Poltava’s Zemstvo Post

There are few Swedish kings who have achieved the same notoriety as Charles XII (1682-1718). Swedes still remember his wars in Russia and elsewhere. Most of them also know that he was killed by a stray bullet during the siege of the Fredriksten Fortress in Norway although legend has it that it was instead a button (many soldiers apparently believed that normal bullets could not hurt the King)!

This year (2009) marks the 300th anniversary of the famous Battle of Poltava. It was outside this small Ukrainian town that the Russian forces finally succeeded in defeating the invading Swedish army thus preventing King Charles from reaching Moscow.

Charles XII had started his operations on the other side of the Baltic Sea in 1700. His first objectives were to defeat Poland and Saxony and to a large extent he reached his goals. With these two countries pacified he began marching his army towards Russia in 1707. At first he wanted to march directly towards Moscow but bad weather and other difficulties forced him to enter Ukraine (which at the time was part of Russia).

The two armies finally met near the town of Poltava on June 28, 1709. The Swedish side had some 17,000 war-weary soldiers while the Russians could muster more than 40,000 men. Historians tell us that many of the Swedish commanding officers were somewhat incompetent and the King was ill and thus unable to direct the battle.

A number of fatal decisions were taken during the course of the battle which resulted in large losses on the Swedish side. More than 6,600 Swedish soldiers were either wounded or lost their lives in the battle. The losses on the Russian side amounted to 1,345 killed soldiers.

After the battle the Swedish king sought refuge in Turkish areas. He wanted to create an alliance between Swedes and Turks to annihilate the Russian enemy. King Charles was to spend the next five years in Turkish territories. As time went by his presence in the country became an embarrassment for the Turkish government. In 1713 they tried to deport the king which resulted in the famous uproar of Bender (when the Turks invited him to leave the king and his men offered furious resistance).

Shown nearby is an old postcard depicting a typical pose of King Charles XII. He was an absolute ruler who always had everything his own way. He has been described as a purposeful and stubborn man. Charles is known as the warring king but he also had strong scientific and humanistic interests and he devoted much time to the development of his kingdom.

Towards the end of the 19th century and until 1918 many Russian districts (zemstvo in Russian) operated their own local postal services. The imperial Russian postal service only carried the mails between the country’s main cities. The distribution of the mail in more rural areas was the responsibility of the Zemstvos.

This was the case in the Poltava Zemstvo which today is part of the Republic of Ukraine. Poltava’s local post existed from 1903 until 1918 and during this brief period of time no less than 160 different stamps were issued.

In 1909 it was decided to remember the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava with commemorative stamps. On July 6, 1909 four stamps with denominations of 3, 6, 10 and 15 kopeks were issued. Additional values (1, 2 and 5 kopeks) were released on October 30. All in all the set comprises seven different stamps that were printed by Wilbergand Golike in St. Petersburg. 10,000 copies were printed of each denomination. Of these 9,000 were perforated (11½) and 1,000 were left imperforate.

In the 1910-12 period many of the left-over stamps were overprinted with new denominations making the 1909 set a rather scarce issue today.

Let’s take a closer look at the designs of the different stamps. The 1-kopek stamp shows a monument that was raised by Sweden seven kilometres outside Poltava in 1909. The text in Swedish honours the Swedish soldiers who died there in 1709.

The Russians also honoured the fallen Swedes by erecting a second monument in 1909. There is a cross at the top of the monument. the monument carries inscriptions in Russian and Swedish remembering the bravery of the Swedish soldiers. The monument is depicted on the 2-kopek stamp.

The 3-kopek stamp is devoted to the Victory Monumnet erected in 1809 marking the centenary of the battle.

When the Swedish army approached Poltava the town was defended by local forces commanded by Colonel Kcllin while waiting for the main Russian army to arrive. A monument honouring the colonel was erected in 1905 and it is shown on the 5-kopek stamp. The eagle at the top of the monument was apparently stolen during World War II.

In 1849 an imposing bronze monument was erected on the spot where Tsar Peter rested after the battle. However, it seems the Tsar spent most of his time in Poltava in Colonel Kellin’s comfortable home. The monument is the subject of the 6-kopek stamp.

The Russian soldiers who lost their lives in the battle wee buried in mass graves near the Orthodox Church of St. Samsoniy located near the battlefield. The church is depicted on the 10-kopek denomination.

The 15-kopek top value is of course devoted to a portrait of Tsar Peter I by French painter Nicolas de Largilliere (1656-1746).

After having repelled the Swedish onslaught on Russia, Tsar Peter (1672-1725) went on to consolidate his government. For Russia the Battle of Poltava was an event of the greatest significance. The many monuments in Poltava glorifying the victory testify to this.

For King Charles XII and Sweden the defeat at Poltava eventually resulted in the loss of the Swedish territories in the Baltic area and Germany. The many years of wars had impoverished the country which led to a number of political consequences. In many ways the Battle of Poltava marked the end of Sweden’s stint at being one of the great powers of Europe.

It is interesting to reflect on the fact if anything is ever learnt from history. Neither Napoleon nor Adolph Hitler appear to have remembered the Russian campaign of King Charles XII when they launched their armies towards Moscow. Bad weather and the Russian tactic of gradual destruction of everything that could help the invading army worked just as well then as it did in 1709.