Battle of Narva

In 1700, Czar Peter I of Russia challenged the long-established Swedish domination of the Baltic in alliance with Denmark and Saxony-Poland-Lithuania. On November 30, 1700, the Swedish triumphed over the Russians in their first major engagement of the Great Northern War at Narva, Estonia.

After the Russians declared war on Sweden, they invaded Estonia and besieged Narva in September 1700. By November 1700, the Swedish king, Charles XII, had already forced Denmark out of the war with the aid of British and Dutch allies. He then transported his army to Estonia to face his remaining enemies. The Saxon-Polish-Lithuanian army had just withdrawn for the winter. This left the way clear for the Swedish army to relieve Narva, which the Russians were besieging, by surprising the Russian army, which was more than four times its size.

Crucially, the Swedish forces were well led and highly disciplined, whereas the Russians were comparatively poorly trained and often ineffectively led by foreign officers. Czar Peter had been leading his armies personally—but, shortly before the Swedish arrival, he had returned to Russia, leaving an experienced general, Charles Eugène de Croy, in command.

The Swedish army approached Narva on November 30 and quickly took advantage of a snowstorm that blew into the face of the Russian army. The Swedes attacked in two columns of foot and horse, too rapidly for the Russians to deploy their artillery. After a fierce struggle, the Russian cavalry on the left flank fled, and then their infantry on the right flank retreated. In the confused flight that followed, many Russians drowned while attempting to cross the Narva River, while other units mutinied and killed their officers. The remaining Russians, including the entirety of their artillery train, surrendered, and Croy was also captured. Narva had rid Sweden of any immediate Russian threat on its Baltic territory, but Charles XII was unable to follow up his victory with a decisive blow into Russia.

Charles instead turned to Poland to continue his attack on King Augustus’s allied forces. Charles spent much of the following decade subduing Poland, causing Augustus’s abdication in 1704, and invading Saxony. This afforded Peter the time to rebuild the Russian army, which inflicted a devastating defeating on Sweden at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, ending Sweden’s days as a major European power and heralding Russia’s supremacy in Eastern Europe.

Losses: Swedish, 2,000 of 8,000–11,000; Russian, 8,000–10,000 of 24,000–35,000.