Great Northern War Begins

The Great Northern War began in 1700, when a coalition of Russia, Denmark-Norway, and Saxony-Poland-Lithuania attacked the Swedish Empire, which then dominated the Baltic Sea. The conflict dragged on for more than two decades and ended with Sweden's decline as a great power and Russia's emergence as the leading force in northeastern Europe. It also became the proving ground for Peter the Great's sweeping reforms of the Russian state and army.

Sweden's rise had come in the seventeenth century, when it won territories along the Baltic coast, including Livonia, Estonia, and parts of northern Germany. These holdings gave it control over lucrative trade routes, and they bred resentment among its neighbors. Denmark wanted to regain lost ground, Augustus II of Saxony, who was also elected King of Poland, coveted Livonia, and Peter I wanted Russian access to the Baltic, which would open a "window" to western Europe. When the young Charles XII inherited the Swedish throne in 1697, his rivals saw an opportunity.

The allies struck in 1700, but Charles responded with remarkable speed. He forced Denmark out of the war within weeks by landing troops near Copenhagen. Later that year, at Narva, a smaller Swedish army routed a larger but poorly prepared Russian force besieging the town. Many observers assumed Russia was finished. Charles, however, turned against Augustus in Poland rather than pursuing Peter, a choice that gave the tsar time to rebuild.

Peter used that respite to overhaul his military, reorganize administration, and found a new city, St. Petersburg, on captured Baltic land in 1703. Charles eventually invaded Russia in 1708, but his campaign faltered amid supply problems and a harsh winter. At Poltava in 1709, the Russians decisively defeated his army. Charles fled to Ottoman territory, where he remained for several years while Sweden's enemies regrouped and took more of its possessions.

The war continued with shifting alliances, including the entry of Hanover, Prussia, and Britain's diplomatic involvement. Charles was killed in 1718 while besieging a fortress in Norway, though the circumstances of his death have long been debated. Peace came through a series of treaties, culminating in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, under which Russia kept Livonia, Estonia, and other Baltic territories.

The consequences were lasting. Sweden entered what Swedes call the Age of Liberty, with power shifting from the monarchy toward parliament. Russia, whose ruler took the title of emperor in 1721, became a major European player, and St. Petersburg served as its capital for two centuries.