The Battle of Poltava took place in the year. Video lecture: historical significance of the Battle of Poltava

And with them the royal squads
They came together in the smoke among the plain -
And the battle broke out, the Battle of Poltava!..
Swede, Russian - stabs, chops, cuts;
Drumming, clicks, grinding,
The thunder of guns, the stomping, the neighing groan -
And death and hell on all sides.
A. S. Pushkin. Poltava.

Today in our historical section we will talk about the Battle of Poltava on June 27, 1709, which became one of the most important battles of the Northern War.

On June 27 (July 8), 1709, six miles from the city of Poltava in Little Russia (Left-Bank Ukraine), the largest battle of the Northern War took place between Russian and Swedish troops, which ended in the defeat of the Swedish army Charles XII.

Causes of the Battle of Poltava
North War developed in such a way that Sweden, led by the young king-commander Charles XII won one victory after another. As a result, by mid-1708, all of Russia’s allies were actually withdrawn from the war: both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Saxony. As a result, it became obvious that the outcome of the war would be determined in a head-to-head battle between Sweden and Russia. Charles XII , on a wave of success, hurried to end the war and in the summer of 1708 crossed the border with Russia. Initially, the Swedes moved to Smolensk. Peter He understood perfectly well that such a campaign was aimed at advancing deeper into the country and defeating the Russian army.

When considering the causes of the Battle of Poltava, it is necessary to pay attention to two very important facts:
1) On September 28, 1708, a battle took place near the village of Lesnoy, during which the Swedes were defeated. It would seem that this is an ordinary event for war. In fact, as a result of this victory, the Swedish army was left virtually without provisions and supplies, because the convoy was destroyed and the roads for sending a new one were blocked.
2) In October 1708, he approached the Swedish king Hetman Mazepa. He and the Zaporozhye Cossacks swore allegiance to the Swedish crown. This was beneficial for the Swedes, since the Cossacks could help them resolve issues with the interrupted supply of food and ammunition.

As a result, the main reasons for the Battle of Poltava must be sought in the reasons for the start of the Northern War, which at that time had already dragged on quite long and required decisive action.

Course of events
In April 1709, Swedish troops besieged the city of Poltava, which was defended by a small garrison under the command of Colonel Alexey Kelin. The Swedes launched daily attacks on the fortress. If the city was captured, a threat was created to Voronezh, a key base for supplying and forming the Russian army.

Order of Peter I before the Battle of Poltava
Warriors! The hour has come that will decide the fate of the Fatherland. And so you should not think that you are fighting for Peter, but for the state entrusted to Peter, for your family, for the fatherland, for our Orthodox faith and church. You should also not be embarrassed by the glory of the enemy, supposedly invincible, to which you yourself have repeatedly proven a lie by your victories over him. In the battle, have righteousness and God fighting against you before your eyes. And about Peter, know that his life is not precious to him, as long as Russia lives in bliss and glory, for your well-being.

At the end of May 1709, the main forces of the Russian army under the command of Peter I. The Russian army, numbering 42 thousand people and 72 guns, was located in a fortified camp it created 5 km north of Poltava. The Russian army chose a small rugged space surrounded by forest to make it difficult for the enemy to maneuver. Command of the 1st Division Peter took over, and distributed the other divisions among the generals. The cavalry was assigned Alexander Menshikov, command of the artillery was entrusted to Bruce.

About 20 thousand people and 4 guns took part in the battle on the Swedish side (28 guns were left in the convoy without ammunition). The remaining troops (up to 10 thousand people), including the Cossacks and Ukrainian Cossacks, led by the hetman, who acted on the side of Sweden Ivan Mazepa, were in reserve. Swedish army, due to injury Charles XII, commanded by Field Marshal Renschild. The infantry and cavalry were commanded by generals Levenhaupt and Kreutz.

At two o'clock in the morning on June 27 (July 8), Swedish infantry moved in four columns towards the Russian redoubts, followed by six cavalry columns. After a stubborn two-hour battle, the Swedes managed to capture only two advanced redoubts. Renschild, Trying to bypass the Russian redoubts on the left, he regrouped his troops. At the same time, six right-flank battalions and several squadrons of generals Schlippenbach and Ross broke away from the main forces of the Swedes, retreated into the forest north of Poltava, where they were defeated by cavalry Menshikov.

