitus.nu.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141002121808/http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/british.htm |date=2 October 2014 }} Retrieved 28 December 2016</ref> || 87<ref name="Parker"/>
|-
| [[Dutch Republic]] || 1.5<ref>[http://www.populstat.info/Europe/netherlc.htm  "The Netherlands." ''Population statistics.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226211443/http://www.populstat.info/Europe/netherlc.htm |date=26 December 2011 }} Retrieved 28 December 2016</ref> || 120<ref name="Glete">Glete, Jan (2002). ''War and the State in Early Modern Europe.'' London : Routledge, p. 156.</ref>
|-
| [[Kingdom of France]] || 18<ref name="TacitusW">[http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/westeurope.htm  "Population of Western Europe." ''Tacitus.nu''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701052512/http://tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/westeurope.htm |date=1 July 2022 }} Retrieved 28 December 2016</ref>  || 340–380<ref name="Glete"/>  
|-
|[[Habsburg Monarchy]] || 8<ref name="Hochedlinger">Hochedlinger, Michael (2003). ''Austria's Wars of Emergence, 1683–1797.'' London: Routledge, pp. 26, 102.</ref>  ||110–130<ref name="Hochedlinger"/> 
|-
|[[Crown of Castile]]<br />[[Crown of Aragon]] || 7<ref name="TacitusW"/> || 50<ref name="Parker"/>
|-
|[[Ottoman Empire]] || 18<ref>[http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/balkans.htm   "Population of Eastern Balkans." ''Tacitus.nu''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204044247/http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/balkans.htm |date=4 February 2012 }} Retrieved 28 December 2016</ref>  ||50**<ref name="Agoston">Ágoston, Gabor (2010), "Ottoman-Habsburg rivalry and military transformation." In: Tallet, Frank & Trim, D.B.J. (eds.). ''European Warfare, 1350–1750''. Cambridge University Press, p. 128.</ref> 
|-
|colspan=2 |<small>* ''All Polish forces, on both sides in the Great Northern War. ''</small>|| colspan=1 |<small> ** ''[[Janissaries]] only.''</small>
|-
|}
{{Clear}}

== 1700: Denmark, Riga and Narva ==
{{Main|Siege of Tönning|Landing on Humlebæk|Peace of Travendal|Siege of Riga (1700)|Battle of Narva (1700)}}
[[File:Bombardementet af København 1700.jpg|thumb|left|240px|The bombardment of [[Copenhagen]], 1700]]
[[Frederick IV of Denmark|Frederik IV of Denmark–Norway]] directed his first attack against Sweden's ally [[Holstein-Gottorp]]. In March 1700, a Danish army laid [[Siege of Tönning|siege to Tönning]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Frost|2000|pp=227–228}}</ref> Simultaneously, [[Augustus II]]'s forces advanced through [[Swedish Livonia]], captured [[Dünamünde]] and laid siege to [[Riga]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Frost|2000|pp=228–229}}</ref>

[[Charles XII of Sweden]] first focused on attacking Denmark. The Swedish navy was able to outmaneuver the Danish [[Öresund|Sound]] blockade and deploy an army near the Danish capital, [[Copenhagen]]. At the same time, a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet had also set course towards Denmark. Together with the Swedish fleet, they carried out a bombardment of Copenhagen from 20 to 26 July. This surprise move and pressure by the Maritime Powers ([[Kingdom of England|England]] and the [[Dutch Republic]]) forced Denmark–Norway to withdraw from the war in August 1700 according to the terms of the [[Peace of Travendal]].<ref name="Frost229">{{Harvnb|Frost|2000|p=229}}</ref>

Charles XII was now able to speedily deploy his army to the eastern coast of the [[Baltic Sea]] and face his remaining enemies: besides the army of Augustus II in Livonia, an army of Russian tsar [[Peter I of Russia|Peter I]] was already on its way to invade Swedish [[Ingria]],<ref name=Frost229 /> where it laid siege to [[Narva]] in October. In November, the Russian and Swedish armies met at the [[Battle of Narva (1700)|First Battle of Narva]] where the Russians suffered a crushing defeat.<ref name="Frost230">{{Harvnb|Frost|2000|p=230}}</ref>

After the dissolution of the first coalition through the [[peace of Travendal]] and with the victory at Narva, the Swedish chancellor, [[Benedict Oxenstjerna]], attempted to use the bidding for the favour of Sweden by France and the Maritime Powers (then on the eve of the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]){{sfn|Gosse|1911|p=205}} to end the war and make Charles an arbiter of Europe.

