Shifting empires. The Treaty of Nystad turns 300

Sculpture 'Peace and Victory. Treaty of Nystad' in Saint Petersburg. Photo: Florstein (CC) Commons.wikimedia.org

What happened after the battle of Poltava and the fall of Charles XII of Sweden’s army is less known than the first phase of the struggle, from 1700 till 1709, and the outcome of the war itself. In fact, the period following is far more pivotal in order to understand coalition shifts throughout these 12 years and how they affected the finale of the conflict.

Unlimited appetite

Almost immediately after the defeat on the Ukrainian plains, Sweden was forced to brace itself against old and new enemies which emerged like vultures seeking its prey. Initial foes like Saxony and Denmark joined the war once again, but did not achieve much, still suffering the defeats at the hands of the Swedes. Hannover and Prussia, however, made use of the depletion of Stockholm, and after entering the coalition in 1715, ripped off some Scandinavian possessions in the Holy Roman Empire.

It was Peter the Great of Russia who crushed Sweden’s glory once and for all. After the successful campaign in Livonia in 1710, when the whole eastern coast of the Baltic Sea was occupied, his forces invaded the Swedish Grand Duchy of Finland and achieved further victories during the campaign of 1713-1714. The tsarist fleet emerged on the Baltic Sea. For the first time in history, Russian troops entered the territories of the Holy Roman Empire – in Pomerania and Mecklenburg. Muscovites besieged Stettin along with its Saxon and Prussian allies. In April 1716, the Kajaneborg fortress – the last Swedish stronghold in Finland – was seized by the Russians. With Moscow’s unlimited appetite and swift advance, the German allies of Peter the Great became suspicious and no longer welcomed his support in Pomerania. But it was too late. The tsar was in a position of power and did not have to rely on his allies.

It was only in May 1718 when Stockholm and Moscow decided to open peace negotiations. The two delegations met in the town of Lövö on the Aland Islands. The Russian committee was headed by Jacob Bruce, Andrey Osterman and Pavel Yaguzhinsky. It is worth mentioning they were all of foreign origin – Scottish, German and Lithuanian, respectively. All of them decided to serve the tsar and became close to Peter the Great. They signified a new era of multiple foreigners in the service. Across the table sat Georg Heinrich von Görtz from Holstein-Gottorp and the former Swedish ambassador to Great Britain, Carl Gyllenborg, appointed by Charles XII.

In case of the Ingermanland and Karelia, the tsar announced that Russia was reclaiming its ancient lands, of which Muscovy was deprived in 1617 in favour of Sweden. But it was not the case for Viborg and its surroundings in particular. That area never belonged to Moscow in the first place. Peter referred to this piece of land as compensation for the war effort. The Viborg stronghold was essential to protect the outskirts of St Petersburg. Despite the ongoing war and formal occupation, in the summer of 1719 the fortresses of Viborg and Kexholm were included into the new administrative order of Russia. The strategic value of the borderland was out of question – in contrast to other oblasts, the newly established one was not under the jurisdiction of the voivode, but the military leader – ober-commader. Colonel Ivan Shuvalov, who was assigned to this position, was requested to sketch out maps of the new territories that, sooner or later, were to become the new frontier of Russia.

Another city which had to remain under Russian control was Revel (present-day Tallinn). Located west of St Petersburg, it constituted a protective zone, just like Viborg in the north. In addition, the main city of the Estonian Province was meant to become a navy base for the young Russian fleet.

In search of common ground

The first unofficial conditions agreed between the negotiators referred to the transfer of the Baltic provinces to Russia and the reimbursement of the Grand Duchy of Finland to Sweden. Livonia, in particular, was about to be granted to Russia for 40 years. In return for the territories ceded, Russia was to support Sweden in its attempts to conquer Norway and uphold its provinces in Bremen-Verden and Holstein-Gottorp. This is how the “alliance” between Stockholm and Moscow was discussed for a while. Russia was ready to turn against its distrustful German allies in order to protect its own interest. Yet, in September 1718, when tsarist diplomats drafted the first version of the agreement, Charles XII was unable to accept the loss of the Baltic provinces, and Carl Gyllenborg did not even try to hand the offer over to his lord. The tsar was eventually ready to give up some of his territorial claims (e.g. Kexholm), but only after the destruction of its fortifications. But such an offer never made it to the table.

