Great Northern War - Young and Violent - Extra History - Part 3

📜 History of the Great Northern War, Part 3
Flush from his victories against Poland-Lithuania, Charles XII of Sweden sets his eyes on an even greater enemy: Russia. But its ruler, Peter the Great, is no pushover: as the Swedish troops advance, he burns down the countryside and leaves them starving and exposed as a ferocious winter sets in.

*Miss an episode in our Great Northern War Series?*

#ExtraHistory #GreatNorthernWar #History

[extrahistory]

Never invade Russia in the winter. Extra History returns to the Great Northern War!

[hermanfrancis]

Charles was quite the badass though. Personally leading charges, opening city gates himself, he was nuts

[eruyommo]

Is it me, or Russia always uses the same strategy and everyone falls into the trap?

[FWDDGS]

Oh Europeans, always thinking you can beat Russia by marching in from the west...
-The Mongols

[PenTheMighty]

"He believed that if he could just force Peter (Russia) into one decisive battle, they might yet win this war."

This is the song that never ends...

[JanSanono]

Welp still no one packing winter clothes to Russia it seems

[Dontmindtheusername]

Last episode: This swedish king is a genius!

... Then he immediately invaded russia during winter.

[edwardtheblackprince]

Charles XII is a brilliant tactician, strategist, warrior and one of the best commanders Europe has ever seen, and he was very energetic. (Not that he didn't make any mistakes, and unfortunately for Charles, Russia was ruled by a very capable man and probably the best Russian Tsar-monarch). One fun fact is that it is said that Napoleon Bonaparte admired Charles XII very much and read A LOT on his battles and campaigns but for some reason he kind of made the same mistake.
Also there is couple of nice songs by Sabaton on Charles XII, my two favorites are called Long Live The King and Carolus Rex.

[starguy]

How come there's always seriously bad winters when people invade Russia, it's like there's someone watching over them...

[DarkProtoss]

*Swedes singing Poltava in the distance*

[jagadeeshdomalapelli]

Secrets of Victory
Britain :- Rain
Russia:- Winter
Arabia:- Heat
Vietnam:- Marshes & Forests

[d_wang]

*Never invade Russia during winter*
Mongols: Hold my beer

[brazauskas]

There seems to be very little mention what Peter actually did besides using weather and a scorched earth policy. This period is one of great reforms; Russian militia's system has finally been completely abolished; in a middle of a war a fleet was created in a matter of years; the entire army was reorganized; new, better uniforms were introduced; academies for the officers were finally created and modern European factories were constructed, using church bells and other metal utensils, because all iron was imported from Sweden at the time.

Charles's endeavor in Poland-Lithuania gave Peter time to do most of the things mentioned above. In my opinion this factors contributed more to the eventual victory of the Russian army, than the scorched earth policy.

[TheCowardRobertFord]

Who told Charles XII it was a good idea to march to Moscow?
SPOILER


Walpole. It was Walpole.

[SawedOffLaser]

Sabaton fans know where this is going.

[PersonaSimon]

Charles acts as erratic as the Hearts of Iron 4 AI

[anttibjorklund]

Hubris is the downfall of so many a great leader. That, and Russian terrain.

[Thebluewind]

If anyone is wondering there is no Charles XII in the Swedish history books. His
name is Carl XII, it is English historian who insists that everyone
named Carl will be called Charles, I do not know why

[AegixDrakan]

In which our JRPG protagonist decides "Heck yeah, let's skip essential story bits and go for the final boss even though everyone says I'm not ready for it yet"...

Baaaad move. XD

[starfyre]

This is the lesson Hitler and Napolean failed to learn. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE RUSSIAN WINTER. Russia is tantamount to afganistahn when it comes to great empires being haulted.