== 1701–1706: Poland-Lithuania and Saxony ==
{{Main|Swedish invasion of Poland (1701–1706)|Civil war in Poland (1704–1706)|Swedish invasion of Saxony}}
[[File:Charles XII is crossing the Düna, 1701.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Crossing of the Düna|Battle of Riga]], the first major battle of the [[Charles XII's invasion of Poland|Swedish invasion of Poland]], 1701]]

Charles XII then turned south to meet [[Augustus II]], [[Electorate of Saxony|Elector of Saxony]], [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|King of Poland]] and [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Grand Duke of Lithuania]]. The [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] was formally neutral at this point, as Augustus started the war as an Elector of Saxony. Disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by the Swedish parliament, Charles [[Crossing of the Düna|crossed into]] the Commonwealth and decisively defeated the Saxe-Polish forces in the [[Battle of Klissow]] in 1702 and in the [[Battle of Pułtusk (1703)|Battle of Pultusk]] in 1703. This successful invasion enabled Charles XII to dethrone Augustus II and coerce the Polish [[sejm]] to replace him with [[Stanislaus Leszczyński]] in 1704.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=694}}</ref> August II resisted, still possessing control of his native Saxony, but was decisively defeated at the [[Battle of Fraustadt]] in 1706, a battle sometimes compared to the Ancient [[Battle of Cannae]] due to the Swedish forces' use of [[double envelopment]], with a deadly result for the Saxon army. In 1706, after a [[Swedish invasion of Saxony]], August II was forced to sign the [[Treaty of Altranstädt (1706)|Treaty of Altranstädt]] in which he made peace with the Swedish Empire,<ref name="Tucker 701">{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=701}}</ref> renounced his claims to the Polish crown, accepted Stanislaus Leszczyński as king, and ended his alliance with Russia. Patkul was also extradited and executed by [[breaking on the wheel]] in 1707, an incident which, given his diplomatic immunity, infuriated opinion against the Swedish king, who was then expected to win the war against the only hostile power remaining, Tsar Peter's Russia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Frost|2000|pp=230, 263ff}}</ref>

== 1702–1710: Russia and the Baltic provinces ==
{{Main|Battle of Erastfer|Charles XII invasion of Russia|Battle of Holowczyn|Battle of Malatitze|Battle of Lesnaya|Pursuit of Krasnokutsk|Battle of Poltava|Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia}}
{{multiple image|direction=vertical|align=right|image1=Siege of Nöteborg (1702).PNG|caption1=[[Peter the Great]] assaults the island fortress of Nöteborg, which he renamed [[Shlisselburg]], recognising it as the "key" to taking [[Ingria]].|image2=Battle of Poltava 1709.PNG|caption2=Decisive Russian victory at [[Battle of Poltava|Poltava 1709]]|width=300}}

The [[Battle of Narva (1700)|Battle of Narva]] dealt a severe setback to [[Peter the Great]], but the shift of Charles XII's army to the Polish-Saxon threat soon afterward provided him with an opportunity to regroup and regain territory in the Baltic provinces. Russian victories at [[Battle of Erastfer|Erastfer]] and [[Siege of Nöteborg (1702)|Nöteborg (Shlisselburg)]] provided access to [[Ingria]] in 1703, where Peter captured the Swedish fortress of [[Nyen]], guarding the mouth of the [[Neva River|River Neva]].<ref name="Tucker 691">{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=691}}</ref> Thanks to General [[Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt]], whose outnumbered forces fended the Russians off in the battles of [[Battle of Gemauerthof|Gemäuerthof]] and [[Battle of Jakobstadt|Jakobstadt]], Sweden was able to maintain control of most of its Baltic provinces. Before going to war, Peter had made preparations for a navy and a modern-style army, based primarily on infantry drilled in the use of firearms.

The Nyen fortress was soon abandoned and demolished by Peter, who built nearby a [[Peter and Paul Fortress|superior fortress]] as a beginning to the city of [[Saint Petersburg]]. By 1704, other fortresses were situated on the island of [[Kotlin Island|Kotlin]] and the sand flats to its south. These became known as [[Kronstadt]] and Kronslot.<ref name="Tucker 691"/> The Swedes attempted a raid on the Neva fort on 13 July 1704 with ships and landing armies, but the Russian fortifications held. In 1705, repeated Swedish attacks were made against Russian fortifications in the area, to little effect. A major attack on 15 July 1705 ended in the deaths of more than 500 Swedish men, or a third of its forces.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=10–19}}

In view of continued failure to check Russian consolidation, and with declining manpower, Sweden opted to blockade Saint Petersburg in 1705. In the summer of 1706, Swedish General [[Georg Johan Maidel]] crossed the Neva with 4,000 troops and defeated an opposing Russian force, but made no move on Saint Petersburg. Later in the autumn [[Peter I of Russia|Peter I]] led an army of 20,000 men in an attempt to take the Swedish town and fortress of [[Vyborg|Viborg]]. However, bad roads proved impassable to his heavy siege guns. The troops, who arrived on 12 October, therefore had to abandon the siege after only a few days. On 12 May 1708, a Russian galley fleet made a lightning raid on [[Porvoo|Borgå]] and managed to return to Kronslot just one day before the Swedish battle fleet returned to the blockade, after being delayed by unfavourable winds.

