Looting of Porvoo
| date | July 6th - July 7th 1708 |
|---|---|
| place | Porvoo , Finland |
| output | The Russians burned the city to the ground |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 3,000-4,000 men | 13,000 foot soldiers and 3,000 to 4,000 cavalry men. |
1st phase: Swedish dominance (1700–1709)
Riga I • Jungfernhof • Varja • Pühhajoggi • Narva • Pechora • Düna • Rauge • Erastfer • Hummelshof • Embach • Tartu • Narva II • Wesenberg I • Wesenberg II
Arkhangelsk • Lake Ladoga • Nöteborg • Nyenschanz • Neva • Systerbäck • Petersburg • Vyborg I • Porvoo • Neva II • Koporje II • Kolkanpää
Vilnius • Salads • Jacobstadt • Walled Courtyard • Mitau • Grodno I • Olkieniki • Nyaswisch • Klezk • Ljachavichy
Klissow • Pułtusk • Thorn • Lemberg • Warsaw • Posen • Punitz • Tillendorf • Rakowitz • Praga • Fraustadt • Kalisch
Grodno II • Golovchin • Moljatitschi • Rajowka • Lesnaja • Desna • Baturyn • Koniecpol • Weprik • Opischnja • Krasnokutsk • Sokolki • Poltava I • Poltava II
2nd phase: Sweden on the defensive (1710–1721)
Riga II • Vyborg II • Pernau • Kexholm • Reval • Hogland • Pälkäne • Storkyro • Nyslott • Hanko
Helsingborg • Køge Bay • Gulf of Bothnia • Frederikshald I • Dynekilen Fjord • Gothenburg I • Strömstad • Trondheim • Frederikshald II • Marstrand • Ösel • Gothenburg II • Södra Stäket • Grönham • Sundsvall
Elbing • Wismar I • Lübow • Stralsund I • Greifswalder Bodden I • Stade • Rügen • Gadebusch • Altona • Tönning II • Stettin • Fehmarn • Wismar II • Stralsund II • Jasmund • Peenemünde • Greifswalder Bodden II • Stresow
The looting of Porvoo (also known as the looting of Borgå ) was a military conflict in the Great Northern War .
The looting of the city of Porvoo [ˈpɔrvɔː] (Swedish: Borgå [ˈbɔrgoː]) took place on July 6th and July 7th, 1708. Russian attack troops landed on the southern coast of Finland and raided the unprotected Porvoo and other cities.
In advance
 
| |
After the construction of Saint Petersburg and the shipyards along the Neva , the Russians slowly gained dominance in the Baltic Sea region. The Swedish fleet did little against the Russians. These in turn continued to upgrade.
Russian forces launched attacks on the territory of Finland in the autumn of 1706. At Systerbäck they defeated Swedish troops and moved towards Vyborg to besiege this fortress . The siege had to be broken off due to a lack of food and siege guns. The Russian troops withdrew to Ingermanland and remained in the defensive position.
From the spring of 1707, the Russian Navy made repeated forays to the Finnish south coast to employ the Swedish troops. One of these attacks was on Porvoo.
The attack
On the night of July 6, 1708, about 16,000 soldiers, both infantry and cavalry, landed on the south coast of Finland. Most of the Swedish soldiers were on their way to Vyborg. Governor Lybecker planned an invasion of Ingermanland and the conquest of Petersburg in August.
The city of Porvoo was sacked by the Russians and completely burned down. General Lybecker tried, after some hesitation, to engage the Russians in an open field battle near Porvoo. This failed, however, because the Russian troops under the command of Fyodor Apraxin had already marched on to Helsinki .
The city of Helsinki (Swedish: Helsingfors) was sacked by the Russians on July 10th.
The consequences
The Russian fleet withdrew after this foray into the waters off Saint Petersburg. The troops were used to reinforce the new capital. In October 1713, Porvoo and Helsingfors were again besieged and conquered by the Russians. The Swedish garrison in Helsingfors burned the city down so that the Russians would have no quarters for the approaching winter.
literature
- Friedrich Rühs: Finland and its inhabitants. Leipzig 1809.
- Peter Hoffmann: Peter the Great as a military reformer and general. Frankfurt am Main 2010.