How the Great Northern War made Russia an empire (PAINTINGS)
1. Gustav Cederström. ‘Victory at Narva’, 1905
At the beginning of the 18th century, a coalition of Russia, Denmark, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Saxony challenged powerful Sweden, which dominated Northern Europe and effectively turned the Baltic Sea into its own lake. The outbreak of hostilities, however, proved disastrous for the allies. A bold attack by King Charles XII of Sweden on Copenhagen knocked the Danes out of the war, the Saxons failed to take Riga, and the Russian army suffered a crushing defeat at Narva.
2. Mitrofan Grekov. ‘Attack of the Swedes by Yaroslavl Dragoons Near the Village of Erestfer on December 29, 1701’, 1914
After Narva, Charles XII decided that the Russians were finished and switched to other theaters of war. This gave Peter the Great time to bring his army into order and accelerate its modernization. Soon, Russian troops re-entered the Swedish Baltic region and won their first major victory at the Erestfer estate.
3. Alexander Kotzebue. ‘The Storming of the Noteborg Fortress on October 11, 1702’, 1846
While Charles XII was successfully fighting in Poland, Peter the Great laid siege to the Swedish fortress of Noteborg, which had once been the Russian fortress of Oreshek. It was captured after a difficult 13-hour assault. After the victory, the tsar renamed Oreshek Shlisselburg — the ‘key city’ that opened the way to the mouth of the Neva.
4. Nikolai Sauerweid. ‘Peter I Pacifies His Fierce Soldiers During the Capture of Narva in 1704’, 1859
In 1704, Russian troops returned to the walls of Narva. This time, they were successful – the fortress fell on August 20. A week later, the garrison of the Ivangorod fortress, located just a few hundred meters across the river, surrendered.
5. Jean-Marc Nattier. ‘Battle of Lesnaya’, 1717
By the autumn of 1708, Charles had succeeded in splitting Poland and knocking Saxony out of the war. He decided to deal with Peter I and headed to Ukraine, where he was called by Ivan Mazepa, the hetman of the Zaporozhian Host, who had defected to the Swedes. General Adam Lewenhaupt's corps, towing a huge supply train, advanced to join the king. On October 9, near the village of Lesnoy near Mogilev, Peter I intercepted and defeated Lewenhaupt, instantly depriving Charles of his resources and reserves.
6. Alexander Kotzebue. ‘The Victory at Poltava’, 1862
On July 8, 1709, the decisive battle of the Northern War took place near Poltava, in which Russian troops utterly routed the enemy. The Swedish army lost over 6,000 men in the battle, and about 15,000 surrendered. Russian losses are estimated at 5,000. Charles XII and Mazepa managed to escape to the Ottoman Empire. The defeat broke the back of the Swedish army and inspired the Danes and Saxons to reenter the war. Over the next few years, Russia completely captured the Baltic region.
7. Alexey Bogolyubov. ‘Battle of Gangut, July 27, 1714’, 1877
Having defeated the Swedes on land, Russia challenged their dominance at sea. In the summer of 1714, at Cape Gangut (Hanko Peninsula) in the Gulf of Finland, Peter the Great's regular fleet achieved its first major victory. More than a hundred galleys closed in on the enemy squadron, and the sailors boarded all ten Swedish sailing ships. Gangut was followed by resounding victories at the islands of Ösel and Grengam, and the Russian fleet even began landing troops near Stockholm. Exhausted and broken, Sweden sued for peace.
8. Peter Schenk the Younger. ‘The Signing of the Peace Treaty at Nystad, August 30, 1721’, 1721
According to the terms of the peace treaty concluded in 1721 in Nystadt (now — Uusikaupunki in Finland) of the peace treaty, the Russians received “in complete and unquestionable eternal possession” Ingria (Leningrad Region), Livonia (central and northern Latvia), Estland (Estonia), and also the southeastern part of Finland. In November of that year, Peter I assumed the title of Emperor. Russia was thus officially declared an empire, although in Europe it had been called that since the victory at Poltava.