In August 1708, a Swedish army of 12,000 men under General [[Georg Henrik Lybecker]] attacked [[Ingria]], crossing the Neva from the north. They met stubborn resistance, ran out of supplies and, after reaching the Gulf of Finland west of Kronstadt, had to be evacuated by sea between 10 and 17 October. Over 11,000 men were evacuated but more than 5000 horses were slaughtered, which crippled the mobility and offensive capability of the Swedish army in Finland for several years. [[Peter I of Russia|Peter I]] took advantage of this by redeploying a large number of men from Ingria to [[Ukraine]].{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=20–27}}

Charles spent the years 1702–06 in a prolonged struggle with [[Augustus II the Strong]]; he had already inflicted defeat on him at [[Crossing of the Daugava|Riga]] in June 1701 and took Warsaw the following year, but trying to force a decisive defeat proved elusive. Russia left Poland in the spring of 1706, abandoning artillery but escaping from the pursuing Swedes, who stopped at [[Pinsk]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=700}}</ref> Charles wanted not just to defeat the Commonwealth army but to depose Augustus, whom he regarded as especially treasonous, and have him replaced with someone who would be a Swedish ally, though this proved hard to achieve. After years of marches and fighting around Poland he finally had to invade Augustus' hereditary [[Saxony]] to take him out of the war.<ref name="Tucker 701"/> In the [[treaty of Altranstädt (1706)]], Augustus was finally forced to step down from the Polish throne, but Charles had already lost the valuable advantage of time over his main enemy in the east, Peter I, who then had the time to recover and build up an army that was both new and better.

At this point, in 1707, Peter offered to return everything he had so far occupied (essentially Ingria) except Saint Petersburg and the line of the Neva,{{sfn|Gosse|1911|p=206}} to avoid a full-scale war, but Charles XII refused.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=703}}</ref> Instead he initiated a march from Saxony [[Charles XII invasion of Russia|to invade Russia]]. Though his primary goal was Moscow, the strength of his forces was sapped by the cold weather (the [[Great Frost of 1709|winter of 1708/09]] being one of the most severe in modern European history)<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=707}}</ref> and Peter's use of [[scorched earth]] tactics.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=704}}</ref> When the main army turned south to recover in [[Ukraine]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=706}}</ref> the second army with supplies and reinforcements was intercepted and routed at [[Battle of Lesnaya|Lesnaya]]—and so were the supplies and reinforcements of Swedish ally [[Ivan Mazepa]] in [[Baturyn]]. Charles was crushingly defeated by a larger Russian force under Peter in the [[Battle of Poltava]] and fled to the [[Ottoman Empire]] while the remains of his army [[Surrender at Perevolochna|surrendered at Perevolochna]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Frost|2000|pp=231, 286ff}}</ref>

This shattering defeat in 1709 did not end the war, although it decided it. Denmark and Saxony joined the war again and Augustus the Strong, through the politics of [[Boris Kurakin]], regained the Polish throne.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=710}}</ref> Peter continued his campaigns in the Baltics, and eventually he built up a powerful navy. In 1710 the Russian forces captured [[Riga]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2010|p=711}}</ref> at the time the most populated city in the Swedish realm, and [[Tallinn]], evicting the Swedes from the Baltic provinces, now integrated in the Russian Tsardom by the [[capitulation of Estonia and Livonia]].

== Formation of a new anti-Swedish alliance ==
After Poltava, Peter the Great and Augustus the Strong allied again in the [[Treaty of Thorn (1709)]]; Frederick IV of Denmark-Norway with Augustus the Strong in the [[Treaty of Dresden (1709)]]; and Russia with Denmark–Norway in the subsequent [[Treaty of Copenhagen (1709)|Treaty of Copenhagen]]. In the [[Treaty of Hanover (1710)]], Hanover, whose elector was to become [[George I of Great Britain]], allied with Russia. In 1713, [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] allied with Russia in the [[Treaty of Schwedt]]. George I of Great Britain and Hanover concluded three alliances in 1715: the [[Treaty of Berlin (1715)|Treaty of Berlin]] with Denmark–Norway, the [[Treaty of Stettin (1715)|Treaty of Stettin]] with Brandenburg-Prussia, and the [[Treaty of Greifswald]] with Russia.

