1.
Great Northern War
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The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the alliance were Peter I of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark–Norway. George I of Great Britain and of Brunswick-Lüneburg joined the coalition in 1714 for and for Hanover in 1717, Charles XII led the Swedish army. Swedish allies included Holstein-Gottorp, several Polish magnates under Stanisław I Leszczyński, the Ottoman Empire temporarily hosted Charles XII of Sweden and intervened against Peter I. The treaty also secured the extradition and execution of Johann Reinhold Patkul, the Ottoman Empire defeated the Russian-Moldavian army in the Pruth River Campaign, but that peace treaty was in the end without great consequence to Russias position. After Poltava, the anti-Swedish coalition revived and subsequently Hanover and Prussia joined it, the remaining Swedish forces in plague-stricken areas south and east of the Baltic Sea were evicted, with the last city, Riga, falling in 1710. The coalition members partitioned most of the Swedish dominions among themselves, Sweden proper was invaded from the west by Denmark–Norway and from the east by Russia, which had occupied Finland by 1714. Sweden defeated the Danish invaders at the Battle of Helsingborg, Charles XII opened up a Norwegian front, but was killed in Fredriksten in 1718. The war ended with Swedens defeat, leaving Russia as the new dominant power in the Baltic region, by these treaties Sweden ceded her exemption from the Sound Dues, and lost the Baltic provinces and the southern part of Swedish Pomerania. The peace treaties also ended her alliance with Holstein-Gottorp, Hanover gained Bremen-Verden, Brandenburg-Prussia incorporated the Oder estuary, Russia secured the Baltic Provinces, and Denmark strengthened her position in Schleswig-Holstein. In Sweden, the monarchy had come to an end with the death of Charles XII. Between the years of 1560 and 1658, Sweden created a Baltic empire centred on the Gulf of Finland and comprising the provinces of Karelia, Ingria, Estonia, and Livonia. During the Thirty Years War Sweden gained tracts in Germany as well, including Western Pomerania, Wismar, the Duchy of Bremen, during the same period Sweden conquered Danish and Norwegian provinces north of the Sound. However, the Swedish state ultimately proved unable to support and maintain its army in a prolonged war. The cost of the proved to be much higher than the occupied countries could fund, and Swedens coffers. The foreign interventions in Russia during the Time of Troubles resulted in Swedish gains in the Treaty of Stolbovo, the treaty deprived Russia of direct access to the Baltic Sea. In the late 1690s, the adventurer Johann Patkul managed to ally Russia with Denmark and Saxony by the secret Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye, Charles XII of Sweden succeeded Charles XI of Sweden in 1697, aged 14. From his predecessor, he took over the Swedish Empire as an absolute monarch, Charles XI had tried to keep the empire out of wars, and concentrated on inner reforms such as reduction and allotment, which had strengthened the monarchs status and the empires military abilities
2.
Julian calendar
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The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict, the Julian calendar gains against the mean tropical year at the rate of one day in 128 years. For the Gregorian the figure is one day in 3,030 years, the difference in the average length of the year between Julian and Gregorian is 0. 002%. The Julian calendar has a year of 365 days divided into 12 months. A leap day is added to February every four years, the Julian year is, therefore, on average 365.25 days long. It was intended to approximate the tropical year, as a result, the calendar year gains about three days every four centuries compared to observed equinox times and the seasons. This discrepancy was corrected by the Gregorian reform of 1582, consequently, the Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Egypt converted on 20 December 1874/1 January 1875, turkey switched on 16 February/1 March 1917. Russia changed on 1/14 February 1918, Greece made the change for civil purposes on 16 February/1 March 1923 - the national day, which was a religious holiday, was to remain on the old calendar. Most Christian denominations in the west and areas evangelised by western churches have replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian as the basis for their liturgical calendars. However, most branches of the Eastern Orthodox Church still use the Julian calendar for calculating the date of Easter, some Orthodox churches have adopted the Revised Julian calendar for the observance of fixed feasts, while other Orthodox churches retain the Julian calendar for all purposes. The Julian calendar is used by the Berbers of the Maghreb in the form of the Berber calendar. In the form of the Alexandrian calendar, it is the basis for the Ethiopian calendar, during the changeover between calendars and for some time afterwards, dual dating was used in documents and gave the date according to both systems. In contemporary as well as texts that describe events during the period of change. The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, in addition, a 27- or 28-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, some say the mensis intercalaris always had 27 days and began on either the first or the second day after the Terminalia. According to the later writers Censorinus and Macrobius, the ideal intercalary cycle consisted of ordinary years of 355 days alternating with intercalary years, alternately 377 and 378 days long. In this system, the average Roman year would have had 366 1⁄4 days over four years, Macrobius describes a further refinement whereby, in one 8-year period within a 24-year cycle, there were only three intercalary years, each of 377 days
3.
Swedish calendar
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The Swedish calendar was a calendar in use in Sweden and its possessions from 1 March 1700 until 30 February 1712. It was one day ahead of the Julian calendar and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar, Easter was calculated nominally astronomically from 1740 to 1844. In November 1699, the Government of Sweden decided that, rather than adopt the Gregorian calendar outright, the plan was to skip all leap days in the period 1700 to 1740. Every fourth year, the gap between the Swedish calendar and the Gregorian would reduce by one day, until they finally lined up in 1740. In the meantime, this calendar would not be in line with either of the major alternative calendars, in accordance with the plan, February 29 was omitted in 1700, but the Great Northern War stopped any further reductions from being made in the following years. In January 1711, King Charles XII declared that Sweden would abandon the calendar, an extra day was added to February in the leap year of 1712, thus giving it a unique 30-day length. In 1753, one later than England and its colonies. The leap of 11 days was accomplished in one step, with February 17 being followed by March 1, in 1740, Sweden finally adopted the improved calendar already adopted by the Protestant states of Germany in 1700. It conflicts with the Julian Easter, which could not occur on the 14th day of the moon, after the adoption of the Gregorian solar calendar in 1753, three astronomical Easter dates were one week later than the Gregorian Easter in 1802,1805 and 1818. Before Sweden formally adopted the Gregorian Easter in 1844, two more should have been delayed in 1825 and 1829 but were not, Finland was part of Sweden until 1809 when it became the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire due to the Finnish War. Until 1866, Finland continued to observe the astronomical Easter, which was one week after the Gregorian Easter in 1818,1825,1829 and 1845, leap year Holidays in Sweden Flag days in Sweden Name days in Sweden Adoption of the Gregorian calendar
4.
