Great Northern War
- Period
- 1700–1721
- Sides
- Russia & allies vs Sweden
- Battles
- 51
In the Great Northern War (1700–1721), a coalition led by Russia successfully contested the supremacy of Sweden in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark–Norway and Augustus II the Strong of Saxony-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 Brandenburg-Prussia joined it in 1715.
Sources: Wikipedia — Great Northern War · CC BY-SA 4.0
Battles 51
1700
Battle of Narva (1700)
The Battle of Narva on 30 November 1700 was an early battle in the Great Northern War. A Swedish relief army under Charles XII of Sweden defeated a Russian siege force three to four times its size. Previously, Charles XII had forced Denmark–Norway to sign the Treaty of Travendal. Narva was not followed by further advances of the Swedish army into Russia; instead, Charles XII turned southward to expel August the Strong from Livonia and Poland–Lithuania. Tsar Peter the Great of Russia took Narva in a second battle in 1704.
1700
Siege of Riga (1700)
The sieges of Riga were two sieges which took place on February 22 and June 15, 1700, in Riga during the Great Northern War. The Swedish garrison of about 4,000 men under the command of Erik Dahlberg successfully repulsed the Saxons until the main Swedish army under Charles XII of Sweden arrived to sweep the Saxons away in the Battle of Riga which ended the period of sieges for the year.
1701
Crossing of the Düna
The Crossing of the Düna took place during the Great Northern War on 19 July 1701 near the city of Riga, present-day Latvia. The Swedish king Charles XII was in hot pursuit of king Augustus II the Strong of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Saxony. The crossing was easily made, and the coalition troops were quickly broken and retreated.
1701
Battle of Rauge
The Battle of Rauge took place on 15 September 1701 near Rõuge, Livonia during the Great Northern War in which the Swedes defeated the numerically superior Russians.
1702
Battle of Kliszów
The Battle of Kliszów took place on 19 July 1702, near the village of Kliszów in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Great Northern War. A Swedish army under the command of King Charles XII of Sweden defeated a Polish–Saxon army twice the size that was led by King Augustus II the Strong.
1702
Battle of Hummelshof
Battle of Hummelshof took place on 18 July 1702 (O.S.) near the small town Hummelshof in Swedish Livonia. It was the second significant Russian victory in the Great Northern War in which a Russian army under Boris Sheremetev attacked a much smaller force under Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach and defeated it after experiencing similar casualties to the Swedes. This was a final blow to the Swedish force defending Livonia and the defeat left it fully open to Russian attacks.
1702
Siege of Nöteborg (1702)
The siege of Nöteborg was one of the first sieges of the Great Northern War, when Russian forces captured the Swedish fortress of Nöteborg in October 1702. Peter the Great had assembled a force of 20,000 men for this task, and marched for ten days to his destination. About 12,000 of these men were positioned on the banks of the Neva river, where they camped until 6 October (N.S.). On that day, after giving command of the main force to Boris Sheremetev, he moved toward Nöteborg. After the Swedish commander, Wilhelm von Schlippenbach, refused to give up the fort immediately, the Russians began bombarding it. A final Russian assault on the fort was tactically unsuccessful, resulting in heavy casualties, but forced the fort's defenders to surrender on 22 October 1702. After taking control, Peter immediately began reconstructing the fort for his own purposes, renaming it Shlisselburg.
1702
Battle of Erastfer
The Battle of Erastfer took place on 29 December 1701 (O.S.) / 30 December 1701 / 9 January / 1702 (N.S.) near Erastfer in eastern Swedish Livonia between a Russian force of around 13,000 regulars along with 6,000 irregulars led by general Boris Sheremetev and a Swedish force of about 3,470 men, under the command of Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach. The Swedes were defeated, with a loss of 1,000 men killed and captured along with all their artillery pieces. The Russians sustained about 1,000 killed along with another 2,000 wounded.
1702
Battle of Vilnius (1702)
The Battle of Vilnius took place on 16 April 1702 (N.S.) in Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, during the Great Northern War.