== 1709–1714: Ottoman Empire ==
{{Main|Pruth Campaign|Skirmish at Bender}}

When his army surrendered, Charles XII of Sweden and a few soldiers escaped to [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman territory]], founding a colony in front of [[Bender, Moldova]]. Peter I demanded Charles's eviction, and when the sultan refused, Peter decided to force it by invading the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The ensuing [[Pruth River Campaign]] resulted in a disaster for the Russians as Peter's army was trapped by an Ottoman army at the [[Pruth]] river. However, Peter managed to negotiate a retreat, making a few territorial concessions and promising to withdraw his forces from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] as well as allowing Charles's return to Sweden. These terms were laid out in the [[Treaty of Adrianople (1713)]]. Charles showed no interest in returning, established a provisional court in his colony, and sought to persuade the sultan to engage in an Ottoman-Swedish assault on Russia. The sultan put an end to the generous hospitality granted and [[Skirmish at Bender|had the king arrested in what became known as the "kalabalik"]] in 1713. Charles was then confined at [[Timurtash]] and [[Didymoteicho|Demotika]]; later he abandoned his hopes for an Ottoman front and returned to Sweden in a 14-day ride.<ref>Petersen (2007), pp. 268–272, 275; Bengtsson (1960), pp. 393ff, 409ff, 420–445</ref>

== 1710–1721: Finland ==
{{Main|Battle of Helsinki (1713)|Battle of Gangut|The Great Wrath|Battle of Grengam}}
[[File:Battle of Gangut-Bakua.jpg|thumb|left|[[Battle of Gangut]] (Hanko)<ref>''The Russian Victory at [[Battle of Gangut|Gangut]] (Hanko), 1714'' by [[Maurice Baquoi]], etched 1724</ref>]]

The war between Russia and Sweden continued after the disaster of [[Battle of Poltava|Poltava]] in 1709, though the shattered Swedish continental army could provide very little help. Russia [[Siege of Vyborg (1710)|captured Viborg]] in 1710 and successfully held it against Swedish attempts to retake the town in 1711.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=27–31}} In 1712 the first Russian campaign to capture Finland began under the command of General Admiral [[Fyodor Apraksin]]. Apraksin gathered an army of 15,000 men at [[Vyborg|Viborg]] and started the operation in late August. Swedish General [[Georg Henrik Lybecker]] chose not to face the Russians with his 7,500 men in the prepared positions close to Viborg and instead withdrew west of [[Kymijoki]] river using scorched earth tactics. Apraksin's forces reached the river but chose not to cross it and instead withdrew back to Viborg, likely due to problems in supply.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=32–33}} Swedish efforts to maintain their defences were greatly hampered by the drain of manpower by the continental army and various garrisons around the Baltic Sea as well as by the [[Great Northern War plague outbreak|plague outbreak]] that struck Finland and Sweden between 1710 and 1713, which devastated the land killing, amongst others, over half of the population of Helsingfors (Helsinki).{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|p=30}}

[[File:Siege of Vyborg 1710.png|thumb|The final days of the siege of [[Vyborg|Viborg]], by Alexei Rostovtsev]]

After the failure of 1712, Peter the Great ordered that further campaigns in war-ravaged regions of Finland with poor transportation networks were to be performed along the coastline and the seaways near the coast. Alarmed by the Russian preparations Lybecker requested naval units to be brought in as soon as possible in the spring of 1713. However, like so often, Swedish naval units arrived only after the initial Russian spring campaign had ended.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|p=33}} Nominally under the command of Apraksin, but accompanied by Peter the Great, a fleet of coastal ships together with 12,000 men—infantry and artillery—began the campaign by sailing from [[Kronstadt]] on 2 May 1713; a further 4,000 cavalry were later sent overland to join with the army. The fleet had already arrived at Helsinki on 8 May and were met by 1,800 Swedish infantry under General [[Carl Gustaf Armfeldt]], which started the [[Battle of Helsinki (1713)|Battle of Helsinki]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Seppo|last=Aalto|title=Kruununkaupunki – Vironniemen Helsinki 1640–1721|publisher=[[Finnish Literature Society]]|location=Helsinki|year=2015|isbn=978-952-222-675-4|language=fi}}</ref> Together with rowers from the ships the Russians had 20,000 men at their disposal even without the cavalry. The defenders, however, managed to fend off landing attempts by the attackers until the Russians landed at their flank at [[Hietalahti, Helsinki|Sandviken]], which forced Armfelt to retire towards [[Porvoo]] (Borgå) after setting afire both the town and all the supplies stored there as well as bridges leading north from the town. It was only on 12 May that a Swedish squadron under Admiral Erik Johan Lillie made it to Helsinki but there was nothing it could do.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=33–35}}

