La Mettrie (1709–1751) The “Age of Geniuses” carried La Mettrie, a talented philosopher, popularizer of medicine and natural science, on its crest. Julien Offre de La Mettrie (La Mettrie) was born on December 12, 1709 in the French port town of Saint-Malo off the northern coast of France. First he

ANTONIO RINALDI (1709-1794) With his creative search, Rinaldi, together with other contemporary Russian architects, developed the principles of a new architectural style - classicism, reflecting at the same time the baroque trends, melted down by the aesthetics of classicism into a new

Severe winter 1707-1708 The winter of 1708-1709 turned out to be incredibly difficult for the Swedes. in left-bank Ukraine. The Swedish army was dispersed over several small towns (Gadyach, Romny, Priluki, etc.) among the hostile population. The Russian army stood side by side in the northeast, along the lines of Sumy, Lebedin, Akhtyrka, and constantly “boosted” the enemy with their sabotage (sometimes it came to battles involving several regiments). Almost every city and every fortress had to be taken by the Swedes with a fight. The Swedes stormed the small fortress of Veprik for 10 days and lost 3 (according to other sources - 1.5) thousand soldiers. They failed to advance towards Sloboda Ukraine. Communication with Stanislav Leshchinsky and the Swedish troops stationed in Poland was also lost. The Swedish army was melting before our eyes. The winter has been unusually harsh. Both Russians and Swedes suffered from severe frosts.

But at home, as they say, the walls help. The Swedes, thousands of kilometers away from their homes, lacked everything. Here is how the Swedish historian describes the situation in the Swedish camp: “Soldiers were dying in snowdrifts on the streets of the city. Every morning they collected the corpses of hundreds of soldiers, batmen, soldiers' wives and children, and all day long sleighs loaded with stiff bodies took them to some pit or ravine.

Siege of Poltava by the Swedes. But the stubborn Swedish king did not think about retreat. In the new year, he planned an attack on Moscow. And in order to feel more confident in Ukraine and not have a strong enemy garrison in the rear, in April 1709 he besieged the fortress of Poltava. The garrison of the fortress (4 thousand soldiers and 2500 armed inhabitants) led by Colonel A.S. Kelin refused to surrender on honorable terms and withstood twenty enemy attacks. The Russian army, with its sabotage, sought to divert the forces of the besiegers. Reinforcements were sent to the city. Poltava held out for two months.

The Russians are preparing for battle. Already in the winter, Peter thought about the need for a "general battle." In June, the final decision was made to give battle near Poltava. The Russian army crossed the Vorskla River and began building a fortified camp (retrenchment) five miles north of the city. On the path of the Swedish army, ten redoubts were additionally equipped with artillery. The Russians thus chose and prepared the battlefield themselves. Taking into account the experience of the Battle of Lesnaya, they chose a small rugged area surrounded by forest in order to make it difficult for the enemy to maneuver. The position of the Russian army was designed for the offensive - there was nowhere to retreat.

Forces of the Russian and Swedish armies. The king tried to act thoroughly and surely. 42,000 regular and 5,000 irregular troops were concentrated in the fortified camp. The king had a 40,000th reserve. The Russian army was well armed and provided with everything necessary. The artillery park consisted of 102 guns. The Russian cavalry was commanded by A.D. Menshikov, infantry - B.P. Sheremetev, artillery - Ya.V. Bruce.

The Swedes had about 30,000 troops near Poltava, of which, as Swedish authors insist, only 19,000 or so were actually Swedes. In battle, they had only 4 guns (the remaining 35 were left in the wagon train). The army experienced an acute shortage of bullets and gunpowder.

Military council of Charles XII. The king himself had been wounded in the leg the day before in a skirmish with a Cossack patrol. He gave command to Field Marshal Rehnschild. At the military council, it was decided to suddenly attack the Russian redoubts, and then storm the Russian fortified camp on the move.

According to some reports, before the battle, the king turned to his generals with the words: “Tomorrow we will dine in the tents of the Moscow Tsar. There is no need to take care of food - in the Moscow convoy there is a lot of everything in store for us. However, one cannot vouch for the accuracy of these words: they are very reminiscent of a literary cliche, such words, for example, are attributed to Mamai on the eve of the invasion of Russia in The Tale of the Mamai Battle.

