AccuWeather Founder & Executive Chairman Dr. Joel N. Myers and AccuWeather Network Chief Meteorologist Bernie Rayno explore how Russia, under the leadership of Peter the Great, used its harsh winters as a formidable defense in the Great Northern War.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to Invisible Iceberg.
00:05On today's show, we'll explore how Russia, under the leadership of Peter the Great, used
00:10its harsh winters as a formidable defense in the Great Northern War.
00:16Plus, we discuss the important lessons learned by Sweden's King Charles after underestimating
00:22the brutal climate, leading to significant losses on the battlefield.
00:28We delve into the Little Ice Age and its impact on key moments in history.
00:34It all starts now, on Invisible Iceberg.
00:43In 1709, a young Swedish king launched a daring offensive to conquer Russia during one of
00:51the hardest winters of the Little Ice Age.
00:54After early victories, the troops soon faced the reality of the brutal Russian winter.
01:00Did the relentless conditions ultimately decide the fate of the Swedish army?
01:05It's just one of the true and fascinating stories in the book, Invisible Iceberg, When
01:09Climate and Weather Shaped History.
01:12Joining us right now is Akiwa, the founder and executive chairman and author of the book,
01:17Invisible Iceberg, When Climate and Weather Shaped History, Dr. Joel Myers.
01:21Thanks for joining us today, Dr. Joel.
01:23My pleasure, Bernie.
01:25All right, let's go way back into the early 1700s.
01:29A war broke out between Russia and Sweden.
01:34Let's go over the details.
01:35What happened?
01:36Well, it's interesting when you look at those components of Europe in those days.
01:41We think of Europe today, but it was very different.
01:43The total population of the Swedish Empire, Sweden and Finland, was only 3 million people.
01:52Russia itself only had about 12, 13 million people, so much smaller populations than today.
02:00But Russia was 15 times the size of Sweden.
02:03But Sweden was the dominant power.
02:05It controlled not only Sweden and Finland, but some of the surrounding countries.
02:10But Russia needed access to warm water ports.
02:14And so actually Russia attacked Sweden to start the war at around 1700.
02:20So that was the whole reason for the war, that Russia needed warm water ports, and that's
02:27why they attacked Sweden to try to get what we would call the Baltic states today, correct?
02:33That's correct, yeah.
02:34It was a particularly cold period.
02:35Remember, this is the Little Ice Age.
02:36The Little Ice Age lasted from 1300 to about 1850, and a particularly cold period in the
02:42early 1700s.
02:43So it was a very cold period, and a lot of Russia was icebound, and they just felt they
02:52needed to expand.
02:54And Russia was thought of as a backward country, and Sweden more enlightened, more advanced,
03:01thought they could make short shrift of the Russian army.
03:05In the beginning they did for several years, and Sweden was confident they were winning.
03:10And then, very cold winter, they attacked Russia, and that was the turning point, 1709.
03:22They started Sweden with an army of 51,000.
03:25Now today, 51,000 for a dominant power doesn't seem, but considering the population at the
03:30time, that was pretty large and advanced, but Russia had a somewhat bigger army, but
03:36less organized.
03:38So Sweden attacked, and they were heading to Moscow, very cold, usual thing.
03:45The Russians burned the city to the ground, so there'd be nothing there.
03:49So when you look at it, a lot of the troops were lost to sickness and just injury, and
03:57you didn't have the medical care then.
03:59So 51,000 troops between the fighting and the cold, about 1,000 were left a few years
04:06later retreating into Turkey.
04:09The problem started, the Swedes beat them in July of 1709 in the Battle of Holstein,
04:15and then they went to Ukraine in November, and that's when the problem started.
04:22That's when they began, yeah.
04:23Yeah.
04:24The winter started early, it was severe, and even though Ukraine is not as cold as Moscow,
04:31very cold, and it's what has happened other times in history.
04:37It's hard to fight and win against Russia in the Russian winter.
04:42Although one would say, if there would be any country that would be prepared for it,
04:47it would be the Swedes.