Redoubt (fr. redoute - refuge) - a closed-type fortification, usually (but not necessarily) earthen, with a rampart and a ditch, intended for all-round defense.
Squadron (French escadron)- a unit in cavalry corresponding to a company in infantry.

Having broken through the redoubts, the main part of the Swedes came under heavy artillery and rifle fire from the Russian camp, and retreated in disarray to the Budishchensky forest.

At nine o'clock hand-to-hand combat began. Under pressure from superior forces, the Swedes began a retreat, which soon turned into a disorderly flight. A detachment was sent in pursuit of the retreating Alexandra Menshikova, which the next day overtook the enemy at Perevolochna on the Dnieper and forced the remnants of the Swedish army (16 thousand) under the command Adam Levenhaupt capitulate. Swedish king Charles XII and Ukrainian Hetman Mazepa with a small detachment they fled to the territory of the Ottoman Empire.

During the Battle of Poltava, the Swedes lost over 9 thousand killed and over 18 thousand prisoners, while the Russian losses were significantly less - 1 thousand 345 people killed and 3 thousand 290 wounded.

"Please welcome to my tent"
On the eve of the Battle of Poltava, King Charles XII, promising his officers and soldiers a quick victory, invited the Russian Tsar to a luxurious dinner in the tent. “He prepared many dishes; go where glory leads you.” Peter I actually organized a feast for the victors, where he invited captured Swedish generals. At the same time, not without irony, the Russian monarch said: “Yesterday my brother King Charles invited you to dine in my tent, but today he did not come and did not keep his word, although I really expected him. But when His Majesty did not deign to appear, then I ask you to come to my tent.”

The Russians were the first in the military science of the era to use field earthen fortifications, as well as fast-moving horse artillery. The decisive victory of the Russian army in the Battle of Poltava led to a turning point in the Northern War in Russia's favor and ended Sweden's dominance as the main military power in Europe. The ancient Russian lands went to Russia, and it firmly established itself on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

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Russia's main opponent in the struggle for supremacy in the Baltic Sea was Sweden. After the signing of a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire in August 1700, a thirty-five thousand strong Russian army led by Peter I advanced to Narva. Despite the fourfold superiority, on September 30 Russian army was completely defeated by the Swedes and was forced to retreat.

The Russian Emperor did correct conclusions from this shameful defeat I began military reform according to European canons. The results were not long in coming. Two years later, the fortresses of Noteburg and Nyenschanz were conquered, and in the fall of 1704, the cities of Narva and Dorpat. Thus, Russia achieved the long-awaited access to the Baltic Sea.

Peter I made a proposal to end the Great Northern War by signing a peace treaty, but this state of affairs did not suit the Swedish king Charles XII. Charles launched a campaign against Russia in 1706, trying to regain lost positions, and was quite successful in this, capturing the cities of Minsk and Mogilev and entering Ukraine in October 1708. It was at this time that Peter received an unexpected blow in the back from his former associate, Hetman of the Zaporozhye Army Ivan Mazepa. Despite his previous exceptional merits (Mazepa was a holder of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called - the highest state award Russia), he openly went over to the side of the Swedish king. For betrayal of the military oath and betrayal, Ivan Mazepa was stripped of his titles and awards, subjected to church anathema, and a civil execution was carried out on him.

Peter I, government leaders and senior military commanders took a bold and creative move: they launched the so-called “war of manifestos.” In a short time, Peter issued several manifestos to the Ukrainian people, in which he announced Mazepa’s betrayal, his plans to transfer Little Russia to Poland, as well as the election of a new hetman. In addition, in order to gain the support of all segments of the population, the Russian Tsar abolished some taxes established by Mazepa, which positioned him as the father and protector of the Ukrainian people. Let us note that Peter did not forget to “kindle” the higher clergy, who were promised “the highest mercy.”

