The first battle of the Northern War for Russia was the Battle of Narva. The military clash of the troops of Peter I with the modern European army immediately revealed the weakness of the Russian army and the need for deep transformations and reforms in military affairs.
The centuries-old struggle for access to the Baltic Sea
The eastern coast of the Baltic Sea came under Swedish rule during the Livonian War, under King Johan III (1568-1592). In the fall of 1581, the Swedes managed to seize the territory of modern Estonia, Ivangorod and Narva. In Narva, at the same time, "according to custom" (as the Swedish commander-in-chief Pontus De la Gardie put it with charming spontaneity), about seven thousand local residents were killed.
In 1583, Russia was forced to conclude the Plyusskoe truce, according to which it lost, in addition to Narva, three border fortresses (Ivangorod, Koporye, Yam), retaining only Oreshek and a narrow "corridor" along the Neva to its mouth, a little over 30 km long.
In 1590, the government of Boris Godunov (the nominal tsar at that time was the feeble-minded Fyodor Ioannovich) made an attempt to return the lost territories. On January 27, the fortress of Yam was taken, then the Swedes were forced to cede Ivangorod, the siege of Narva was unsuccessful. This war lasted intermittently until 1595 and ended with the signing of the Tyavzin peace, according to which Russia regained Yam, Ivangorod and Koporye.
Everything changed in the era of the Time of Troubles. Russian-Swedish War 1610-1617 ended with the signing of the Stolbovsky peace, unfavorable for Russia, according to which, in exchange for the return of Novgorod, Porkhov, Staraya Russa, Ladoga, Gdov and the Sumerian volost, the new Tsar Mikhail Romanov yielded to Ivangorod, Yam, Koporye, Oreshek and Korel, and also pledged to pay an indemnity in the amount of 20 thousand rubles.
In Sweden at this time was ruled by King Gustav II Adolf, who reformed the army, being the first in the world to implement the idea of recruitment. Men from 15 to 44 years old were recruited under him. Each soldier and officer received a land allotment from the state, which his family members could cultivate, but it was often rented out. The government provided its soldiers with uniforms and weapons, and during the war it also paid salaries. This undertaking proved to be very successful: already in the early 20s of the 17th century, the Danish ambassador reported from Stockholm that the infantry in Sweden was "cleverly trained and well armed."
The distinctive features of the Swedish army were its discipline and high fighting spirit. Protestant priests carried out a very effective indoctrination of soldiers in the spirit of the doctrine of Divine Predestination, according to which a person's life is in the hands of God, and no one will die before the appointed time, but no one will survive it.
It's funny that with the beginning of the Northern War, some priests also began to assure the soldiers that Sweden is the chosen country of God - New Israel, and Russia personifies Assyria: if you read its ancient name "Assur" on the contrary, you get "Russa" (!).
In the Thirty Years War, Sweden lost the "Snow King" Gustav II Adolf, but gained Pomerania, part of Brandenburg, as well as Wismar, Bremen, Verdun and became a member of the Holy Roman Empire.
Under the "silent king" Charles X, Sweden again fought with Russia, the army of Alexei Mikhailovich unsuccessfully besieged Riga, as a result, Moscow had to recognize all the conquests of Sweden in the Baltic states.
The new king, Charles XI, brought the Swedish church under the crown in 1686, seized many land plots from the aristocrats, and put public finances in order.
In 1693, the Riksdag officially named Charles XI "an autocratic king who commands and controls everything, and is not responsible for his actions to anyone on earth." All this allowed his son to wage war for a long time, "eating up" the accumulated reserves and ruining the prosperous state left to him. There was no legal way to stop this insane, leading country to disaster, the war, therefore, when Charles XII died during the siege of the fortress of Fredriksten, versions immediately appeared that he was shot by his subordinates.
This king, who ascended the throne on April 14, 1697 at the age of 14 years 10 months, in addition to Sweden, had in his possession Finland, Livonia, Karelia, Ingria, the cities of Wismar, Vyborg, the islands of Rügen and Ezel, part of Pomerania, the Duchy of Bremen and Verdun … Through his fault Sweden lost most of this inheritance in the Northern War.
The Scottish historian Anthony F. Upton believed that "in the person of Charles XII, Sweden received a charismatic psychopath" who, if he continued his rule, would lead Sweden to a complete defeat, similar to that experienced by Germany under Hitler.
Now let's talk about the beginning of the Northern War, the state of the Russian army and the first big battle of the Russian and Swedish troops - the famous battle of Narva.