The bulk of the Russian forces moved along the coast towards Borgå and the forces of Lybecker, whom Armfelt had joined. On 21–22 May 1713 a Russian force of 10,000 men landed at [[Pernå]] (Pernaja) and constructed fortifications there. Large stores of supplies and munitions were transported from Viborg and [[Saint Petersburg]] to the new base of operations. Russian cavalry managed to link up with the rest of the army there as well. Lybecker's army of 7000 infantry and 3000 cavalry avoided contact with the Russians and instead kept withdrawing further inland without even contesting the control of Borgå region or the important coastal road between Helsinki (Helsingfors) and [[Turku]] (Åbo). This also severed the contact between Swedish fleet and ground forces and prevented Swedish naval units from supplying it. Soldiers in the Swedish army who were mostly Finnish resented being repeatedly ordered to withdraw without even seeing the enemy. Lybecker was soon recalled to [[Stockholm]] for a hearing and Armfelt was ordered to the command of the army. Under his command the Swedish army in Finland stopped to engage the advancing Russians at [[battle of Pälkäne|Pälkäne]] in October 1713, where a Russian flanking manoeuvre forced him to withdraw to avoid getting encircled. The armies met again later at [[Battle of Napue|Napue]] in February 1714, where the Russians won a decisive victory.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|p=35}}

In 1714, far greater Swedish naval assets were diverted towards Finland, which managed to cut the coastal sea route past [[Hangö]] cape already in early May 1714. This caused severe trouble for Russian supply route to Turku and beyond as supplies had to be carried overland. The Russian galley fleet arrived to the area on 29 June but stayed idle until 26–27 July when, under the leadership of Peter, Russian galleys managed to run the blockade making use of calm weather, which immobilized the Swedish battlefleet while losing only one galley of roughly 100. A small, hastily assembled Swedish coastal squadron met the Russian galley fleet west of Hangö cape in the [[Battle of Gangut]] and was overpowered by the Russians who had nearly ten-fold superiority. The Russian breach of the blockade at Hangö forced the Swedish fleet to withdraw to prevent the Russian fleet from reaching Sweden itself. The Russian army occupied Finland mostly in 1713–1714, capturing Åland from where the population had already fled to Sweden on 13 August 1714. Since the Russian galley fleet was not able to raid the Swedish coast, with the exception of [[Umeå]], which was plundered on 18 September, the fleet instead supported the advance of the Russian army, which led to hastily withdrawal by the Swedish army from [[Raahe]] (Brahestad) to [[Tornio]] (Torneå). The brutal occupation period of Finland in 1714–1721 is known as the [[The Great Wrath|Great Wrath]].{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=38–46}}

== 1710–1716: Sweden and Northern Germany ==
{{Main|Battle of Helsingborg|Siege of Stralsund (1711–1715)|Battle of Gadebusch|Siege of Tönning|Landing on Groß Stresow}}
[[File:Altona.brand.1713.jpg|thumb|left|Danish town of [[Altona, Hamburg|Altona]] burned down during [[Magnus Stenbock]]'s campaign (1713). Russian forces retaliated by burning down the Swedish town of [[Wolgast]] in the same year.]]

In 1710, the Swedish army in Poland retreated to [[Swedish Pomerania]], pursued by the coalition. In 1711, [[Siege of Stralsund (1711–1715)|siege was laid to Stralsund]]. Yet the town could not be taken due to the arrival of a Swedish relief army, led by general Magnus Stenbock, which secured the Pomeranian pocket before turning west to defeat an allied army in the [[Battle of Gadebusch]]. Pursued by coalition forces, Stenbock and his army was trapped and surrendered during the [[Siege of Tönning]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Wilson|1998|p=140}}</ref>

In 1714, Charles XII returned from the Ottoman Empire, arriving in [[Stralsund]] in November. In nearby [[Greifswald]], already lost to Sweden, Russian tsar [[Peter the Great]] and British king [[George I of Great Britain|George I]], in his position as [[Electorate of Hanover|Elector of Hanover]], had just signed an alliance on 17 [[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar|(OS)]]/28 [[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar|(NS)]] October.<ref>{{Harvnb|Torke|2005|p=165}}</ref> Previously a formally neutral party in the Pomeranian campaigns, [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] openly joined the coalition by declaring war on Sweden in the summer of 1715.<ref>{{Harvnb|Meier|2008|p=23}}</ref> Charles was then at war with much of Northern Europe, and Stralsund was doomed. Charles remained there until December 1715, [[Battle of Stralsund (1715)|escaping only days before Stralsund fell]]. When [[Wismar]] surrendered in 1716, all of Sweden's Baltic and German possessions were lost.<ref>{{Harvnb|North|2008|p=53}}</ref>

== 1716–1718: Norway ==
{{Main|Great Northern War and Norway|Siege of Fredriksten|Carolean Death March}}
[[File:Fredriksten4159.JPG|thumb|Representation of [[Charles XII of Sweden]], shot dead during the [[Siege of Fredriksten]] in 1718]]