04:49It's not like they weren't used to cold, and I'm sure it was very cold there during the
04:53Little Ice Age as well.
04:54It was, but remember, more maritime climate there, so it is much colder on average in
05:03Moscow and the interior of Russia than it is in Sweden, Finland, and Norway.
05:09So in the battle in the Ukraine, it was Poltava, in 1709, what ended up happening as the forces
05:20from Russia then attacked?
05:22Well, the Swedes lost.
05:23Yeah.
05:24They lost the retreat, and as I said, the army over time, and mainly due to the cold,
05:29but also the combination of the extreme cold and the battles, really wiped out the Swedish
05:38army.
05:39And Peter won, Russia, it changed the whole dynamics, how people thought of Russia.
05:47It changed their image tremendously, and Peter became known as Peter the Great.
05:51The emperor, and then, you know what the initial thought was, is that he wanted to
05:56gain those territories in the Baltics.
06:01He eventually did, but it wasn't right away, was it?
06:04No, the war went on, remember, disorganization, but finally it was a 21-year war, and by 1721,
06:14Russia had clearly won and got what they wanted, and the whole view of Russia and Europe
06:22had changed.
06:24This war is a big deal in Russia, it's taught, it's been in the history books, and it's something
06:29celebrated in Russian history for centuries.
06:36Explain to our viewers how cold that period was in Europe.
06:40Well, in some areas it was averaging 5, 6, 7 degrees below normal, but an average, remember,
06:46was day after day after day, that means there were periods when the temperatures were 10,
06:5115, 20 degrees colder than it is now.
06:54So it was quite extraordinary and had great impact.
06:57And again, you have to put it in the context, there were no machines, no planes, no ways
07:04to get around like there are today.
07:07The cold was difficult, and when the ground is frozen and it's cold, and people didn't
07:12have clothes like they do, they were huddled around fires and trying to have something
07:18to eat.
07:19All right, great stuff, Dr. Joe.
07:22Now you'll be joining us again in a few minutes for our What If section, but just some interesting
07:28information about Peter the Great.
07:30Thanks for joining us.
07:31And wars in Europe.
07:32And wars in Europe.
07:34We'll come back more about that coming up in the next few minutes.
07:37All right, here now with more perspective is Lynn Hartnett, professor of Russian history
07:44at Villanova University.
07:46Professor Hartnett, thank you so much for joining us here today.
07:50Thanks for having me.
07:52You know, everybody has heard of Peter the Great.
07:56I want you to let us know who he was.
07:59Well, Peter the Great was a force of nature.
08:03He had a turbulent life.
08:05He was born at a time when he was able to enjoy being an absolute monarch, and he took
08:12full advantage of that.
08:14He was tireless.
08:15He had a will to transform his country in a way that he saw fit.
08:20And it didn't matter what the costs were in order to do it.
08:24What was the overall goal of the war, and how did it initially go?
08:30So the overall goal was for Peter and Russia to gain access to the Baltic Sea.
08:37Sweden controlled land, the entire eastern shore of the Baltic.
08:41They had territory in Finland, what was then considered Livonia.
08:46And Peter, before trade and military purposes, needed access to the sea.
08:51He was interested in building a navy, and that was critical.
08:53And so he thought the time was right to try to take advantage of this young, inexperienced
08:58king and conquer Sweden.
09:02It didn't go well from the start, but eventually Peter and the Russians are able, with the
09:08help of a little scorched earth policy and some fortunate weather conditions, to defeat
09:15Charles XII once and for all.
09:17What role did the weather play in this conflict?
09:21So it plays a really large role.
09:24The winter of 1708 and 1709 was often called the worst winter in memory.
09:32Temperatures in the plains of what's now Ukraine, where Charles XII and his military was camped
09:38out, got as low as five degrees.
09:42There were accounts of terrible frostbite, soldiers losing their noses, their ears, their
09:47fingers, their toes.
09:49In addition, hundreds of men in the Swedish army died from the elements.