Ukraine was divided: the smaller part was under the occupation of the Swedes, the larger part was under the rule of Moscow. The public, prepared by Peter's manifestos, greeted the Swedish army with hostility. The population resisted the demands of the occupiers to provide them with housing, food and fodder, which was followed mass repression. The Swedes mercilessly destroyed cities and villages such as Krasnokutsk, Kolomak, Kolontaev. The answer was predictable: it started guerrilla warfare, as a result of which the invaders had to expend a lot of energy to fight the people on whose support they were counting.

The position of Charles XII was complicated by the absence military assistance from Poland, Turkey and Crimea. Nevertheless, he decided to attack Moscow. Charles XII decided to move through the cities of Kharkov, Belgorod and Kursk. The main stumbling block was Poltava, small town with a population of about 2600 people. In the spring of 1709, Poltava was besieged by thirty-five thousand Swedish soldiers. The city was defended by a Russian garrison of 4.5 thousand people under the command of Colonel Alexei Kelin, the cavalry of General Alexander Menshikov and Ukrainian Cossacks. Having repulsed several enemy assaults, the defenders of Poltava managed to pin down the forces of the Swedish army, preventing it from moving further towards Moscow. During this time, the main Russian forces managed to approach Poltava and prepare for the main battle.

Progress of the Battle of Poltava

The date of the general battle was set by Peter for June 27, 1709. Two days before the deadline, 42 thousand Russian soldiers were located in a fortified camp six miles from Poltava near the village of Yakovtsy. In front of the camp there was a wide field, which was covered on the flanks by dense thickets, and was fortified by a system of redoubts - engineering structures designed for all-round defense. Two battalions of soldiers were located in the redoubts, followed by seventeen cavalry regiments under the command of Alexander Menshikov. Peter's tactical move was to exhaust the enemy forces on the line of redoubts, and then finally finish them off with the help of cavalry.

The Swedish army, instead of Charles XII, who was wounded on reconnaissance, was commanded by Field Marshal Renschild. The number of Swedes was approximately 30 thousand soldiers (of which about 10 thousand were in reserve).

The battle began at 3 a.m. with a clash of Russian and Swedish cavalrymen at the redoubts. Two hours later, the Swedish cavalry attack fizzled out, but the infantry occupied the first two Russian redoubts. Peter, following the chosen tactics, ordered Menshikov to retreat. The Swedes, rushing after the Russians, fell into a trap set: their right flank was fired upon by rifle and cannon fire from a fortified camp. They, having suffered significant losses, retreated to the village of Malye Budishchi. At the same time, the Swedish troops on the right flank under the command of Generals Ross and Schlippenbach were carried away by the battle for the redoubts and were cut off from their main forces. Peter immediately took advantage of this circumstance: the Swedes were completely defeated by Menshikov’s cavalry.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, Peter formed his army in a linear battle formation, placing it in two lines. The first contained infantrymen and artillerymen, commanded by Field Marshal General Count Boris Sheremetev and General Yakov Bruce. The flanks were covered by the cavalry of generals Menshikov and Bour. Nine reserve battalions were left in the camp. Part of Peter's troops strengthened the garrison of Poltava, on the one hand, so that the Swedes could not capture the fortress, and on the other, to cut off the enemy's path to retreat.

At 9 o'clock in the morning the battle entered its climax. The Swedes, also lined up in linear order, went on the offensive, and, met by Russian artillery, rushed into a bayonet attack. At the first moment they managed to break the center of the Russian first line. Then Peter I, showing courage and bravery, personally led the counterattack. The Swedes were driven back to their original positions, and soon further by Russian infantry and cavalry. By 11 o'clock they began to retreat in panic. Charles XII and Mazepa fled to Turkey. The remnants of the Swedish troops retreated to Perevolochna, where they were forced to capitulate. The Swedish army was completely defeated, losing more than 9 thousand people killed and over 18 thousand captured. The losses of Russian troops amounted to about 1,400 people killed and 3,300 wounded.

Results and consequences of the Battle of Poltava

Battle of Poltava became a turning point in the Northern War and international politics in general. G.A. Sanin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the Russia in International Relations center, compares the news of the Russian victory in this battle with a bomb explosion and calls even the idea that the army of Charles XII could be destroyed absurd for Europeans.

