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Battle of Narva (1700)
Encyclopedia
- For other Battles of Narva, see Battle of Narva (disambiguation)Battle of Narva (disambiguation)The following are famous battles that took place around Narva:* Battle of Narva , between Livonia and Russia, part of the Livonian War* Battle of Narva , between Sweden and Russia, part of the Livonian War...
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The Battle of Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
on 19 November 1700 (30 November, N.S.) was an early battle
Battle
Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...
in the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
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 northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
. A Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
relief army under Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
defeated a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n siege force three 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
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, instead, Charles XII turned southward to expel August the Strong from Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
and Poland-Lithuania
Poland-Lithuania
Poland–Lithuania can refer to:* Polish–Lithuanian union from 1385 until 1569* Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 until 1795See also: Polish-Lithuanian...
. Peter the Great took Narva in a second battle in 1704.
Prelude
During the 17th century, Russia was less advanced than the rest of Europe. This extended to their armed forces. Peter the Great of Russia was keen to expand his territory by conquering parts of Sweden's Baltic provinces. Russia made an allianceTreaty of Preobrazhenskoye
The Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye was negotiated by Johann Patkul and signed on November 22, 1699 in Preobrazhenskoye , a favoured residence of the tsar Peter the Great. It followed an informal meeting of Peter and Augustus at Rava in August 1698...
with Denmark-Norway and August the Strong, king of Poland-Lithuania
Poland-Lithuania
Poland–Lithuania can refer to:* Polish–Lithuanian union from 1385 until 1569* Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 until 1795See also: Polish-Lithuanian...
and elector of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
, to wage war against Sweden, whereupon all three countries attacked Sweden from several directions.
Charles XII, assisted by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and the Dutch Navy, first landed in Humlebaek north of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and forced Denmark-Norway to leave the alliance
Peace of Travendal
The Peace of Travendal was a peace treaty concluded during the Great Northern War on 8 or 18 August 1700 between the Swedish Empire, Denmark-Norway and Holstein-Gottorp in Traventhal....
in August 1700 (until 1709). He then moved part of the Swedish army across the Baltic Sea to Estonia where it was joined by Estonian and Finnish regiments of the Swedish army.
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, but they were still far from seasoned. Sweden, on the other hand, possessed a well-drilled and well-equipped army. Charles XII of Sweden had the most complete military force in northern Europe, even if it wasn't the biggest, and Peter envied its capabilities.
During November, Russian troops surrounded the Swedish city of Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
in Estonia (part of Sweden at the time), attempting to secure its surrender via siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
. A Saxon-Polish army commanded by August II and Steinau was outside Riga in Swedish Livonia. The Saxon-Polish army however had gone into winter camp south of the river Daugava so Charles XII decided to deal with the more immediate Russian threat against Narva.
King Charles moved to relieve the city and push Peter's forces back into Russia.
The battle
On 19 (OSOld Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
) or 30 (NS
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
) November 1700 (20 November in the Swedish transitional calendar
Swedish calendar
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...
), Charles XII positioned his 8,000 men (another 2,500 men were garrisoned in the city and would also take part in the battle at a later stage) opposite the besieging Russian army of about 33,000 to 35,000 troops.
The Swedish army was commanded personally by Charles XII, assisted by General Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld
Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld
Count Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld was a Swedish Field Marshal under the command of King Charles XII of Sweden. Despite being choleric and irritable, Rehnskiöld's military skills made him the chief military advisor and second-in-command to King Charles and earned him the epithet the "Parmenio of the...
. The Russian forces were commanded by Tsar Peter and Charles Eugène de Croy
Charles Eugène de Croÿ
Charles Eugène de Croÿ was a field marshal and duke from the House of Croÿ.His father was Jacques Philippe de Croÿ-Roeulx , a descendant of Jean III of Croy-Roeulx, son of Antoine le Grand....
. Claiming important domestic events in Russia to which he was required to attend, Peter had left Narva just days before and was therefore not present during the actual fighting. He trusted that his commanders would draw success from the battle and presumed that Charles would not immediately attack his well fortified forces of superior number. Some interpretations view his flight from Narva days before the battle an act of cowardice; most of Europe mocked the Tsar after the battle for his departure. 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 overall losses of 6,000 men and the loss of 145 guns. The Russians remaining in Narva surrendered.
The Russian surrender brought to Charles XII's army all of Peter's cannons, muskets and military supplies. This left Russia's remaining armed forces with essentially no equipment. If Sweden, or any other aggressor, had invaded Russia immediately after Narva, Peter would have been almost powerless to stop them. However, the tactical Swedish victory also contained the seed of the future strategical defeat. After Narva, Charles XII became convinced that he knocked the Russians out of the war for a long time and heavily underestimated them until the battle of Poltava
Battle of Poltava
The Battle of Poltava on 27 June 1709 was the decisive victory of Peter I of Russia over the Swedish forces under Field Marshal Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld in one of the battles of the Great Northern War. It is widely believed to have been the beginning of Sweden's decline as a Great Power; the...
. Peter, at the same time, learned the lesson of Narva and initiated a series of efficient military reforms.
Russian Memorial
In 1900, 200 years after the battle of Narva, the PreobrazhenskyPreobrazhensky regiment
The Preobrazhensky Regiment was one of the oldest and elite regiments of the Russian army. Along with the Semenovsky regiment also served as a gendarmie unit for the state Secret Chancellery in the 18th century, headed by the Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky.It was formed by Peter the Great in the late...
and Semyonovsky regiments initiated the construction of a memorial to the Russian soldiers who had fallen in the battle of Narva. The memorial consists of a granite pedestal with a cross on top, placed on a mound of earth. The inscription says: "Our heroic ancestors who fell in November 1700."
Victory Monument
On November 20, 2000, the Swedish Minister for Foreign AffairsMinister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is the foreign minister of Sweden and the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.The office was instituted in 1809 as a result of the constitutional Instrument of Government promulgated in the same year. Until 1876 the office was called Prime Minister for Foreign...
, Lena Hjelm Wallén inaugurated the new memorial/monument to celebrate the victory. It was erected with economic contribution from the Swedish Institute
Swedish Institute
The Swedish Institute is a Swedish government agency with the responsibility to spread information about Sweden outside of Sweden. It exists to promote Swedish interests, and to organise exchanges with other countries in different areas of public life, in particular in the spheres of culture,...
, and was a replacement for an older memorial erected in 1936, that disappeared during the Second world war. The monument is in the shape of a Swedish Lion, standing on a pedestal of granite. On the pedestal it says in Latin MDCC (1700) and Svecia Memor (Sweden Remembers].
Second battle
Four years after the first battle of NarvaNarva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
, Tsar Peter marched again in an attempt to capture Narva. Peter marched with 45,000 men. The garrison of Narva was under the Commandant Major-General Henning Rudolf Horn af Ranzien and consisted of 3,800 infantry and 1,300 cavalry. The Russians made a three-fronted attack and after a long battle they took Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
. General Horn, several officers and a large number of Swedish soldiers were captured, with about 3,200 casualties while the Russians lost over 10 000 men during the siege and the battle.