KarlXII and Mazepa
In October 1708, the Cossack hetman Ivan Mazepa met Charles XII in the Swedish field camp at Horky.
The Great Northern War had been going on for over eight years and the Swedes had just interrupted their march on Moscow to winter quarters in Ukraine.
Mazepa had been an ally of Peter the Great but was increasingly fed up with the Tsar’s constant demands for soldiers to be sent to him.
How long could he resist the Russian Tsar’s demands and was Ukraine’s independence threatened?
Perhaps a rapprochement with the Swedish king could be a solution to his problems? The meeting in October 1708 resulted in an alliance between the two rulers.
Oil painting by Gustaf Cederström, 1880.
KarlXII and Mazepa
In October 1708, the Cossack hetman Ivan Mazepa met Charles XII in the Swedish field camp at Horky.
The Great Northern War had been going on for over eight years and the Swedes had just interrupted their march on Moscow to winter quarters in Ukraine.
Mazepa had been an ally of Peter the Great but was increasingly fed up with the Tsar’s constant demands for soldiers to be sent to him.
How long could he resist the Russian Tsar’s demands and was Ukraine’s independence threatened?
Perhaps a rapprochement with the Swedish king could be a solution to his problems? The meeting in October 1708 resulted in an alliance between the two rulers.
Oil painting by Gustaf Cederström, 1880.