The Battle of Poltava radically changed the balance of power in the Northern War. Peter I successfully restored, and subsequently was able to expand, the Northern Alliance by signing new treaties with Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, and a Russian-Danish treaty on terms favorable to Russia.

The defeat of Charles XII near Poltava significantly influenced the course of the war in the Baltic states. In June 1710, a ten-thousandth corps of the Russian army, with the help of a fleet under the command of General Admiral Fyodor Apraksin, captured Vyborg, in July - Riga, in August - Pernov, and in September - Revel. Thus, the liberation of the Baltic states from the Swedes was completed.

Major historian pre-revolutionary Russia CM. Solovyov called the Russian victory at Poltava the greatest historical event, as a result of which “a new great nation was born” in Europe.

If at the beginning of the Northern War there was a question about the national self-preservation of the Russian people as a result of a possible conquest by the Swedes, then after the Poltava victory the prestige of Russia soared that many European powers began to recognize it as a valuable ally and adopt its diplomatic and military experience. From now on, no one political question could not be decided in Europe without the significant voice of Russia.

The Battle of Poltava influenced in a positive way and on the development of Russian military art. Russian warriors, under the leadership of their emperor, showed a departure from the templates of strategy and tactics: building a battle formation, preparing engineering structures, allocating the optimal amount of reserves, and using the features of closed terrain. At Poltava, the enormous importance of the morale of the army and the patriotic spirit for victory was demonstrated. The lessons learned from the Battle of Poltava turned out to be invaluable for Russia in all subsequent times.

During the Northern War, the battle of Poltava is considered the largest. The Swedish army was strong and powerful, but after the fighting in Poland, rest was required. made every effort to ensure that the Swedes did not get this rest.

On the way of the Swedish king Charles XII to Ukraine, all food and military supplies were destroyed. The peasants hid their livestock and food in the forest. In November 1708, the exhausted Swedish army reached Poltava, where it settled into winter quarters.

Hetman Mazepa promised help and supplies to Charles XII, but did not fulfill his promise. And the Swedish king began to think about how to lure the Russians into battle in the open field. This victory is so important for him, the prestige of the army and himself will rise.

On long winter evenings Charles XII decided further actions, and decided to capture Poltava. They have 4 thousand soldiers, and 2.5 thousand inhabitants who can fight, and the Swedish army of 30 thousand people will quickly defeat the city. And then on April 25, 1709, the Swedes approached the walls of Poltava. The siege of the city began.

The enemy attacked powerfully, but the city did not surrender. For two months, the Poltava people resisted the best army in Europe, thanks to a well-built defense. And the garrison was commanded by Colonel Kelin. The Swedish king was very annoyed, but he had no idea that all this time the Russians were preparing for a general battle. To the very battle he dreamed of.

Opposite Poltava, on the banks of the Vorskla, the Russian army was stationed. Peter I arrived there in June and led his army up the river. Near the village of Chernyakhovo they crossed to the other side of the river, going to the rear of the Swedes. So by the end of June the Russians were five kilometers from Poltava. The Russian army stopped at the village of Yakovtsy. This is where Peter I decided to give battle to the Swedes.

A plain stretched between the Yakovetsky and Budishchinsky forests. The opponents could only advance to the left of the camp through the copse. The emperor ordered this place to be blocked off with eight redoubts. The cavalry was located behind the redoubts - 17 dragoon regiments. They were commanded by Alexander Menshikov. Artillery was deployed in front of the infantry. And the Ukrainians also helped: Cossack regiments, under the command of Hetman Ivan Skoropadsky, blocked the Swedes’ path to Poland and Right-Bank Ukraine. The Swedish army did not expect the Russians in its rear, and was forced to line up in front of a copse three kilometers from the Russian redoubts.

On June 27, at dawn, the Swedish army launched an offensive. This is how the Battle of Poltava began. Making their way through a barrage of bullets and cannonballs, the Swedes somehow overcame two rows of redoubts in hand-to-hand combat. At the same time, they suffered heavy losses. The correct tactics of Peter I did not allow the enemy to penetrate the Russian rear. The Swedes, under a heavy hail of Russian artillery, were forced to retreat into the Budishchi forest. The field was empty for a while, Peter moved his main forces forward. And here it is, the final battle.

