Editing Great Northern War (section)

== 1710–1721: Finland ==
{{Main|Battle of Helsinki (1713)|Battle of Gangut|The Great Wrath|Battle of Grengam}}
[[File:Battle of Gangut-Bakua.jpg|thumb|left|[[Battle of Gangut]] (Hanko)<ref>''The Russian Victory at [[Battle of Gangut|Gangut]] (Hanko), 1714'' by [[Maurice Baquoi]], etched 1724</ref>]]

The war between Russia and Sweden continued after the disaster of [[Battle of Poltava|Poltava]] in 1709, though the shattered Swedish continental army could provide very little help. Russia [[Siege of Vyborg (1710)|captured Viborg]] in 1710 and successfully held it against Swedish attempts to retake the town in 1711.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=27–31}} In 1712 the first Russian campaign to capture Finland began under the command of General Admiral [[Fyodor Apraksin]]. Apraksin gathered an army of 15,000 men at [[Vyborg|Viborg]] and started the operation in late August. Swedish General [[Georg Henrik Lybecker]] chose not to face the Russians with his 7,500 men in the prepared positions close to Viborg and instead withdrew west of [[Kymijoki]] river using scorched earth tactics. Apraksin's forces reached the river but chose not to cross it and instead withdrew back to Viborg, likely due to problems in supply.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=32–33}} Swedish efforts to maintain their defences were greatly hampered by the drain of manpower by the continental army and various garrisons around the Baltic Sea as well as by the [[Great Northern War plague outbreak|plague outbreak]] that struck Finland and Sweden between 1710 and 1713, which devastated the land killing, amongst others, over half of the population of Helsingfors (Helsinki).{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|p=30}}

[[File:Siege of Vyborg 1710.png|thumb|The final days of the siege of [[Vyborg|Viborg]], by Alexei Rostovtsev]]

After the failure of 1712, Peter the Great ordered that further campaigns in war-ravaged regions of Finland with poor transportation networks were to be performed along the coastline and the seaways near the coast. Alarmed by the Russian preparations Lybecker requested naval units to be brought in as soon as possible in the spring of 1713. However, like so often, Swedish naval units arrived only after the initial Russian spring campaign had ended.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|p=33}} Nominally under the command of Apraksin, but accompanied by Peter the Great, a fleet of coastal ships together with 12,000 men—infantry and artillery—began the campaign by sailing from [[Kronstadt]] on 2 May 1713; a further 4,000 cavalry were later sent overland to join with the army. The fleet had already arrived at Helsinki on 8 May and were met by 1,800 Swedish infantry under General [[Carl Gustaf Armfeldt]], which started the [[Battle of Helsinki (1713)|Battle of Helsinki]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Seppo|last=Aalto|title=Kruununkaupunki – Vironniemen Helsinki 1640–1721|publisher=[[Finnish Literature Society]]|location=Helsinki|year=2015|isbn=978-952-222-675-4|language=fi}}</ref> Together with rowers from the ships the Russians had 20,000 men at their disposal even without the cavalry. The defenders, however, managed to fend off landing attempts by the attackers until the Russians landed at their flank at [[Hietalahti, Helsinki|Sandviken]], which forced Armfelt to retire towards [[Porvoo]] (Borgå) after setting afire both the town and all the supplies stored there as well as bridges leading north from the town. It was only on 12 May that a Swedish squadron under Admiral Erik Johan Lillie made it to Helsinki but there was nothing it could do.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=33–35}}

The bulk of the Russian forces moved along the coast towards Borgå and the forces of Lybecker, whom Armfelt had joined. On 21–22 May 1713 a Russian force of 10,000 men landed at [[Pernå]] (Pernaja) and constructed fortifications there. Large stores of supplies and munitions were transported from Viborg and [[Saint Petersburg]] to the new base of operations. Russian cavalry managed to link up with the rest of the army there as well. Lybecker's army of 7000 infantry and 3000 cavalry avoided contact with the Russians and instead kept withdrawing further inland without even contesting the control of Borgå region or the important coastal road between Helsinki (Helsingfors) and [[Turku]] (Åbo). This also severed the contact between Swedish fleet and ground forces and prevented Swedish naval units from supplying it. Soldiers in the Swedish army who were mostly Finnish resented being repeatedly ordered to withdraw without even seeing the enemy. Lybecker was soon recalled to [[Stockholm]] for a hearing and Armfelt was ordered to the command of the army. Under his command the Swedish army in Finland stopped to engage the advancing Russians at [[battle of Pälkäne|Pälkäne]] in October 1713, where a Russian flanking manoeuvre forced him to withdraw to avoid getting encircled. The armies met again later at [[Battle of Napue|Napue]] in February 1714, where the Russians won a decisive victory.{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|p=35}}

In 1714, far greater Swedish naval assets were diverted towards Finland, which managed to cut the coastal sea route past [[Hangö]] cape already in early May 1714. This caused severe trouble for Russian supply route to Turku and beyond as supplies had to be carried overland. The Russian galley fleet arrived to the area on 29 June but stayed idle until 26–27 July when, under the leadership of Peter, Russian galleys managed to run the blockade making use of calm weather, which immobilized the Swedish battlefleet while losing only one galley of roughly 100. A small, hastily assembled Swedish coastal squadron met the Russian galley fleet west of Hangö cape in the [[Battle of Gangut]] and was overpowered by the Russians who had nearly ten-fold superiority. The Russian breach of the blockade at Hangö forced the Swedish fleet to withdraw to prevent the Russian fleet from reaching Sweden itself. The Russian army occupied Finland mostly in 1713–1714, capturing Åland from where the population had already fled to Sweden on 13 August 1714. Since the Russian galley fleet was not able to raid the Swedish coast, with the exception of [[Umeå]], which was plundered on 18 September, the fleet instead supported the advance of the Russian army, which led to hastily withdrawal by the Swedish army from [[Raahe]] (Brahestad) to [[Tornio]] (Torneå). The brutal occupation period of Finland in 1714–1721 is known as the [[The Great Wrath|Great Wrath]].{{sfnp|Mattila|1983|pp=38–46}}