The impact of the Great Northern War on Poznań and the lives of its inhabitants


 The 18th century began unfavourably for the Commonwealth and for Poznań with the great Northern War (1700-1721), which, with its consequences in the form of war damage, plagues, contributed to the depopulation of Poznań and its suburbs and urban villages. The article was prepared to show the situation of the city before the war and, above all, during the war. Military operations, war destruction, population losses, costs of the war and the actions of the occupiers show the significant changes that took place in the capital of Greater Poland as a result of the Great Northern War. It concludes that Poznań became a participant in the war with all its consequences.

The sources in the State Archives in Poznań3, as well as printed sources in the form of chronicles of Poznań orders4 and materials prepared by Marian Mika5 with source excerpts from the Poznań archive were used to create this article. Due to the fact that the author of this article has devoted a lot of work to describing various military issues taking place in Poznań and beyond, many of his findings can be found in this study6. Older literature also turned out to be very important, especially the works of Józef Łukaszewicz7, Kazimierz Jarochowski8 and many others, which supported the conclusions drawn here.
The structure of the work was arranged in a way allowing the reader to have a full overview of the situation in Poznań, before, during and after the war. That is why the article has been divided into subchapters, which will help to visualise the difficult situation in which the city was in during the Great Northern War. Determining the state and condition of the city before the war and the number of its inhabitants allows the reader to imagine how much damage was done and how many people died. The description of the operations will help the reader realise what was happening in Poznań. War destruction, population losses, costs of the war and, above all, the impact of the occupation on the inhabitants make us realise how much the effects of the war activities of the Great Northern War changed Poznań in the years 1700-1721. All this, leads us to conclusions and answers to the questions posed, i.e. how much did Poznań suffer during the war and how much did it cost?
The state and condition of the city before the war In the 16th century, Poznań and its suburbs developed, and economic prosperity allowed for a relatively quick expansion and reconstruction of buildings destroyed as a result of fires or floods. However, when in the 17th century the city entered a period of economic decline and crisis, the disasters that haunted the city, including wars, caused a situation almost unknown to the city, i.e. the formation of empty plots and squares (undeveloped and uninhabited), because there was no money to repair the damage9. In May 1674, according to the10 poll tax paid in Poznań and its suburbs and villages, 1,410 people paid in the city, i.e. within the city walls, 603 in the suburbs, and 390 in urban villages11. In this case, it was a general tax announced for the war with Turkey, so we can assume that there were 2,403 households in these suburbs12, which did not necessarily correspond to the number of buildings, as that could have been smaller. In another document from 1693 we find information about the condition of the Poznań suburbs, which mentions that there were  1960, pp. 107-108. 12 Assuming that on average, each household consisted of 5 people, we can speculate that the population amounted to 12 thousand people. However, the poll tax did not take into account the nobility and subjects of Poznań churches and monasteries. If we take them into account, the population of Poznań fluctuated around 13 thousand residents. 136 inhabited houses in the suburbs and villages belonging to Poznań, and as many as 209 empty properties and undeveloped sites where houses used to be13. It shows that this area must have been badly damaged. Material and economic losses were further aggravated by the year 1698, when the city was hit by a flood and a great fire, which devastated the suburbs14. Thus, Poznań entered the 18th century with a population of around 13,000. inhabitants, and with damages that could not be repaired.

