"Let us begin with this evident fact: Muscovy does not belong at all to Europe, but to Asia. It follows that judging Muscovy and the Muscovites by our European standards is a mistake to be avoided."-gonzague de reynold, 19501 In methodological terms, one should de-Europeanise any analysis of Muscovy policy.- thomas gomart, 20062 "
@@michealkelly1414 ivan, K. Marx: Thus the "russia" of the Normans disappeared completely from the scene and those feeble vestiges which persisted were obliterated by the terrifying apparition of Genghis Khan. The origin of Moscovy lies in the bloody degradation of Mongolian slavery and not in the rude heroism of the Norman epoch. Modern "russia" is nothing but a transfigured Moscovy
Hello kings and generals, when are you going to make the whole 30 years war into a 2 hours documentary? It s one of the most interesting periods in history
Charles is a total war player. He wins in battle, gets favourable treaties, decline so he can have the entire pie, waltz deep into enemy lands so he can take significant places only to lose supplies and get defeated and lose his entire army. Been there. If only he could exit and load.
@@walrus1074 Actually, I read somewhere that Peter had a talent for remembering sudden engagements elsewhere before battles broke out, if you catch my drift. Witness Narva.
@@Cheka__ I believe Peter was trying to convey his opinion that Charles sought to become as great a conqueror as Alexander the Great. If you know anything about Alexander, you’ll know that one of his greatest achievements and probably the thing he’s remembered for most was the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and the dethroning of it’s King; Darius III. With that context, it seems fair that Peter also spoke in warning; If Sweden dared enter conflict with Russia, Charles would not defeat Peter the way Alexander had defeated Darius. And he did not.
The Great Northern War is such a huge topic and this video handled it with ease. Shows the amount of time put into these videos... and for free. Mind blowing.
This gives me flashbacks to going to student parties in Finland and inevitably being trapped in a long conversation with a drunk Finnish dude giving me the complete history of the Great Northern War. Happens almost every time.
I guess that's better than listening to some drunk college student telling you all about the stupid crap they did in high school. More interesting anyway. The comment reminds me of a drunken conversation I had as an American student visiting London in 1979 when I loudly proclaimed, "If it wasn't for America, you'd all be speaking German!" LOL! Back when I was a young dumbass Long before I became an old fool
@@lux2132 I dunno. I regonize it from sweden aswell. Thats why i loled- always some drunk dude that is specialist on ww2 or other war, and insist on talking with you. Sitting in the kitchen, 'trapped' at some party and listening to the dude going on and on. Meanwhile the most amazing bulbous asses and blond females come an pick something for thier beverage or whatever. The historian completely impervious to anything feminie or any sensous appeal. It's all about war and history.
@@jonber9411 I think I feel the same since I am a military history aficionado, however, I do not see me talking about that kind of stuff while drunk, though I can see it possible from others lol and given the importance of Finland to Sweden and Russia, I can see it happening.
After seeing about 1.5 hours of this episode, I am struck at how much King Charles XII resembled Napoleon. Very haughty, extremely capable, preternaturally gifted at battlefield tactics, very good at picking excellent men to lead his smaller armies (akin to Napoleon's marshals), this man was a beast. Unfortunately, like Napoleon, King Charles XII had one massive weakness--the inability to identify when he was weak, to call it quits and retreat to let his men rest. Napoleon also had this inability to see the bigger picture and just fold for his sake and the sake of his men. Thus Peter the Great struck upon this Achilles' heel at 1:21:54--the scorched earth tactics that would starve Charles XII's troops into submission and defeat. It totally worked. I bet in 1812 Czar Alexander I had read about these battlefield tactics from Peter the Great's Northern War and realized that he could vanquish Napoleon and his giant Grand Armee in the same way. And it worked too. Precisely because Napoleon just didn't know when to call it quits and retreat with his great Russian invasion. Just like King Charles XII roughly 100 years earlier.
Underrated comment. I agree with you entirely. As with Żółkiewicz, who did conquer Moscow in 1611, the strategy was different which allowed the polish cavalrymen to obtain supplies not only from nearbye but from the surrounding fortresses which have been taken prior. Smoleńsk will always be important in relation of Poland and Russia as those who control it, control the buffer lands of white ruthenia.
Yeah charles could probably have won or at least reach a benifitial peace treaty if he had been smarter with his resources. Still Charles didn’t have any allies wich would have given him better chances. Remember Sweden defeated russias allies denmark, Poland and Saxony with victory after victory on the battlefield while mostly outnumbered before they where ultimately defeated at Poltava. I think this is what tzar Peter ment with the reference to Alexander the great of Macedon.
Did your Charles XII reform the entire national legal system? Did he reform agriculture across the whole spectrum of farming? Did he establish pensions for his injured soldiers? Did he establish FREE nationwide schooling for ALL children from 6 to 11 years old? Did he establish FREE hospitals across the whole nation? Did he establish pensions for the whole country after it was noticed how grateful the soldiers were? Did he establish FREE Almhouses for people too old to work? Did he improve canals and rivers to make them navigable, and also provide clean water to cities? Did he build a semaphore system that reduced message times down from two weeks to three hours? NO THE RUS CZAR DID NOT. "Napoleon also had this inability to see the bigger picture and just fold for his sake and the sake of his men." Can you identify, for me, the incident you are referring to? I can then compare your note to the book, that is used at Saint Cyr and Sandhurst to teach future officers, and find out if you have been loose in your identification.
This comment isn’t necessarily related to this video, but I was wondering if you could do a video about how armies in general (I am thinking specifically Roman legions since that is my favorite period) were levied, how they wintered, and how their supply lines/trains operated. These aspects of battle and campaigns are very often mentioned, almost in every single video, but, to my knowledge, and I may be wrong, I haven’t seen a video regarding them. There are similar ones like how the legions built their forts which is very interesting though. I have always been curious about how such large armies could be levied so quickly, sustained through their supply trains and throughout long stays in lands whose food stores weren’t expecting such a large shock in terms of population increase so quickly due to armies stationed there.
If you’re thoroughly interested in these overlooked parts of wars (and especially interested in the Roman war machine), then “The Logistics of the Roman Army at War” is a thorough, detailed, and reliable book. It dwelves into food, marching rates, supply train contents, non-combatants, foraging, depots, roads, winter bases, camping, etc.
that is actually a pretty good idea iv'e always wanted to know the different ways empires supplied their armies people like the ottomans mongls perisans romans arabs chinese
I know on offensive campaigns they brought basic provisions but expected to either forage, buy or raid supplies to further extend they're campaigns - makes sense why scorched earth was so effective against so many different armies
@@adityajadhav6008 that is awesome! Thank you! I was actually looking for a book like that the other day! Did not end up finding the one you mentioned. Will look again!
He was a great general and a terrible politician. Too obsessed with military glory to do what was the smart move and get a very, very favourable peace and time to recover.
@@legendarylimits564 not to mention, it might have even impacted his thought process when it came to warfare. Carolean tactics are today viewed as being very much the same/similar natured as Napoleonic, in the sense that they were based around physically and psychologically overwhelming the enemy. This was done so as to avoid Casulties, as even a victory through conventional tactics would have costed them (the Swedish) too many men and resources. A higher population would have only made the resource issue worse, they would have been like the Russians
@@Wustenfuchs109 real-life example is Hannibal (but lowkey it was not his fault, he actually made a good effort with local Italians to get those on his side, simply got minimal/no support from his empire due to politics, rivals of the Barcid family actually wanted him to fail to gain control over Spain which was like private estate of Barcid family)
*Beginning of the war:* 10:26 Landing at Humlebæk (1700) *Allied invasions of the Swedish Baltic Dominions [Estonia, Ingria, and Livonia]:* 14:50 Battle of Narva (1700) 25:15 Crossing of the Düna (1701) 42:53 Battle of Erastfer (1702) 46:36 Fall of Nöteborg (1702) 54:03 Fall of Narva (1704) *Swedish invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth:* 33:40 Battle of Kliszów (1702) 1:02:16 Battle of Fraustadt (1706) 1:10:20 Battle of Kalisz (1706) *Charles XII's Russian campaign:* 1:18:31 Battle of Holowczyn (1708) 1:24:37 Battle of Lesnaya (1708) 1:31:40 Siege of Poltava (1709) 1:32:59 Battle of Poltava (1709) *Allied invasions of western Sweden, eastern Sweden [Finland], and Swedish Pomerania:* 1:45:45 Battle of Helsingborg (1710) 1:50:03 Fall of Viborg (1710) 1:57:34 Battle of Gadebusch (1712) 2:08:08 Battle of Pälkäne (1713) 2:14:37 Battle of Gangut (1714)
A 2 hour documentary on a subject that I know barely about? Well, sign me up! These are very well made, and I can't even think how much effort goes into these, so good job.