1703
Battle of Pułtusk (1703)
The Battle of Pułtusk took place on 1 May 1703 (N.S.) in Pułtusk during the Great Northern War. The Swedish army under the command of Charles XII defeated the Saxon army under Adam Heinrich von Steinau.
1703
Battle of Saločiai (1703)
The Battle of Saločiai, or Battle of Saladen, was a military engagement that took place on 19 March 1703 near Saločiai, Lithuania during the Great Northern War. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Swedish, under command of Lewenhaupt, managed to crush the combined Russo-Lithuanian Army while taking very few casualties. After the battle the Russians were forced to retreat. The battle followed the pattern of upset Swedish victories in the Great Northern War. After the battle, Count Lewenhaupt decided to remain in Swedish controlled Lithuanian instead of chasing the Russian army, since his force was so small.
1703
Siege of Thorn (1703)
The siege of Thorn was set during the Great Northern War, between Sweden and Saxony from 26 May – 14 October 1703 (N.S.?). The Swedish army was commanded by Charles XII of Sweden and the Saxon by General von Kanitz. The siege ended with a victory for Sweden, and the whole garrison surrendered to the Swedes. Following the capture of Thorn, the city was forced to pay some 100,000 reichsthaler.
1703
Battle of Systerbäck
The Battle of Systerbäck took place on July 19, 1703 near the Sestra River during the Great Northern War. The Swedish army under the command of Abraham Cronhjort had to pull back to escape encirclement of the much larger Russian force under Boris Sheremetev. The two sides estimated their losses to 390 Swedish dead and wounded and 150 Russians dead and wounded.
1704
Siege of Narva (1704)
The siege of Narva, also known as the second battle of Narva, was the second Russian siege of Swedish Narva during the Great Northern War from 8 July to 20 August 1704.
1704
Battle of Jakobstadt
The Battle of Jakobstadt was fought in the Great Northern War. It took place on 25 July 1704 (O.S.) / 26 July 1704 / 5 August 1704 (N.S.) between a Swedish army under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt and a combined Polish/Russian force under Great Hetman Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki at the town of Jēkabpils in the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. The Swedes were victorious.
1704
Battle of Poniec
The Battle of Poniec took place on 7 November 1704 (N.S.) at Poniec, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, during the Great Northern War. With a force of cavalry and dragoons, Charles XII of Sweden successfully dislodged the Saxon Army under Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg from Poniec. To fend off the Swedish pursuit, Schulenburg formed a massive square formation at Moraczewo. Having failed to break it, Charles XII called off the attacks at the approach of night. This allowed Schulenburg to escape into neutral Silesia. With Greater Poland cleared of Saxon troops, the Swedes shattered their Cossack and Russian allies at Bełcz Wielki and Tillendorf.
1704
Storming of Lemberg
The Storming of Lemberg or Lviv on 6 September 1704 (N.S.) was a successful Swedish assault on the city of Lemberg (Lviv), in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, during the Great Northern War.
1704
Battle of Poznań (1704)
The Battle of Poznań took place on 19 August 1704 (N.S.) in Poznań, Poland during the Great Northern War.
1704
Battle of Wesenberg (1704)
The Battle of Wesenberg took place on 26 June 1704 close to Rakvere (Wesenberg) during the Great Northern War. The Swedish cavalry force of 1,400 men under the command of Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach retreated before Carl Ewald von Rönnes larger force. However, the Swedes were caught at Wesenberg and after a valiant defense they had been close to annihilated with only 400 managing to escape towards Reval the rest was either killed or captured. The Russian losses are unknown.
1705
Battle of Gemauerthof
The Battle of Gemauerthof took place during the Great Northern War, fought south of Riga near Jelgava, in present-day Latvia in July 1705. The Swedish forces under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt fought a Russian army under Boris Sheremetev. The Swedes were victorious, but the victory was only symbolic. In August, the Russians conquered Courland.
1706
Battle of Fraustadt
The Battle of Fraustadt was fought on 2 February 1706 (O.S.) / 3 February 1706 / 13 February 1706 (N.S.) near Fraustadt, now Wschowa, Poland, during the Great Northern War. A Swedish army under Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld defeated a larger Saxon–Russian force commanded by Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, consisting of troops from Saxony, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, German mercenaries, and the Tsardom of Russia.