Causes of the Northern War
To a certain extent, Charles XII then had to reap the fruits of the aggressive policy of his predecessors, who strove to turn the Baltic Sea into a "Swedish lake". In the Northern War, Denmark laid claim to Schleswig and Holstein-Gottorp, Poland, whose king was the Saxon Elector Augustus the Strong - to Livonia (Swedish Livonia) and Riga, Russia - to the Ingermanland and Karelian coast of the Baltic Sea occupied by Sweden.
In Europe, the new Swedish king had a reputation as a windy fool (well deserved), so no one expected great feats from him.
Tradition claims that Charles XII heard the first shots from a musket only at the beginning of the war: during the landing near Copenhagen, he asked Quartermaster General Stuart about the whistle that he did not understand (which was emitted by flying bullets).
At the same time, it is known that the prince shot the first fox at the age of 7, and the first bear at 11.
But perhaps the sounds of a combat musket and a hunting rifle were significantly different and not alike? In general, imitating the heroes of the sagas, Karl practiced mainly with cold weapons. Later he went to the bear with a spear, then - with a club and a pitchfork. And once, Karl and the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Friedrich (the grandfather of the Russian Emperor Peter III) for several days right in the palace chopped off the heads of calves and sheep, trying to do it with one blow.
The beginning of the Northern War
The Great Northern War began in February 1700 with the siege of Riga by the Saxon army of Augustus the Strong.
In March of the same year, the Danish troops of King Frederick IV invaded Gottorp-Holstein.
The Swedish king came to the aid of Duke Frederick, who was his friend, cousin and son-in-law (married to the sister of the Swedish king).
At the head of 15 thousand soldiers, Charles XII landed at Copenhagen, and the Danes, who feared to lose their capital, signed a peace treaty and left the coalition (August 18, 1700).
In Russia, on August 30, 1700 (according to the Gregorian calendar), Peter I organized a holiday in Moscow on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with Turkey and the acquisition of Azov, on which they burned "a magnificent fireworks display." And the very next day, war was declared on Sweden. On September 3, Russian troops moved towards Narva. And on September 19 August the Strong withdrew his troops from Riga. Thus, all plans for the joint conduct of hostilities were violated.
Russian army at the beginning of the Northern War
What kind of army did Peter I lead to Narva?
Traditionally, the Russian army consisted of a militia of the so-called "service people" - for the land allocated to them, they had to appear for military service on horseback and with weapons, they were not paid for maintenance during the campaign. The sons of the servants inherited both the land and responsibilities. No "military training" was held for them, and therefore the level of combat training of these fighters could only be guessed at. The commanders of this army were appointed not according to merit, but according to the nobility of the family.
The rifle regiments, which appeared in 1550, were an attempt to organize the first regular army in Russia. Special taxes were collected for its maintenance - "food money" and "streltsy bread" (later - "streltsy money"). The archers were divided into equestrian (stirrups) and infantrymen, as well as at the place of residence: Moscow and city (Ukrainian).
In peacetime, the archers performed police functions, and were also required to extinguish fires. Soon the streltsy service became hereditary, which could not be abandoned, but could be passed on to one of the relatives. The archers ran their own household, were engaged in crafts and gardening, and they often did not have time for combat training, and there was no particular desire to engage in drill.
The combat capability of both the troops of the service people and the rifle regiments already at the end of the 16th century aroused serious doubts, and therefore, under Boris Godunov, the first regiment was formed, consisting entirely of foreigners. It is believed that its number could reach 2,500.
In 1631, the government of Mikhail Romanov decided to hire 5,000 foreign soldiers from Protestant countries (Denmark, Sweden, Holland, England).
However, these mercenaries were very expensive, and therefore it was decided to organize the regiments of the "foreign system" from the small landed nobles and the same service people, in which foreign officers were supposed to become instructors and commanders.
By the end of the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich, there were already 63 regiments of such an army.
In 1681, a "commission" chaired by Prince V. V. Golitsyn proposed to appoint officers "without jobs and without recruiting" and on January 12, 1682, the Duma passed a decision banning "counting by places" in the service. In the Kremlin, "Rank books" were solemnly burned, which contained data on the local account, and by which everything was previously determined - from a place at the tsar's table to a position in the army. Thus, the archaic and very harmful local system was liquidated.
In 1689, when the Russian army under the command of Golitsyn went to the Crimea for the second time, the number of soldiers of foreign regiments reached 80 thousand people (with a total army of 112 thousand).