The history of the Swedish empire is basically a long grind of punching way above your weight. Amazing how much they could do with those terrible odds.
As an American I've learned nothing of significance about European history in school, so videos like this are a big deal to me. I appreciate them and thank you. I don't know how much editing goes into a 2+hour video because I'm not a content provider, but I assume it's a lot!
It's good that you take your education into your own hands. The only one who loses by expecting to be taught rather than actively educating oneself is ourselves
In fairness, though, if you are an American who doesn’t have an intention of traveling to Europe, I can see why this would be skipped in your education, at least as a grade schooler. There’s just not a lot about this conflict that really explains much about American history or our culture. Obviously, if you go on to college and study more about European history or military history, this probably should come up, but at this point we’re talking about some pretty niche topics for Americans.
Hay I just watched this entire 2 hour video and honestly this was completely enthralling, excellent writing and commentary and the block blocked animations amusing, just thought I’d let whoever created this video know, you’re amazing, congratulations on such an amazing video, new patreon supporter incoming! 💖
This is all very interesting and educational but what it doesn't stress enough is that most of it neglects to take into account that no NATO attacks on Russia is possible 😳 Russia would turn Finland and Sweden capitals into elephant dust in 5 minutes. Nuclear weapons will save us from WW3.
Karl XII is probably one of the biggest real life examples of “pride comes before the fall,” in history. A brilliant tactical mind with the charisma and drive to back it up. Yet at every turn after his early successes and especially when things started to go bad, he screwed himself over due to his own stubbornness and pride. From refusing favorable peace deals, to refusing treatment for his foot wound, to refusing the INCREDIBLY fortuitous Ottoman offers to get him safe passage home, and then AGAIN refusing the much needed potential Prussian alliance because he didn’t want to give up one rinky dink fortress town that was already surrounded by Prussian territory anyway. He got more second chances than frankly a lot of other people, and he threw them ALL away, and ended up with nothing in the end.
@@danielchauvin9317 Waay worse than Napoleon, because at least Napoleon often tried to make peace when he could. It was usually Coalition members breaking the peace.
I LOL'ed out loud during that scene of Peter giving the same sword that he had gifted Augustus before back to him! Such a burn!!! Peter was an absolute lad
It’s incredible how many parallels in history we see in this conflict. There’s the obvious one of Charles foreshadowing the fates of Napoleon and Hitler (spectacular early victories that went to his head, followed by a disaster in the Russian winter). Also I’m amazed how much the final brave but hopeless Swedish charge at Poltava echoes what would happen a century and a half later on Cemetery Ridge. Not to mention the numerous times both before and after this war when an army with superior technology/tactics/generalship is defeated by an enemy who can simply afford to take heavy losses, then raise a new army and try again.
Well, Russia is big, but they win not just because of that, but because of their own saying "we're getting f*cked, but we become stronger". So, getting stronger under pressure, eventually becoming stronger than the thing pushing them.
Russia's rise to power came by a war against a formidable neighbour. I found that really interesting because it is very similar to the rise of the Tang dynasty in making China the most powerful empire in ancient time - and the war that set the rise of the Tang, was also against the formidable Goguryeo Kingdom. I love that chapter.
It seems like a likely scenario depending on many factors. In a way it seems more likely than not unless a third party swoops in and levels both sides.
I appreciate your work with the battling details, the strategic and tactical analysis of every battle and with these deep conjuncture of factors analysed regarding the Great Northern War and how Russia managed to gain their power as a Eastern and Nordic juggernaut. I would like also to add some of your thoughts regarding how it would have been better managed the entire operations and strategic improvement on each side as a conclusion. Keep up the good work!
As a Urkrainian I just knew that Karl the 12th made it somehow to Poltava to join with Mazepa, but I never knew what preceeded to it. Thanks for this great series !
Yeah, when I learned that such a famous battle was that far into the middle of Ukraine, I thought, “how could a Swedish monarch end up all the way over here without actually conquering any of the territory in between?”
It's been 7 years since I started watching you, and it really isn't fair that throughout a near-decade, a pandemic, and so many experiences with things that have been genuinely amazing, things haven't changed a bit.
The Polish deluge definitely deserves its own hours-long video. Poland at one point was entirely occupied by foreign forces, and by the end of the conflict, was able to recover most of them. The deluge also marks the beginning of four ways battle over modern day Ukraine between Poland Russia Ottoman and Ukraine. Plus, Polish failed attempts to centralize its political system is very poignant.
The difference was in the Swedish Monarchs - if it had Been Gustav Adolphus with his religious tolerance - Sweden would have conquered Poland, but the attempt to force Lutheranism on the Polish people turned into a conflict against the Polish people and was the ultimate cause of its failure,
@@johnnydavis5896 And the Poles made the same mistake back in 1609. They managed to install a Polish king in Russia but insisted he'd remain Catholic. It caused a popular uprising that finally expelled the Poles from Russia.
@@dddevchonka But in the end, the failure of the Swedish Empire really boils down to the problem that no monarch ever lived up to the principles of Gustav Adolphus.
The skill and level of organization of the Swedish army was impressive. Again and again they were able to defeat numerically superior enemies. One of the best - if not the best - army in the world at the time.
Best army is one thing, but fighting literally everyone around you instead of making some friends or even NAPs is a stupid move on a strategic scale. especially if you're the smallest player. You can't win everytime you're outnumbered, your strenghts will be inevitably blunted given enough opportunities.
@@freddekl1102Sweden did have allies. They didnt work like they do in EU4, allies defend and attack with whatever resources they can spare as long as it gives some proportional value in return. English and dutch ships helped in securing a quick and decisive victory against the danes. Regional allies in different theatres helped bolster their numbers. The big problem for sweden was timing. Considering they were attacked by a coalition there was no way of organizing a meaningful defense from allied nations. Western maritime nations had no interest in helping sweden beyond securing peace with denmark meanwhile they had an interest in keeping the straits split between sweden and denmark seeing as a monopoly on it was detrimental for trade. The only meaningful and viable ally against russia was the ottoman empire and even there the timing was off seeing as the start of the war hinged on russia making peace with them. The best alt history route would probably have been for sweden to accept peace in exchange for letting russia have st Petersburg after defeating augustus and then consolidating alliances for a second round.
Thank you for bringing up the The Great Wrath that happened in Finland. For the population that barely numbered 500,000 at that time the Great Northern War had a devastating affect on Finland.
I live in Helsingborg, right across from where sweden landed in the first invasion of denmark. And innour town square the is a giant statue of Magnus Stenbock placed so that the danes on the other side of the straight can see it. Like a big insult :D
Excellent video. Might I suggest periodic reviews of each year/campaign to give a brief review of the map showing the major battles and territorial seizures. Such long involved conflicts are extremely complex and reviews would help the viewer to keep events in context. Kings and Generals has provided the finest quality and greatest depth of historical material for which you have my eternal gratitude. Living on disability sadly does not allow one to give financial support.
Hey David, the comment in itself is all the support we need from you. Wish you the very best! Joey is correct. Doing that is technically possible, but wouldn't be enjoyable to watch.
Charles XII was shot some 150 meters from the walls of Fredriksten. It was a perfect hit from a little more than 90 degree angle to the side of the head. The bullet went slightly upwards. It looks more consistent with one of his own blindsiding him and shooting him than with a lucky shot from the fortress.