Gregorian calendar
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The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582, the calendar was a refinement to the Julian calendar involving a 0. 002% correction in the length of the year. The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly the northern vernal equinox, transition to the Gregorian calendar would restore the holiday to the time of the year in which it was celebrated when introduced by the early Church. The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe, the last European country to adopt the reform was Greece, in 1923. Many countries that have used the Islamic and other religious calendars have come to adopt this calendar for civil purposes. The reform was a modification of a made by Aloysius Lilius. His proposal included reducing the number of years in four centuries from 100 to 97. Lilius also produced an original and practical scheme for adjusting the epacts of the moon when calculating the date of Easter. For example, the years 1700,1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 are. The canonical Easter tables were devised at the end of the third century, when the vernal equinox fell either on 20 March or 21 March depending on the years position in the leap year cycle. As the rule was that the full moon preceding Easter was not to precede the equinox, the date was fixed at 21 March for computational purposes, the Gregorian calendar reproduced these conditions by removing ten days. To unambiguously specify a date, dual dating or Old Style, dual dating gives two consecutive years for a given date, because of differences in the starting date of the year, and/or to give both the Julian and the Gregorian dates. The Gregorian calendar continued to use the calendar era, which counts years from the traditional date of the nativity. This year-numbering system, also known as Dionysian era or Common Era, is the predominant international standard today, the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. A regular Gregorian year consists of 365 days, but as in the Julian calendar, in a leap year, in the Julian calendar a leap year occurs every 4 years, but the Gregorian calendar omits 3 leap days every 400 years. In the Julian calendar, this day was inserted by doubling 24 February. In the modern period, it has become customary to number the days from the beginning of the month, some churches, notably the Roman Catholic Church, delay February festivals after the 23rd by one day in leap years. Gregorian years are identified by consecutive year numbers, the cycles repeat completely every 146,097 days, which equals 400 years
5.
Riga
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Riga is the capital and the largest city of Latvia. With 696,593 inhabitants, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states, the city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Rigas territory covers 307.17 square kilometres and lies one and ten metres above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member, Rigas historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden, Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, and the 2006 IIHF Mens World Ice Hockey Championships. It is home to the European Unions office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, Riga is served by Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities, another theory could be that Riga was named after Riege, the German name for the River Rīdzene, a tributary of the Daugava. The river Daugava has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium. A sheltered natural harbour 15 km upriver from the mouth of the Daugava — the site of todays Riga — has been recorded, as Duna Urbs and it was settled by the Livs, an ancient Finnic tribe. Riga began to develop as a centre of Viking trade during the early Middle Ages, Rigas inhabitants occupied themselves mainly with fishing, animal husbandry, and trading, later developing crafts. German traders began visiting Riga, establishing a nearby outpost in 1158, along with German traders also arrived the monk Meinhard of Segeberg to convert the Livonian pagans to Christianity. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity had already arrived in Latvia more than a century earlier, Meinhard settled among the Livs, building a castle and church at Ikšķile, upstream from Riga, and established his bishopric there. The Livs, however, continued to practice paganism and Meinhard died in Ikšķile in 1196, in 1198, the Bishop Berthold arrived with a contingent of crusaders and commenced a campaign of forced Christianization. Berthold was killed soon afterwards and his forces defeated, pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians. Bishop Albert was proclaimed Bishop of Livonia by his uncle Hartwig of Uthlede, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Albert landed in Riga in 1200 with 23 ships and 500 Westphalian crusaders. In 1201, he transferred the seat of the Livonian bishopric from Ikšķile to Riga, the year 1201 also marked the first arrival of German merchants in Novgorod, via the Dvina. To defend territory and trade, Albert established the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1202, open to nobles, in 1207, Albert started on fortification of the town. Emperor Philip invested Albert with Livonia as a fief and principality of the Holy Roman Empire, until then, it had been customary for crusaders to serve for a year and then return home
6.
Swedish Livonia
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Swedish Livonia was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1629 until 1721. The minority part of the Wenden Voivodeship retained by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was renamed the Inflanty Voivodeship, riga was the second largest city in the Swedish Empire at the time. Together with other Baltic Sea dominions, Livonia served to secure the Swedish dominium maris baltici, the territory in turn was conquered by the Russian Empire during the Great Northern War and, following the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710, formed the Governorate of Livonia. Formally, it was ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, together with Swedish Estonia, the dominion was ruled by appointed Governors-General, but retained its own diet
7.
Latvia
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Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2. The country has a seasonal climate. Latvia is a parliamentary republic established in 1918. The capital city is Riga, the European Capital of Culture 2014, Latvia is a unitary state, divided into 119 administrative divisions, of which 110 are municipalities and 9 are cities. Latvians and Livs are the people of Latvia. Latvian and Lithuanian are the two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations via the language, Latvia and Estonia share a long common history. Until World War II, Latvia also had significant minorities of ethnic Germans, Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran, except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic. The Russian population has brought a significant portion of Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918, however, its de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II. The peaceful Singing Revolution, starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation of Soviet rule and it ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990, and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia is a democratic and developed country and member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, CBSS, the IMF, NB8, NIB, OECD, OSCE, and WTO. For 2014, Latvia was listed 46th on the Human Development Index and it used the Latvian lats as its currency until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes, henry of Latvia coined the Latinisations of the countrys name, Lettigallia and Lethia, both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the name in Romance languages from Letonia. Around 3000 BC, the ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals, by 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia, Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians, as well as the Livonians speaking a Finnic language
8.
