What Was The Turning Point Of The Great Northern War

The Great Northern War was the turning point in the politics of Northern Europe, a result of the great territorial and military advances made by Russia. Russian victory, during the war, led to her superiority in Northwestern Europe, while Swedish defeat effectively ended her imperial ambitions. While blame cannot be placed on any one singular event, arguably the time allowed by Charles XII’s focus on Augustus II allowed Russia to revitalize her military, thereby enabling Russian success in the war.
The Great Northern War took place between Russia along with her co-belligerents (Denmark-Norway and Saxony) and Sweden. Denmark-Norway opened the first front of the war on March 1700, directing her first attack against Swedish ally, Holstein-Gottorp

Prior to his reign, much of the Russia’s military equipment was imported from abroad, with minor supplements by local gunsmiths . As a result, Russia’s armies became dependent on foreign expertise, leading to oftentimes inadequate military supplies, and overall inconsistency of gun imports. In order to combat this reliance and accordingly address the weakness of Russia’s forces, Peter led an armaments revolution at home, drastically increasing domestic production of guns and ammunitions . Whereas prior to this development, Russia relied on her often volatile (and sometimes hostile) neighbors, she could now boast that most military goods were domestically produced by 1710. In addition, Russia now had a military- oriented industrial complex which enabled her to endure prolonged periods of war without fear of weapons embargos. Other advancements that were made by the Russians, during the relatively peaceful period enabled by Charles XII’s focus on Augustus II, were in the field of artillery. Russia had lost nearly all of her cannons, both field artillery and siege mortars, at Narva, effectively crippling her fighting capabilities. It was thus necessary to start from essentially zero, leading to a massive production effort in the foundries. The great alacrity and effective use of time displayed by Peter in this extensive endeavor is demonstrated by his time- table; even before Charles XII had crossed the Dvina river (thereby invading Poland) in July, 1701 , the first cannons had already been delivered . The melting of church bells (a source of already refined metal), the fate of around a quarter, to make cannons also remains indicative of this frenzied undertaking . The enormous enterprises, both the melting of bells and manufacture of weapons, paid off in full, leading to the production of 300 new cannons by the end of 1701 . The