Napoleon and Charles XII of Sweden

Charles XII, King of Sweden (1682-1718) fought against Russia during the Great Northern War (1700-21), during which he invaded Russia 1707-09. The motivation for the invasion was to stop Russia from expanding its territory in the Swedish east Baltic provinces and thus establish Sweden's position in relation to Russia.

Charles started the invasion in the autumn of 1707. Charles was successful at first, winning at Holowczyn in July 1708, but the "scorched-earth" tactics of the Russians and their success in cutting off Swedish communications, supplies, and reinforcements soon changed the course of the war to their advantage. The war culminated in a three-day battle at Poltava on July 8, 1709, where 80,000 Russian troops and 17,000 Swedes fought each other. The Swedish attack at the fortified camp failed, and the entire Swedish army, except for Charles and 1,500 soldiers, surrendered to the Russians. The battle both indicated the the end of the Swedish power and the beginning of Russia as a great power in Eastern Europe.

Napoleon was, of course, familiar with what happened to Charles XII. He even had Voltaire's History of Charles XII with him in Russia, which he consulted when he was trying to find a way to cross the Dnieper. Although at the beginning of his campaign, he confidently said that his army would not repeat the mistakes of Charles XII, the lack of communications and supplies ended up being a major cause for the failure of Napoleon's campaign.