The Decisive Battles of World History

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began to deploy in a line facing them. Now 22,000 fresh Russian

troops began to march forward against the thin line of tired Swedish

infantry, who numbered no more than 4,000.

x The two lines began about 800 meters apart. As the range decreased

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gaps in the Swedish line. At 200 meters, the Russian cannons

switched from solid balls to grapeshot and scrap metal that spewed

a storm of lethal fragments into the Swedish ranks.

x Finally, at 50 meters, the Russian infantry, four ranks deep, lowered

their muskets and unleashed a colossal volley. All this time, the

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discharged their muskets in one volley, and charged.

x Astonishingly, on the Swedish right, the thin, ragged line of infantry

actually began to force back the thicker Russian formation. On the

left, however, the line began to falter. The longer Russian line now

closed around the Swedes, trapping and attacking them from three

sides. Under this pressure, the Swedish charge faltered, and the

battle was transformed into a slaughter.

Outcomes

x The Battle of Poltava marked the end of the Swedish Empire and of

Sweden’s role as a great military power. The state that had looked

poised to establish a northern empire under a succession of dynamic

leaders was now reduced to a relatively minor polity.

x Conversely, Poltava also marked the rise of Russia as an important

international power that would continue to play a major role in

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Peter’s position and enabled him to complete his process of

modernizing Russia and incorporating it into the European

economic and political sphere.