Absolutely amazing video yet again guys, you have a real talent in the art of presentation and I for one massively appreciate all the efforts that go into the making of these... The level of information and the way that it is displayed and described really sucks me in, before I know it, hours have past and I'm disappointed that it's ended.... Love the work and please never stop! Acey Lust
I really love to study this part of history (Since I am a Swede myself), and this is really nice to have so you can more easily visualize what happened. Sure, there are some mistakes here and there, but none that are super important overall (for example, you seem to have called all infantry in the swedish army "Grenadiers" when they used a mix of musketeers, pikemen and a few grenadiers). Good job!
@Ucantpvp During the Battle of Narva section he said that Swedens army was comprised of 5500 grenadiers. 1/3 of the infantry was pikemen and 2/3 was a mix of musketeers and grenadiers, where about 1/10 was a grenadier and 9/10 was a musketeer. So no, there wasn't 5500 grenadiers, there were about 370 grenadiers, 1830 pikemen and 3300 musketeers (If we go by the 5500 amount, some sources claim that the swedish infantry was comprised of up to around 5900 soldiers).
I just started a campaign as Russia in empire tw, it started out quite similarly to this and now I'm learning about the real history behind it. Very cool
Kings and Generals is the best out there. Many thanks for your hard work. Absolutely fantastic. Officially Devin is probably the best narrator ever. I am a native English speaker (American) but his pronunciation has helped with my pronunciation, especially with Finnish. {Winter War long version}. What about the Continuation War? Especially the 1944 Russian Offensive.
The Greater Wrath might not seem that bad by just looking at the numbers, but taking into account Finland's population being around 400 000 at the time, it was devastating. Some areas of Finland, like Northern Ostrobothnia, lost 25% of it's population or around 6000 people. The estimates for how many of the population was taken back to Russia basically as slaves ranges from 10 000 upwards to 20 000 by modern estimates. Out of the people who were taken as slaves, only around 2000 returned and out of 2000 forcefully recruited into the Russian army, 500 made it back home. The Russian occupation of Finland during the Great Northern War coupled with a famine happening in 1695 to 1697, a period known as "the great years of death", Finland's population dropped from 500 000 to 391 000 between 1695 and 1721. There's a Finnish made document here on RUclips with added English subtitles on the Greater Wrath labelled "Isoviha-dokumenttielokuva", so if one is interested, watch that.
Yeah here in Saint-Petersburg people worship Peter the great cause he made their city but that's so dumb. He did a lot of bad things too. And basically was a tyrant towards regular people, he only reinforced serfdom, making it more like slavery. But I originally come from Vyborg and they try to make Peter into some super figure as well because our government is all into propaganda and ideology, they try to emphasize only Russian parts of international history of our town. As an anarchist I see through all this, how history is taught almost everywhere, including in Russia. Trying to convince people that there is any "continuity" between current state and previous ones, and portraying states, identified as "predecessors" as all good, while others as "all bad". To be fair when Sweden got a lot of land during Russian times of trouble in 17th century, they were very oppressive towards Orthodox religion, and many Orthodox Karelians and Ingrians left, so that is how Tver Karelians came to be
@@KateeAngel be proud of your nation's ancestors is not dumb, it's great. Qin Shi Huang for example was a great tyrant and yet the Chinese people worship him (either figuratively or literally) since he united the previously fractured China into one state, a theme which continue until this day. The other example being Genghis Khan who despite his incredible brutality across Asia, he gave birth to the idea of a united Mongol nation. Peter the Great, while a "tyrant" as you put it, did so many great things to Russia, without him Russia's development as a civilization would be hampered and the Russians may never got Catherine the Great. National heroes is very effective at bringing people together and encourage people to defend their country. Of course since you're an anarchist you wouldn't understand
When one compares Peter the Great to Charles XII, one cannot help but note that Charles XII seems the better field commander by far. Yet, Tsar Peter proved the more well-rounded man. He could recognize his own weaknesses, find different means of fighting, and proved a little more capable of diplomacy. Most importantly, he learned from his enemies. When he took some Swedish officers prisoner, he called them "his teachers."
Charles XII would have definitely benefitted from even a small amount of diplomacy. He had so many opportunities to retain continental holdings but was too stubborn to agree to anything. Maybe the problem was that he started off with so many successes, and so many battles won without being wounded, that he felt invincible. All of the elite Swedish grenadiers that died to bring him glory and he still ended up losing more of Sweden than he started off with. Definitely some irony in his story.
@@MaddAddam93 That's a good way to sum up his life. When I look at Charles XII, it reminds me of the U.S. film director Orson Welles, who had dazzling successes as a young man but didn't continue them in his later years.
@@Kruglik_Igor Thank you for sharing that. It parallels an earlier comment he made about how the Swedes would defeat him until they taught him how they defeated him.
Peter the Great had a Dutch tutor, and he had his own army since he was a child, which consisted of roughly 300 young children recruited to act as real soldiers. The boys constructed fortifications, dug trenches, marched over vast distances, and even exercised with real weapons. They were injured on occasion. Rather than ascending to the top rank right away, Peter, like the other young soldiers, began his service in the lower ranks. He also socialized with lower-ranking soldiers, like as Alexander Menshikov, who later became the Tsar's personal confidant.
@@Kruglik_Igor I don't know who that is, but Peter the Great had many tutors from a young age, like Nikita Moisejevitsj or the Dutch Protestant Karsten Brand, etc. He had a few more Dutch tutors. His father was also close with the Dutch! Tsar Aleksej. Peter's father and the Dutch Andries Winius set up the first iron foundry cannon factory in Tula in 1632, the first in Russia. Winius also hired twenty Dutch masters.
Thanks, really interesting and a war I didn't know much about. Can't help thinking charles really should have taken the offer for peace in Poland and the Polish Army to have gone to Spain, he overstretched hugely. It also seems that Charles failled to appreciate how important strong Navy was to a country around the baltic. All in all great video! It's interesting to see a poor Russian army take extensive casualties, be considered effectively a useless army and then still eventually win.... you can't help wondering...
Quite frankly I can't watch the whole thing but if your previous videos are anything to go by, I know it turned our great, and I'm glad this accessible, quality, and in-depth is made about a region only commonly remembered for a very short time span in its history, namely the Viking Age.
Russia's transformation into an empire didnt happen with the 18th century name change from Tsardom, apparently the country was already an empire during the reign of Ivan the Great of Muscovite
Crucial moments were conquest of Novgorod by Muscovy in 1460's-1470's and then conquest of Khazan in 1552. I would call this timeframe a birth of Empire.
People were thinking Russians are nothing more than kinds of mongols under developed, it’s really the great northern war and Peter the great that change the balance on the European stage
I lost track of who was fighting whom when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth started fighting itself and everyone else got pulled in. Once the Ottomans got involved, I was expecting to see some Portugese for good measure. While all that is happening, Prussia just ominously growing and changing its name every time it appears on screen @.@
People tend to forget that about us, as we've had peace for the past 200 years. Before that, there were countless wars and conflicts for as long back as there are written records and Sweden was considered a united kingdom. The Great Northern War was neither first nor the last time we faught Denmark and Russia.
We particulary held back Russia. You see what happens when nobody does the job and let them roam free. You should know this about Russia. Land expansion is in their DNa. It wont stop until someone stops them. To them it doesnt matter they already hold enermous areas of land. Their whole structure is based on land expansion.
Going through a rough breakup and have been binge watching your videos like there's no tomorrow to distract myself, cheers for creating such fantastic content!
Great video! You did good with the pronunciation of Swedish words, but just FYI: The letter Ö is pronounced like the E in "earn", Ä is pronounced like the E in "ferry", and Å is pronounced like the O in "bore". Still, fantastic video!
As a western european, i'm lacking real historical knowledge on these eastern, tumultuous events. So here a long format is perfectly justified -and it still concentrates on warfare and imo lacks some geopolical background (demography/economy/ideology and so on) ... but i understand that would recquire a 5-hour long video. Good job anyway, very instructive.