After Charles XII had returned from the Ottoman Empire and resumed personal control of the war effort, he initiated two [[Great Northern War and Norway|Norwegian Campaigns]], starting in February 1716, to force Denmark–Norway into a separate peace treaty. Furthermore, he attempted to bar Great Britain access to the Baltic Sea. In search for allies, Charles XII also negotiated with the British [[Jacobitism|Jacobite party]]. This resulted in Great Britain declaring war on Sweden in 1717. The Norwegian campaigns were halted and the [[Carolean Death March|army withdrawn]] when Charles XII was shot dead while besieging Norwegian [[Siege of Fredriksten|Fredriksten]] on 30 November 1718 ([[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar|OS]]). He was succeeded by his sister, [[Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden|Ulrika Eleonora]].<ref name="Frost295296">{{Harvnb|Frost|2000|pp=295–296}}</ref>

== 1719–1721: Sweden ==
{{Main|Russian Pillage of 1719–21}}
[[File:Battle of grengam.jpg|thumb|The Battle of Grengam. A 1721 etching by [[Alexey Zubov]].]]

After the death of Charles XII, Sweden still refused to make peace with Russia on Peter's terms. Despite a continued Swedish naval presence and strong patrols to protect the coast, small Russian raids took place in 1716 at [[Öregrund]], while in July 1717 a Russian squadron landed troops at [[Gotland]] who raided for supplies. To place pressure on Sweden, Russia sent a large fleet to the Swedish east coast in July 1719. There, under protection of the Russian battlefleet, the Russian galley fleet was split into three groups. One group headed for the coast of [[Uppland]], the second to the vicinity of [[Stockholm]], and the last to coast of [[Södermanland]]. Together they carried a landing force of nearly 30,000 men. Raiding continued for a month and devastated amongst others the towns of [[Norrtälje]], [[Södertälje]], [[Nyköping]] and [[Norrköping]], and almost all the buildings in the archipelago of Stockholm were burned. A smaller Russian force advanced on the Swedish capital but was stopped at the [[battle of Stäket]] on 13 August. Swedish and British fleets, now allied with Sweden, sailed from the west coast of Sweden but failed to catch the raiders.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|p=47}}

After the [[treaty of Frederiksborg]] in early 1720, Sweden was no longer at war with Denmark, which allowed more forces to be placed against the Russians. This did not prevent Russian galleys from raiding the town of [[Umeå]] once again. Later, in July 1720, a squadron from the Swedish battlefleet engaged the Russian galley fleet in the [[battle of Grengam]]. While the result of the battle is contested, it ended Russian galley raids in 1720. As negotiations for peace did not progress, the Russian galleys were once again sent to raid the Swedish coast in 1721, targeting primarily the Swedish coast between [[Gävle]] and [[Piteå]].{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=48–51}}

== Peace ==
{{Main|Treaty of Frederiksborg|Treaties of Stockholm (Great Northern War)|Treaty of Nystad}}
{{multiple image|width=220|image1=Great Northern War Part1.png|image2=Great Northern War Part2.png|footer=Campaigns and territorial changes 1700–1709 (left) and 1709–1721 (right)}}

By the time of Charles XII's death, the anti-Swedish allies became increasingly divided on how to fill the power gap left behind by the defeated and retreating Swedish armies. George I and Frederik IV both coveted hegemony in northern Germany, while Augustus the Strong was concerned about the ambitions of Frederick William I on the southeastern Baltic coast. Peter the Great, whose forces were spread all around the Baltic Sea, envisioned hegemony in East Central Europe and sought to establish naval bases as far west as [[Mecklenburg]]. In January 1719, George I, Augustus and emperor [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]] concluded a {{ill|treaty in Vienna|no|Wien-traktaten i 1719}} aimed at reducing Russia's frontiers to the pre-war limits.<ref name=Frost295296 />

Hanover-Great Britain and Brandenburg-Prussia thereupon negotiated separate peace treaties with Sweden, the [[Treaties of Stockholm (Great Northern War)|treaties of Stockholm]] in 1719 and early 1720, which partitioned Sweden's northern German dominions among the parties. The negotiations were mediated by French diplomats, who sought to prevent a complete collapse of Sweden's position on the southern Baltic coast and assured that Sweden was to retain [[Wismar]] and northern [[Swedish Pomerania]]. Hanover gained Swedish [[Bremen-Verden]], while Brandenburg-Prussia [[Province of Pomerania (1653–1815)|incorporated]] southern Swedish Pomerania.<ref name="Frost296">{{Harvnb|Frost|2000|p=296}}</ref>
Britain would briefly switch sides and supported Sweden before leaving the war.
In addition to the rivalries in the anti-Swedish coalition, there was an inner-Swedish rivalry between [[Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp]], and [[Frederick I of Sweden|Frederick I of Hesse-Cassel]] for the Swedish throne. The Gottorp party succumbed and Ulrike Eleonora, wife of Frederick I, transferred power to her husband in May 1720. When peace was concluded with Denmark, the anti-Swedish coalition had already fallen apart, and Denmark was not in a military position to negotiate a return of its former eastern provinces across the [[Øresund|sound]]. Frederick I was, however, willing to cede Swedish support for his rival in Holstein-Gottorp, which came under Danish control with its northern part annexed, and furthermore cede the Swedish privilege of exemption from the [[Sound Dues]]. A respective treaty was [[Treaty of Frederiksborg|concluded in Frederiksborg]] in June 1720.<ref name=Frost296 />

