The Decisive Battles of World History

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sensed an opportunity to take advantage of the inexperience and

youth of the new monarch. The result was the Great Northern War:

Denmark invaded Schleswig-Holstein, Poland attacked Riga, and

the Russians invaded Livonia.

x Unfortunately for them, Charles XII turned out to be a military

leader fully as talented as his ancestors. Now 18, he personally

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in Poland that lasted several years and produced at least six

major victories.

x Charles XII’s personal role model was Alexander the Great. Well

aware that Alexander had conquered a vast eastern empire with a

relatively small army, Charles now determined to invade Russia

and capture Moscow. The army with which Charles proposed to do

this numbered around 40,000. On September 7, 1707, Charles and

his forces crossed the Oder

River into Poland.

x His opponent was another

young, determined ruler:

Peter I of Russia, who came

to the throne determined

to change Russia’s feudal

economic and social

structure. He was fascinated

by technology and had

traveled extensively in

Western Europe, eagerly

absorbing the most

sophisticated cultural and

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the age.

x One of Peter’s desires was

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Peter the Great is known for

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even worked incognito in an English

shipyard to learn techniques for

constructing warships.

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