Warfare around Poznań in 1703-1716
The Great Northern War began in 1700, when the Northern League attacked Sweden, which, however, very quickly defeated Denmark, Saxony and Russia, and then continued the victorious march, directly threatening the lands of the Commonwealth, which was not a direct part of the so-called "Augustus II's adventure". A king who dragged his elected throne into the turmoil of the war. In 1701Charles XII entered the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in the following year Poland, taking Warsaw without a fight and fighting further victorious battles in 1702. A year later, the Swedish ruler pressed further west, threatening the Greater Poland and Poznań15. In September 1703, the Swedish corps commanded by Field Marshal Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld were set up near Poznań. After many days of preparations, on September 18, Poznań was seized by Swedish soldiers16.
Poznań was an important centre, therefore the Swedes immediately began work to secure the city against any attempt to recapture it. On August 19, 1704, the Saxon general Johann Mathias von der Schulenburg approached Poznań with 3,400 soldiers (he left most of his troops 25 km away from the city), where he fought a battle with the Swedish army commanded by General Johann August Meijerfeldt, who had 2,292 men. The battle ended with the defeat of Meijerfeldt's troops and the capture of his camp, but Schulenburg withdrew from the city immediately after the clash and joined the rest of his corps17. Then, with all his strength, Schulenburg approached Poznań again (with all artillery and all soldiers), stood on the right bank of the Warta river, east of the city walls, and opened artillery fire. Finally, on the orders of August II, he withdrew after a few days and headed towards Warsaw18.
It was not the end of the struggle for the capital of Greater Poland, because on the king's order, generals Michał Brandt and Johann Reinhold Patkul (on September 28-29, 1704) went to Poznań along with cavalry, infantry and artillery. They immediately began siege operations, but did not start the assault until October 15 th which lasted until November 2. A day later, Patkul's and Brandt's troops left Poznań without carrying out a single attack on the city19. At that moment, the Swedes in Poznań were not threatened by anyone until 1709, when an epidemic and the defeat of their ruler near Poltava forced them to leave the city. It was then that August II returned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, followed by the Saxon army with which the ruler occupied the largest cities, including Poznań20. The return of August II with the Saxon soldiers, and above all, the demands of financial contributions and oppression of the inhabitants of the Commonwealth, led to conflicts which lead to a formation of a confederation on November 26 1715, against the Saxon army stationed in the Commonwealth21. The struggle was a guerrilla war. Operating on behalf of the Confederates in Greater Poland, Chryzostom Gniazdowski captured Poznań on the night of July 23-24, 1716 after a fierce battle with the Saxon garrison commanded by General Kaspar von Seidlitz22. This was the last act in the military history of Poznań during the Great Northern War. The period between 1703-1716 which included four sieges, one battle at the city walls, occupation by three armies (Swedish, Saxon and Confederate), as well as marches of troops and attacks on the Poznań suburbs, contributed to great population and material losses in Poznań.

War destruction
The Swedes occupying Poznań began to renovate the defence devices, and above all to modernise and multiply them. Most of the work that they carried out were earthworks to strengthen the existing fortifications23. Palisades were also built to protect the less secure areas. Over time the work was extended to include bricklaying in the sections of the wall that needed repair. However, in order to erect new fortifications, it was necessary to destroy some of the existing buildings on the outskirts of Poznań. Buildings adjacent to the city walls were demolished. There were also quarters for the army and rooms for guards on the walls24. The expansion and the construction of new fortification devices put the suburbs in danger, firstly, due to the demolition and even complete destruction both by the operations of the municipal garrison and the attackers as a result of the assault. In this area several buildings, which could interfere with the defence and could be used by the enemy, were demolished or burned down. It should be emphasised, however, that the demolition program was not carried out very consistently by the Swedes because they spared the buildings of the Bernardine monastery (located on the left bank of the river, south-east of the city walls, just two hundred meters away from the city walls). In consequence the monastery, surrounded by the wall, constituted an additional point for attacking troops and setting up a battery of guns there, and they were located relatively close to the city, opposite Garbarski Earthwork25.
It should be emphasised that the general condition of the defence facilities and the city itself and its suburbs after the siege of 1704 did not give rise to optimism26. The areas between the Castle and the Wrocław Gate suffered the most, especially the ones closest to Wrocław Gate, and Wroniecka Gate, where the besiegers made two gaps several meters wide in the wall. Relatively, the smallest losses occurred in the section between the Jesuit College and the Great Gate, which may prove the good quality of the new defensive devices, i.e. Garbarski Earthwork, which was not seriously damaged. Numerous buildings, churches and monasteries were also destroyed27, especially those within the range of artillery fire on both sides. They also suffered due to the actions of the soldiers themselves, who often demolished them or set fire to the buildings. During the siege by Patkul's army, approx. 4,000 bullets were fired, but reportedly only killed one person28. It should be underlined that during the entire siege, Patkul's artillery failed to start 25 Z. Pilarczyk

