The surrender of Charles XII’s army near Perevolochna was the end of the Ukrainian campaign for the Swedish side. The army reached the Dnipro River on 29 June 1709 and found the fortress completely destroyed and with no means of crossing. Thanks to the efforts of Zaporizhzhian Cossacks, Charles XII, I. Mazepa, their entourage, and part of the allied army have managed to cross the river. After Moscow troops led by A. Menshikov (over 19,000) approached Perevolochna, part of the Swedish army (over 14,000) surrendered by order of General A. Levenhaupt. Muscovites hunted Mazepa’s cossacks all over the area and executed them on capture. After retreating through the barren steppe, accompanied by Cossack guides, military units led by Charles XII and I. Mazepa, with the permission of the Turkish government, settled near Bendery (Moldova).
Hetman of Ukraine I. Mazepa died on 22 September 1709.
His successor, P. Orlyk was appointed as Hetman in exile. He not only renewed the agreements with the Crimea and Sweden, but also signed the Treaty between the Hetman and the Zaporozhian Army on 5 April 1710. This document was the result of a long development of state and legal thought in Cossack society and went down in history under the title ‘Treaties and Regulations of the Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporozhian Host’. P. Orlyk and his associates (including many Poltava residents) devoted their entire life to the struggle for Cossack independence.
After the Battle of Poltava, I. Skoropadskyi was finally confirmed as hetman in the territory subordinate to Moscow. Instead of a traditional agreement with the Moscow government, the new leader received the so-called `Reshetylivka Articles`, which left the Hetmanate with only nominal autonomous rights.
In the Poltava regiment, after the June 1709 events, the entire vertical of regimental and hundredth officers was completely changed, due to having actively or sympathetically reacting to Mazepa’s ideas.
After the Battle of Poltava, the Great Northern War lasted for another twelve years.
One of the little-known pages of the second period of the war was the so-called ‘Pruth campaign’ of Peter the 1st in 1711. It was the result of the Ottoman Empire’s entry into the war against Moscow. The High Porte was concerned about the strengthening of Peter the 1st’s position after Poltava victory. The war with Turkey and its allies ended in a complete disaster for Moscow army and the signing of a humiliating peace, according to which the tsar was forced to give the Turks Azov, Taganrog, Kamyanyi Zaton, don’t interfere with Polish affairs and recognise P. Orlyk as hetman of Right-Bank Ukraine. Although the main requirements of the Prut Peace regarding Ukraine were never fulfilled, Moscow position in the region was significantly weakened. At the same time, Turkish diplomacy ignored the interests of its ally Charles XII, which led Peter the 1stt to switch his attention to the conquest of the Baltic states.
The second period of the war was characterised by the return of Augustus II to Poland; the renewal of his alliance with Peter the 1st; Denmark, Prussia, and Hanover’s entry into the war with Sweden; the ousting of the Swedes from their possessions outside the Scandinavian Peninsula; naval warfare; and Moscow landings on the Swedish coast. During 1716-1718, the Swedes made two campaigns to Norway. On 30 November 1718, Charles XII was assassinated near the walls of the Norwegian fortress of Fredriksten.
Due to significant military losses, Sweden was forced to sign a peace treaty in Nystadt (now – Uusikaupunki, Finland) on 30 August 1721 in Nystadt. Under the terms of the treaty, Moscow Tsardom not only gained access to the Baltic Sea, but also control over a large part of the region. It turned into a great empire that later tried to completely assimilate Ukraine, Poland, Crimea, and Finland.
The hall’s exposition presents cartographic and illustrative material about the second period of the war and its consequences for Ukraine and other countries. The section ‘The Prut Campaign of 1711’ is presented with unique documents from Swedish archives. Peter the 1st’s medals for the victory in the Battle of Poltava and medallions in honour of victories in military competitions at sea are examples of a powerful information campaign conducted by the Moscow tsar to glorify his actions and convey information to the most remote lands. The documents of that era introduce the political and legal acts after the Poltava period in the history of Ukraine. A fragment of the deck of an early 18th-century warship is recreated and weapons of the time are presented.