Peter I intended to give battle on June 29, the day of his namesake. By this time, the arrival of irregular Kalmyk cavalry was expected. However, from the "tongues" it became known that Charles XII intended to enter the battle earlier - on June 27th.

From a painting by I. Tannauer

Fight for redoubts."Out of his usual vehemence," the Swedish king took the initiative of the offensive, and before dawn on June 27, his troops approached the Russian redoubts, which met them with artillery fire. Here the Swedes were expected by Menshikov's cavalry (23 regiments). Having captured two unfinished redoubts, the Swedes began to shout "Victory!" - so great was their faith in the happiness of their own king.

The battle for the redoubts was very fierce. It came to hand-to-hand combat, but the king was not going to bring his main forces into battle here. The Swedish army pressed the Russian cavalry, "which, although it deservedly held out, however, was forced to yield, only at a great loss to the enemy." But when the Swedes bypassed the redoubts that had not been taken, part of the Swedish troops was cut off from the main forces. Schlipenbach's cavalry and the infantry of General Ross were forced to retreat to the Yakovetsky Forest, where they were again attacked by A.D. Menshikov, who pursued them all the way to the Swedish camp near Poltava. General Schlippenbach was captured by Menshikov. Then the cavalry of the Most Serene Prince returned to the left flank of the Russian camp.

Decisive battle. After a slight lull, both armies lined up in battle formation for a decisive battle. The king withdrew the bulk of his troops from the fortifications. In the center was the infantry, on the flanks - the dragoon regiments. The rebuilt Swedes went on the attack and were met with powerful artillery and then rifle fire. But the Swedes did not stop and tried to break through the line of Russian soldiers in the center of the position. A hand-to-hand fight ensued. The Russian cavalry began to cover the Swedish troops from the flanks. The offensive of the Russian troops began, which the Swedes could no longer stop.

Heroic behavior of Charles XII. Throughout the battle, Charles XII was in the thick of his troops, in the most dangerous places of the battle. He was carried on a stretcher. However, they were defeated by the Russian core. The king mounted a horse and, overcoming terrible pain, continued to encourage his soldiers. Several horses were killed under the king. As always, he showed personal courage and contempt for death. Seeing the start of the flight of his troops, Karl shouted in despair: “Swedes! Swedes! But the Swedes fled and did not hear the voice of their king, notes S.M. Solovyov.

Appeal of Peter I to the troops. Peter I was also in the center of the battle, although the overall leadership of the battle was entrusted to B.P. Sheremetev. Before the start of the decisive battle, the king addressed the troops with a speech. Its content is conveyed by sources in different ways. According to one version, he uttered only a few words: "It is very commendable to accept death for the Fatherland, and the fear of death in battle is a thing worthy of any blasphemy." There is another version of the speech of the king, who allegedly said that the soldiers should follow the example of their monarch, and "after victory, after labors, peace will follow."

Victory near Poltava

However, the most famous is the third version, transmitted by the author of one of the first stories of the Northern War, Feofan Prokopovich. Most likely, Peter I did not deliver this speech verbatim, but it quite accurately conveys his thoughts, his mood before the battle. Historians even call it “an order before the start of the Battle of Poltava”: “The Russian army knew that the hour had come, which laid the state of the entire Fatherland in their hands: either the abyss would be very, or Russia would be born in a better way. And they would not think of being armed and placed themselves for Peter, but for the state handed over to Peter, for their kind, for the people of all Russia ... Below, they would be embarrassed by the glory of the enemy, as if invincible, which they themselves have repeatedly shown falsely. If only they had this action before their eyes that God himself really is at war with us ... And they would know about Peter that his life is inexpensive, if only Russia and Russian piety, glory and prosperity would live.

Tsar Peter on the attack. At the most crucial moment of the battle, when the Swedes tried to break through the front of the Russian troops, the tsar himself led a battalion of the second line of the Novgorod regiment to attack. A horse was killed under the king. His hat was shot through by an enemy bullet. Later, when compiling the history of the war, Peter rather modestly defined his role in the Battle of Poltava: “For the people and the Fatherland, not sparing his person, he acted as a good driver should.”

