| In February
1700, August II, king of Poland attacked Riga in
Livland, but was thrown back. This was the start
of a war that was to be called The Great
Northern War. In August Tsar Peter of Russia
declared war on Sweden. He wanted Russia to have
a coastline on the Baltic side of his country.
He needed a port in the Baltic Sea for his
battleships. King Charles XII of Sweden was
surprised but acted fast. He gathered together
the strong army his father had created and went
off to the wars. The Russian army was defeated
at Narva in November 1700. Charles XII' s plan
was that if he could just beat the Polish-Saxon
army and cause August II to be |
|
dethroned, then he could make Poland his ally
in the struggle against Russia.
In September 1706
there was peace between Charles XII and August
II. In August 1707 Charles's troops marched
towards Russia. In the summer of 1708 the army
consisted of 49,500 men who were on their way to
Moscow. Although they won some battles they
could not defeat Russia. Tsar Peter used a
scorched earth policy. He burned all the land so
the Swedish army had no opportunity to get new
food supplies or fodder for their animals.
Charles now changed his plan and moved
towards the Ukraine instead. |
|