The Swedes go on the offensive again, the Russians open fire. Again hand-to-hand combat, again losses... Peter led the battalion of the Novgorod regiment into battle, with a strong blow crushed the Swedes, and Menshikov’s cavalry began the battle on the left. The enemy could not withstand the onslaught, wavered and began to retreat. The Battle of Poltava was over by eleven o'clock. 15,000 people were captured, but the king, Mazepa and a thousand soldiers managed to escape across the Dnieper to Bendery.

It was a complete defeat of the once powerful Swedish army, 9234 people were killed, almost all the generals were captured. The Russian army lost much less - 1345 people were killed, 3290 were wounded. Peter I awarded all participants in the battle with orders and medals. The victory in the Battle of Poltava decided the outcome towards Russia.

During the entire Northern War there was no more important battle than the Battle of Poltava. In short, she completely changed the course of that campaign. Sweden found itself at a disadvantage and had to make concessions to a strengthened Russia.

Events the day before

He started a war against Sweden in order to gain a foothold on the Baltic coast. In his dreams, Russia was a great maritime power. It was the Baltic states that became the main theater of military operations. In 1700 Russian army, which had just begun to experience reforms, lost. King Charles XII took advantage of his success to take on his other opponent - the Polish monarch Augustus II, who supported Peter at the beginning of the conflict.

While the main ones were far in the west, the Russian Tsar transferred the economy of his country to a war footing. Him in short term managed to create a new army. This modern army, trained in European style, carried out several successful operations in the Baltic states, including in Courland and on the banks of the Neva. At the mouth of this river, Peter founded the port and future capital of the empire, St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, Charles XII finally defeated Polish king and brought him out of the war. In his absence, the Russian army occupied a large piece of Swedish territory, but until now it had not had to fight the main enemy army. Karl, wanting to inflict on the enemy death blow, decided to head straight to Russia in order to gain a decisive victory in the long conflict. That is why the Battle of Poltava happened. Briefly speaking, the site of this battle was far from the previous position of the front. Karl moved south - to the Ukrainian steppes.

Mazepa's betrayal

On the eve of the general battle, Peter learned that the hetman of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, Ivan Mazepa, had gone over to the side of Charles XII. He promised the Swedish king assistance in the amount of several thousand well-trained cavalrymen. The betrayal infuriated the Russian Tsar. Detachments of his army began to besiege and capture Cossack towns in Ukraine. Despite Mazepa's betrayal, some of the Cossacks remained loyal to Russia. These Cossacks chose Ivan Skoropadsky as the new hetman.

Mazepa's help was extremely necessary for Charles XII. The monarch and his northern army had gone too far from his own territory. The army had to continue the campaign in unusual conditions. Local Cossacks helped not only with weapons, but also with navigation, as well as provisions. The shaky mood of the local population forced Peter to refuse to use the remnants of the loyal Cossacks. Meanwhile, the Battle of Poltava was approaching. Briefly assessing his situation, Charles XII decided to lay siege to an important Ukrainian city. He hoped that Poltava would quickly capitulate to his significant army, but this did not happen.

Siege of Poltava

Throughout the spring and early summer of 1709, the Swedes stood near Poltava, unsuccessfully trying to take it by storm. Historians have counted 20 such attempts, during which about 7 thousand soldiers died. The small Russian garrison held out, hoping for royal help. The besieged undertook bold forays for which the Swedes were not prepared, due to the fact that no one thought about such fierce resistance.

The main Russian army under the command of Peter approached the city on June 4. At first, the king did not want a “general battle” with Charles’s army. However, it was becoming more and more difficult to drag out the campaign with each passing month. Only a decisive victory could help Russia consolidate all its important acquisitions in the Baltic states. Finally, after several military councils with his entourage, Peter decided to fight, which became the Battle of Poltava. It was too imprudent to prepare briefly and quickly for it. Therefore, the Russian army collected reinforcements for several more days. Skoropadsky's Cossacks finally joined. The tsar also hoped for a Kalmyk detachment, but it never managed to approach Poltava.