But in the army of Peter I in 1695 there were 120 thousand soldiers, and only 14 thousand of them were soldiers of the regiments of a foreign order (they became part of the 30-thousandth corps, which Peter himself led to Azov). And in 1700, at the beginning of the Northern War, in the Russian army, which moved to Narva, there were only four regiments trained and organized according to European models: the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky Guards, Lefortovo and Butyrsky (the total number of regiments is 33, as well as the service militia of 12 thousand people and 10 thousand Cossacks).
The soldiers of the four aforementioned regiments, according to the testimony of the Saxon General Langen, were tall as for selection, well armed and uniform, and trained "so well that they would not yield to the German regiments."
The secretary of the Austrian embassy, Korb, described other units as "a rabble of the most trashy soldiers, recruited from the poorest rabble." And FA Golovin (Admiral since 1699, Field Marshal since 1700) argued that they "did not know how to take a musket."
Thus, we can conclude that, contrary to popular belief, the Russian army in the first years of the reign of Peter I significantly weakened and degraded in comparison with the times of Alexei Mikhailovich, Fedor Alekseevich and Princess Sophia. Prince Ya. F. Dolgoruky in 1717, during a feast, dared to tell the tsar the truth: Alexei Mikhailovich “showed the way”, but “all his senseless institutions ruined”. The tsar's closest relatives, the Naryshkins, Streshnevs, and Lopukhins, were probably “meaningless”.
In general, it is difficult to understand what Peter was counting on, directing such an army against the strongest army in Europe, but on August 22, 1700, he nevertheless moved him to Narva.
Movement of enemy forces towards Narva
The campaign of the Russian army to Narva was poorly organized, the army was starving and literally stuck in the mud, there were not enough horses or carts, the carts with food and ammunition lagged behind. As a result, Russian troops approached Narva only on October 1, 1700. And on the same day, the ships of Charles XII set off for Livonia. They carried 16,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry.
Peter entrusted the command of his troops to the Duke of Croa de Crui, who had previously fought against Turkey in the Austrian army, did not earn the commander's laurels, and, as unnecessary, was recommended to the Russian allies.
But Peter trusted the duke, and, in order not to hinder him in his actions, personally marking the fortifications of the Russian camp, he left for Novgorod.
Narva was defended by General Horn's detachment, numbering about 1000 people. This city could not be called a strong fortress, but the Russian artillery, which began shelling its walls, quickly used up the entire supply of shells.
De Cruy did not dare to storm, and therefore he surrounded the city with a line of trenches, which looked like an arc, resting its ends against the river bank. The siege of Narva lasted 6 weeks, but the city was never taken until the approach of the Swedish army.
Meanwhile, BP Sheremetev, at the head of a five-thousandth detachment of noble cavalry, was sent to Revel and Pernov (Pärnu).
Here he faced the Swedish troops sent by Charles XII for reconnaissance and defeated them. Karl continued his movement, dividing his small army into three parts. The first corps covered the movement from the south (the king was afraid of the approach of Augustus the Strong's troops), the second went to Pskov, the third - bypassed Sheremetev's detachment, which, fearing encirclement, took his cavalrymen towards Narva.
Sheremetev acted quite reasonably, but then Peter intervened, who accused him of cowardice and ordered him to return. Here Charles XII himself with the main part of his army (about 12 thousand people) fell on the too far advanced Russian cavalry. With a small number of his soldiers, Sheremetev still managed to get out of the encirclement and on November 18 came to Narva with the news of the Swedish movement.
Battle of Narva
On November 19, Karl XII came to the Russian camp, who at that time had only 8,500 soldiers.
"How? Do you doubt that with my eight thousand brave Swedes I will prevail over eighty thousand Muscovites? " - said the king to his entourage. And, almost immediately, he threw his army into battle.
His artillery smashed the fortifications of the Russian camp, and the Swedes shouted "God is with us!" in two columns moved to the attack.
Let us recall that the Russian troops, significantly superior to the army of Charles XII, were stretched out around Narva by seven miles, so that at all points they were weaker than the Swedes. The weather conditions were favorable for the Caroliners: a strong wind pushed the Swedish soldiers in the back, their opponents were blinded by a blizzard.
Within half an hour, the center of the Russian positions was broken through, and panic began. Someone shouted: "The Germans have changed!"
Duke de Cruis with the words: "Let the devil himself fight at the head of such soldiers!" surrendered with his entire staff. Demoralized Russian officers and generals also surrendered. Sheremetev's cavalry, which could bypass the Swedes, also fled, while about a thousand people drowned in Narov.