Plan of Poznań from 1704. Fragment PS Faber, Belagerung der Stadt Posen von D. 4 October Bis D. 24 Oct. 1704, copperplate engraving from the collections of the University Library in Poznań. Z. Pilarczyk, M. Danielewski, K. Kościelniak, Military Poznań. Fortifications and battles for the city until the 18th century, Poznań 2017, p. 125.
a single fire in the city itself. Nevertheless, the damages were significant and were not repaired after the departure of the attacking troops.
It was only after the departure of the Swedes and the arrival of the Saxons that the municipal authorities started to list the state and condition of urban and suburban buildings, thanks to which, we have a testimony to the great damage that took place in Poznań at that time. For example, in 1712, in the city itself, 29.3% of all houses were undamaged, and 14.3% were only slightly damaged. In the years 1714-1728, only 13 completely destroyed houses were rebuilt, mainly by the city aristocracy, wealthy merchants and city dignitaries. The cost of rebuilding the damaged houses ranged from PLN 1,000 to PLN 3,000, a significant cost as at that time the annual salary of the president of the city was PLN 500, and the city secretary earned PLN 200 a year29. In the suburbs 52.3% of houses were undamaged and 47.7% were slightly damaged. But it is important to note that in 1712 the suburbs and villages of Poznań were almost completely depopulated. This was caused by the war damage, plague and lack of financial means30.
The poor condition of the suburbs is evidenced by the orderly of Jakub Zygmunt Rybiński, the crown hunter for the city of Poznań on March 11, 1713, from which we learn that the Poznań suburbs were so damaged that he recommends that the troops passing through the city do not stop to spend the night or feed the horses31. The idea was to allow time to rebuild the suburbs devastated by hostilities.
After the conquest of Poznań in the summer of 1716, Gniazdowski, who did not want Poznań to become a Saxon fortress again, ordered all the fortifications erected by the Saxons to be demolished, the entrenchments to be removed, the palisades to be dismantled and the moats to be filled32. However, the destruction of the external fortifications did not cover all defence elements. Among others, the bastions of the Wroniecka Gate, the Wrocław Gate, the Garbarski Earthwork and the Grobla Earthwork were saved but individual redoubts and the outer embankment suffered and they were dismantled33. The great fire of Poznań of March 16, 1717 added to the city's misfortunes when as much as three quarters of the entire city burnt down34.

Population losses
As a result of the siege of Poznań by the army under the command of Patkul the Swedish losses amounted to 14 killed, including a lieutenant and a non-commissioned officer, additionally 1 officer and 27 privates were wounded and 1 Polish citizen was killed among the inhabitants of Poznań, and 1 Jewish citizen was wounded. Among the besieging forces, the losses amounted to 405 men from the infantry and 23 from the cavalry, wounded and killed35. The hostilities themselves brought very little casualties among the city's inhabitants, but the plague epidemic took its toll36. At the beginning of the 18th century Poznań with its suburbs and adjacent villages had a population of about 13,000 people. For example, in the city centre itself, the Christian population varied between 2,500 and 3,750 in those years37. In 1707, an epidemic reached Poznań and, as a result, a total of 9,000 inhabitants of Poznań died within two years 38.
During the Swedish occupation there were killings and their consequences, e.g. for killing a Swedish reiter the guilty person if caught was tied to a horse's legs and dragged for 1.5 km through the city39. Another example is the shooting of an officer and his orderly on the Chwaliszew Bridge in November 1704. While the perpetrators were not found the Swedes took revenge across the city with persecution and demands of financial40 contributions. On February 26, 1708, a Swedish soldier in Garbary shot himself in bed "for an unknown reason"41. In conclusion, the plague had a much more significant effect on the population of the city compared to those killed as part of the war.