@@MrSeaguy1 sorry if it sounded as a criticism of the channel. It was not. It is nameds kings&generals so it focuses mostly on battles and leaders. I was just pointing out that there would probably be a lot more to say concerning the evolution of the society itself during the formation of that empire, and that i would want to learn more on this too. But you're right on this, in France we're traditionally taught a very western-centered view of history, it's a pity. It somehow changes now, or at least more is available on the web -the very reason i appreciated this video.
I REALLY hope someone in NATO is watching this.... "They may beat us. They may beat us again. But in time, they will teach us how to beat them..." -Peter the Great. Indeed.
Fantastic video, I’m so glad that you covered the great northern war. It’s sad that nowadays zero attention is being paid towards it and the outcome it had for Europe which solidified the downfall of Sweden and Poland Lithuania as well as establish Russia as a great power. One think I would just like to point out is that Rehnskiöld was the true genius. He didn’t just masterminded victory at Fraustadt but on every major battle up until the invasion of Russia. Charles had the overall command and would decide where they would campaign and when they would accept battle but it was always Rehnskiöld who would formulate the battle plans. That is not to disregard Charles. He was an extremely determined and brave leader, always at the front fighting and inspiring his troops but he was just 18 years old at the outbreak of the war with zero battle experience so he knew it was prudent to let his best general command. However Charles learnt while on campaign and in 1706 at Grondo he scored a brilliant victory over the Russians, losing just 100 men against their 17,000.
"And then, Things got worse" sums up Russian History pretty well. How in the bloody Hell they manage to stay somewhat relevant or even a power player throughout the centuries it's a weird thing. British Empire, Persia, Ottomans, Qing, French Empire, and Now USA and soon China. There Russia is being a little haunting presence for some reason while all others come and go.
@@Anonymous-qj3sf Peter the Great's policies were ones which was farsighted in nature unlike any other Russian Leaders. His policies and programs bore fruit only after his death. Without him, Russia would have never reached the zenith of its power.
@@deadshot8050 The zenith of Russia's power is the Soviet period. At this time, Russia reached the historical pinnacle of its scientific, economic, technological and military power. Also at this time, Russian people lived better than in other periods.
Great work guys. No doubt this represents a ton of work but the end results is simply awesome 👏 and impressive on every levels. Congratulations and thank for your efforts. You are real professionals and it shows in your work, in your art!
Scania became swedish already in 1658 through the Treaty of Roskilde. Denmark tried to re-take this area years later in 1676, but failed. So Charles XI only defended Sweden and never started a war. His father on the other hand, was a terrible king who could not get enough of fighting it seems.
Love these videos in their Long Form; your just better at it KaG. Also it brings together what......2 or 3 years of work with individual battle videos? It speaks to your skill and good work :)
After the Turks started battling each other north to the Black Sea the Russian expansion started. The ottomans battling multiple enemies saw a rising Russia. It was overall the weakening of Turkish power that allowed Russia to become an empire. Swedish Russian rivalry was secondary to Russias as an emerging power.
@Esperance Fe oh and the split of the Golden Horde due to internal rivalries … lol. You got brain damage . Stop embarrassing yourself with your knowitall attitude. Russia still celebrates the downfall of kazan. The broken capital of the split khanate. Stop talking
@Esperance Fe go to a Theater class where you can use fancy word like foolishness to make a point. Don’t talk about history with your less than average historical knowledge
@@jesperburns you’re narrative of history is indoctrination as well. Lol do you actually believed that people who control the media and education are telling you the truth??
@@jesperburns you just heard my superior knowledge. The best thing you can do is forget everything you learned from the media, education, and religion. All of that just teaches us lies to justify the power of the so called elites. Why would they teach us the truth or try to empower us? If they did that they wouldn’t have any power.
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@@mattluke5546 only if you can spare it. Thanks for considering!
edit for you > Muscovy, which has had 0 connection to Kyiv Rus´. Muscovy is a mongol product , even the extreme left know it, read the Marx
"Let us begin with this evident fact: Muscovy does not belong at all to Europe, but to Asia. It follows that judging Muscovy and the Muscovites by our European standards is a mistake to be avoided."-gonzague de reynold, 19501
In methodological terms, one should de-Europeanise any analysis of Muscovy policy.- thomas gomart, 20062 "
@@michealkelly1414 ivan, K. Marx: Thus the "russia" of the Normans disappeared completely from the scene and
those feeble vestiges which persisted were obliterated by the
terrifying apparition of Genghis Khan. The origin of Moscovy lies in the
bloody degradation of Mongolian slavery and not in the rude heroism of
the Norman epoch. Modern "russia" is nothing but a transfigured Moscovy
Hello kings and generals, when are you going to make the whole 30 years war into a 2 hours documentary? It s one of the most interesting periods in history
Charles is a total war player. He wins in battle, gets favourable treaties, decline so he can have the entire pie, waltz deep into enemy lands so he can take significant places only to lose supplies and get defeated and lose his entire army. Been there. If only he could exit and load.
Lol That was me yesterday in Rome 2 though I technically won I was bankrupt and lost like 90% of my army.
The music even played during his battles apparently
What's the channel where this guy takes doomed campaigns from his viewers and turns into a successful campaign?
@@Big_Glizzy. bruh it depends tho. many yotubers do it now but it depends on the type of game.
Knowing when to quit would have helped him avoid a shameful display
Tsar Peter once supposedly said : "My brother Charles seeks to become Alexander, but in me he shall not find his Darius."
that's a badass quote from a badass emperor
@@walrus1074 Actually, I read somewhere that Peter had a talent for remembering sudden engagements elsewhere before battles broke out, if you catch my drift. Witness Narva.
@@fenriswulfe6661 he has to go take a shit?
Evil barbarian.
@@Cheka__ I believe Peter was trying to convey his opinion that Charles sought to become as great a conqueror as Alexander the Great. If you know anything about Alexander, you’ll know that one of his greatest achievements and probably the thing he’s remembered for most was the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and the dethroning of it’s King; Darius III.
With that context, it seems fair that Peter also spoke in warning; If Sweden dared enter conflict with Russia, Charles would not defeat Peter the way Alexander had defeated Darius. And he did not.
The Great Northern War is such a huge topic and this video handled it with ease. Shows the amount of time put into these videos... and for free. Mind blowing.
And also with the connections backwards (the vikings and so on) and forwards to today whith companies and deep state, yes.
Very good video. Going over the battle where Peter I was almost captured would have been sweet, too.
This gives me flashbacks to going to student parties in Finland and inevitably being trapped in a long conversation with a drunk Finnish dude giving me the complete history of the Great Northern War. Happens almost every time.
Lol!
Wait, is this true?
I guess that's better than listening to some drunk college student telling you all about the stupid crap they did in high school. More interesting anyway.
The comment reminds me of a drunken conversation I had as an American student visiting London in 1979 when I loudly proclaimed, "If it wasn't for America, you'd all be speaking German!"
LOL!
Back when I was a young dumbass
Long before I became an old fool
@@lux2132 I dunno. I regonize it from sweden aswell. Thats why i loled- always some drunk dude that is specialist on ww2 or other war, and insist on talking with you.
Sitting in the kitchen, 'trapped' at some party and listening to the dude going on and on. Meanwhile the most amazing bulbous asses and blond females come an pick something for thier beverage or whatever. The historian completely impervious to anything feminie or any sensous appeal. It's all about war and history.
@@jonber9411 I think I feel the same since I am a military history aficionado, however, I do not see me talking about that kind of stuff while drunk, though I can see it possible from others lol and given the importance of Finland to Sweden and Russia, I can see it happening.
After seeing about 1.5 hours of this episode, I am struck at how much King Charles XII resembled Napoleon. Very haughty, extremely capable, preternaturally gifted at battlefield tactics, very good at picking excellent men to lead his smaller armies (akin to Napoleon's marshals), this man was a beast. Unfortunately, like Napoleon, King Charles XII had one massive weakness--the inability to identify when he was weak, to call it quits and retreat to let his men rest. Napoleon also had this inability to see the bigger picture and just fold for his sake and the sake of his men. Thus Peter the Great struck upon this Achilles' heel at 1:21:54--the scorched earth tactics that would starve Charles XII's troops into submission and defeat. It totally worked. I bet in 1812 Czar Alexander I had read about these battlefield tactics from Peter the Great's Northern War and realized that he could vanquish Napoleon and his giant Grand Armee in the same way. And it worked too. Precisely because Napoleon just didn't know when to call it quits and retreat with his great Russian invasion. Just like King Charles XII roughly 100 years earlier.