But the battle did not end there. On the right flank, the regiments of the new order stood - Preobrazhensky, Semyonovsky and Lefortovsky, which were joined by the soldiers of Golovin's division. Surrounding themselves with carts and slingshots, they repulsed the attacks of the Swedes. On the left flank, the division of Adam Weide, which had risen in squares, continued to fight.
In these areas, the battle was so fierce that a horse was killed under King Charles himself, Major General Johan Ribbing was killed, and Generals KG Renschild and G. Yu. Maydel were wounded.
In the Swedish army that day, too, not everything was in order. Two detachments of Caroliners, not recognizing their own in the blizzard, attacked each other and suffered losses. Other Swedish soldiers, breaking into the Russian camp, could not resist the temptation and began to plunder it, leaving the battle.
Meanwhile, the forces of the Russian regiments that continued to fight were comparable to the size of the entire Swedish army near Narva, and if their commanders had had enough endurance and composure, the outcome of the battle could have been completely different. At least, the shame of surrender could well have been avoided. But the flanks of the Russian army acted in isolation, their generals did not know what was happening with their neighbors, did not have information about the number of Swedes opposing them. Having withstood the attacks of the enemy, the generals of the right flank Ya. Dolgorukov, I. Buturlin and A. Golovin entered into negotiations with Charles XII. For the right of unhindered withdrawal, they handed over all the artillery to the Swedes - in total, 184 guns were left.
Only upon learning of this did Adam Weide stop resisting.
The Swedes violated the treaty, freely allowing only the soldiers of the guards regiments. The rest were robbed "without a trace", having lost not only their weapons, but also their tents and "all belongings." Generals and officers of the highest ranks, contrary to the agreement, were not released. In total, 10 generals and about 70 officers remained in captivity.
The Georgian Tsarevich Alexander was also taken prisoner. Karl, who learned about this, said:
“It's the same as if I were captured by the Crimean Tatars!”
The king did not even suspect that he would have to spend several years on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, surrounded by the janissaries who guarded him. (This episode of the biography of Charles XII was described in the article: Ryzhov V. A. "Vikings" against the Janissaries. The incredible adventures of Charles XII in the Ottoman Empire.)
The remnants of the army were saved by B. Sheremetev, who gathered demoralized soldiers on the other side and led their retreat to Novgorod. Here Peter I met them with the words:
"They will beat us more than once, but in the end they will teach us how to win."
Results and consequences of the Narva battle
The Russian army near Narva lost about 6 thousand soldiers, but, along with the sick and wounded, up to 12 thousand were out of action. The Swedes lost 3 thousand people.
The Battle of Narva had a number of serious consequences. It was with her that the European glory of Charles XII began as a great commander, the new Alexander the Great. In addition to human and material, Russia suffered significant reputational losses, and its international authority suffered greatly.
But this battle strengthened the king in his opinion about the weakness of Russia and the Russian army, which later led to a terrible defeat at Poltava. Peter, having received time to replenish and rebuild the army, used this "lesson" to the fullest.
The worst was the situation with the replenishment of artillery: in Russia there was simply not the right amount of metal of suitable quality. I had to collect the bells of churches and monasteries. This story had a continuation already in the time of Catherine II: a delegation of the clergy came to the Empress, who, referring to Peter's unfulfilled promise to compensate for the losses, asked to "return the favor." A well-known historical anecdote tells about the future - in the original sense of the word (the first collection of anecdotes is considered to be "The Secret History" of Procopius of Caesarea, the opposite, according to his own "History of Wars"). Catherine, allegedly, demanded materials on this case, where she discovered an indecent resolution of Peter. And she answered the delegates that she, as a woman, could not even offer them the organ indicated by Peter.
Already 2 weeks after the seemingly catastrophic defeat at Narva, Sheremetev, who had fled from this fortress, attacked the Swedish detachment of General Schlippenbach near Marienburg, was forced to withdraw, but Schlippenbach had no success when he tried to pursue him. A year later (December 29, 1701) at Erestfer, Sheremetev's troops inflicted the first defeat on Schlippenbach's corps, for which the Russian commander received the rank of Field Marshal and the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. Then Schlippenbach was defeated twice in 1702.
Looking ahead, let's say that Volmar Schlippenbach was captured during the Battle of Poltava, in 1712 he entered the Russian service with the rank of major general, rose to the rank of lieutenant general and a member of the military collegium.
Ahead were the victories of the Russians at Dobry, Lesnaya, Poltava and Gangut, but the story of these battles is beyond the scope of this article.
