Changes

While Charles was bogged down in the vast Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the Russian Tsar Peter the Great reformed the Russian military and ironically modeled his army on the Swedish forces. While the Swedes were campaigning in Germany and Poland after 1706 Peter ordered his forces into Ingaria and found a new port that was to become the City of St Petersburg. This gave the Russians an outlet to the sea, from which they could threaten Sweden in the Baltic. Charles was outraged at what he saw as a surprise attack.<ref> Voltaire. p. 112</ref>. According to Voltaire, he wanted to annihilate Peter the Great. The Swedish monarch was quoted as saying ‘"I have resolved never to start an unjust war but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies." <ref> Voltaire, p. 37</ref>. In 1708, he ordered a general invasion of Russia and he decided to ally himself with the rebellious Cossacks who had revolted against Peter in the Ukraine. Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks, had managed to secure a vast area that was independent of the Russians.

Charles assembled a large army but at the last minute was obliged to leave some of his troops with the Polish King who was his puppet. In total, the Swedish army was composed of 50,000 men, mostly Swedes, and Finns. Many units were needed to defend Sweden and its extensive Empire. Charles marched his army into Livonia (now Belorussia). The Russians and the Swedes clashed in a great Battle of Holowczyn. Charles was confronted by a huge Russian army that was numerically superior to his own. The Swedish king secured a great victory with only minimal losses. The Russians decided that it was best not to meet the Swedes on the field of battle and they adopted guerrilla and hit and run tactics. At this point, Charles was urged to march on St Petersburg but the young monarch wanted to seize Moscow and put a puppet on the throne. He ordered the troops he had left with the Polish king to join him, no sooner than they had left that his Polish ally faced a general revolt. The reinforcements were attacked by Peter’s army and suffered many casualties and lost many precious cannons. Charles was now reliant on the support of the massive Cossack rebellion led by Mazepa in Ukraine.<ref> Derry, p. 116</ref>. The Swedes had been told by the Hetman of the Cossacks that he could provide them with 40,000 men.

However, the Russian army was quick to react and they launched a surprise attack on the Cossacks at their capital Batruin in the Ukraine. They did so before the Cossacks could rendezvous with the Swedish army.<ref> Hatton, R.M. Charles XII of Sweden (London, MacFarland,1968), p. 113</ref>.The invasion force of Charles was now in the vast Steppes of the Ukraine with little support and an overextended supply line. Winter was approaching and in the cold many, soldiers succumbed to frostbite. The Swedes decided to retreat to their winter camp in Western Ukraine in November 1708. In the following summer of 1709 in a skirmish with some Russians, Charles was wounded and fell into a coma. The leadership of the army passed to Rehnskiöld. The Swedes came across the army of Peter the Great at the fort of Poltava in June 1709. Despite being inferior in numbers they besieged Poltava. Rehnskiöld launched several assaults on the fortifications but all ended in failure, one assault ended in disaster and the entire army retreated in chaos. The Swedish king was by now able to once again lead his men but it was too late. The bulk of the Swedish army retreated to Perevolochna, where they were soon encircled and forced to surrender. Charles XII managed to escape with a small number of followers into Ottoman territory and he later returned to Sweden. The invasion of Russian was a disaster and it spelled the end of the Swedish Empire and marked the advent of Russia onto the European stage as a major power.