Underrated comment.
I agree with you entirely.
As with Żółkiewicz, who did conquer Moscow in 1611, the strategy was different which allowed the polish cavalrymen to obtain supplies not only from nearbye but from the surrounding fortresses which have been taken prior.
Smoleńsk will always be important in relation of Poland and Russia as those who control it, control the buffer lands of white ruthenia.
The only difference is Napoleon's splitting headache wasn't as severe as Charles's.
Yeah charles could probably have won or at least reach a benifitial peace treaty if he had been smarter with his resources. Still Charles didn’t have any allies wich would have given him better chances. Remember Sweden defeated russias allies denmark, Poland and Saxony with victory after victory on the battlefield while mostly outnumbered before they where ultimately defeated at Poltava. I think this is what tzar Peter ment with the reference to Alexander the great of Macedon.
Did your Charles XII reform the entire national legal system? Did he reform agriculture across the whole spectrum of farming? Did he establish pensions for his injured soldiers? Did he establish FREE nationwide schooling for ALL children from 6 to 11 years old? Did he establish FREE hospitals across the whole nation? Did he establish pensions for the whole country after it was noticed how grateful the soldiers were? Did he establish FREE Almhouses for people too old to work? Did he improve canals and rivers to make them navigable, and also provide clean water to cities? Did he build a semaphore system that reduced message times down from two weeks to three hours?
NO THE RUS CZAR DID NOT.
"Napoleon also had this inability to see the bigger picture and just fold for his sake and the sake of his men." Can you identify, for me, the incident you are referring to? I can then compare your note to the book, that is used at Saint Cyr and Sandhurst to teach future officers, and find out if you have been loose in your identification.
@@Demun1649 Did he walk on water, make the blind see, and the lamp to walk?
This comment isn’t necessarily related to this video, but I was wondering if you could do a video about how armies in general (I am thinking specifically Roman legions since that is my favorite period) were levied, how they wintered, and how their supply lines/trains operated. These aspects of battle and campaigns are very often mentioned, almost in every single video, but, to my knowledge, and I may be wrong, I haven’t seen a video regarding them. There are similar ones like how the legions built their forts which is very interesting though. I have always been curious about how such large armies could be levied so quickly, sustained through their supply trains and throughout long stays in lands whose food stores weren’t expecting such a large shock in terms of population increase so quickly due to armies stationed there.
If you’re thoroughly interested in these overlooked parts of wars (and especially interested in the Roman war machine), then “The Logistics of the Roman Army at War” is a thorough, detailed, and reliable book. It dwelves into food, marching rates, supply train contents, non-combatants, foraging, depots, roads, winter bases, camping, etc.
that is actually a pretty good idea
iv'e always wanted to know the different ways empires supplied their armies
people like the ottomans
mongls
perisans
romans
arabs
chinese
I know on offensive campaigns they brought basic provisions but expected to either forage, buy or raid supplies to further extend they're campaigns - makes sense why scorched earth was so effective against so many different armies
@@adityajadhav6008 that is awesome! Thank you! I was actually looking for a book like that the other day! Did not end up finding the one you mentioned. Will look again!
Invicta has a good video on Roman army supply system
Charles was like a XVIII century Napoleon, he could defeat all of his enemies at least once, but they kept coming at him
Imagine Charles with a country that had a large population.
And Charles was like a 18th century Adolphus...
He was a great general and a terrible politician. Too obsessed with military glory to do what was the smart move and get a very, very favourable peace and time to recover.
@@legendarylimits564 not to mention, it might have even impacted his thought process when it came to warfare. Carolean tactics are today viewed as being very much the same/similar natured as Napoleonic, in the sense that they were based around physically and psychologically overwhelming the enemy. This was done so as to avoid Casulties, as even a victory through conventional tactics would have costed them (the Swedish) too many men and resources. A higher population would have only made the resource issue worse, they would have been like the Russians
@@Wustenfuchs109 real-life example is Hannibal (but lowkey it was not his fault, he actually made a good effort with local Italians to get those on his side, simply got minimal/no support from his empire due to politics, rivals of the Barcid family actually wanted him to fail to gain control over Spain which was like private estate of Barcid family)
*Beginning of the war:*
10:26 Landing at Humlebæk (1700)
*Allied invasions of the Swedish Baltic Dominions [Estonia, Ingria, and Livonia]:*
14:50 Battle of Narva (1700)
25:15 Crossing of the Düna (1701)
42:53 Battle of Erastfer (1702)
46:36 Fall of Nöteborg (1702)
54:03 Fall of Narva (1704)
*Swedish invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth:*
33:40 Battle of Kliszów (1702)
1:02:16 Battle of Fraustadt (1706)
1:10:20 Battle of Kalisz (1706)
*Charles XII's Russian campaign:*
1:18:31 Battle of Holowczyn (1708)
1:24:37 Battle of Lesnaya (1708)
1:31:40 Siege of Poltava (1709)
1:32:59 Battle of Poltava (1709)
*Allied invasions of western Sweden, eastern Sweden [Finland], and Swedish Pomerania:*
1:45:45 Battle of Helsingborg (1710)
1:50:03 Fall of Viborg (1710)
1:57:34 Battle of Gadebusch (1712)
2:08:08 Battle of Pälkäne (1713)
2:14:37 Battle of Gangut (1714)
Thank you so much!
@@KingsandGenerals if you add 0:00 it will add chapters I think.
(in the description)
@@theunspokenwarsoffiction2235 Good point, thanks! I am a pro youtuber, btw. :-)
I>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>ii>ioiiooiooiooooioooooooooooiooooiooioooooioooioooiooooioiioioooiooioooooooooiooioooiooioooooooooooioo:
A 2 hour documentary on a subject that I know barely about?
Well, sign me up!
These are very well made, and I can't even think how much effort goes into these, so good job.
i like your username
The history of the Swedish empire is basically a long grind of punching way above your weight. Amazing how much they could do with those terrible odds.
The production quality in these videos have never let me down, I can't wait to watch all of this... 2 hour video, you guys are amazing.
Fr
Never ever let's me down.
Holy shit I had no idea this was 2 hours until I saw your comment, and I was already 25 mins in lol
As an American I've learned nothing of significance about European history in school, so videos like this are a big deal to me. I appreciate them and thank you. I don't know how much editing goes into a 2+hour video because I'm not a content provider, but I assume it's a lot!
It's good that you take your education into your own hands. The only one who loses by expecting to be taught rather than actively educating oneself is ourselves
In fairness, though, if you are an American who doesn’t have an intention of traveling to Europe, I can see why this would be skipped in your education, at least as a grade schooler. There’s just not a lot about this conflict that really explains much about American history or our culture.
Obviously, if you go on to college and study more about European history or military history, this probably should come up, but at this point we’re talking about some pretty niche topics for Americans.
Charles had that real EU4 spirit: "I will not lose a single province, I will quit before I lose this war".
If it's going bad just burgher loans and two Merc stacks - SOLVED.
“Full siege me down”
well its not a mistake that eu4 is made by swedish devs :D we want to paint the whole map
Its funny how Sweden has no Morale in its national ideas in eu4 lol
But they do have +20% infantry combat ability @@Pannkakaize
Hay I just watched this entire 2 hour video and honestly this was completely enthralling, excellent writing and commentary and the block blocked animations amusing, just thought I’d let whoever created this video know, you’re amazing, congratulations on such an amazing video, new patreon supporter incoming! 💖
This is all very interesting and educational but what it doesn't stress enough is that most of it neglects to take into account that no NATO attacks on Russia is possible 😳 Russia would turn Finland and Sweden capitals into elephant dust in 5 minutes. Nuclear weapons will save us from WW3.