1706
Battle of Kalisz
The Battle of Kalisz took place on 29 October 1706 in Kalisz, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Great Northern War. The battle was fought between an anti-Swedish army of Russians, Saxons and Poles led by Augustus the Strong and Russian general Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, and a Swedish–Polish–Lithuanian army headed by colonel Arvid Axel Mardefelt, loyal to Stanisław Leszczyński. The battle, which occurred as peace had been concluded between Sweden and Saxony, marked Sweden's only major defeat in Poland during the war and temporarily secured a major part of Greater Poland for the coalition. However, they failed to exploit their success as Augustus returned to Saxony soon thereafter to abide by the peace treaty, while Charles XII sent a new corps of 8,000 Swedes into Greater Poland.
1706
Battle of Kletsk (1706)
The Battle of Kletsk took place on 30 April 1706, in- and outside the city of Kletsk, Belarus during Charles XII's Polish campaign of 1701–1706, in the Great Northern War. The Swedish forces were led by Carl Gustaf Creutz who defeated a larger Russian–Cossack force under the command of Semjon Nepljujev and Danylo Apostol. Many of the Russian and Cossack regiments participating in the battle were wiped out and ceased to exist as fighting units. Some historians consider the main reason for the defeat to be the actions of the Ukrainian Cossacks, who immediately turned into a blameless flight at the sight of the Swedish attacks, disrupting the formation of the Russian units behind them.
1708
Battle of Lesnaya
The Battle of Lesnaya was fought on 9 October 1708 during the Swedish invasion of Russia in the Great Northern War. Russia was the sole remaining enemy of Sweden following the dissolution of the anti-Swedish coalition in 1706. Peter I of Russia led a flying corps, supported by two additional divisions, to destroy a convoy under general Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt that was heading for the Swedish main army in Ukraine with reinforcements and supplies. Peter caught up with the convoy at the village of Lesnaya (Lyasnaya) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, present-day Belarus.
1708
Battle of Holowczyn
The Battle of Holowczyn was fought in July 1708 between the Russian army and the Swedish army, led by Charles XII of Sweden, who was only 26 years of age at the time. Despite difficult natural obstacles and superior enemy artillery, the Swedes were able to achieve surprise and defeat the numerically superior Russian forces, who were separated from each other, had no overall command and could not coordinate their actions, disallowing them an engagement in full force. Reportedly, it was Charles' favourite victory.
1708
Sack of Baturyn
The sack of Baturyn, or the Baturyn tragedy was the 1708 seizure of the city of Baturyn and its Fortress during the Great Northern War (1700–1721), by Russian troops under the command of Alexander Danilovich Menshikov. They captured and destroyed Baturyn on 2 November 1708 O.S.. The fortress of Baturyn was the capital of the Cossack Hetmanate at the time of Ivan Mazepa. According to various estimates, between 9,000 and 15,000 civilians and defenders of Baturyn were killed.
1708
Battle of Malatitze
The Battle of Molyatichi, also known as the Battle of Dobroye, took place on 31 August 1708 at Molyatichi during the Great Northern War. The Russian army of Peter the Great under the command of Mikhail Golitsyn launched a surprise attack on the isolated vanguard of Charles XII's Swedish Army, under the direct command of Carl Gustaf Roos, in order to destroy it. Their cavalry was unable to arrive in time to cut Roos' command off before Swedish reinforcements arrived, forcing the Russians to retreat.
1708–1709
Siege of Vepryk
The siege of Vepryk or Veprik took place on 3–18 January 1709 during the Poltava campaign in the Northern War in Ukraine near the Ukrainian city of Vepryk. The town was defended by a garrison of about 1,500 men, from who 1,100 were soldiers of Pereiaslav Regiment and the rest were Zaporozhian Cossacks.
1708
Battle of Koniecpol
The Battle of Koniecpol was an encounter in November 1708 during the Great Northern War.