Swedish Empire
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The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Swedens territorial control of much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries, a time when Sweden was one of the great European powers. The beginning of the Empire is usually taken as the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, who ascended the throne in 1611, in Swedish history, the period is referred to as stormaktstiden, literally meaning the Great Power era. The interests of the high nobility contrasted with the uniformity policy, in territories acquired during the periods of de facto noble rule, serfdom was not abolished, and there was also a trend to set up respective estates in Sweden proper. The Great Reduction of 1680 put an end to efforts of the nobility. However, in the course of this war as well as in the subsequent Scanian War, Sweden was able to maintain her empire only with support of her closest ally. Charles XI of Sweden consolidated the empire and ensured a period of peace, before Russia, Saxony and Denmark started an attack on his successor. Sweden emerged as a great European power under Axel Oxenstierna and King Gustavus Adolphus, during the Thirty Years War, Sweden managed to conquer approximately half of the member states of the Holy Roman Empire. After France had intervened on the side as Sweden, the fortunes would shift again. As the war continued, it turned more and more grim, although exact population estimates do not exist, historians estimate that as many as one-third of the people in the Holy Roman Empire may have died as a result of the war. At the same time, Sweden joined the other important northern European nations in founding overseas colonies, New Sweden was founded in the valley of the Delaware River in 1638, and Sweden later laid claim to a number of Caribbean islands. A string of Swedish forts and trading posts was constructed along the coast of West Africa as well, at the conclusion of the Thirty Years War, the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 granted Sweden territories as war reparations. Sweden demanded Silesia, Pomerania pay a sum of 200,000 Riksdaler out of the lands they would receive, or 2) surrender a fourth of the property itself. Against this, the over-taxed lower estates protested, and the Diet had to be suspended, the king intervened, not to quell the commons, as the senate insisted, but to compel the nobility to give way. He proposed a committee to investigate the matter before the meeting of the next Riksdag. Charles X Gustav had done his best to recover from the extravagance of Christina. However, his own desire for military glory may have caused problems for his country, in three days, he persuaded the Swedish estates of the potential of his attack on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, when he left Stockholm for Warsaw on July 10,1654, the Polish-Swedish War expanded into a general European war. He achieved passage over the Belts and emerged triumphant, only to die of sheer exhaustion, immediately after his death, a regency was appointed to govern Sweden during the minority of his only son and successor, Charles XI of Sweden, who was four years old
9.
Electorate of Saxony
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Upon the extinction of the House of Ascania, it was enfeoffed to the Margraves of Meissen from the Wettin dynasty in 1423, who moved the residence up the Elbe river to Dresden. After the Empires dissolution in 1806, the Wettin electors raised Saxony to a kingdom, when Emperor Frederick Barbarossa deposed the Saxon duke Henry the Lion in 1180, the Wittenberg lands belonged to Alberts youngest son Count Bernhard of Anhalt, who assumed the Saxon ducal title. Bernards eldest son, Albert I, ceded Anhalt to his younger brother Henry, retained the ducal title and his sons divided the possessions into the duchies of Saxe-Wittenberg and Saxe-Lauenburg. Louis was succeeded by the Luxembourg king Charles of Bohemia, after being crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1355, Charles issued the Golden Bull of 1356, the fundamental law of the Empire settling the method of electing the German King by seven Prince-electors. In this way, the country, though small in area, the electoral dignity was connected with it the obligation of male primogeniture, that is, only the eldest son could succeed as ruler. This forbade the division of the territory among several heirs, preventing the disintegration of the country, the importance of this stipulation is shown by the history of most of the fragmented German principalities which were not electorates. Late Alberts Ascanian relative Duke Eric V of Saxe-Lauenburg protested in vain, thus, in 1423, Saxe-Wittenberg, the Margraviate of Meissen and Thuringia were united under one ruler, and the unified territory gradually received the name of Saxony. The partition decisively enfeebled the Wettin dynasty in the rivalry with the rising House of Hohenzollern, the Protestant movement of the 16th century was largely effected under the protection of the Saxon rulers. The Elector did not become at once an adherent of the new opinions, owing to his intervention, Pope Leo X decided against summoning Luther to Rome in 1518, and the Elector secured for Luther Imperial safe-conduct to the 1521 Diet of Worms. When Luther was declared to be under the ban of the empire by Emperor Charles V. Lutheran doctrines spread first in Ernestine Saxony, in 1525, Frederick died and was succeeded by his brother, John the Constant. John was followed in 1532 by his son, John Frederick the Magnanimous, in 1542, he seized the Diocese of Naumburg-Zeitz, and confiscated the secular possessions of the Dioceses of Meissen and Hildesheim. The Catholic faith was forcibly suppressed, after the outbreak of the Schmalkaldic War, Elector John Frederick was placed under the Imperial ban and finally defeated and captured by Emperor Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg on 24 April 1547. In the Capitulation of Wittenberg of May 19, he was obliged to yield former Saxe-Wittenberg with the dignity to his Albertine cousin Duke Maurice. The Saxon Electorate after the Wittenberg Capitulation consisted of former Saxe-Wittenberg and Meissen together, Maurice secretly shared in all the princely conspiracies against the Emperor, who only escaped capture by flight. During the same year, Charles V was obliged by the Peace of Passau to grant freedom of religion to the Protestant Estates, Maurice died in 1553 at the age of 32. His brother and successor Elector Augustus seized the Catholic dioceses of Merseburg, the last Bishop of Merseburg, Michael Helding called Sidonius, died at Vienna in 1561. In the same manner after the death of Julius von Pflug, the last Catholic Bishop of Naumburg, in 1564 and those cathedral canons who were still Catholic were only permitted to exercise their religion for ten years more
10.
Tsardom of Russia
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From 1551 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 per year. After a military victory over Sweden and Poland, he implemented substantial reforms and proclaimed the Russian Empire in 1721. While the oldest endonyms of the Grand Duchy of Moscow used in its documents were Rus and the Russian land, in the 1480s Russian state scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail Medovartsev mention Russia under the name Росиа, Medovartsev also mentions the sceptre of Russian lordship. In England of the 16th century, it was both as Russia and Muscovy. In Northern Europe and at the court of the Holy Roman Empire, however, muscovites refute this, saying that their country was originally called Russia. When they are asked what nation they are, they respond Russac, which means Russians, and when they are asked what place they are from, by the 16th century, the Russian ruler had emerged as a powerful, autocratic figure, a Tsar. By assuming that title, the sovereign of Moscow tried to emphasize that he was a ruler or emperor on par with the Byzantine emperor or the Mongol khan. At first, the Byzantine term autokrator expressed only the meaning of an independent ruler. Ivan IV was crowned Tsar and thus was recognized, at least by the Russian Orthodox Church and that concept was to resonate in the self-image of Russians in future centuries. The development of the Tsars autocratic powers reached a peak during the reign of Ivan IV, Ivan strengthened the position of the Tsar to an exceptional degree, demonstrating the risks of unrestrained power in the hands of a mentally unstable individual. Although apparently intelligent and energetic, Ivan suffered from breakdowns of paranoia and depression, Ivan IV became Grand Prince of Moscow in 1533 at the age of three. The Shuysky and Belsky factions of the boyars competed for control of the regency until Ivan assumed the throne in 1547, reflecting Moscows new imperial claims, Ivans coronation as Tsar was a ritual modeled after those of the Byzantine emperors. With the continuing assistance of a group of boyars, Ivan began his reign with a series of useful reforms, in the 1550s, he declared a new law code, revamped the military, and reorganized local government. These reforms undoubtedly were intended to strengthen the state in the face of continuous warfare, the key documents prepared by the so-called Select Council of advisors and promulgated during this period are as follows. Muscovy remained a fairly unknown society in Western Europe until Baron Sigismund von Herberstein published his Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii in 1549 and this provided a broad view of what had been a rarely visited and poorly reported state. In the 1630s, the Russian Tsardom was visited by Adam Olearius, whose lively, further information about Russia was circulated by English and Dutch merchants. One of them, Richard Chancellor, sailed to the White Sea in 1553, upon his return to England, the Muscovy Company was formed by himself, Sebastian Cabot, Sir Hugh Willoughby, and several London merchants. Ivan the Terrible used these merchants to exchange letters with Elizabeth I, despite the domestic turmoil of the 1530s and 1540s, Russia continued to wage wars and to expand
11.