Occupation
In Poznań Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists and Jews lived side by side . It was generally a peaceful coexistence, but in troubled times there were conflicts. In general, it should be said that Poznań was a very tolerant city, which, as one of the few cities in the Commonwealth admitted dissenters to the municipal law, giving them offices and senior citizenships in craft guilds. This bishop of Poznań strongly opposed this policy, especially at the beginning of the 18th century42. However, when the Great Northern War began in Poznań, there was no place of worship where Calvinists or Lutherans could pray but this situation changed when the Swedes entered the city43. The Swedes favoured Protestants and the introduction of regular services for the Protestants was unacceptable to the Catholic authorities and became the reason for the persecution of dissidents after the soldiers of Charles XII had left the city. In the course of the Great Northern War in the Commonwealth there was a wave of hatred towards Protestants, the more violent as it was a reflection of the feeling of powerlessness and threat to the country as well as great fear of the Swedes. In addition, the arguments used by the Catholic clergy who claimed that all defeats were God's punishment for tolerating heresy fell on fertile ground. This attitude appealed to the nobility and the majority of the Commonwealth's society. The accusations that dissidents were associated with foreign powers and that they prevented internal consent in the state sounded44 convincing. However, this rhetoric did not reach everyone and it was not always true.
After the Swedish occupation of Poznań in the chronicles of the Poznań religious orders we can find a lot of information about Swedish soldiers destroying and looting Catholic churches45. Catholic clergy interpreted these typical actions of the army during the war as an attack on the Catholic Church and started blaming Protestants for initiating the actions of Swedish soldiers. As soon as the Swedes left Poznań, the Catholic authorities wanted to close the Protestant places of worship, this, however, was prevented by the Saxons (mostly Protestants) who entered the city and saved them. Eventually, after the seizure of Poznań by Gniazdoowski in 1716, places of worship were closed and dissidents were forbidden to conduct services in the city46.
During the Great Northern War, Poznań dissidents did not allow themselves to be used as a tool of oppression for Catholics and used the possibility of attending services provided by the occupying armies47. The situation was different in the case of Jews living in Poznań, who collaborated with the occupiers and even denounced the Polish nobility, which evoked hatred towards the Jewish inhabitants among the nobility and townspeople. Jews had a reputation of traitors and spies, which was confirmed by their actions during the Great Northern War. They always offered their services to the winning side48. The rise in anti-Jewish sentiment in Poznań at the beginning of the 18th century was potentially caused by the stationing of the Swedes and the fact that Jews could treat them as people who made their lives and activities easier.

Financial costs of the war for Poznań
The Great Northern War brought about destruction and breakdown in the economic development of the city. The greatest damage was done to Poznań by foreign troops: Swedish, Saxon and Russian. The Swedish army left the city on August 26, 1709. Then the city was passed into the hands of August II in a state close to financial and economic ruin. The Swedish occupation brought expenses related to the maintenance of their troops, which amounted to PLN 1,418,704,and PLN 675,560 paid in the form of contributions49. The city and its surroundings were particularly affected by the activity of Chryzostom Gniazdowki and his soldiers, who robbed the entire town and its inhabitants of PLN 838,747 in total and the city additionally paid him PLN 13,372 in contributions as well as PLN 6,627 to feed the troops50.
The attack of Gniazdowski aggravated the ruin of Poznań and its suburbs. In addition, in December 1716, Poznań had to pay PLN 27,506 in contributions to General Bauer, who appeared near the city as the commander of the Russian troops, in order to avoid further lootings51. In addition, in the years 1699-1716 It can be clearly stated that the Great Northern War caused the economic ruin of the city and destroyed what was rebuilt after the war of 1655-1660. As a result of frequent fights for the city, a large part of it fell into ruins. Municipal finances and private property of the inhabitants were severely affected. Losses incurred in the years 1700-1721 in connection with military operations, the stationing of own and foreign troops, contributions, payment of taxes and the value of damaged buildings and municipal facilities, as well as the property of residents, are calculated at a total of over PLN 4 million53. As for the finances of a city of its size, it was an astronomical amount, almost equal to the average annual income of the Polish state treasury at that time54.

Conclusions
The thesis that Poznań became a participant in the war with all its consequences, i.e. war devastation, deaths among residents, tensions between the city's citizens of different faiths, ruined finances, impoverishment of Poznań residents as a result of plunder and paying contributions to various armies, is absolutely correct. What happened in Poznań can be compared to any other city that gained a status of "victim of the war". Regardless of the location of military operations occupation, destruction and economic decline (on a smaller or larger scale) were always the elements that accompanied the hostilities . After considering all these elements the most intriguing one seems to be the one that proves that the war did not have a direct impact on population losses, i.e. the deaths of several thousand inhabitants of Poznań. It was the plague that contributed to the death of Poznań residents, and not, for example, the sieges and assaults of the city. It is worth conducting research aimed at determining the percentage and total number of the inhabitants of the country and region who died as a result of direct warfare, and what percentage of deaths occurred due to its indirect impact (the plague had such an indirect impact, due to the fact that passing soldiers were spreading it to different regions of the country). It might turn out that the wars of that time were not bloody conflicts (excluding the soldiers). Summing up, it seems that Poznań, with its war consequences, may be a reflection of any other city that experienced the Great Northern War.

Bibliography
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