Karl XII is probably one of the biggest real life examples of “pride comes before the fall,” in history. A brilliant tactical mind with the charisma and drive to back it up. Yet at every turn after his early successes and especially when things started to go bad, he screwed himself over due to his own stubbornness and pride. From refusing favorable peace deals, to refusing treatment for his foot wound, to refusing the INCREDIBLY fortuitous Ottoman offers to get him safe passage home, and then AGAIN refusing the much needed potential Prussian alliance because he didn’t want to give up one rinky dink fortress town that was already surrounded by Prussian territory anyway. He got more second chances than frankly a lot of other people, and he threw them ALL away, and ended up with nothing in the end.
He ended up going down as one of the greatest military comanders of all time. Thats pretty cool
he ended with a big ol’ hole in the side of his big dumb head
@@Sognafar what good of it becoming great military commander if your country end up declining and falling?
Honestly charles was even worse than napoleon
@@danielchauvin9317 Waay worse than Napoleon, because at least Napoleon often tried to make peace when he could. It was usually Coalition members breaking the peace.
I LOL'ed out loud during that scene of Peter giving the same sword that he had gifted Augustus before back to him! Such a burn!!! Peter was an absolute lad
It’s incredible how many parallels in history we see in this conflict. There’s the obvious one of Charles foreshadowing the fates of Napoleon and Hitler (spectacular early victories that went to his head, followed by a disaster in the Russian winter). Also I’m amazed how much the final brave but hopeless Swedish charge at Poltava echoes what would happen a century and a half later on Cemetery Ridge. Not to mention the numerous times both before and after this war when an army with superior technology/tactics/generalship is defeated by an enemy who can simply afford to take heavy losses, then raise a new army and try again.
Well, Russia is big, but they win not just because of that, but because of their own saying "we're getting f*cked, but we become stronger". So, getting stronger under pressure, eventually becoming stronger than the thing pushing them.
Lesson Learned Don't Invade Russia in the winter LOL.
@@thegaminganimationstudio7976 Try teaching this to Subutai...
@@mikolajtrzeciecki1188 LOL or the Huns and Japanese who had success against Russia as well.
WW1 - big lose for Russia
The fact that you can find content of such high quality for free made me smile. Thanks Kings and Generals !!!
Russia's rise to power came by a war against a formidable neighbour. I found that really interesting because it is very similar to the rise of the Tang dynasty in making China the most powerful empire in ancient time - and the war that set the rise of the Tang, was also against the formidable Goguryeo Kingdom. I love that chapter.
It seems like a likely scenario depending on many factors. In a way it seems more likely than not unless a third party swoops in and levels both sides.
or the rise of the US..it fought wars almost during his whole existance
Goguryeo formidable? They can't even invade China... I thought you would be referring to the Turkics.
Argubly cobquer west turkic khaganate had bigger impact that ked to control of silk road
@@dynamitebsb4520 The Tang dynasty of China was the most powerful empire in history.
I appreciate your work with the battling details, the strategic and tactical analysis of every battle and with these deep conjuncture of factors analysed regarding the Great Northern War and how Russia managed to gain their power as a Eastern and Nordic juggernaut. I would like also to add some of your thoughts regarding how it would have been better managed the entire operations and strategic improvement on each side as a conclusion. Keep up the good work!
Thank you kings and generals for adding more battles in this epesode!
8 or so new battles
@@KingsandGenerals Love this epesode and your imposeive work very much. Thank you!
@@KingsandGeneralslove your narrator btw , and obviously your content and army drawing and mapping
Ahh nice to see the big compilation is out. Good work on yet another completed project K&G!
You mean kgb.
As a Urkrainian I just knew that Karl the 12th made it somehow to Poltava to join with Mazepa, but I never knew what preceeded to it. Thanks for this great series !
Yeah, when I learned that such a famous battle was that far into the middle of Ukraine, I thought, “how could a Swedish monarch end up all the way over here without actually conquering any of the territory in between?”
It's been 7 years since I started watching you, and it really isn't fair that throughout a near-decade, a pandemic, and so many experiences with things that have been genuinely amazing, things haven't changed a bit.
We have a nice team and genuinely love our craft. Thanks for being with us for so long!
The Polish deluge definitely deserves its own hours-long video. Poland at one point was entirely occupied by foreign forces, and by the end of the conflict, was able to recover most of them.
The deluge also marks the beginning of four ways battle over modern day Ukraine between Poland Russia Ottoman and Ukraine. Plus, Polish failed attempts to centralize its political system is very poignant.
The difference was in the Swedish Monarchs - if it had Been Gustav Adolphus with his religious tolerance - Sweden would have conquered Poland, but the attempt to force Lutheranism on the Polish people turned into a conflict against the Polish people and was the ultimate cause of its failure,
@@johnnydavis5896 And the Poles made the same mistake back in 1609. They managed to install a Polish king in Russia but insisted he'd remain Catholic. It caused a popular uprising that finally expelled the Poles from Russia.
@@dddevchonka We makes it a dumber mistake to have not learned from that.
@@dddevchonka But in the end, the failure of the Swedish Empire really boils down to the problem that no monarch ever lived up to the principles of Gustav Adolphus.
Thanks to Russia defeating said power, yes. The deluge was also rather the end than the beginning about the reclamation of Ukraine.
The skill and level of organization of the Swedish army was impressive. Again and again they were able to defeat numerically superior enemies. One of the best - if not the best - army in the world at the time.
Best army is one thing, but fighting literally everyone around you instead of making some friends or even NAPs is a stupid move on a strategic scale. especially if you're the smallest player. You can't win everytime you're outnumbered, your strenghts will be inevitably blunted given enough opportunities.
@@freddekl1102 I agree.
@@freddekl1102Sweden did have allies. They didnt work like they do in EU4, allies defend and attack with whatever resources they can spare as long as it gives some proportional value in return.
English and dutch ships helped in securing a quick and decisive victory against the danes.
Regional allies in different theatres helped bolster their numbers.
The big problem for sweden was timing. Considering they were attacked by a coalition there was no way of organizing a meaningful defense from allied nations. Western maritime nations had no interest in helping sweden beyond securing peace with denmark meanwhile they had an interest in keeping the straits split between sweden and denmark seeing as a monopoly on it was detrimental for trade.
The only meaningful and viable ally against russia was the ottoman empire and even there the timing was off seeing as the start of the war hinged on russia making peace with them.
The best alt history route would probably have been for sweden to accept peace in exchange for letting russia have st Petersburg after defeating augustus and then consolidating alliances for a second round.
This was one of the most important wars in history. Great video Kings and Generals.
Thank you for bringing up the The Great Wrath that happened in Finland. For the population that barely numbered 500,000 at that time the Great Northern War had a devastating affect on Finland.
What a great video. You guys really do put in the work to make a great history documentary, and you do it so consistently. You are fantastic.
Tsar Peter the Great: Your ship of the line will make a fine addition to my collection.
I live in Helsingborg, right across from where sweden landed in the first invasion of denmark. And innour town square the is a giant statue of Magnus Stenbock placed so that the danes on the other side of the straight can see it. Like a big insult :D
These videos are really awesome, I can just listen to them for hours at a time and they go by so fast
Excellent video. Might I suggest periodic reviews of each year/campaign to give a brief review of the map showing the major battles and territorial seizures. Such long involved conflicts are extremely complex and reviews would help the viewer to keep events in context. Kings and Generals has provided the finest quality and greatest depth of historical material for which you have my eternal gratitude. Living on disability sadly does not allow one to give financial support.
Hey David, the comment in itself is all the support we need from you. Wish you the very best! Joey is correct. Doing that is technically possible, but wouldn't be enjoyable to watch.
Charles XII was shot some 150 meters from the walls of Fredriksten. It was a perfect hit from a little more than 90 degree angle to the side of the head. The bullet went slightly upwards. It looks more consistent with one of his own blindsiding him and shooting him than with a lucky shot from the fortress.
Absolutely amazing video yet again guys, you have a real talent in the art of presentation and I for one massively appreciate all the efforts that go into the making of these...
The level of information and the way that it is displayed and described really sucks me in, before I know it, hours have past and I'm disappointed that it's ended....
Love the work and please never stop! Acey Lust
2 1/2 hours, amazing. Big love to the crew ♥️
Ótima aula de história ! Parabéns ao King and Generals !!!