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
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There was also a short-lived wartime state existing from 8 March to 22 September 1918 with the same name. Plans for it to part of the United Baltic Duchy. The area became a part of Latvia at the end of World War I, see Duchy of Courland, in 1561, during the Livonian Wars, the Livonian Confederation was dismantled and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, an order of German knights, was disbanded. On the basis of the Treaty of Vilnius, the part of Estonia. Other members of the Order became the Couronian nobility, with the fiefdoms they had hitherto held becoming their estates, in all, Kettler received nearly one-third of the land in the new duchy. Mitau was designated as the new capital and a Diet was to meet twice a year. Several parts of the Courish area did not belong to the Duchy, the Order of Livonia had already loaned the Grobiņa district to the Duke of Prussia. Another district, the Bishopric of Piltene, also called the Bishopric of Courland, belonged to Magnus and he promised to transfer it to the Duchy of Courland after his death, but this plan failed and only later did Wilhelm Kettler regain this district. Like the other members of the Order, Kettler was German, in 1570, he issued the Privilegnum Gotthardinum, which allowed the landholders to enserf the native peasantry on their lands. When Gotthard Kettler died in 1587, his sons, Friedrich and Wilhelm and they divided the Duchy into two parts in 1596. Friedrich controlled the part, Semigalia, with his residence in Mitau. Wilhelm owned the western part, Courland, with his residence in Goldingen, Wilhelm regained the Grobiņa district when he married the daughter of the Duke of Prussia. He also paid out and regained control over the Piltene district, here he developed metalworking, shipyards, and the new ships delivered the goods of Courland to other countries. However, relations between the duke and the landowners were quite hostile, in addition, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was the overlord of the Duchy of Courland, supported the landowners. Wilhelm expressed his disappointment with the landowners, but this ended with his removal from the seat in 1616. Finally, Wilhelm left Courland and spent the rest of his life abroad, thus, Friedrich became the only duke of Courland after 1616. From 1600 to 1629, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden conducted a war with its main battlefields around Riga, as the result, Sweden gained control of central and northern Latvia, which became Swedish Livonia. The Commonwealth retained the part of the Duchy of Livonia
12.
Charles XII of Sweden
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Charles XII, also Carl, Latinized to Carolus Rex, was the King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a line of the House of Wittelsbach. Charles was the surviving son of Charles XI and Ulrika Eleonora the Elder. He assumed power, after a caretaker government, at the age of fifteen. Leading the Swedish army against the alliance Charles won multiple victories despite being usually significantly outnumbered, a major victory over a Russian army some three times the size in 1700 at the Battle of Narva compelled Peter the Great to sue for peace which Charles then rejected. Russia was now the remaining hostile power. The defeat was followed by Surrender at Perevolochna, two campaigns met with frustration and ultimate failure, concluding with his death at the Siege of Fredriksten in 1718. At the time, most of the Swedish Empire was under military occupation. This situation was later formalized, albeit moderated in the subsequent Treaty of Nystad, Charles was an exceptionally skilled military leader and tactician as well as an able politician, credited with introducing important tax and legal reforms. With the war consuming more than half his life and nearly all his reign, Charles, like all kings, was styled by a royal title, which combined all his titles into one single phrase. The fact that Charles was crowned as Charles XII does not mean that he was the 12th king of Sweden by that name, Swedish kings Erik XIV and Charles IX gave themselves numerals after studying a mythological history of Sweden. He was actually the 6th King Charles, the non-mathematic numbering tradition continues with the current King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, being counted as the equivalent of Charles XVI. In late 1699 Charles sent a detachment to reinforce his brother-in-law Duke Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp. A Saxon army simultaneously invaded Swedish Livonia and in February 1700 invested Riga, Russia also declared war, but stopped short of an attack on Swedish Ingria until September 1700. Leading a force of 8,000 and 43 ships in an invasion of Zealand, Charles rapidly compelled the Danes to submit to the Peace of Travendal in August 1700, Russia had opened their part of the war by invading the Swedish-held territories of Livonia and Estonia. Charles countered this by attacking the Russian besiegers at the Battle of Narva, the Russians outnumbered the Swedish army of ten thousand men by almost four to one. Charles attacked under cover of a blizzard, effectively split the Russian army in two and won the battle, many of Peters troops who fled the battlefield drowned in the Narva River. The total number of Russian fatalities reached about 10,000 at the end of the battle, while the Swedish forces lost 667 men, Charles did not pursue the Russian army
13.
Anikita Repnin
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Coming from the great Repnin family, Anikita was one of the collaborators of Peter the Great, with whom he grew up. He took part in all the engagements of the Great Northern War. Defeated by Charles XII at Holowczyn, he was degraded to the ranks, at Poltava he commanded the centre. From Ukraine he was transferred to the Baltic Provinces and was made the first Governor-General of Riga after its capture in 1710, in 1724 he succeeded the temporarily disgraced favorite, Menshikov, as war minister. Catherine I made him a field-marshal and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Bain, Robert Nisbet
14.