1709
Battle of Poltava
The Battle of Poltava fought on 8 July 1709, was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. A Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated a Swedish army commanded by Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld. The battle would lead to the Swedish Empire losing its status as a European great power and also marked the beginning of Russian supremacy in eastern Europe.
1709–1710
Siege of Riga (1709–1710)
The siege of Riga in 1709–1710 was a military operation of the army of the Tsardom of Russia during the Great Northern War against the forces of the Swedish Empire defending the fortress of Riga. As a result of the operation, Riga was taken by Russian troops.
1710
Battle of Helsingborg
The Battle of Helsingborg was the last major engagement of the Great Northern War to take place on Swedish soil. It resulted in a decisive victory of a Swedish force of 14,000 men under the command of Magnus Stenbock against a Danish force of equal strength under the command of Jørgen Rantzau, ensuring that Denmark's final effort to regain the Scanian territories that it had lost to Sweden in 1658 failed. The battle was fought on 10 March 1710 (N.S.) in the province of Scania, just outside the city of Helsingborg, and directly on the Ringstorp heights just north-east of the city.
1710
Siege of Viborg (1710)
The siege of Viborg took place in the spring of 1710 during the Great Northern War (1700–1721), as a second attempt by the Russians to capture the fortress port of Viborg, near the modern border between Russia and Finland, after a failed attempt in 1706. After the outbreak of the war, Swedish forces had fortified themselves in the port of Viborg. In order to assure safety for the newly founded city of Saint Petersburg, Peter the Great ordered the Swedish fort to be secured. A first unsuccessful attempt was made in 1706. Later plans were put on hold because of other ongoing conflicts but, after the Russian success at the Battle of Poltava in June 1709, the men and resources were available to capture the town.
1711–1715
Siege of Stralsund (1711–1715)
The siege of Stralsund was an armed engagement during the Great Northern War. The Swedish Empire defended her Swedish Pomeranian port of Stralsund against a coalition of Denmark-Norway, the Electorate of Saxony and the Tsardom of Russia, which was joined by the Kingdom of Prussia during the siege.
1712
Battle of Gadebusch
The Battle of Gadebusch or Wakenstädt was Sweden's final great victory in the Great Northern War. It was fought by the Swedes to prevent the loss of the city of Stralsund to Danish and Saxon forces.
1713
Skirmish at Bender
The Skirmish at Bender was devised to remove Charles XII of Sweden from the Ottoman Empire after his military defeats in Russia. It took place on 1 February 1713 (O.S.) or 12 February 1713 (N.S.) on Ottoman territory, in what is now the town of Bender, Moldova.
1713
Battle of Pälkäne
The Battle of Pälkäne, sometimes called the Battle at Kostianvirta or Battle on the Pialkiane River was fought between the Russian army under Admiral Fyodor Apraksin and the defending Finnish army of the Swedish Empire under General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt on 17 October 1713 (N.S.), as part of the Great Northern War. It resulted in a Russian victory, although General Armfeldt was able to withdraw his army in good order.
1713
Battle of Hogland (1713)
The Battle of Hogland was a naval battle between Sweden and Russia which took place on 21–22 July 1713 near the Kalbådagrund shoal in the Gulf of Finland, 50 km (31 mi) south of Porvoo, Sweden. It was an indecisive engagement, part of the Great Northern War.
1714
Battle of Gangut
The Battle of Gangut took place on 27 JulyJul./ 7 August 1714Greg. during the Great Northern War (1700–1721), in the waters of Riilahti Bay, north of the Hanko Peninsula, near the site of the modern-day city of Hanko (Hangö), Finland, between the Swedish Navy and Imperial Russian Navy. It was the first important victory of the Russian fleet in its history. It is commemorated in Russia as one of the Days of Military Honour.
1714
Battle of Napue
The Battle of Napue, the Battle of Isokyrö (Storkyro), or the Battle of Lappola was fought on 2 March [O.S. 19 February] 1714 at the villages of Napue and Laurola, located in the Isokyrö parish of the Swedish Empire. The battle took place between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia and was the final land battle of the Finnish campaign in the Great Northern War.
