Poltava
Poltava is a city and oblast center in eastern Ukraine with some 300,000 inhabitants.
The city belonged to Lithuania from the 14th century, and was transferred to Poland in 1569. In 1667 it became part of Russia.
On June 27, 1709, a Swedish army of 29,000 troops led by field marshal Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld (who had been given the command of the army when the Swedish king Charles XII was wounded on June 17) was defeated here by Tsar Peter the Great, commanding 45,000 troops. "Like a Swede at Poltava" is still a synonym for "totally helpless" in Russian and Ukrainian idiom. The battle marked the end of Sweden
as a great power and the rise of Russia as one.
Referenced By
1709 | 27 June | 27th June | 8 July | 8th July | Battle of Lesnaya | Battle of Poltava | Dnepropetrovs'k | Dnipropetrovsk | Great Northern War | Historical anniversaries/June 27 | July 8 | July 8th | June 27 | June 27th | Kubrat | List of capitals of subnational entities | List of cities in Ukraine | Marie Bashkirtseff | Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky | Peter I | Peter I of Russia | Peter the Great | Peter the Great and the Russian Empire | Politics of Ukraine | Provincial capital | Regional capital | Sarkel | Sarkel, Khazaria | Simon Petlyura | State capital | Sweden and the Great Nordic War | Sweden and the Great Northern War | Ukraine/Government | Yuri Kondratyuk
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