Ferdinand Kettler
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Ferdinand Kettler was the Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1730 to 1737. He was the son of Jacob Kettler and Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg, Ferdinand Kettler was born on November 1,1655, in Jelgava, Latvia. He and his family, who had held captive by the Swedes in Riga. They were moved to Ivangorod, Russia and held there between 1658 and 1660, after the death of his father, Jacob Kettler, in 1682, the duchy passed to Ferdinands older brother, Frederick Casimir Kettler. Frederick was in the Polish army, where he reached the rank of Lieutenant-General, after Fredericks death in 1698, his widow and Ferdinand became guardians of the minor, Friedrich Wilhelm, and ruled the duchy in his name. When the Great Northern War started in 1700, Ferdinand Kettler fought in battles near Riga, after his defeat in the Battle of Daugava, he fled to Danzig, where he stayed until his death. The council of the duchy under Swedish occupation refused to recognize Ferdinand as duke, meanwhile, Friedrich Wilhelm had married Anna of Russia. When Friedrich died, he left Kettler as the last heir to the throne of Courland from the House of Kettler, however, Kettler was reluctant to return and the duchy was instead ruled by Anna of Russia, who acted as regent. In 1725, the Council of the Duchy elected Maurice de Saxe as the new duke, however, he soon left Courland because of friction with the Russian imperial administration. In 1730, Kettler, then 75 years old, married young Johanna Magdalene of Saxe-Weissenfels and that same year, Anna of Russia became tsarina of the Russian Empire. The Council of Duchy finally recognized Ferdinand as a duke, yet, in 1736, the king of Poland, August III, in a private meeting, offered the throne of Courland to Ernst Johann Biron. Biron was Annas lover and had a influence on state affairs. Ferdinand Kettler died in Danzig, Poland on May 4,1737, a month later, the Council of the Duchy elected Ernst Johan von Biron as the new duke of Courland and Semigallia. Irene Neander, Ferdinand Kettler, Neue Deutsche Biographie,5, Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, pp. 90–91
15.
Siege of Riga (1700)
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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 next attempt to take the city from Sweden was made in the siege of Riga by the Russians under Peter the Great, anders Fryxell, Lebensgeschichte Karls des Zwölften, Königs von Schweden. Kapitel, Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, Braunschweig 1861, hochspringen ↑ Heinz von Zur Mühlen, Baltisches historisches Ortslexikon, Band 2, Köln 1990, S.132. Hochspringen ↑ Knut Lundblad, Georg Friedrich Jenssen-Tusch, Geschichte Karl des Zwölften, Königs von Schweden, Band 1, Hamburg 1835, olle Larsson, Stormaktens sista krig Lund, Historiska Media
16.
Battle of Narva (1700)
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The Battle of Narva on 19 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, before, 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, Tsar Peter the Great of Russia took Narva in a second battle in 1704. During the 17th century, Russia was less advanced technologically than the rest of Europe, despite this shortcoming, Peter the Great of Russia was keen to expand his territory by conquering parts of Swedens Baltic provinces. Russia made an alliance with Frederick IV, King of Denmark-Norway. Whereupon all five countries attacked Sweden from several directions, Charles XII, assisted by the Royal Navy and the Dutch Navy, first landed in Humlebæk north of Copenhagen and forced Denmark-Norway to leave the alliance in August 1700. He then moved part of the Swedish army across the Baltic Sea to Estonia where it was joined by Estonian, the new Russian tsar, Peter I, would drastically modernize Russia in the coming years, but the army with which he traveled in 1700 was still poorly drilled. Peter had employed foreign generals and officers to improve his armed forces, Sweden, however, possessed a well-drilled and well-equipped army. Charles XII had one of the largest and most disciplined armies of northern Europe, during November, Russian troops surrounded the city of Narva in Estonia, attempting to secure its surrender via siege. A Saxon-Polish army commanded by August II and Steinau was outside Riga in Swedish Livonia, on 19 or 30 November 1700, Charles XII positioned his 8,000 men opposite the besieging Russian army of about 34,000 to 40,000 troops. The Swedish army was commanded personally by Charles XII, assisted by General Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld, the Russian forces were commanded by Peter and Charles Eugène de Croy. Claiming important domestic events in Russia to which he was required to attend and he trusted that his commanders would draw success from the battle and presumed that Charles would not immediately attack his well fortified and numerically superior force. Some interpretations view his departure from Narva days before the battle an act of cowardice, however, some scholars believe this accusation has little merit, as reportedly the Tsar had placed himself in physical danger too many times previously for his flight to be out of cowardice. For much of the day, a blizzard engulfed both armies, making attacks impossible, however, at midday, the winds changed and the snowstorm blew directly into the eyes of the Russians. Charles saw his opportunity and advanced on the Russian army under cover of the weather, the Swedes attacked in two columns, quickly broke through the Russian lines, cutting them in three, and rounded them up. At one crucial point, a bridge over the Narova River collapsed under retreating Russian troops, The stampede led to the losses of 6, 000–18,000 Russians. The Russian surrender brought to Charles XIIs army all of Peters cannons and this left Russias remaining armed forces with little equipment. If Sweden had invaded Russia immediately after Narva, Peter would have been almost powerless to stop them
17.
Battle of Petschora
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The Battle of Petschora took place on February 23,1701 near the village of Pechory, Russia during the second year of the Great Northern War. The Swedish army of about 2,100 men assisted by approximately 2,000 peasants under the command of Jacob Spens defeated a Russian force of about 6,000 men. Spens arrived to his destination in late February and there sought to meet the Russian army in the open field, the two armies met outside the town of Petschora at 23 February. The Russians launched an attack on the peasants assisting the Swedes, however, Spens then Counterattacked with his Swedish Lifeguard of Horse which drove the Russians to seek cover in the town under fierce fighting. The effective passages for cavalry attacks in the town became too narrow, the Russians then fled into the houses shooting at the Swedes who in turn set the town on fire where many were burned alive. However, the bulk of the Russians reached the monastery to escape the Swedish onslaught. The Swedes unsuccessfully stormed its surrounding walls which proved too hard without artillery, Spens aborted the operation while some Cossacks attacked his accompanying peasants. He, instead satisfied with burning the villages and then returned to the Swedish border. The Swedes had lost 30 men killed and another 60 wounded in the fighting, segern vid Narva, Början till en stormakts fall. Historisch-politisch- und geographische Beschreibung des Königreichs Schweden, Volym 1
18.
Battle of Hummelshof
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Battle of Hummelshof took place on July 19,1702 near the small town Hummelshof in Swedish Livonia. It was the second significant Russian victory in the Great Northern War, czar Peters forces invaded Ingria at the beginning of the year. After the Battle of Erastfer there were no big battles between Russian and Sweden armies, in July the Russian army began advancing to Tartu. The two armies met near the town of Hummelshof, at first Sweden troops won the battle against Russian vanguard and captured 5 or 6 cannons. Later main Russian forces arrived at the battlefield and attacked the Swedish troops and these Sweden troops repulsed the first Russian attack, but the Russians attacked again. Fresh Russian infantry began to encircle the Swedish forces that had to withdraw from the battlefield, after this battle Boris Sheremetev marched through Southern Swedish Livonia without any resistance and plundered the territory. By the end of the year, the Russians occupy the Niva River Valley
19.