Between the Russian and Swedish armies was Due to unstable weather, Peter gave the order to cross the waterway south of Poltava. This maneuver turned out to be a good decision - the Swedes were not prepared for such a turn of events, expecting the Russians in a completely different area of ​​​​combat operations.

Karl could still turn back and not give a general battle, which was the Battle of Poltava. Short description the Russian army, which he received from a defector, also did not give the Swedish generals optimism. In addition, the king did not receive help from the Turkish Sultan, who promised to bring him an auxiliary detachment. But against the backdrop of all these circumstances, the bright character of Charles XII was reflected. The brave and still young monarch decided to fight.

Condition of the troops

On June 27, 1709 according to the new style), the Battle of Poltava took place. Briefly, the most important thing was the strategy of the commanders-in-chief and the size of their troops. Charles had 26 thousand soldiers, while Peter had some quantitative advantage (37 thousand). The king achieved this thanks to the exertion of all the forces of the state. In just a few years, the Russian economy has come a long way from an agricultural economy to a modern one. industrial production(at that time). Cannons were cast, foreign firearms were purchased, and soldiers began to receive military education according to the European model.

What was surprising was the fact that both monarchs themselves directly commanded their armies on the battlefield. In the modern era, this function passed to the generals, but Peter and Charles were exceptions.

Progress of the battle

The battle began with the Swedish vanguard organizing the first attack on the Russian redoubts. This maneuver turned out to be a strategic mistake. The regiments, separated from their convoy, were defeated by the cavalry, commanded by Alexander Menshikov.

After this fiasco, the main armies entered the battle. In the mutual infantry confrontation for several hours, the winner could not be determined. The decisive attack was the confident attack of the Russian cavalry on the flanks. She crushed the enemy and helped the infantry put the squeeze on the Swedish regiments in the center.

Results

The enormous significance of the Battle of Poltava (it is quite difficult to describe it briefly) was that after its defeat, Sweden finally lost the strategic initiative in the Northern War. The entire subsequent campaign (the conflict continued for another 12 years) took place under the sign of the superiority of the Russian army.

The moral results of the Battle of Poltava were also important, which we will now try to briefly describe. News of the defeat of the hitherto invincible Swedish army shocked not only Sweden, but also the whole of Europe, where they finally began to look at Russia as a serious military force.

About the Battle of Poltava in brief

Poltavskoe srazhenie 1709

Battle of Poltava, or Battle of Poltava, in short, became one of the key events in the history of the Northern War, which lasted from 1700 to 1721. The battle itself took place on July 8, 1709. In April, Charles XII invaded the Russian Empire from Ukraine, and in April began the siege of Poltava. At that time, his defense was managed by Alexey Kelin, under whose leadership there were 4 thousand soldiers and 2.5 thousand militia. The siege did not last long, since already in June Peter I brought his army to Poltava. It consisted of 42 thousand soldiers and 72 guns. Charles XII, hoping to win this battle, expected that the Ottoman Empire would also oppose Moscow.

On the Swedish side, up to 30 thousand people and 32 guns took part in the battle. The Zaporozhye Cossacks also provided active support. Their leader, Hetman Ivan Mazepa, decided to break his friendship with Peter I, hoping in the future to repeat the achievements of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and liberate Ukraine from oppression Russian Empire. The Swedes decided to go on an open offensive against the troops of Peter I. During the battle, part of the Swedish troops broke away from the main forces and was defeated by the cavalry commander Menshikov. Thus, the Swedish troops suffered significant damage even before the main battle began.

At 6 o'clock in the evening, Peter I went on the offensive, and after 3 hours the main forces of the infantry met in battle, and the Russian cavalry outflanked the Swedes. After 2 hours the Swedes fled, and Charles XII and Ivan Mazepa were forced to flee to Ottoman Empire. Until the Battle of Poltava, the Northern War was developing in favor of the Swedes, and after it, having lost most of the main army, the success of Peter I in this war was predetermined. Over 9 thousand Swedes died and more than 18 thousand were captured. The Zaporozhye Sich was also devastated, but at that time the Cossacks in Ukraine had not yet been destroyed.