Read also other topics part III ""Concert of Europe": the struggle for political balance" section "West, Russia, East in battles XVII-early XVIII century":

• 9. "Swedish Deluge": from Breitenfeld to Lützen (September 7, 1631-November 16, 1632)
  • Battle of Breitenfeld. Winter Campaign of Gustavus Adolphus
• 10. Marston Moor and Nasby (July 2, 1644, June 14, 1645)
  • Marston Moor. The victory of the parliamentary army. Cromwell's army reform
• 11. "Dynastic wars" in Europe: the struggle "for the Spanish inheritance" at the beginning of the XVIII century.
  • "Dynastic Wars". The struggle for the Spanish inheritance
• 12. European conflicts take on a global dimension

After the transition to the "new style" in 1918, there was confusion with many dates, including the day of the Poltava battle. From 1918 to 1990, it was believed that it occurred on July 8th. However, according to many historical sources dated at that time, the battle of Poltava took place on the day of memory of Sampson the pilgrim, that is, July 10. He was the heavenly patron of this battle. Later, a church was built in honor of the saint, which still stands today. Therefore, it is more correct to consider the date July 10, 1709 as the day of the victory of the Russian army over the Swedes near Poltava.

At the end of the 17th century, the Swedish state turned out to be one of the main military forces in Europe. But the young king continued to build up the power of his army, made an alliance with England, France and Holland, thereby securing support in case of war.

The rulers of many states were not satisfied with the dominance of Sweden in the Baltic Sea. Fearing aggression on her part and hatching plans to get rid of the power of the Swedes in the Baltic states, Saxony, the Danish-Norwegian kingdom and Russia formed the Northern Union, which in 1700 declared war on the Swedish state. However, after several defeats, this coalition fell apart.

Having won a victory near Narva, where Russian army suffered heavy losses and capitulated, Charles XII decides to conquer Russia. In the spring of 1709, his troops laid siege to Poltava to replenish their provisions and open the way for an attack on Moscow. But the heroic defense of the city garrison, with the support of Ukrainian Cossacks and A.D. Menshikov detained the Swedes and gave the Russian army the opportunity to prepare for the decisive battle.

It is worth noting that, despite the betrayal of Mazepa, the number of Swedish troops was inferior in number to the Russian. However, neither this fact nor the lack of ammunition and food forced Charles XII to abandon his plans.

On June 26, Peter I ordered the construction of six horizontal redoubts. And later he ordered to build four more, perpendicular to the first. Two of them had not yet been completed when the Swedes at dawn on June 27 began their offensive. A few hours later, Menshikov's cavalry vanguard pushed back the Swedish cavalry. But the Russians still lost two of their fortifications. Peter I ordered the cavalry to retreat behind the redoubts. Carried away by the pursuit of the retreating, the Swedes fell under the crossfire of artillery. During the fighting, several battalions of Swedish infantry and squadrons of cavalry were cut off from their own and captured in the Poltava forest by Menshikov's cavalry.

The second stage of the battle was the struggle of the main forces. Peter built his army in 2 lines, and the Swedish infantry lined up opposite. After the gunfight, it was time for hand-to-hand combat. Soon the retreat of the Swedes began, which turned into a stampede. King Charles XII and the traitor Mazepa managed to escape, and the rest of the army surrendered.

The Battle of Poltava undermined the military power of Sweden, predetermined the outcome of the Northern War and influenced the development of Russian military affairs.

In the summer of 1709, the Swedish army under the command of King Charles XII invaded Russia. At the Russian headquarters, nothing was known about the plans for the direction of Karl's campaign. Maybe he will go to wipe St. Petersburg from the face of the earth and win back the original Russian lands. Maybe he will go east and, having captured Moscow, will dictate the terms of peace from there.

Peter has long tried to make peace with his northern neighbors. But Charles XII each time rejected the proposals of the emperor, wanting to destroy Russia as a state and divide it into small vassal principalities. During the campaign, Charles XII changed plans and led his troops to Ukraine. Hetman Mazepa was waiting for him there, having treacherously betrayed Russia and decided to cooperate with the Swedes. The history of the Poltava battle will be outlined below.

Movement on Moscow

Preparing for battle

While the Russian side was preparing for the most important battle, Poltava defended itself heroically. Peasants from nearby villages fled to the city, but there was not enough food in it. Already in May, people began to die of hunger. There were not enough cores, and the cannons began to be loaded with cobblestones. The garrison adapted to setting fire to Swedish wooden buildings with pots filled with boiling tar. Poltava dared to make sorties against the Swedes. The position of the latter was terrible. Summer brought new worries. Because of the heat, worms started in the meat, and it became unfit for food. Bread was scarce and in small quantities. There was no salt. The wounded quickly developed gangrene. The bullets were cast from Russian lead picked up on the ground. And for days on end the Russian cannonade did not stop. The Swedish army was already exhausted, but Peter believed that it was not enough.