In 1719, both sides still could not find common ground. No one wished to surrender the Eastern Baltic provinces, for which both Augustus II of Poland-Lithuania and Saxony and Peter the Great formed the league and sparked the war years before. Both sides procrastinated in order to reach their goals, while Stockholm tried to stop Russian naval raids and Moscow tried to discourage its allies from signing separate peace treaties. In the end, the hostilities resumed.

It was in 1719 when tsarist forces were deployed near Stockholm, being repelled in the battle of Stäket on August 13th, not far from the capital itself. The direct danger to the heart of the Kingdom, along with the preceding death of Charles XII on November 30th 1718, appeared to be a turning point, which led to another – and subsequently conclusive – round of negotiations. Despite Stockholm’s successful defence, the city’s fate was already at stake. Muscovy still occupied all the Baltic provinces. According to data gathered afterwards by the royal officers, due to the raids undertaken by Russians in 1719, Sweden suffered significant monetary loss, 20,000 people were left homeless, with seven cities and ten larger workshops and thousands of farms destroyed. The numbers exceeded the value of the annual Swedish income.

On April 28th 1721 negotiations reopened again, this time in the Finnish town of Nystad. Swedish diplomats were replaced by the advisors of the new Swedish monarch, Frederick I, who married Ulrika Eleonora, sister to the fallen King Charles XII. At the very beginning of the peace conference, while debating the fate of Viborg, the Russians suspected that the future treaty would be considered a temporary truce by the Swedes. Scandinavians were shocked to hear the tsar demanded Livonia perpetually. Swedish diplomats could not have accepted that, until the next raid of Russian forces burnt another 500 settlements. At the same time, Stockholm was afraid of losing Finland for good. By September 10th 1721 Swedish negotiators – Johann Paulinus Lilienstedt and Baron Otto Reinhold Strömfelt – managed to accept Russian demands, once again expressed by previously assigned Russian diplomats – Jacob Bruce and Andrey Osterman. They were supported by Ivan Shuvalov who had already made necessary preparations for the transmission of new lands he had been governing for some time. In early September he joined the final negotiations with his maps and plans in order to delimit the new frontier. Although the tsar was still thinking of the shape of the border – and even travelled in person to inspect the area – the treaty was finally signed. Swedish negotiators were terrified once they were informed that the tsarist army, consisting of 115,000 troops, was ready to strike at any moment. The Russian fleet managed to burn the town of Piteå, but they withdrew once word of the treaty spread.

The peace of Nystad

The treaty document was composed of 25 articles and forejudged not only the fate of Sweden. In first place the agreement proclaimed perpetual peace both on land and the seas, as well as the friendship between King Frederick I and Tsar Peter I and their successors. Both parties agreed not to sign any agreement that could harm relations between Stockholm and Moscow. Creating secret protocols was also prohibited. In accordance with Article 3, all hostilities in the Grand Duchy of Finland were supposed to cease within 14 days, and elsewhere within three weeks or earlier. It was settled that if the message of peace would not be conveyed, any cases of hostilities could not affect the treaty already concluded.

Article 4 referred to the essence of the agreement which was a perpetual cession of the territories occupied by Russia. Sweden lost the provinces of Livonia, Estonia, Ingermanland and part of Karelia with Viborg which jointly had been generating almost ¼ of its income. The cities and fortresses yielded were mentioned as follows: Riga, Dünamünde, Parnau, Revel, Derpt, Narva, Viborg, Kexholm, the Isles of Dago, Ösel and Muhu. The question of the frontier in Finland was regulated by Article 8.

In the end, the tsar was pleased with the outcome. The new border was 30 kilometres from Viborg and 150 kilometres from the new capital. The exact delimitation of the frontier among the Finnish lakes was nevertheless much more complicated; therefore the commissioners assigned by both sides still had much work to do in the aftermath. Colonel Shuvalov was sent directly from Nystad to oversee the delimitation progress. The final treaty on the frontier was signed on March 30th 1723 in Viborg. It had eight articles and was considered a supplement to Article 8 of the Treaty of Nystad.