I really love to study this part of history (Since I am a Swede myself), and this is really nice to have so you can more easily visualize what happened.
Sure, there are some mistakes here and there, but none that are super important overall (for example, you seem to have called all infantry in the swedish army "Grenadiers" when they used a mix of musketeers, pikemen and a few grenadiers).
Good job!
@Ucantpvp During the Battle of Narva section he said that Swedens army was comprised of 5500 grenadiers. 1/3 of the infantry was pikemen and 2/3 was a mix of musketeers and grenadiers, where about 1/10 was a grenadier and 9/10 was a musketeer.
So no, there wasn't 5500 grenadiers, there were about 370 grenadiers, 1830 pikemen and 3300 musketeers (If we go by the 5500 amount, some sources claim that the swedish infantry was comprised of up to around 5900 soldiers).
@Ucantpvp
There was already a mistake 5 minutes in, with Sweden defeating "Scania"
But for 2 hours of content they did a good job with accuracy
"Sir I watch Kings and Generals" - proud moment in my career
Putin?
@@geoms6263 we don't like him, but we like history
I just started a campaign as Russia in empire tw, it started out quite similarly to this and now I'm learning about the real history behind it. Very cool
Kings and Generals is the best out there. Many thanks for your hard work. Absolutely fantastic. Officially Devin is probably the best narrator ever. I am a native English speaker (American) but his pronunciation has helped with my pronunciation, especially with Finnish. {Winter War long version}. What about the Continuation War? Especially the 1944 Russian Offensive.
The Greater Wrath might not seem that bad by just looking at the numbers, but taking into account Finland's population being around 400 000 at the time, it was devastating. Some areas of Finland, like Northern Ostrobothnia, lost 25% of it's population or around 6000 people. The estimates for how many of the population was taken back to Russia basically as slaves ranges from 10 000 upwards to 20 000 by modern estimates. Out of the people who were taken as slaves, only around 2000 returned and out of 2000 forcefully recruited into the Russian army, 500 made it back home. The Russian occupation of Finland during the Great Northern War coupled with a famine happening in 1695 to 1697, a period known as "the great years of death", Finland's population dropped from 500 000 to 391 000 between 1695 and 1721. There's a Finnish made document here on RUclips with added English subtitles on the Greater Wrath labelled "Isoviha-dokumenttielokuva", so if one is interested, watch that.
Yeah here in Saint-Petersburg people worship Peter the great cause he made their city but that's so dumb. He did a lot of bad things too. And basically was a tyrant towards regular people, he only reinforced serfdom, making it more like slavery. But I originally come from Vyborg and they try to make Peter into some super figure as well because our government is all into propaganda and ideology, they try to emphasize only Russian parts of international history of our town. As an anarchist I see through all this, how history is taught almost everywhere, including in Russia. Trying to convince people that there is any "continuity" between current state and previous ones, and portraying states, identified as "predecessors" as all good, while others as "all bad".
To be fair when Sweden got a lot of land during Russian times of trouble in 17th century, they were very oppressive towards Orthodox religion, and many Orthodox Karelians and Ingrians left, so that is how Tver Karelians came to be
@@KateeAngel
Well said.
@@KateeAngel be proud of your nation's ancestors is not dumb, it's great. Qin Shi Huang for example was a great tyrant and yet the Chinese people worship him (either figuratively or literally) since he united the previously fractured China into one state, a theme which continue until this day. The other example being Genghis Khan who despite his incredible brutality across Asia, he gave birth to the idea of a united Mongol nation. Peter the Great, while a "tyrant" as you put it, did so many great things to Russia, without him Russia's development as a civilization would be hampered and the Russians may never got Catherine the Great. National heroes is very effective at bringing people together and encourage people to defend their country. Of course since you're an anarchist you wouldn't understand
And then they cry about the siege of leningrad, they fucking deserved it.
@@tsud165 bruh
When one compares Peter the Great to Charles XII, one cannot help but note that Charles XII seems the better field commander by far. Yet, Tsar Peter proved the more well-rounded man. He could recognize his own weaknesses, find different means of fighting, and proved a little more capable of diplomacy. Most importantly, he learned from his enemies. When he took some Swedish officers prisoner, he called them "his teachers."
Charles XII would have definitely benefitted from even a small amount of diplomacy. He had so many opportunities to retain continental holdings but was too stubborn to agree to anything. Maybe the problem was that he started off with so many successes, and so many battles won without being wounded, that he felt invincible. All of the elite Swedish grenadiers that died to bring him glory and he still ended up losing more of Sweden than he started off with. Definitely some irony in his story.
@@MaddAddam93 That's a good way to sum up his life. When I look at Charles XII, it reminds me of the U.S. film director Orson Welles, who had dazzling successes as a young man but didn't continue them in his later years.
@@Kruglik_Igor Thank you for sharing that. It parallels an earlier comment he made about how the Swedes would defeat him until they taught him how they defeated him.
Peter the Great had a Dutch tutor, and he had his own army since he was a child, which consisted of roughly 300 young children recruited to act as real soldiers. The boys constructed fortifications, dug trenches, marched over vast distances, and even exercised with real weapons. They were injured on occasion. Rather than ascending to the top rank right away, Peter, like the other young soldiers, began his service in the lower ranks. He also socialized with lower-ranking soldiers, like as Alexander Menshikov, who later became the Tsar's personal confidant.
@@Kruglik_Igor I don't know who that is, but Peter the Great had many tutors from a young age, like Nikita Moisejevitsj or the Dutch Protestant Karsten Brand, etc. He had a few more Dutch tutors. His father was also close with the Dutch! Tsar Aleksej. Peter's father and the Dutch Andries Winius set up the first iron foundry cannon factory in Tula in 1632, the first in Russia. Winius also hired twenty Dutch masters.
Thanks, really interesting and a war I didn't know much about. Can't help thinking charles really should have taken the offer for peace in Poland and the Polish Army to have gone to Spain, he overstretched hugely. It also seems that Charles failled to appreciate how important strong Navy was to a country around the baltic. All in all great video! It's interesting to see a poor Russian army take extensive casualties, be considered effectively a useless army and then still eventually win.... you can't help wondering...
Polish army? U mean Saxon army the Polish army barley even participated in the actual war
Excellent video guys. Great to see a video on the Great Northern War.
Quite frankly I can't watch the whole thing but if your previous videos are anything to go by, I know it turned our great, and I'm glad this accessible, quality, and in-depth is made about a region only commonly remembered for a very short time span in its history, namely the Viking Age.
Russia's transformation into an empire didnt happen with the 18th century name change from Tsardom, apparently the country was already an empire during the reign of Ivan the Great of Muscovite
Crucial moments were conquest of Novgorod by Muscovy in 1460's-1470's and then conquest of Khazan in 1552. I would call this timeframe a birth of Empire.
People were thinking Russians are nothing more than kinds of mongols under developed, it’s really the great northern war and Peter the great that change the balance on the European stage
@@masterdreadeye1865 I’m speaking of the view of Western Europeans on Russia before the northern war
@@masterdreadeye1865 they destroyed Mongol yoke only for themselves. All other Rus princedoms were already free 100 years before them
@@romanpopyk All the other Rus Princedoms were on the west of Russia. Russia suffered the brunt of Golden Horde.
I lost track of who was fighting whom when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth started fighting itself and everyone else got pulled in. Once the Ottomans got involved, I was expecting to see some Portugese for good measure.
While all that is happening, Prussia just ominously growing and changing its name every time it appears on screen @.@
production quality has gotten so good. unbelievable work guys, amazing.
I never knew the Swedes to be such a formidable military power, time and time again smashing theire enemies severly outnumbered. Seems beyond belief.
People tend to forget that about us, as we've had peace for the past 200 years. Before that, there were countless wars and conflicts for as long back as there are written records and Sweden was considered a united kingdom. The Great Northern War was neither first nor the last time we faught Denmark and Russia.
We particulary held back Russia. You see what happens when nobody does the job and let them roam free. You should know this about Russia. Land expansion is in their DNa. It wont stop until someone stops them. To them it doesnt matter they already hold enermous areas of land. Their whole structure is based on land expansion.