The concerns of the Russian command

The Russian command helped the fortress to hold on. Nine hundred soldiers were able to get into the garrison. With them, both gunpowder and lead appeared in the fortress. In early June, led by Boris Sheremetyev, the entire Russian army gathered in a fortified camp. During one of the sorties of the Russian regiments, more than a thousand Russian soldiers taken prisoner by the Swedes were released. Soon Peter arrived in the army.

She was on the other side of the river. The military council decided to build crossings and move to the side where Poltava stood. This has been done. And behind the Russians, as once on the Kulikovo field, there was a river. (The battle of Poltava in 1709 will take place very soon. In two weeks.)

Work in the Russian camp

The army tirelessly strengthened its positions. Two flanks were protected by a dense forest, the rear - by a river with bridges. In front of the vanguard was a plain. It was from there that Peter was waiting for the attack of the Swedes. Here they built defensive structures - redoubts. On this plain, the Battle of Poltava will take place, which will go down in our history along with such turning points as the Kulikovo and Stalingrad battles.

Prelude

Just before the battle, just a couple of days before it, Charles XII was wounded on his birthday. It was him, who had not received a single scratch over the years of battles, that a Russian bullet lay in wait. She hit the heel and went through the entire foot, crushing all the bones. This did not dampen the ardor of the king, and the battle began in the dead of night on June 27. He did not take the Russians by surprise. Menshikov with his cavalry immediately noticed the movements of the enemy. Artillery shot the Swedish infantry point-blank.

Four Swedish guns accounted for a hundred of ours. The superiority was overwhelming. Menshikov was eager to fight, asking for reinforcements. But Peter restrained his ardor and removed him to the rear. The Swedes mistook this maneuver for a retreat, rushed after them and imprudently approached the camp guns. Their losses were great.

Battle of Poltava, year 1709

At eight in the morning, Peter rebuilt the army. He placed infantry in the center, between which artillery was evenly distributed. The cavalry was on the flanks. Here it is - the beginning of the general battle! Gathering all his strength, Karl threw them into the center of the infantry and pushed it slightly. Peter himself led the battalion into the counterattack.

Russian cavalry rushed from the flanks. The artillery didn't stop. The Swedes, falling and dropping their guns in huge number, made such a roar that it seemed that the walls were crumbling. Two horses were killed near Menshikov. Peter's hat was shot through. The entire field was covered in smoke. The Swedes fled in panic. Carl was lifted up in his arms, and he tried to contain the frantic retreat. But no one listened to him. Then the king himself got into the carriage and rushed to the Dnieper. He was never seen again in Russia.

More than nine thousand forever fallen Swedes remained on the battlefield. Our losses amounted to a little over a thousand. The victory was complete and unconditional.

The pursuit

The remnants of the Swedish army, and it was 16,000 people, were stopped the next day and surrendered to the victors. The military power of the Swedes was forever undermined.

If we say that such something can be expressed in one word - this is a triumph that raised the opinion of Russia highly in Western countries. The country has come a long way from Russia to Russia and completed it on the field near Poltava. And therefore we must remember in what year the Battle of Poltava took place - one of the four greatest in the history of our Motherland.

1700-1721 - the Battle of Poltava - took place on July 8 (according to the old style on June 27), 1709. The Russian army under the command of Peter I defeated the Swedish army of Charles XII. The battle of Poltava led to a turning point in the Northern War in favor of Russia.

In honor of this victory, the Day of Military Glory of Russia was established, which is celebrated on July 10.
Russia fought the Northern War with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea. In 1700, the young and inexperienced army of Peter I was defeated near Narva, not far from the Baltic Sea, by a talented commander, the young Swedish king Charles XII.
After the defeat of the Russian army, Peter I in 1700-1702 carried out a grandiose military reform actually re-created the army and the Baltic Fleet. In the spring of 1703, at the mouth of the Neva, Peter founded the city and fortress of St. Petersburg, and later the sea citadel of Kronstadt. In the summer of 1704, the Russians captured Derpt (Tartu) and Narva and thus established themselves on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. At that time, Peter I was ready to conclude a peace treaty with Sweden. But Karl decided to continue the war until complete victory, in order to completely cut off Russia from sea trade routes.

