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The king was advised to make peace with Russia on very favorable terms. To this proposal, he arrogantly replied that he would rather sacrifice the last inhabitant of his state than leave St. Petersburg in the hands of Peter I. The favorite of Europe, the king of Sweden had no doubts about victory and intended to solve the “Russian question” in one big campaign. The result of this enterprise was to be the complete destruction of Russian statehood, the division of land between Sweden and Poland. The undivided lands should have been divided into principalities, as in the days of Ancient Russia. Karl believed that this would be the best way to end Russia forever.

In the summer of 1708, Karl moved a well-equipped 60,000-strong army to the east. His path lay to the heart of an immense power - to Moscow. A 16,000-strong corps under the command of Lewenhaupt was moving from Sweden to help him. The Swedish king was sure of a quick and easy victory.

Contemporaries have repeatedly noted that Charles HP was not at all interested in the customs and mores of other peoples. In Russia, the frivolous conqueror had to fully feel the perniciousness of such a habit. The Russians, retreating, with inexorable consistency, left devastated lands behind them. When faced with such a tactic for the first time, Charles struggled to provide his army with the bare necessities. On September 9, 1708, the battle of Lesnaya thundered, where the cavalry corps of Peter I utterly defeated the troops of Levengaupt, the arrival of which the Swedes had been waiting for.

Karl did not want to believe in defeat, but it was already clear that the enemy was now not the same as eight years ago at Narva. The Russians put to flight the troops of the invincible king!

On the devastated land, Karl HP led his army to Ukraine, hoping to find provisions there and arrange troops for winter quarters. Ukrainian hetman

Mazepa, who went over to the side of the Swedes, promised them his help. However, the Russians got ahead of the Swedes and seized the reserves stored in the hetman's headquarters in the city of Baturin. The coming winter also seemed to agree with Tsar Peter - the frosts were so severe that the soldiers of Charles XP froze in the hundreds. As if wanting to test his invulnerability, Karl began to throw himself under the bullets, dooming his soldiers and generals to death. Alo troops got an unkind rumor: "The king is looking for death, because he sees a bad end."

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Девять лет прошло с тех пор, как войска Карла покинули Швецию. В Стокгольме с тревогой следили за своим монархом, походы которого разоряли страну. Его пренебрежительное отношение к своей, а тем более к чужой жизни пугало приближённых. Когда Карл в бессмысленном бою положил почти без остатка два эскадрона своих солдат, в Швеции стали подумывать о регентстве старшей сестры Карла Гедвиги Софии. Русская пуля в любой момент могла настигнуть шального короля...

Чтобы положить конец тактике русских уходить от боя и вынудить их к решительному сражению, весной 1709 г. Карл осадил Полтаву. Шведский король мог выставить только 22 тыс. солдат против 45 тыс. русских. Накануне великих событий его ранило в бессмысленной перестрелке с казаками, и в самый вечер перед битвой рана его разболелась. Короля лихорадило.

Devyat' let proshlo s tekh por, kak voyska Karla pokinuli Shvetsiyu. V Stokgol'me s trevogoy sledili za svoim monarkhom, pokhody kotorogo razoryali stranu. Yego prenebrezhitel'noye otnosheniye k svoyey, a tem boleye k chuzhoy zhizni pugalo priblizhonnykh. Kogda Karl v bessmyslennom boyu polozhil pochti bez ostatka dva eskadrona svoikh soldat, v Shvetsii stali podumyvat' o regentstve starshey sestry Karla Gedvigi Sofii. Russkaya pulya v lyuboy moment mogla nastignut' shal'nogo korolya... Chtoby polozhit' konets taktike russkikh ukhodit' ot boya i vynudit' ikh k reshitel'nomu srazheniyu, vesnoy 1709 g. Karl osadil Poltavu. Shvedskiy korol' mog vystavit' tol'ko 22 tys. soldat protiv 45 tys. russkikh. Nakanune velikikh sobytiy yego ranilo v bessmyslennoy perestrelke s kazakami, i v samyy vecher pered bitvoy rana yego razbolelas'. Korolya likhoradilo.

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Translation results

Nine years have passed since Charles' troops left Sweden. In Stockholm, they anxiously followed their monarch, whose campaigns ravaged the country. His dismissive attitude towards his own, and even more so towards someone else's life, frightened those close to him. When Karl, in a senseless battle, laid down two squadrons of his soldiers almost without a trace, in Sweden they began to think about the regency of Karl's older sister Hedwig Sophia. A Russian bullet could overtake the crazy king at any moment...

In order to put an end to the tactics of the Russians to withdraw from the battle and force them to a decisive battle, in the spring of 1709 Charles laid siege to Poltava. The Swedish king could put up only 22 thousand soldiers against 45 thousand Russians. On the eve of great events, he was wounded in a senseless skirmish with the Cossacks, and on the very evening before the battle, his wound ached. The king was feverish.

On June 27, 1709, the battle of Poltava broke out. His plan was grandiose, but had one decisive flaw: Charles XII, in his self-confidence, even after so many failures in Russia, did not expect to see an army with perfectly trained soldiers and talented commanders. This time the Swedish army lost its banners. Karl rushed about on a stretcher, cursing fate for the fact that he was not destined to die at the head of the troops, marching in orderly ranks on the attack. With great difficulty, Karl retreated with 15 thousand soldiers. Menshikov's corps was chasing after him. Literally at the last moment, Karl decided to leave his soldiers and run away from captivity.

From now on, the previously benevolent Providence prepared for him the fate of a wanderer. He did not return to Sweden to improve the life of the country, which was upset by continuous wars, but he remained a “militant vagabond,” as Pushkin called him.

The Poltava defeat of the Swedes changed Europe's attitude towards Russia. Charles struggled to present the defeat of his army as a temporary setback. He convinced himself of this first of all.

The defeated king found an ally in Turkey. In Istanbul, they were furious with the victories of their old enemy - Russia. Charles managed to push Turkey and Russia together in a war that ended in the defeat of Russia in the campaign of 1710.

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