[[File:Great Northern War Timeline.png|thumb|450px|left|Timeline of each main participant in the war]]

When Sweden finally was at peace with Hanover, Great Britain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark–Norway, it hoped that the anti-Russian sentiments of the Vienna parties and France would culminate in an alliance that would restore its Russian-occupied eastern provinces. Yet, primarily due to internal conflicts in Great Britain and France, that did not happen. Therefore, the war was finally concluded by the [[Treaty of Nystad]] between Russia and Sweden in [[Uusikaupunki]] (''Nystad'') on 30 August 1721 ([[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar|OS]]). Finland was returned to Sweden, while the majority of Russia's conquests (Swedish [[Estonia]], [[Swedish Livonia|Livonia]], [[Ingria]], [[Priozersk|Kexholm]] and a portion of [[Karelia]]) were ceded to the tsardom.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rambaud|first=Arthur|title=Recueil des instructions données aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France depuis les traités de Westphalie jusqu'à la Révolution française|publisher=Ancienne Librairie Germer Baillière et Cie.|year=1890|location=Paris|page=232}}</ref> Sweden's dissatisfaction with the result led to fruitless attempts at recovering the lost territories in the course of the following century, such as the [[Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)|Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743]], and the [[Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)|Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790]].<ref name=Frost296 />

Saxe-Poland-Lithuania and Sweden did not conclude a formal peace treaty; instead, they renewed the [[Peace of Oliva]] that had ended the [[Second Northern War]] in 1660.<ref>{{Harvnb|Donnert|1997|p=510}}</ref>

Sweden had lost almost all of its "overseas" holdings gained in the 17th century and ceased to be a major power. Russia gained its Baltic territories and became one of the great powers of Europe.

== See also ==
* [[Caroleans]]
* [[List of battles of the Great Northern War]]
* [[Military of the Swedish Empire]]
* [[Swedish army]]

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{Cite book|last=Bengtsson|first=Frans Gunnar|author-link=Frans Gunnar Bengtsson|title=The sword does not jest. The heroic life of King Charles XII of Sweden|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1960}}
* {{Cite book|last=Donnert|first=Erich|title=Europa in der Frühen Neuzeit: Festschrift für Günter Mühlpfordt|publisher=Böhlau|year=1997|series=Aufbruch zur Moderne|volume=3|isbn=3-412-00697-1|language=de}}
* {{EB1911 |wstitle=Sweden |volume=26 |pages=188–221 |first=Edmund |last=Gosse |author-link=Edmund Gosse}}
* {{Cite book|title=Katastrofen vid Poltava – Karl XII:s ryska fälttåg 1707–1709|trans-title=The disaster at Poltava – Charles XII's Russian campaign 1707–1709|last=From|first=Peter|year=2007|publisher=Historiska Media|location=Lund|isbn=978-91-85377-70-1 |language=sv}}
* {{Cite book|title=The Northern Wars. War, State and Society in Northeastern Europe 1558–1721|first=Robert I|last=Frost|author-link=Robert I. Frost|publisher=Longman|year=2000|isbn=978-0-582-06429-4}}
* {{Cite book|title=Kampen mot övermakten. Baltikums fall 1700–1710.|trans-title=The fight against the supremacy. Fall of the Baltics 1700–1710.|first1=Boris|last1=Grigorjev|first2=Aleksandr|last2=Bespalov|publisher=Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibliotek|location=Stockholm|year=2012|isbn=978-91-85653-52-2|language=sv}}
* {{Cite book|title=The Great Northern War, 1700–1721: Colours and Uniforms|first1=Lars-Eric|last1=Höglund|first2=Åke|last2=Sallnäs|year=2000}}
* {{Cite book|title=Stormaktens sista krig|trans-title=Last war of the great power|first=Olle|last=Larsson|year=2009|publisher=Historiska Media|location=[[Lund]]|isbn=978-91-85873-59-3|language=sv}}
* {{Cite book|title=Karl XII: en biografi|trans-title=Charles XII: a biography|last=Liljegren|first=Bengt|year=2000|publisher=Historiska Media|location=Lund|isbn=91-89442-65-2 |language=sv}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mattila |first1=Tapani |title=Meri maamme turvana |trans-title=Sea safeguarding our country |year=1983 |publisher=K. J. Gummerus Osakeyhtiö |location=Jyväskylä |language=fi |isbn=951-99487-0-8 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Meier|first=Martin |title=Vorpommern nördlich der Peene unter dänischer Verwaltung 1715 bis 1721. Aufbau einer Verwaltung und Herrschaftssicherung in einem eroberten Gebiet|volume=65|series=Beiträge zur Militär- und Kriegsgeschichte|publisher=Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag|location=Munich|year=2008|isbn=978-3-486-58285-7|language=de}}
* {{Cite book|last=North|first=Michael|title=Geschichte Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns|publisher=CH Beck|year=2008|series=Beck Wissen|volume=2608|isbn=978-3-406-57767-3|language=de}}
* {{Cite book|last=Peterson|first=Gary Dean|title=Warrior kings of Sweden. The rise of an empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries|publisher=McFarland|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7864-2873-1}}
* {{Cite book|last=Torke|first=Hans-Joachim|title=Die russischen Zaren 1547–1917|publisher=C.H.Beck|year=2005|edition=3|isbn=3-406-42105-9| language=de}}
* {{Cite book|title=A Global Chronology of Conflict, Vol. Two|first=S.C.|last=Tucker|year=2010|location=Santa Barbara|publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC|isbn=978-1-85109-667-1}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Peter Hamish|title=German armies. War and German politics, 1648–1806 |publisher=Routledge|year=1998|series=Warfare and history|isbn=1-85728-106-3}}