Siege of Narva (1704)
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Four years after the first battle of Narva, Tsar Peter I marched again to the area with a reorganized army in an attempt to capture Narva and occupy Ingria, previously a Swedish logistical center. Marshal Boris Sheremetevs force of 20,000 captured Tartu on 24 June, sheremetev then besieged Narva, with the garrison under the Commandant Major-General Henning Rudolf Horn af Ranzien and consisting of only 3,800 infantry and 1,300 cavalry. After a long siege followed by an attack the Russians captured Narva on 20 August 1704, massacring hundreds of its Swedish garrison. General Horn, several officers and a number of Swedish soldiers were captured, after roughly 3,200 casualties in the siege. The Russians lost up to 3,000 men in total, on 11 September, citizens of Narva swore allegiance to Peter I in the courtyard of the town hall. The city was incorporated into the Russian Tsardom, in August, Peter I signed the Treaty of Narva in the town. Lovisa von Burghausen Brigitta Scherzenfeldt Names of the Russian Generals, who command at the Siege of Narva,1704 & Specification of the Regiments employed in the Siege of Narva
20.
Battle of Gemauerthof
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The Battle of Gemauerthof was a battle in the Great Northern War, fought south of Riga, in present-day Latvia in July 1705. The Swedish forces under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt fought a Russian army under Boris Sheremetyev, the Swedes, exhausted after forced marching, went to camp and were cooking supper when the news came of a large Russian army with 16 artillery pieces nearby. The Swedes, who themselves had 17 artillery pieces quickly deployed into battle formation and, encouraged by General Lewenhaupt, although suffering severe setbacks on their right flank, the assault continued. On the left, the Swedish cavalry charged and broke the Russians, the infantry in the centre fired carefully at point-blank range and then charged, pushing their foes back in disorder. The battle ended in a melee, which was eventually won by the Swedes. The Russian cavalry withdrew while the infantry was destroyed by a combined-arms assault leaving 5,000 men dead, the Swedes were victorious, but the victory was only symbolic. In August, the Russians conquered Courland, campaign of Grodno Alf Åberg & Göte Göransson Karoliner p.114 -115
21.
Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia
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With the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 the Swedish dominions Estonia and Livonia were integrated into the Russian Empire following their conquest during the Great Northern War. The Livonian nobility and the city of Riga capitulated on 4 July /15 July 1710, Pernau in August, and the Estonian nobility and the city of Reval on 29 September /10 October. Russia left the institutions in place and confirmed the traditional privileges of the German nobles and burghers. The land reform of the reduction which had been introduced by the Swedish king Charles XI. The Swedish Empire formally accepted the capitulations in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, the transfer of the Baltic provinces marked the end of Swedens and the beginning of Russias time as a great power. The Baltic provinces retained their status until the late 19th century. During the war, Charles XII of Sweden was able to defeat the Russian army at Narva in 1700, at this time, the main Swedish army was captured at the Surrender at Perevolochna following the Battle of Poltava. Peter the Great had in person launched the first shells in the siege of Riga and this included laws and privileges dating back to the Teutonic Order State and, in Estonia, Danish laws. The capitulations were concluded exclusively by the Baltic German burghers and noble class, the confirmation of local law and administration resulted in many Swedish laws and decrees remaining in effect under Russian rule. For example, an incomplete list of 122 still effective Swedish decrees was published in Reval in 1777, the capitulation of Livonia violated August the Strongs claims as outlined in the Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye and renewed on 9–10 October / 20–21 October 1709 in the Treaty of Thorn. When in these treaties the allies had partitioned the Swedish dominions among themselves, ignoring Gerhard Johann von Löwenwoldes urge to heed these treaties, Boris Sheremetev had the Livonians swear allegiance to Peter the Great. Löwenwolde, formerly serving August the Strong, was made Peters plenipotentiary in Livonia, before the Swedish-Russian hostilities were concluded in Nystad, the Swedish government did not accept the capitulation. Swedish intelligence operated in the areas and interrogated people who escaped from these provinces to Sweden proper. In 1711 and 1712, Swedish naval units made several landfalls on the Estonian coast, the last plan for a military recovery of the Baltic provinces was made in 1720, but this one too was not executed. The Swedish government further maintained an exiled administration of the Baltic dominions, the Russian administration, under supreme command of Boris Sheremetev, reacted by prohibiting contacts of the local population to Sweden. On 30 August 1721, the Treaty of Nystad formalized Russias acquisition of the Baltic provinces, Sweden had to relinquish her claims forever, and strike the provinces from the royal title. Peter the Great in turn changed his title from tsar to imperator, yet, none of the respective attempts during the Russo-Swedish wars of 1741–1743, 1788–1790 and 1808–1809 was successful. The acquisition of Estonia and Livonia introduced a new class of Baltic German nobles to Russian courts, during the following centuries, Baltic Germans were to occupy important positions in the Russian Empire
22.
Siege of Thorn (1703)
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The Siege of Thorn was set during the Great Northern War, between Sweden and Saxony from May to October 14,1703. 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. Karl Hoburg, Die Belagerungen der Stadt und Festung Thorn seit dem 17, jahrhundert, Lambeck Verlag, Thorn 1844 Anders Fryxell, Lebensgeschichte Karls des Zwölften, Königs von Schweden, Band 1, Braunschweig 1861
23.
