The Battle of Poltava is the most famous and significant episode in the Great
Northern War (1700-1721). The battle which took place on July 8th 1709 fell directly in the middle of the Great Northern War and is seen as the turning point in the war. Czar
Peter I own cause to end Sweden’s possession of its Baltic empire showed his strong will and determination. This battle in fact established Russia as an impressive European power and Czar Peter I as a great leader in the eyes of his country and all of Europe. The success of the battle opened Russia economically and politically to all European countries to the west. The success of the Russian army in the Battle of Poltava helped to spark the creation of a westernized, efficient nation.
The victory of the Battle of Poltava proved to Russia and all of Europe Czar Peter
I was a strong and determined leader. In the first years of his rule Peter learned about the art of war from several small naval encounters with the Turkish on the Black Sea. These skirmishes taught Peter the importance of defending his country and having a strong military. When the Great Northern War began after Russia joined the European Alliance against Sweden as a prominent power, the war was unfavorable for the Russian army.
This was mainly due to Peter’s troops being greatly under trained and unseasoned. He saw that men he could trust on the field would have to be recruited after they went through training in newly opened educational institutions or guard regiments. This helped to sustain the army against the Swedish while it battled for eight years, only to produce a number of unsuccessful campaigns. The better trained Swedes under the commanding rule of King Charles XII fought off the Russian troops over a dozen times
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but could never cripple the army enough end the constant battling. On the morning of the attack nineteen thousand Swedish assaulted the fortified camp of Poltava, which was defended by Peter's forty-five thousand men. Peter's victory was so astonishing that
Charles barely had the time to flee to Ottoman Empire, which left the remnants of his army to surrender. The Battle of Poltava changed the face of the war for all of Europe, as
Sweden fell to Russia it proved that Czar Peter I could be trusted and was a competent leader for Russia.
Peter the Great was trying ultimately to make the Russian Empire more Europeanized or Westernized. He wanted to protect and enhance the vulnerable Russian Empire. Peter the Great saw that other European countries are colonizing in other regions like the New World, Asia, and Africa. Peter saw this as a threat and didn’t want for the Europeans to conquer Russia. Through decrees to shave and provisions on dress, he was trying to make them European. He also wanted to make military and economic reforms that could help the empire itself. If they built factories, they didn’t need to get supplies from Europe.
First, both Louis and Peter had noble uprisings early in their reigns, but they handled them and got somewhat on the good side with their nobles. Peter the Great created a Service Nobility, and demanded all nobles, or boyars as they are called in Russia, serve in the civil service
Observing that European technological superiority allowed it to enjoy extraordinary benefits, he adopted many European practices to assert his own dominance and increase Russia’s protection against its adversaries. In doing this, Peter the Great formed himself a lasting legacy. Although Peter the Great originally mimicked Louis XIV in his staunch practice of absolutism, he ultimately surpassed Louis XIV in his goal of supremacy. Peter replaced the previous head of the Orthodox Church, and had both religious and earthly supremacy. Thus, Peter achieved something that Louis could never manage: a control of both church and state. Outside of Russia’s borders, Peter succeeded in his endeavors to a much greater extent than Louis XIV. The Great Northern War against Sweden effectively gave Russia access to a warm water port: Saint Petersburg, where Peter created his own Versailles, the Winter Palace, that fulfilled goals similar to those of Louis. Thus, where Louis fell, Peter
Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
Peter the Great, the Russian Czar, inherited his absolutist power from his brother, Ivan V. Born in aristocracy, Peter’s dad was the Czar, and later his brother, and after his brother’s death, him. He was a firm believer in the possible benefits from the control of a single leader to make decisions for the people, and he exercised this divine right to create many renouned institutions. At the beginning of Peter’s reign, Russia was in a poor condition: many rejected modernization from the Renaissance, and large spending from his brother’s reign caused economic droughts. He took advantage of his absolutist power to help ameliorate Russia’s situation and first decided to minimalize power from the other aristocrats. The subduction of the rich allowed
Absolutists during the 16th and 17th centuries were often times focused too heavily on military or other such rather than the people they were ruling. Peter the Great is a good example of this type of ruler because he did great things for Russia like improving the navy; however, Peter the Great did nothing to help the people of Russia, and according to Michael Gibson in document 8, he "failed to create the large, thriving
His army won in moving into the outskirts of Moscow; but it was an empty victory. Cold and
In conclusion, though the goals and outcomes were different in many ways, Louis XIV and Peter the Great both sought to do great things. Louis XIV died unpopular in his country, having had the spotlight on him for years in Europe. He hadn’t made the huge leaps that he had hoped as far as land goes, but he had made small gains of land, and had gained the crown for his grandson, Phillip V of Spain. He also built fortresses around the country and reshaped the French economy. Peter the Great succeeded in modernizing and westernizing Russia. By his death, Russia was considered much more of a leading state in Europe than ever before. He modernized the army, created a navy, and succeeded in centralizing the government.
In terms of war-making resources, the Union marginally outnumbered the Confederacy; the Union had more soldiers, bank capital, manufacturing output, iron, coal, fire arm production, warships, and naval officers. The Civil War thus looked as if it would be a joke because the many predicted that the war would only last one month due to the marginal differences in resources. However, after the First Battle at Bull Run, it was quickly discovered that the Confederacy would not submit so easily. In fact, they showed that they were very capable of victory, by successfully countering on the Union flank and giving them the upper hand in the battle . The Union was forced to retreat and at the same time, change up their strategy. Prior to the start of the war, the Secretary of the Navy felt that the best approach to the war was a blockade of Confederate ports. The Union defeat at Bull Run made his previous skeptics his supporters. Thus, the Anaconda Plan, to “suffocate Southern imports” was put into effect. One of the battles to establish the blockade was the Battle at Port Royal. Port Royal is the most significant battle of the war because it served as a moral victory, it changed the Confederate strategy, and it ultimately gave the Union control of the Atlantic coast which had a tremendous effect on the war.
and Serbia in 1914. It was transformed into a general European struggle by declaration of
Peter the Great had many goals during the time he ruled. One of his biggest goals was to modernize and westernize Russia. The main reason Peter the Great modernized Russia was because he did not want the country he ruled to be left vulnerable to expansionist powers in Europe. The powers were constantly at war, fighting to take over each other’...
The Art of War is a treatise written in Ancient China that discusses the most and least effective military strategies for successful warfare according to Sun Tzu, a military general whose existence is still debated to this day. While not every military commander in the history of warfare has read it, the strategies provided can be used as a way to assess said commanders and the effectiveness of their campaigns. In Sun Tzu 's own words, “The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!”1 This paper will discuss various iconic battles throughout history and how closely the leading commanders of each army followed the advice of Sun Tzu. Despite the fact that Sun Tzu lived hundreds of years before many of these battles took place, the
The Russian Revolution (1917) was a series of economic and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party.
The illustration of the atrocities of war shows the increase in battles and wars of the period. This coincides with the European m...
After their defeat in the Crimean war (1853-1856), Russia’s leaders realized they were falling behind much of Europe in terms of modernisation and industrialisation. Alexander II took control of the empire and made the first steps towards radically improving the country’s infrastructure. Transcontinental railways were built and the government strengthened Russia’s economy by promoting industrialisation with the construction of factory complexes throughout...