1714
Siege of Tönning
During the Great Northern War, the fortress of Tönning in the territory of Holstein-Gottorp, an ally of the Swedish Empire, was besieged twice. Denmark–Norway was forced to lift the first siege in 1700, but a combined force of the anti-Swedish coalition successfully besieged and took Tönning in 1713–1714.
1715
Battle of Stresow
The Landing on Groß Stresow by an anti-Swedish coalition Prussian, Norwegian, Danish and Saxon troops took place on 15 November 1715 on the island of Rügen during the Great Northern War. At the time, Rügen was a possession of the Swedish Empire, the opponent of the coalition forces.
1715
Battle of Rügen (1715)
Battle of Rügen was a major naval battle fought on 8 August 1715 (N.S.) off Jasmund on the Swedish island of Rügen during the Great Northern War.
1716
Battle of Dynekilen
The naval Battle of Dynekilen took place on 8 July 1716 during the Great Northern War between a Dano-Norwegian fleet under Peter Tordenskjold and a Swedish fleet under Olof Strömstierna. The battle resulted in a Dano-Norwegian victory.
1717
Battle of Gothenburg
The Battle of Gothenburg was a Danish-Norwegian attempt to destroy the Swedish squadron in Gothenburg, which was led by Olof Strömstierna. The Danes were led by the famous Peter Tordenskjold. The Swedish land defence was led by Fredrik of Hessen, and it consisted of the land batteries Billingen and Rya Nabbe with 12 guns each, and the Älvsborg fortress, who had 400 soldiers with 90 guns.
1717
Battle of Strömstad
The Battle of Strömstad took place on 19 July 1717 (N.S.) at Strömstad during the Great Northern War. The Swedish army of about 1,800 men under the command of Johan Giertta defeated the Danish fleet of several larger vessels and perhaps 4,000 men under Peder Tordenskjold. Peter tried to destroy the stocks of supplies Sweden had gathered for the upcoming invasion of Norway. In the battle about 200 Swedes were either dead or wounded and about 350 Norwegians.
1718
Siege of Fredriksten
The siege of Fredriksten was an attack on the Norwegian fortress of Fredriksten in the city of Fredrikshald by King Charles XII of Sweden. While inspecting his troops' lines, Charles XII was killed by a projectile. The Swedes broke off the siege, and the Norwegians held the fortress. Along with the Treaty of Nystad three years later, the death of Charles XII marked the end of the imperial era in Sweden, and the beginning of the Age of Liberty in that country.
1719
Battle of Ösel Island
The Battle of Ösel Island took place on 4 June 1719 (N.S.), during the Great Northern War. It was fought near the island of Saaremaa (Ösel).
1719
Battle of Stäket
The Battle of Stäket was a minor battle on 24 August 1719 (N.S.) during the Great Northern War. A probing Russian force, circumventing Vaxholm Castle, attempted to pass through Baggensstäket, a very narrow passage in the Stockholm archipelago. After a counterattack by Södermanlands regemente the Russian force were defeated and departed.
1719
Attack on Marstrand
The attack on Marstrand was a successful Dano-Norwegian siege of the Swedish town of Marstrand and Carlsten fortress which took place between 21–27 July 1719 (N.S.) during the end of the Great Northern War.
1720
Battle of Grengam
The Battle of Grengam of 1720 was the last major naval battle of the Great Northern War. It took place in Åland, in the Ledsund strait between the island communities of Föglö and Lemland. Russian forces captured four Swedish vessels, and the battle is generally regarded as a Russian victory; however, the extent of Russian losses and the strategic significance of the result have been disputed in later historiography. Russian forces conducted further operations against the Swedish coast in 1721 before the Treaty of Nystad ended the war.
Earlier and later events nearby
- AD 988Baptism of Kievan Rus'
- 1700–1721Great Northern WarThis page
- 1709Battle of Poltava
- 1943Battle of Kursk
- 1986Chernobyl disaster
Who ruled this land
States that held this place in the historical borders data (Cliopatria). Years are approximate, as fine as the data's snapshots (every few years to a century). Tap to open the map for that year.