In the spring of 1709, after an unsuccessful winter campaign in Ukraine, the army of the Swedish king Charles XII laid siege to Poltava, where it was supposed to replenish supplies, and then continue on their way in the direction of Kharkov, Belgorod and further to Moscow. In April June 1709, the Poltava garrison, consisting of 4.2 thousand soldiers and 2.6 thousand armed citizens, led by the commandant Colonel Alexei Kelin, supported by the cavalry of General Alexander Menshikov and Ukrainian Cossacks who came to the rescue, successfully repelled several enemy assaults. The heroic defense of Poltava fettered the forces of Charles XII. Thanks to her, the Russian army was able at the end of May 1709 to concentrate in the area of ​​​​the fortress and prepare for battle with the enemy.
At the end of May, the main forces of the Russian army under the command of Peter I approached the Poltava region. At the military council on June 27 (June 16, according to the old style), it was decided to give a general battle. By July 6 (June 25, according to the old style), the Russian army, numbering 42 thousand people and having 72 guns, was located in the fortified camp it had created, 5 km north of Poltava.
The field in front of the camp, about 2.5 kilometers wide, covered from the flanks by dense forest and thickets, was fortified with a system of field engineering structures of 6 frontal and 4 quadrangular redoubts perpendicular to them. The redoubts were located at a distance of a rifle shot from each other, which ensured tactical interaction between them. The redoubts housed 2 battalions of soldiers and grenadiers, behind the redoubts 17 cavalry regiments under the command of Menshikov. The idea of ​​Peter I was to wear down the enemy at the forefront (line of redoubts), and then defeat him in an open field battle.
On the night of July 8 (June 27, according to the old style), the Swedish army under the command of Field Marshal Renschild (Charles XII was wounded during reconnaissance) numbering about 20 thousand soldiers and with 4 guns, 4 columns of infantry and 6 columns of cavalry moved to the position of the Russians. The remaining troops, up to 10 thousand soldiers, were in reserve and guarding Swedish communications.

A mighty patriotic mood was aroused among the Russian soldiers by the words of Peter addressed to them before the start of the battle: “Warriors! The hour has come, which must decide the fate of the Fatherland. 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. Have in battle before you Truth and God, your protector. And about Peter, know that life is not dear to him. Only Russia would live in glory and prosperity for your well-being.

At 3 am on July 8 (old style June 27), the Russian and Swedish cavalry began a stubborn battle near the redoubts. By 5 o'clock in the morning, the Swedish cavalry was overturned, but the infantry following it captured the first two Russian redoubts. At six o'clock in the morning, the Swedes, advancing behind the retreating Russian cavalry, fell on their right flank under cross rifle and cannon fire from the Russian fortified camp, suffered heavy losses and retreated in a panic to the forest. At the same time, the right-flank Swedish columns, cut off from their main forces during the battles for the redoubts, withdrew into the forest north of Poltava, where they were defeated by Menshikov's cavalry that followed them and surrendered.
At about 6 o'clock, Peter I withdrew the army from the camp and built it in two lines, where he placed the infantry in the center, and the cavalry of Menshikov and Bour on the flanks. A reserve (9 battalions) was left in the camp. The main forces of the Swedes lined up opposite the Russian troops. At 9 o'clock in the morning a hand-to-hand fight began. At this time, the cavalry of the Russian army began to cover the flanks of the enemy. The Swedes began their retreat, which turned into a disorderly flight by 11 o'clock. The Russian cavalry pursued them to the river bank, where the remnants of the Swedish army surrendered.
The battle of Poltava ended with a convincing victory for the Russian army. The enemy lost over 9 thousand killed, 19 thousand captured. Russian losses 1345 killed and 3290 wounded. Karl himself was wounded and fled to Turkey with a small detachment. The military power of the Swedes was undermined, the fame of the invincibility of Charles XII was dispelled.
The Poltava victory determined the outcome of the Northern War. The Russian army showed excellent combat training and heroism, and Peter I and his commanders showed outstanding military leadership abilities. The Russians were the first in the military science of that era to use earthen field fortifications, as well as fast-moving horse artillery. In 1721, the Northern War ended with the complete victory of Peter I. The ancient Russian lands went to Russia, and it was firmly entrenched in