Battle of Warsaw (1705)
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The Battle of Warsaw took place on 31 July 1705 near Warsaw. Swedish forces under Carl Nieroth defeated the Polish-Lithuanian-Saxonian forces under Otto Arnold von Paykull, sweden supported Leszczyński against August, and sent a contingent of troops to Leszczyńskis aid, under Carl Nieroth. In July 1705 the Saxon commander Otto Arnold von Paykull and his allies from the Warsaw Confederation decided to take on the numerically inferior Swedish forces loyal to Leszczyński. At the same time, Paykull would gather a force of Saxons, Poles and Lithuanians, General Sheremetev immediately engaged Lewenhaupt at the battle of Gemauerthof on 26 July. However, the Swedish general was able to repulse the attack, suffering heavy casualties, Paykull then marched with his combined Saxon-Polish-Lithuanian army against Carl Nieroths force protecting Warsaw. The two armies clashed near Warsaw, just five days after the battle of Gemauerthof, the Swedish forces consisted of three cavalry regiments and a small force of 60 infantrymen. The total size of the Swedish army under Carl Nieroth was around 2,000 men, the Polish-Lithuanian-Saxon army consisted of 3,500 Saxon cuirassiers and 6,000 Polish cavalrymen. The unit was attempting to cross the Vistula River, bonde ordered a sudden charge on the unit that was crossing the river, but it failed and resulted in a massacre due to the large disparity in numbers between the two forces. Later, the remaining 160 cavalrymen in the reconnaissance force repeated the assault on 5,000 crossing Poles without success, however, some cavalrymen were able to return to alert the rest of the Swedish army. On 31 July, the two faced each other outside Warsaw. Nieroth decided to charge the numerically superior Polish force, the charge was split up into two wings because the Swedish army was partly encircled. The Swedish order of battle was made of Upplands tremännings Regiment on the right, Smålands Cavalry Regiment in the center, the 60 Swedish infantrymen from the Skaraborgs Infantry Regiment hid in a field of tall rye so that they could execute surprise attacks on the Saxons later on. The initial Swedish charge made by the Smålands cavalry regiment was so successful that they managed to rout 3,000 Lithuanian cavalrymen, pursuing and harassing them for 20 kilometers. However, the other Swedish regiments ran into trouble after early successes, Paykull ordered an attack through the center of the Swedish lines against the flanks and rear of the Swedish forces. Six Saxon squadrons suddenly swung to the left through the center, the Poles rapidly executed attack-on-attack maneuvers in the flank and rear of the Swedish regiment which was engaging the Saxons to the front. Astonishingly, the heavily outnumbered Östgöta cavalry then managed to attack with such ferocity that the Saxons were forced to retreat and regroup. The Swedish Upplands regiment on the flank had managed to repulse the Saxons attacking the flank and, together with Östgöta regiment. The Swedish infantrymen who were hidden in the tall rye then also launched an attack, firing on the regrouping Saxons
24.
Battle of Praga (1705)
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The Battle of Praga took place on October 25,1705 near the town of Warsaw, Poland during the fifth year of the Great Northern War. Only the Uppland and Dalarna regiments were stationed near Praga to protect the Polish Coronation in Warsaw, while the main army under Charles XII of Sweden was at Blonie. These were, in turn, also surprised and the forces managed to push out to the middle of the bridge before getting halted by twelve men of the patrol. They could hold their defense until further Swedish reinforcements, alerted by the fire, from the Uppland regiment of 20 men under Dahldorf arrived. However, at the bridgehead the coalition forces were reinforced by the rest of their part having fought the Polish guard in Praga. The bridge was open for their opponents to capture and destroy. In this action the Swedes and their Polish allies lost about 200 men, the Dalarna Regiment, having an unofficial status as elite in the Swedish army, suffered 17 killed and 53 wounded alone. The combined Polish–Saxon–Russian forces lost about 250 men, about 270 Swedes and 140 Poles participated in the fighting before the arrival of the full Dala regiment in the ending, which could estimate the full force to somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 men. Additional Swedish units appeared soon, but they were too late to participate in the fighting, grimberg & Uddgren, Carl & Hugo. Wojsko Rzeczypospolitej w dobie wojny północnej, 1700–1717, the History of the Wars, of His Late Majesty Charles XII, King of Sweden
25.
Battle of Grodno (1706)
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The Battle of Grodno refers to the battle during the Great Northern War. Grodno was a city of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at this time, the blockade of Grodno by the 31,000 men strong Swedish–Polish army took place between January and March 1706. In the city and close vicinity there were about 41,000 Russian, as a result, the Hrodna garrison was left without cavalry which was necessary for reconnaissance and food supplies. After putting Hrodna under siege, the Swedes occupied Nesvizh and besieged Lyakhavichy, meanwhile, the Russian garrison of Hrodna suffered big trouble from the lack of food as well as from diseases. This took the lives of about 8,000 soldiers, after the blockade of his main troops in Hrodna Peter the Great had only 12,000 men in Belarus. Being in Minsk with this army he communicated with the besieged garrison via a poruchik named Yakovlev who made his way to Hrodna dressed as a Polish peasant, besides that 14,000 Ukrainian cossacks of Mazepa were ordered to constantly engage the enemy. Peter I didnt want to have a battle with Charles XII so far from Russia. Because of that he ordered the Hrodna garrison to hold out until spring when the rivers get free of ice, then they had to retreat behind the Neman towards Brest and further to the Dnieper what they successfully did until May 1706. Charles estimated the direction of the Russian retreat wrongly, expecting them to retreat eastwards where he placed his main forces, having discovered the surprisingly rapid Russian retreat towards south-west too late, he started the pursuit, hoping to catch up the Russians via the Polesia swamps shortcut. However, they proved to be impassable and Charles had to give up the pursuit of the Russians, campaign of Grodno Charles XII invasion of Poland Николай Шефов
26.
Battle of Fraustadt
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The Battle of Fraustadt was fought on 2 February 1706 /3 February 1706 /13 February 1706 between Sweden and Saxony-Poland and their Russian allies near Fraustadt in Poland. During the Battle of Fraustadt on February 3, August II was only 120 km away and that was one of the main reasons that Swedish General Rehnskiöld hurried to engage Schulenburg. The battle is an example of a pincer movement and was one of Swedens greatest victories in the Great Northern War. The Saxon army had not chosen its position carefully, Schulenburg had been maneuvered into a chosen by the Swedes. Rehnskiöld withdrew his forces from Schlawa to Fraustadt, the Saxons, superior in numbers regarding infantry, but with less cavalry than the Swedes, took a strong defensive position behind lines of chevaux de frise littered by artillery. On the left flank, the Swedish cavalry under Hummerhielm had some passing through a frozen swamp. After regrouping, the Swedes charged the Saxon Garde du Corps, after witnessing the destruction of the Saxon right flank, the left flank fled, and were routed by the Swedish dragoons. Colonel von Krassows cavalry then wheeled clock-wise into the Saxon-Russian rear and this was however an order from Schulenburg who questioned their battle skills to reveal the weakness of the flank. The Swedish infantry assaulted the Saxon-Russian line frontally, under heavy cannon, the Russian infantry were quickly surrounded and dispersed. The Saxon middle had its flank and rear exposed, and its regiments buckled, the Saxon right flank initially held, inflicting some damage to the Swedish infantry until the cavalry in the frozen swamp attacked their rear. The Saxon-Russian army fell apart and the main body fled to the south through Fraustadt, the Swedish cavalry, previously bogged down in the swamp, raced ahead on the open terrain, and met the fleeing Saxons and Russians on the far outskirts of the town. Trapped by Swedish cavalry to their front and infantry to their rear, in the end 7,377 Saxons and Russians had been killed and over 7,300 taken prisoner where of 2,000 of them were wounded. Sweden suffered some 400 killed, and 1,000 wounded, Schulenburg managed to escape, despite having suffered a bullet wound to his hip. 71 banners, the whole Saxon artillery,11,000 rapiers, hiding your own identity and claiming to be something else was frowned upon at the time, and sometimes considered reason enough to be denied quarter. Schulenburg also made two mistakes, first by being lured into terrain not to his advantage and then underestimating the mobility of the Swedish cavalry. It is known from Rehnskiölds personal journals that he had intended a double envelopment from the beginning, the Battle of Fraustadt is one of the most classic double envelopments in military history. It is probable that Rehnskiöld had studied the Battle of Cannae 216 BC although it is if he intended to copy it. The captured Russians were, according to historians, executed by an order from Rehnskiöld
27.
