The Battle of Narva is one of the most noteworthychronicle the battles of Peter I. In fact, this was the first major battle of the young Russian state. And although it ended quite unsuccessfully for both Russia and Peter I, the significance of this battle can not be overestimated. It showed all the weak points of the Russian army and posed many unpleasant questions about weapons and logistics. The subsequent resolution of these problems strengthened the army, making it one of the most victorious at the time. And the beginning of this was laid by the battle of Narva. Briefly about this event, let's try to tell in our article.
The beginning of the Russian-Swedish confrontation can beconsider the conflict that erupted over the conclusion of the thirty-year Turkish world. The process of concluding this agreement could be thwarted because of the strong Swedish resistance. Learning about such opposition, the king ordered to expel the Swedish ambassador Knipper-Kronu from Moscow, and his representative in Sweden ordered to declare war on this kingdom. At the same time, Peter I agreed to finish the business with peace, provided that the Swedes would give him the Narva fortress.
Charles XII found such treatment outrageous andtook countermeasures. At his behest, all the property of the Russian embassy was confiscated, and all representatives were arrested. In addition, the King of Sweden ordered to arrest the property of Russian merchants, and they themselves to use for hard work. Almost all of them died in captivity and poverty. Carl agreed to war.
Peter I found this situation unacceptable.However, he allowed all Swedes to leave Russia and did not arrest their property. Thus began the Northern War. The Battle of Narva was one of the first episodes of this conflict.
Trying to break through to the shores of the Baltic, the Russianstroops from August 1700 led the siege of Narva. Under the Swedish fortress, six regiments of the Novgorod governor Prince Trubetskoi were sent, in addition, to strengthen the position of the Russian troops directly under Narva, the cavalry of Count Golovin and the other regiments of his division were redeployed. The fortress was subjected to numerous bombardments. which several times led to serious fires. The Russians did not rush to storm the well-defended walls, hoping for an early surrender of Narva.
But soon they felt the lack ofgunpowder, shells, the delivery of provisions deteriorated, the smell of treason. One of the captains who had Swedish roots, broke the oath and went over to the side of the enemy. The king, in order to avoid the recurrence of such cases, dismissed all foreigners who occupied command posts in the reserve, and sent them into the interior of Russia, rewarding them with ranks. November 18, Peter I personally went to Novgorod to track the delivery of military supplies and supplies. The continuation of the siege was entrusted to the Duke de Croix and Prince Ya. F. Dolgorukov.
It should be noted that the Battle of Narva in 1700was designed for active offensive actions - the Russian troops occupied positions suitable only for active retreat, but not for defense. The advanced units of the Petrine divisions were stretched along a thin line nearly seven kilometers long. There was no artillery in its place too, because of the acute shortage of shells, it did not hurry to occupy its positions near the bastions of Narva.
Taking advantage of the absence of the king, the Swedish troops,covered with a blizzard and fog, set off for the offensive. Charles XII created two shock groups, which managed to break through the Russian defenses in the center and on one of the flanks. A decisive offensive embarrassed the Russians: many foreign officers of the Petrine troops, led by de Croix, moved to the enemy's ranks.
The Russians retreated ...A large number of people and military equipment ran erratically to the dilapidated bridge on the Narva River. Under an exorbitant heaviness, the bridge collapsed, drowning a lot of people under its wreckage. Seeing the general flight, the cavalry boyar Sheremetev, who occupied the rearguard of the Russian positions, succumbed to a general panic and began to force Narva to swim.
Only thanks to the fortitude and courage of the twoindividual regiments - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky - the offensive of the Swedes managed to be blocked. They stopped panic and successfully repulsed the onslaught of the royal troops. The remnants of the remaining Russian units gradually joined the surviving regiments. Several times Charles XII personally drove the Swedes to attack, but each time he had to retreat. With the coming of night, military actions subsided. Negotiations began.
The battle of Narva ended with the defeat of the Russians,but the backbone of the army survived. Despite the difficult situation of Peter's troops, Charles XII was not sure of the unconditional victory of the Swedes, therefore he accepted the terms of the peace treaty. Opponents concluded an agreement according to which Russian troops were allowed to retreat.
The battle of Narva showed all the backwardness of the Russianarmy, its weak experience even before a few enemy troops. In the battle of 1700 on the side of the Swedes fought only about 18 thousand people against the thirty-five thousandth Russian army. Lack of coordination, weak logistics, poor training and obsolete weapons are the main reasons for the defeat of Narva. After analyzing the reasons, Peter I concentrated his efforts on combined arms training, and sent the best of his generals to study military affairs abroad. One of the priority tasks was the rearmament of the army with the latest examples of military equipment. A few years later, the military reforms of Peter I led to the fact that the Russian army has become one of the strongest in Europe.
