Why did the Swedes lose the battle of Poltava? The nature against the Swedish army during the campaigns of 1708 and 1709
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/1644-857X.19.01.03Keywords:
Charles XII, Great Northern War, campaigns of 1708 and 1709, expedition to Moscow, battle of Poltava, weather and natural conditionsAbstract
The article presents the course of actions undertaken by the Swedish army in the years 1708 and 1709. Both campaigns were directed against Russia, and the strategic goal outlined by the ruler of Sweden – Charles XII was to seize Moscow. At the end of 1708, however, the Swedish army was not in the foreground of the tsar’s capital, but in Ukraine, on the left bank of Dnepr. The following year the Swedes fought the battle of Poltava, which ended with their defeat. The author tries to answer the question, why did this happen? When discussing the path of Charles XII to the Poltava battlefield, he pays attention primarily to natural and objective factors (weather, surface shape, natural obstacles etc.) on which the King of Sweden had no influence. In the author’s opinion, these was this factors that largely influenced the fact that the Swedish army stood to the battle of Poltava significantly weakened and with a very little chance to win.
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