In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Peter the Great and the Russian Military Campaigns During the Final Years of the Great Northern War, 1719–1721
  • Alexander Mikaberidze
Peter the Great and the Russian Military Campaigns During the Final Years of the Great Northern War, 1719–1721. By James R. Moulton. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2005. ISBN 0-7618-3212-2. Appendixes. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. viii, 254. $40.00.

The Great Northern War (1700–1721) is often consigned to the shadows of history, although its consequences reverberated throughout the eighteenth century. The war, which involved Sweden, Russia, Denmark, Hanover, Poland, Prussia and Saxony, marked the end of the Swedish empire and left nascent Russia dominant in the Baltic Sea, setting it on the path to an imperial future. Despite its importance, Western historians tended (and largely still do) to ignore this conflict, especially its concluding years; most works concern Peter the Great’s policies and often cover the Great Northern War in passing, almost always emphasizing the Russian victory over King Charles XII’s Swedish forces at Poltava in 1709.

James R. Moulton’s book, which is drawn from the author’s doctoral dissertation (2000, University of Denver), is a much needed effort to fill the existing gap. Mainly based on eighteenth century Russian primary sources, Moulton describes the Russian military campaigns of 1719–1721 and assesses the military strategy of Peter the Great. The book is organized in five chapters, with a conclusion and four appendices. In his introduction, [End Page 938] the author provides an interesting overview of the Russian and English (but not Swedish) historiography of the Great Northern War. Chapter 1 describes the start of the war and its course between 1700 and 1718, providing a sufficient level of detail to prepare the reader for a more detailed discussion of the concluding years of the war. Chapters 2 through 4, dealing with the campaigns of 1719, 1720 and 1721, form the heart of the book. The narrative is clear and straightforward, and tends to concentrate on the operational level and diplomatic aspects of the conflict. The author considers the diplomatic and financial involvement of Great Britain on behalf of Sweden and argues that “[Sweden’s] entirely unrealistic faith and reliance on the protection of the British diplomacy and the fleet” (p. 109) proved to be more detrimental, than beneficial, in the long run. Chapter 5 compares and contrasts Peter the Great and King George I, observing that, after the death of Louis XIV, these men “were arguably the two most powerful and influential monarchs in Europe” (p. 111).

The author consulted a wide variety of material on the topic and, although neither Swedish nor Russian archives appear to have been consulted, the bibliography does contain many printed Russian primary sources. The Swedish side, however, is underrepresented throughout the book and the bibliography lacks works by Swedish historians. Supplemental materials include a chronology of the war, and statistics for the Russian fleets. Appendix B contains the Treaty of Nystad in the original old-Russian, which greatly limits its usability since most readers of this book would be English-speaking. The book contains four maps, but they are of low quality and hard to use.

Notwithstanding these issues, the book, overall, is well written, unadorned but clear, and provides interesting details on the last years of the Great Northern War. It will be of interest to scholars and students of diplomacy and politics in early eighteenth century Europe and of Russian military history.

Alexander Mikaberidze
Louisiana State University
Shreveport, Louisiana
...

pdf

Share