@@shar3066tbh you sound like a racist
@@shar3066 So far it turns out we stopped you, and the Poles, and the Turks. By the way, why did you invade Poland in the 17th century? 🤣
Going through a rough breakup and have been binge watching your videos like there's no tomorrow to distract myself, cheers for creating such fantastic content!
This was an interesting yet educational video. I did not know a lot of the information. Thank you for sharing it with us. Keep up the great work.👍🏻
Including the music used in Empire Total War in the start of this video is giving me such a massive flood of memories of that game.
Is incredible how the policies and decision of Charles enlarged an empire, yet also caused it's fall due to his pride.
In the 18 century, the swedish army was a beast!
I usually haven't commented on these ever, but your voice can narrate everything, and I will probably listen to it.
It took me 5 days but i always love to watch this documentaries, great job Kings and Generals!
Let's goooo!
Lol self love is a beautiful thing
Hi
Great video! You did good with the pronunciation of Swedish words, but just FYI: The letter Ö is pronounced like the E in "earn", Ä is pronounced like the E in "ferry", and Å is pronounced like the O in "bore". Still, fantastic video!
As a western european, i'm lacking real historical knowledge on these eastern, tumultuous events. So here a long format is perfectly justified -and it still concentrates on warfare and imo lacks some geopolical background (demography/economy/ideology and so on) ... but i understand that would recquire a 5-hour long video. Good job anyway, very instructive.
Context is always difficult. You can't account for everyone, so you have to find some kind of average and provide it.
@@MrSeaguy1 sorry if it sounded as a criticism of the channel. It was not. It is nameds kings&generals so it focuses mostly on battles and leaders. I was just pointing out that there would probably be a lot more to say concerning the evolution of the society itself during the formation of that empire, and that i would want to learn more on this too. But you're right on this, in France we're traditionally taught a very western-centered view of history, it's a pity. It somehow changes now, or at least more is available on the web -the very reason i appreciated this video.
Again and again, hats off to the people behind the videos on this channel.
I REALLY hope someone in NATO is watching this.... "They may beat us. They may beat us again. But in time, they will teach us how to beat them..." -Peter the Great. Indeed.
When you're outnumbered like Russia is, it helps to be more like Charles XII and less like Peter the Great lol
So happy to have this pop up to start my day. Thanks for the time and effort
Fantastic video, I’m so glad that you covered the great northern war. It’s sad that nowadays zero attention is being paid towards it and the outcome it had for Europe which solidified the downfall of Sweden and Poland Lithuania as well as establish Russia as a great power. One think I would just like to point out is that Rehnskiöld was the true genius. He didn’t just masterminded victory at Fraustadt but on every major battle up until the invasion of Russia. Charles had the overall command and would decide where they would campaign and when they would accept battle but it was always Rehnskiöld who would formulate the battle plans. That is not to disregard Charles. He was an extremely determined and brave leader, always at the front fighting and inspiring his troops but he was just 18 years old at the outbreak of the war with zero battle experience so he knew it was prudent to let his best general command. However Charles learnt while on campaign and in 1706 at Grondo he scored a brilliant victory over the Russians, losing just 100 men against their 17,000.
Mentioning a lot of Karelians reminds me of the Finnish saying: The brave Swedish kings fight to the last Fin..
@Zed no. It comes from the Great Northern War a couple centuries before that.
Great! time to rewatch this masterpiece
All I can think of when I see the Swedish forces is militarized IKEA...
Thank you for consistently providing amazing content! I'm so happy to watch this!
"Russia which was recovering from the time of troubles..." As if there's been a period in Russian history when everything was goin' great.
"And then, Things got worse" sums up Russian History pretty well.
How in the bloody Hell they manage to stay somewhat relevant or even a power player throughout the centuries it's a weird thing.
British Empire, Persia, Ottomans, Qing, French Empire, and Now USA and soon China.
There Russia is being a little haunting presence for some reason while all others come and go.
@iidemon faceboy Under Peter the Great, Russia lost almost 1/3 of its male population. The people hated Peter
@@Anonymous-qj3sf Peter the Great's policies were ones which was farsighted in nature unlike any other Russian Leaders. His policies and programs bore fruit only after his death. Without him, Russia would have never reached the zenith of its power.
@@Anonymous-qj3sf Which is clearly false since the male population actually grew and the people loved Peter for his victories
@@deadshot8050 The zenith of Russia's power is the Soviet period. At this time, Russia reached the historical pinnacle of its scientific, economic, technological and military power. Also at this time, Russian people lived better than in other periods.
Damn, I have waited many moons for a good documentary on this subject. You guys never disappoint!
One of the future episodes - How Royal Navy transformed Great Britain from a country to the greatest empire on Earth.
Please (and thank you).
Informative and easy to watch! Good job!
Great work guys. No doubt this represents a ton of work but the end results is simply awesome 👏 and impressive on every levels. Congratulations and thank for your efforts. You are real professionals and it shows in your work, in your art!
These videos are fantastic! I love being able to balance reading with the visual depiction of battles.
I just came here for the Swedish meatball.
using a game for a history video is something ive never seen before great work
Scania became swedish already in 1658 through the Treaty of Roskilde. Denmark tried to re-take this area years later in 1676, but failed. So Charles XI only defended Sweden and never started a war. His father on the other hand, was a terrible king who could not get enough of fighting it seems.
Thanks you, whoever you guys are, for existing and making this video.
This chanel really made me love history, thnx so much!!
Fantastic work on this video. I salute the effort and the team
Great content as usual!
Yay! You said it was coming and it came! Thank you :)
37:15
Charles Xll: Let's charge their cavalry!
Vellingk: Good idea si-
Charles Xll: With our infantry
Vellingk: HUHWAT?!
Charles victory at Kokot is the most legendary tactical won battle I've even seen.
Kokot?
The quality and thoroughness of your videos never cease to amaze. Thank you
Very insightful on the History of Europe continue with the great work
I was just wondering when this series would come out.
Love these videos in their Long Form; your just better at it KaG. Also it brings together what......2 or 3 years of work with individual battle videos? It speaks to your skill and good work :)
1:11:45 I will teach them that the Polish are not cowards!
2 minutes later....
Iwas ready for a short Kings and Generals video to wath with breakfast but yall dropped 2 hour video. Time to forsake my responsibilities, i guess.
Has anyone ever found those cannons they sunk in the marsh ?
Really enjoyed this one. Can we get one like this on the old British empire ?
Greetings from Dagestan, your eternal fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After the Turks started battling each other north to the Black Sea the Russian expansion started. The ottomans battling multiple enemies saw a rising Russia. It was overall the weakening of Turkish power that allowed Russia to become an empire. Swedish Russian rivalry was secondary to Russias as an emerging power.
@Esperance Fe oh and the split of the Golden Horde due to internal rivalries … lol. You got brain damage . Stop embarrassing yourself with your knowitall attitude. Russia still celebrates the downfall of kazan. The broken capital of the split khanate. Stop talking
@Esperance Fe go to a Theater class where you can use fancy word like foolishness to make a point. Don’t talk about history with your less than average historical knowledge
@Esperance Fe the ottomans had like 20 fronts where it battled. Russia had like 1 front or 2 at most at its worst lol
I love that they use Empire Total War footage.
Please continue the maratha empire series or Mughal series or make a mini series on Nadar Shah.
Possibly the greatest Kings and Generals video to date, and that says a lot!
A brilliant masterpiece. Much like the Greeks and Romans. The Sovereign's Servant was based during this period.
And almost completely fake.
@@louisthegreat1686 Go on, tell us what alternative history you were indoctrinated with.
@@jesperburns you’re narrative of history is indoctrination as well. Lol do you actually believed that people who control the media and education are telling you the truth??
@@dominicjohnson310 Hit us with your superior knowledge "lol!"
@@jesperburns you just heard my superior knowledge. The best thing you can do is forget everything you learned from the media, education, and religion. All of that just teaches us lies to justify the power of the so called elites. Why would they teach us the truth or try to empower us? If they did that they wouldn’t have any power.
Thank you , K&G .