The Great Northern War would provide ample evidence that the reforms of Peter the Great were actually working effectively in modernising Russia.
Sweden fought against a coalition formed by Russia, Branndenburg-Prussia, Saxony, and Denmark in the Great Northern War. When the Great Northern War commenced in 1700 Sweden was one of the great European powers, it was not by the time the war finished twenty-one years, later.
The Protagonists In The Great Northern War
Charles XII, the Swedish king was over confidant of eventual victory. The war in fact started well for Sweden for Denmark quickly suing for peace.
Branndenburg-Prussia and Russia were much tougher opponents for the Swedish to tackle effectively. The armies of Branndenburg-Prussia and Saxony succeeded in driving Swedish forces out of Northern Germany.
Peter the Great believed that Russia would eventually win the Great Northern War. It was the decision of the Swedish king Charles XII to invade Russia in order to defeat his most powerful enemy that backfired drastically. At first the Swedish armies appeared to make good progress in their invasion of Russia, not for the last time a harsh winter saved the Russians from total disaster.
The Battle Of Poltava, Peter The Great, And Swedish Decline
Russia and its allies gained the advantage as a direct consequence of the Battle of Poltava during the year 1709. The Swedish army had besieged the fort at Poltava until Peter the Great successfully lifted that siege. In the end the Battle of Poltava was a resounding Russian victory and effectively meant that Russia replaced Sweden as a great power. Peter the Great had skilfully taken advantage of the larger size of the Russian army.
The Battle of Poltava did not end the conflict. Instead the Great Northern War lasted for another twelve years despite Sweden been unable to recoup any of its substantial territorial losses from either Branndenburg-Prussia or Russia.
The Great Northern War gave Peter the Great prestige as well as territorial gains. Russia and to a lesser extent Branndenburg-Prussia were the winners of the Great Northern War whilst it confirmed the decline of Swedish military power. Less obviously at the time the Great Northern War would set Branndenburg-Prussia in its later guise of Germany and Russia on a collision course for dominating Central and Eastern Europe.
Sources:
Crystal D (1998) Chambers’ Biographical Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, Edinburgh
Holmes R, (2007) Battlefield, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Lenman B, (2004) Chambers Dictionary of World History, Edinburgh