Battle of Kletsk (1706)
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The Battle of Kletsk took place on 30 April 1706, in- and outside the city of Kletsk, Belarus during Charles XIIs Polish campaign of 1701–1706, in the Great Northern War. The Swedish forces were led by Carl Gustaf Creutz who defeated a bigger Russian–Cossack force under the command of Semjon Nepljujev, many of the Russian and Cossack regiments participating in the battle got completely annihilated and ceased to exist. During the end of the 17th century Russia, Denmark–Norway and Saxony formed a coalition against the Swedish Empire in order to regain what was lost in earlier wars. Even though having a success, the Swedish army continued their campaign in Poland until 1706. In January,1706, a force of Russians were cut off and trapped during the battle of Grodno, by Charles XII. This caused the Russian Czar, Peter the Great to assemble great portions of men for their assistance. He also ordered the Cossack Hetman, Ivan Mazepa – who at the time was an ally to Russia – to gather an army of 14,000 men to attack, however, the Swedes launched counter–offensives against the aiding Cossacks which inflicted large casualties. One of these when the Swedish commander Carl Gustaf Creutz sieged the city of Lyakhavichy with an army of 2,000 men, and there closed-in a large force of Cossacks and Poles. Mazepa then sent an aiding–party of 4,700 soldiers, whom initially were going to help those trapped in Grodno, after some days marching they arrived to the city of Kletsk, where they put up camp. Creutz, the captain of the siege, got knowledge of this and immediately started to gather and march with 1,500 cavalry against Kletsk and he arrived the next morning and with a fruitless attack managed to annihilate the Russian–Cossack relief party camping there. Immediately at their arrival, the Swedes charged and engaged some Cossacks under the command of Danylo Apostol guarding a 500 meter long bridge crossing over the marshes into Kletsk. While being in choke points, the Swedes could easily finish them out, hunt down, Danylo Apostol got his horse shot dead during the fighting, but succeeded to flee on another one before getting caught. The four artillery guns that were left behind of the fleeing Russians got in the hands of the Swedes which in their advance turned them around, the majority of the defenders at Kletsk now equipped and fortified themselves inside the city itself to withstand the charging cavalry. This is where the hardest fighting took place and its told, after a while the remains of the Russian and Cossack troops were beaten and in full disorganized retreat, they ran against South and East direction to the forest lines. However, the majority of these were cut down on the fields, the official Swedish story claims the fleeing soldiers to have, thrown away most of their clothing and equipment and in barely a shirt tried to save themselves. The Swedish casualties were 15 killed and 16 wounded, the Russians, however, had lost at least 4,000 men dead,71 captured, including a Colonel Petro Pryma. Also four cannons,16 standards and 2,000 horses were lost to the Swedes, on 17 May, the Swedish king Charles XII visited the battlefield and noted the victory to have been bigger than what he initially thought. Not long after, the colonel, Carl Gustaf Creutz, was promoted to general for his heroic actions and he later got captured in the surrender at Perevolochna, and became a prisoner of war in Russia until 1722, when he finally managed to get home
28.
Battle of Kalisz
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The Battle of Kalisz took place on October 29,1706 in Kalisz, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Great Northern War. It was a fight which could have been prevented if Augustus II of Poland had informed the Swedes. At the time, an alliance existed between the Poles, Saxons, and Russians, the battle was fought by Russian cavalry, led by commander Aleksandr Menshikov, against a smaller Swedish force headed by colonel Mardefelt. The Russians played a role of significance here because they needed to support their Saxon allies under Augustus, when he learned of the recently arranged treaty while on his travels with Menshikov, Augustus chose to keep the news from him. His decision was based on the Russians support through generosity in expenses and they were prepared to fight for him and Augustus could not risk angering his ally with the recently learned information. His last attempt to mend the situation was also unsuccessful and he sent word to the waiting Swedish force begging them to retreat upon meeting, but Mardefelt, having been unaware of the treaty, interpreted the plea as a trick of battle. As a result of communication, and to Augustus dismay. At the time, king Augustus of Poland, also the Electorate of Saxony, had in secret negotiated a treaty with the swedes. This because after five years of marching, war and burning, thus, the main Swedish army was at the time in Saxony. August himself, however, was with the Russian commander Menshikov and the third Russian army and these were sent by Tsar Peter after the previous two had been defeated and dispersed. August had not informed Menshikov of the treaty because of the large contributions from Russia. August secretly sent a letter to the Swedish major general Arvid Axel Marderfelt who was in command of the small Swedish army stationed in western Poland. August declared that the peace was almost concluded, and that he hoped to be informed of this by the Swedish king, Charles XII, Marderfelt had, however, not been informed of this. Marderfelt thus concluded that the letter was yet another of Augusts deceits and replied that he had not received any information of the peace, in reality, he was more concerned than he wished to admit. To the number, the Swedish army was vastly outnumbered with only 4000 infantry troops, if it had not been for the allied Polish and Lithuanian cavalry. Mardefelt did not wish to engage the much larger Russian army, when the battle commenced, the Swedish infantry lined up in the middle with the Polish and Lithuanians on the sides, protecting the flank. When the Russians advanced, the poles immediately fled the battlefield, the Swedish infantry fought on, even though the outcome would be obvious. The Swedish defeat was rendered moot when Charles XII exposed Augustus ratification of the Altranstädt treaty, whereupon the latter gave in to obey by its terms, also, although he had planned to originally renounce the Treaty of Altranstädt, Augustus went along with its terms