In accordance with Article 5, Russia promised to withdraw its forces from Finland within no more than four weeks and hand it over to Sweden. Moreover, Peter the Great was obliged to pay two million silver thalers to King Frederick as compensation for the transfer of Livonia. The Finnish question was also mentioned in Article 13. The tsar promised to evacuate Finland peacefully and with no locals taken captive. Russian troops agreed to leave the fortresses untouched except arms and ammunition taken away. Peter the Great swore to return to the Swedish King the archives related to the Grand Duchy of Finland that were seized during the occupation. In accordance with Article 6, Stockholm was allowed to purchase bread in Riga, Revel and Arensburg (the town of Ösel, present-day Kuressaare) at a maximum of 50,000 roubles per year. The tsar released Sweden from paying any customs or taxes. This privilege could have been suspended when circumstances would force Russia to stop international trade for the sake of its own subjects.

Finally, in Article 9, the tsar agreed to maintain the rights and privileges of the nobility and other peoples. Russia extended religious liberties in order to guarantee freedom for the Orthodox Church. In Article 10, Peter swore not to affect the actions of the Lutheran churches and schools. From now on, the German nobility of the Livonian Province had become the reservoir of talented statesmen and officers working in honour of Russia.

The Treaty of Nystad humiliated not only the enemy but some tsarist allies, including Saxony (with whom Russia entered the war in 1700) and Poland-Lithuania which joined the war in 1704, under the condition of reclaiming the Livonian Province. The promise was renewed twice in 1709 and 1711, but Peter the Great never planned to fulfil his pledge, and after his achievements in Finland and Pomerania, he could easily disregard his Saxon and Polish allies later on. Representatives of Dresden and Warsaw were not welcomed in Nystad, although for many years delegates of the Polish-Lithuanian Diet had insisted on the transfer of the Livonian province to the Commonwealth, as promised. This is why Article 15 of the final treaty was particularly humiliating for the Polish King Augustus II. It stated that Polish-Lithuanian diplomats were not authorised to attend the conference, nevertheless the tsar ensured to mediate in the future Swedish-Polish negotiations. Peter made the unfavourable Treaty of Nystad binding for Poland-Lithuania.

Memory and legacy

In September 1721 the victorious tsar appeared in St Petersburg. With Peter’s arrival, a huge celebration began. He proclaimed a general amnesty for the majority of criminals, and a huge masquerade was organised to celebrate the triumph. On October 31st 1721, the Senate asked the tsar to accept the title of the Emperor of All Russia. He was the first ruler to be crowned as such.

The anniversary of the treaty was later exploited in tsarist propaganda. A festive celebration took place in 1724, the last one before Peter’s death. The Russian authorities decided to relate the anniversary with the arrival of the St Alexander Nevsky’s relics into St Petersburg. On September 10th 1724 the sacred remains were placed inside the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Three days later, Peter issued a decree establishing September 10th as a new state and religious holiday.

Two out of three of Muscovy’s great rivals were depleted as the result of the Great Northern War and the diplomatic manoeuvres of Peter the Great. Despite the letter of Article 7, Russia interfered in the domestic politics of Sweden. To a certain degree, Stockholm shared the fate of Warsaw, also weakened and destabilised as a consequence of the war. The new reality, finalised on September 10th 1721, brought Russia into the community of key actors in Europe. France and Austria started their rivalry over the tsarist support against one another. The Commonwealth, Denmark and Sweden paid respect to the might of the braced tsardom. Swedes were again taught a lesson in 1741, when they were lured by France into another war against Russia, whose superiority was confirmed as soon as in 1743 with Stockholm losing another piece of Finland.

Great Britain remained a suspicious rival to the rising empire, signing the first mutual treaty ever only in 1734. Despite reservations, the Austrian Habsburgs, as early as 1726, acknowledged the imperial title of the tsars which was a reminder of its victory over Sweden, and Russia’s central presence on the European stage. Moscow’s window to the West was finally opened in both a direct and figurative way.

Grzegorz Szymborski is a graduate of the College of Europe in Natolin (Poland), a graduate from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw, journalist and author of three books: Wolność niejedno ma imię (2013), Wyprawa Fryderyka Augusta I do Inflant w latach 1700-1701 w świetle wojny domowej na Litwie (2015) and Działania zbrojne w Rzeczypospolitej podczas intwerwencji rosyjskiej 1764 roku (2020).

history, Northern War, Russia, Sweden, Treaty of Nystad