=== Further reading ===
* Bain, R. Nisbet. ''Charles XII and the Collapse of the Swedish Empire, 1682–1719'' (1899) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.176167 online]
* Englund, Peter. ''Battle That Shook Europe: Poltava & the Birth of the Russian Empire'' (2003)
* Hatton, Ragnhild M. "Charles XII and the Great Northern War." in J.S. Bromley, ed., ''New Cambridge Modern History VI: The Rise of Great Britain and Russia 1688–1725'' (1970) pp 648–80.
* Lisk, Jill. ''The struggle for supremacy in the Baltic, 1600–1725'' (1968).
* Lunde, Henrik O. ''A Warrior Dynasty: The Rise and Decline of Sweden as a Military Superpower'' (Casemate, 2014).
* McKay, Derek, and H. M. Scott. ''The Rise of the Great Powers 1648–1815'' (1983) pp 77–93.
* Moulton, James R. ''Peter the Great and the Russian Military Campaigns During the Final Years of the Great Northern War, 1719–1721'' (University Press of America, 2005).
* Oakley, Stewart P. ''War and Peace in the Baltic, 1560–1790'' (Routledge, 2005).
* {{Cite book|last=Sumner|first=B. H.|title=Peter the Great and the Emergence of Russia|publisher=The English Universities Press Ltd.|year= 1951}}
* Stiles, Andrina. ''Sweden and the Baltic 1523–1721'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1992).
* Wilson, Derek. "Poltava: The battle that changed the world." ''History Today'' 59.3 (2009): 23.

==== Other languages ====
* Baskakov, Benjamin I. (1890) {{in lang|ru}}. [http://new.runivers.ru/lib/book3168/10095/ The Northern War of 1700–1721. Campaign from Grodno to Poltava 1706–1709] at [[Runivers.ru]] in [[DjVu]] and [[PDF]] formats
*{{cite book |last=Querengässer |first=Alexander |title=Das kursächsische Militär im Großen Nordischen Krieg 1700–1717 |year=2019 |language=de |publisher=Ferdinand Schöningh |isbn=978-3-506-78871-9 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Voltaire|title=Anecdotes sur le Czar Pierre le Grand|publisher=E. A. Lequien, Libraire|year=1748|edition=Edition of 1820|language=fr}}
* {{Cite book|last=Voltaire|title=Histoire de Charles XII|publisher=Garnier|year=1731|edition=Edition of 1879|language=fr}}

{{Great Northern War treaties}}
{{Lithuanian wars and conflicts}}
{{Polish wars and conflicts}}
{{Russian Conflicts}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Great Northern War| ]]
[[Category:18th-century conflicts]]
[[Category:1700s conflicts]]
[[Category:1710s conflicts]]
[[Category:1720s conflicts]]
[[Category:18th century in Denmark]]
[[Category:18th century in Sweden]]
[[Category:Poland–Sweden relations]]
[[Category:Warfare of the early modern period]]
[[Category:Wars involving Denmark]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Dutch Republic]]
[[Category:Wars involving England]]
[[Category:Wars involving Great Britain]]
[[Category:Wars involving Moldavia]]
[[Category:Wars involving Norway]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:Wars involving Prussia]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Tsardom of Russia]]
[[Category:Wars involving Saxony]]
[[Category:Wars involving Sweden|Northern War, Great]]
[[Category:Wars involving Wallachia]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia]]
[[Category:1700 in Europe]]
[[Category:1721 in Europe]]
[[Category:1710s in Europe]]
[[Category:Polish-Swedish war]]