Introduction
On the eve of the Great Northern War (1700-1721), most Europeans saw Russia only as an uncouth land useful as a supplier of wax, hemp and leather goods. Her ambitious new Tsar, Peter I, swore that Germany would soon admire her industry, and France her elegance, and that the Dutch and English would salute her navies; but without a European seaport, all this was an idle dream.
IN 1698, the young Tsar Peter of Russia toured Europe,* drumming up support for his campaign to clear the Ottoman Turks out of the northern coasts of the Black Sea and win a priceless European sea-port at Azov.* Neither William III in England nor any Continental crowned head gave him the support he wanted, so Peter began to look to Russia’s northwest and the Baltic Sea, then dominated by Sweden. He made overtures of friendship to Poland and Denmark, but Charles XII of Sweden hurriedly stepped in, invading Denmark and crushing Peter’s Russian army at Narva on November 19th, 1700.*
Charles goaded Peter, vowing that ‘he would treat with the Tsar in Moscow’; but he took his troops unexpectedly south instead, and then east through Poland and the Ukraine towards Zaporozhia on the River Dnieper, near the Black Sea. The veteran leader of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, Ivan Mazepa,* had assured Charles that thirty thousand Cossacks would fight for him against the Russians. Charles was bitterly disappointed when only three thousand joined Sweden’s side; the rest remained loyal to Peter.
* See The Grand Embassy.
* Azov lies at the mouth of the River Don, where the river empties into the Sea of Azov to the east of the Crimea, and thence into the Black Sea. Peter lost control of Azov in 1711.
* Narva was at that time in the Swedish Empire, and now lies in Estonia.
* Ivan Mazepa (1639-1709) was from Mazepyntsi near Bila Tserkva in what is now Ukraine. At that time it lay within the Kiev Voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He is often remembered for his ignominious (but historically doubtful) exit from the court of Polish king John II Casimir, following an affair with a married lady of the court; the story goes that for his impertinence, Mazepa was strapped to a wild horse and carried away for many miles. The tale, which had already appeared in Voltaire’s History of Charles XII, King of Sweden (1731), was worked up into long narrative poem by Lord Byron in 1819. There is no known foundation for it, though Mazepa did leave the Polish court rather suddenly in 1663.
Précis
In 1700, a Russian army under Peter the Great was crushed at Narva by Swedish forces led by Charles XII, a serious blow to Peter’s quest to establish a Baltic port. Unexpectedly, Charles took his army not to Moscow but to Poland’s Ukraine, where Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa had promised him reinforcements; but the numbers proved a bitter disappointment. (59 / 60 words)
In 1700, a Russian army under Peter the Great was crushed at Narva by Swedish forces led by Charles XII, a serious blow to Peter’s quest to establish a Baltic port. Unexpectedly, Charles took his army not to Moscow but to Poland’s Ukraine, where Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa had promised him reinforcements; but the numbers proved a bitter disappointment.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, besides, despite, may, must, otherwise, unless, whether.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
