Located in northern Europe, the Baltic Sea is a long and narrow sea area between Scandinavia Peninsula and the plains of Eastern Europe and Central Europe, bordering Botswana Bay in the north, gulf of riga in the south and Finland Bay in the east. There are many rivers and ports along the coast. The west passes through three narrow straits in Denmark (Earl Strait, Big Bert Strait and Little Bert Strait) and leads to Western Europe and Atlantic Ocean via the North Sea. Since the Middle Ages, it has been an important trade route between Nordic countries, continental European countries and Asia. In addition to trade and shipping, the Baltic Sea is also the traffic artery from northern Europe to the Atlantic Ocean, and its strategic position is also very important. It is the shortest route from Russia to the Atlantic Ocean and the northern gateway from the sea to China and Western Europe. When the Black Sea was still an inland sea of Turkey, the Baltic Sea was also the only sea passage for Russia to Europe.
Capturing the Baltic Sea estuary is a long-planned plan of Tsarist Russia. Tsar Ivan IV (in the reign of 1533- 1584) launched the Livonia War for twenty-five years (1558- 1583) in order to capture the Baltic Sea, but it did not achieve its goal. The war ended in the defeat of Russia.
A century later, Peter I picked up the plan of the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean again, and took it as the basic policy of foreign expansion. However, it was not so easy for Peter I to capture the Baltic Sea. At that time, Sweden controlled most of the Baltic coast. It has an elite navy and army, and a strong force on the Baltic coast. Followed by Denmark and Poland. Although Denmark and Sweden have weakened their strength in the Nordic hegemony, they are still quite strong, especially the navy, which controls the Oresund Strait and the Bert Strait. Poland also has certain strength.
Russia obviously cannot defeat Sweden, Denmark and Poland at the same time. So he made full use of the territorial disputes and commercial interests of Denmark, Poland and Sweden at that time, and wooed them successively in 1699 to form an anti-Sweden? Northern alliance? . In order to avoid fighting on two fronts, Russia signed the Treaty of Constantinople with Turkey in July 1700, which lifted the superiority of backward thinking. Then, Peter I couldn't wait to declare war on Sweden. The Northern War "(1700- 172 1) finally broke out.
At the beginning of the war, the Northern Alliance? King Carl XII of Sweden, who was at a disadvantage, suddenly sent troops south and landed in Copenhagen, forcing Denmark to withdraw from the war. Poland's attack on Riga occupied by Sweden also failed. The Russian main force attacked Narwa, the Swedish fortress on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, and fell into a tight encirclement. The reinforcements led by Carl XII were defeated and almost wiped out.
Thirty-five thousand soldiers dropped their helmets and fled in panic. All the officers were captured and the artillery units were completely destroyed. After the Battle of Narwa, Sweden misjudged the situation, believing that the main force of the Russian army had been eliminated, unable to fight any more, failed to seize the pursuit of fighter planes, and led the main force to attack Poland. But Peter I didn't give up his ambition of expansion because of the fiasco. He brought the whole national economy into the track of war and enthusiastically developed military industry, near the battlefield and in the Urals.
Some metallurgical factories and arsenals have been established in the mining area to produce pig iron and wrought iron, cannons and shells. In order to speed up the pace of rebuilding the artillery regiment, it even ordered every three churches to make a bronze bell for casting cannons. In just one year, 300 new cannons were cast. At the same time, he also used a lot of wealth to build a navy and set up naval and artillery schools.
While making various military preparations, Peter I has been waiting for the opportunity to finally enter the Baltic Sea. 170 1 At the end of the year, Russia used the war between King Carl XII of Sweden and Poland to attack the Swedish fortress on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. 1702 captured Notteborg on the south bank of Lake Ladoga in autumn, and then went down neva river. 1703 occupied Nisan Sandburg in spring.
In order to finally defeat Sweden and gain control of the Baltic Sea, Peter I established the Svell Shipyard on the bank of Lake Ladoga in 1703. In August of the same year, the first cruiser of the Russian Baltic Fleet? Flag? Launch completed on the 8 th. Since then, the Russian Baltic fleet has begun to appear.
1704, Russian troops besieged and occupied Narwa again. At the same time, fortresses are being built along neva river, and large-scale construction is also being carried out near Ningshchinsburg. Fort Peter Paul is being built, which is the predecessor of Petersburg.
1706 In September, King Carl XII of Sweden defeated Poland and forced it to give up its alliance with Russia. Sweden can oppose Russia. 1708, Sweden went to Ukraine. Due to strategic mistakes, Sweden was placed in a passive position. In September, near Yacun, leissner, Russian troops defeated Swedish reinforcements who were transporting food, ammunition and other munitions, and intercepted the axle load of thousands of carts, so that Sweden could not get reinforcements. 1709 June, the Russian army fought a decisive battle with the Swedish army in poltava and defeated Carl XII's army. Sweden lost its elite troops in this decisive battle, and its land advantage was transferred to Russia.
17 13, the Russian army defeated the Swedish army in Szczecin at the mouth of the Oder River. At the same time, they occupied helsingborg (now Helsinki) and Yabo (now Turku) on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland. As a result, Russia won a large territory along the Baltic Sea from Sweden, thus gaining absolute advantage on land and then turning to the sea offensive.
17 14 In July, the Russian Navy and the Swedish Navy fought a decisive battle at sea in the Hangut Strait in the Baltic Sea (in the coastal area of Hanko, Finland today). Because of this fierce battle, the Swedish fleet was defeated. 1720, the Russian army defeated the Swedish navy again near Graham, and then landed on the Swedish coast. Under the pressure of Russian Enemy at the Gates, the Swedish government signed a peace treaty in Nista, Finland in September 172 1 year, accepted the conditions proposed by Russia, and ended the 2 1 year? Northern War? . Russia seized the coastal area of the Gulf of Finland and some areas east of the Gulf of Finland and west of Lake Ladoga from Sweden, and a large area of land in ingrid, Ashland and Rivland was allocated to Russia. From (1558- 1583)25 years? Livonia War? , plus 2 1 year? Northern War? Finally, in 172 1 year, the Baltic Sea opened to sea. The Russians persevered, and it took 163 years to fight for 46 years. This persistence and willfulness is really unacceptable!
Northern War? Victory enabled Russia to realize its ambition to seize the Baltic Sea and lead to Western Europe since Ivan IV? The window was finally opened, which brought great benefits to the noble landlords and big businessmen in Russia. From then on, czarist Russia? From a simple landlocked country to a coastal empire? . Russia has also replaced Sweden as the overlord of Northern Europe and started to compete for world hegemony on the international stage.