09:56They had no protection from the elements during this really harsh winter, and from the disease
10:02and famine that came from the scorched earth policy of having nothing to live off of.
10:07After the victory over the Swedes at Poltava in 1709, Peter was able to get the support
10:14from European powers that he wanted and he needed.
10:18After that point, it became hard for any power in Europe to ignore Russia, which was now
10:24the Russian empire.
10:26Lynne Harnett, professor of Russian history at Philadelphia University, thanks again for
10:31joining us today.
10:33It was my pleasure.
10:36Still to come, we look at how the Little Ice Age was a catalyst for major events that transformed
10:42Europe.
10:43Next, find out how Russia's cold winters played a critical role in not only this war, but
10:49other conflicts throughout the ages.
11:03Welcome back to Invisible Iceberg.
11:05I'm Bernie Rainow.
11:06Joining me again is Akiwa, the founder and executive chairman and author of the book
11:10Invisible Iceberg, Going Climate and Weather-Shaped History, Dr. Joel Myers.
11:17Let's talk about this war pertaining to Peter the Great.
11:22What do you think the important lessons are to be learned from this war?
11:27There's always lessons in any conflict, but let's talk about this war.
11:30What were the lessons that were learned?
11:31It's a chapter in the book because the weather obviously played, and the climate, a major
11:35role in the outcome of history and the war in Europe.
11:42This was 1709, a very cold weather, and the Swedes were a dominant power.
11:49Russia was a backward country considered.
11:51They won the war, and one of the key reasons Russia won the war was the very cold conditions
11:57in Russia and Ukraine.
11:59Even though Sweden, well, it's a northern power, I mean, they're used to cold, yeah,
12:04they are, but it's a different kind of cold.
12:06It's not as extreme.
12:07It's more maritime climate when you get into the interior, it's much colder.
12:11This was a very cold winter, a very cold fall in a very cold period of the little ice age,
12:20but also we know that 100 years later in 1812, Napoleon attacked Russia, and Napoleon gathered
12:28a tremendous army, attacked Russia, cold, very cold.
12:33He was defeated.
12:34That was the end of Napoleon.
12:35Hitler supposedly was prepared, didn't want to fall into that trap, although the Russian
12:41meteorologist told him it would not be a cold winter.
12:45He could attack this year because there had been three cold, and he'd never get four in
12:49a row.
12:50Thank goodness he had that bad information and lost the war, but it was, in that case,
12:55it was devastating.
12:57You think about, there were 8 million people died, 8 million soldiers and people died with
13:03that invasion between Russia and Germany, so in all three cases, Russia was attacked
13:12in the wintertime, and in all three cases, it was not only the Russian army, but importantly,
13:19most importantly, it was the extreme cold that defeated the invader.
13:23It's kind of uncanny, isn't it, that the history just keeps repeating itself when it comes
13:31to invading Russia in the wintertime, doesn't it?
13:34Well, there was a famous historian who said, those who don't learn from history are doomed
13:41to repeat it, and here's a classic example.
13:45Let's talk about Peter the Great, because this is the war that actually coined him Peter
13:51the Great, correct?
13:52That's correct.
13:53Now, there's a rumor that his mother gave him that title, but in all, he was known as
13:58Peter the Great, because Russia was, up to that point, considered a backward country,
14:03was considered not a force at all, even though it was huge territorially, it had more people
14:11than Sweden, but Sweden was more advanced intellectually, with the arts and culture
14:17and organization, so Sweden dominated up to that point, and after they lost that war,
14:27they were not considered a power again.
14:31It's also interesting, another lesson to learn is, never underestimate your opponent, and
14:38it seems as though King Charles, who was the king of Sweden, he absolutely believed that
14:45they would not pose a problem in this war to them, did he not?
14:49Well, that's correct, yeah.
14:50Well, once a war starts, and in all fairness, the Russians started it, so many times in
14:57history, wars don't turn out the way a lot of people think they're going to.
15:03And this, it's interesting, at the end of the chapter in this book, I want to read this
15:08to you, because I find this very interesting, this comes, again, this is chapter 18 of Invisible
15:14Iceberg, When Climate and Weather Shaped History.
15:16Henry Kissinger described Russia's global ambitions as having a special rhythm of its
15:23own over the centuries, expanding over landmass, interrupted occasionally over time, only
15:30to return again like the tide crossing the beach.
15:37That pretty much describes it well, doesn't it?
15:39Well, it certainly describes what, as he viewed back several hundred years of history of Russia,
15:46yeah.
15:47As you mentioned, this changed the perception of Russia going forward, and it was, I guess
15:53one could argue that this was the beginning of making Russia, and then, of course, the
15:58Soviet Union, eventually a superpower.
16:02That's right, and it changed Russia.
16:04Not only did it change the image of the Europeans to Russia, but Russia itself, then, education
16:11became more important, cultural, so it transformed Russia as well, and they became less rural,
16:21less backward, and became more advanced, and that was really the start of it, winning that
16:26war, and they advanced through the 1700s, 1800s, with art, literature, music, and so
16:32on.
16:33It's just so interesting that not only did the weather play a role in it, but the way
16:37in which the Russian forces, especially when they were up against Germany, and then here
16:44against Sweden, it wasn't just the weather, but they destroyed everything when they retreated,
16:51so that the invading army had nothing that it could use.
16:55Well, that's right.
16:56It wasn't only a call, but it was a tactic.
16:58They refused to be captured, so they burned, in both cases, in World War II, and also,
17:08I think to some extent in 1812, and then certainly when the Swedes invaded, burned Moscow to
17:14the ground.
17:15They didn't leave anything behind.
17:17They prepared to rebuild it afterwards, so it doesn't pay to attack Russian territory.
17:25I was going to say, if there's one lesson to learn, never attack Russia, especially
17:29in the wintertime, and never underestimate your opponents, correct?
17:35That's correct.
17:36That's good advice in all aspects of life.
17:39All aspects, yeah.
17:40I want to thank Akiwa, the founder and executive chairman and author of the book Invisible
17:43Iceberg, when climate and weather shaped history, Dr. Joel Myers, for joining us today.
17:51After the break, we'll take a look back at the Little Ice Age and its environmental
17:56and cultural impacts.
18:04Welcome back to Invisible Iceberg.
18:05I'm Bernie Raynaud.
18:06The Little Ice Age, spanning from approximately 1300 to 1850, marked a significant cooling
18:14period in the Northern Hemisphere.
18:17This era brought dramatic changes to the environment and human life.
18:20In Europe, major rivers like the Thames in London and the Seine in Paris frequently froze
18:26over during the winter, paving the way for ice fairs and markets on the ice.
18:31Glaciers advanced in regions such as the Alps, Scandinavia and the Andes, encroaching on
18:36villages and farmlands.
18:38The Little Ice Age brought exceptionally harsh winters, leading to crop failures, food shortages
18:44and famines, causing significant social and economic stress.
18:49Countable historical events were influenced by the climate, including the Viking abandonment
18:54of Greenland, the isolation of Iceland due to increased sea ice, and the struggles of
19:00early European settlers in North America.
19:04The cooler climate influenced art and literature, with famous Dutch painter Pieter Bruegel the
19:09Elder depicting winter scenes with ice skaters and snow-covered landscapes.
19:14Agricultural saw shifts as cooler temperatures led to the failure of some crops and the rise
19:19of hardy grains, forcing communities to adapt to their farming practices.
19:24The challenging conditions spurred innovations in agricultural and infrastructure, including
19:29more efficient farming techniques and better housing insulation.
19:33Other innovations included the widespread use of buttons and buttonholes, custom-made
19:38knitted undergarments, and the invention of chimneys to replace open fires.
19:44That's our show for today.
19:46For more information and to get your copy of the book Invisible Iceberg, When Climate
19:51and Weather Shaped History by Dr. Joel Myers, go to InvisibleIceberg.com.