Russo-Swedish Wars of 1590–1658
The Russo-Swedish Wars of 1590–1658 were a series of conflicts between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Tsardom of Russia, driven largely by territorial ambitions and the quest for access to warm-water ports. The first conflict, from 1590 to 1593, culminated in the Peace of Tiavzino, which allowed Russia to regain some territories but not access to the Baltic Sea. The subsequent wars were influenced by Russia's internal turmoil during its Time of Troubles and external pressures from Poland, leading to various territorial losses for Russia. Key battles included the Siege of Karela and the assault on Novgorod, where Swedish control expanded in the region.
The conflict continued into the Thirty Years' War, with shifting alliances and campaigns that ultimately saw Sweden attempt to capitalize on Poland's vulnerabilities while Russia sought to reclaim lost territories. The wars had significant implications for both nations, with Russia gradually modernizing its military in response to the ongoing threats. The final conflict in the series ended with the Treaty of Kardis in 1661, which largely restored the status quo prior to the wars, highlighting the enduring struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe.
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Russo-Swedish Wars of 1590–1658
At issue: The throne of Moscow and control of the Eastern Baltic Sea
Date: 1590–1658
Location: Russia, Belorussia, Livonia
Combatants: Russians and Swedes vs. Poles; Swedes vs. Russians
Principal commanders:Swedish, Jakob De la Gardie (1583–1652), Gustavus II Adolphus (1594–1632); Russian, Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky, Mikhail Shein
Principal battles: Tver, Karela, Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Riga
Result: Sweden failed to secure the throne of Moscow, while Russians failed to regain a Baltic port
Background
Russia’s quest for a warm-water port began with Ivan the Terrible. In 1583, Swedes had retaken Ingria and Karelia, which had been conquered earlier by Czar Ivan. The Russo-Swedish War of 1590–1593 was settled by the Peace of Tiavzino (May 16, 1595), which allowed the Russians to regain parts of both Ingria and Karelia but not the port of Narva with access to the Baltic Sea.
Action
Following the collapse of the Riurikid Dynasty after the death of Fedor (1598), various powers preyed on Moscow’s weaknesses during its Time of Troubles, from 1604 to 1613. Poland and Sweden each longed for Russian territories and even the throne of Muscovy, as Russia was then called. When Czar Vasily IV Shuisky was attempting to dispose of the former ruler, the False Dmitry (Dmitry I), he courted Sweden as an ally, ceding northern lands, including Karelia, to the Swedish king. The combined Russo-Swedish forces defeated the armies of Dmitry at Tver in 1609. After that battle, many of the Swedish mercenaries, angry about not receiving their pay, deserted. The Russians under Prince Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky and the remaining Swedish troops under Jakob De la Gardie retreated to Novgorod, where they regrouped to relieve the defenders at the Trinity Monastery on January 10, 1610, also under attack from Dmitry’s forces. Later that year, Skopin died, and the Russian and Swedish troops were unable to thwart a full-scale Polish invasion of Moscow.
Problems then developed in Karelia when Russian inhabitants resisted the arrival of Swedish armies, despite the czar’s cession of their lands. The Siege of Karela (in Karelia) began in September, 1610, and lasted until Swedish success on March 2, 1611. King Charles IX of Sweden then tried to annex more Russian lands north of Novgorod, the Solovki Islands, and the Kola peninsula. When negotiations stalled, Sweden opened a full assault on Novgorod on July 8. A traitor showed the Swedes an easy way to approach the kremlin of that city. Fierce fighting erupted, and the Swedish leader, De la Gardie, was accepted as the town’s de facto ruler. The Swedes went on to take Ivangorod, Tikhvin, and Oreshek.
After the fall of Shuisky and the Polish invasion of the Kremlin of Moscow, disputes arose about the Russian rulership. The Polish king Sigismund III Vasa contested with his son, Władysław IV Vasa, for the Muscovite throne, and Russian factions were divided.
Following the ouster of the Poles, there was also a faction supporting the Swedish king as well as his brother, Prince Karl Phillip. When the Russian assembly, the zemsky sobor, was called in 1613, the Swedes still retained control of Novgorod and many of the Russian lands of the northwest. Karl Phillip was the choice of Russian Prince Pozharsky, whose armies had driven the Poles out of Moscow the previous year. Nevertheless, the influence of the Cossacks and the monks at the Holy Trinity Monastery near Moscow persuaded the assembly to vote for Michael Romanov.
War with Sweden continued until 1615, when King Gustavus II Adolphus lifted the Swedish Siege of Pskov to conclude a peace at Stolbovo. The intervention of John Merrick representing the Moscow Company of England was critical in securing the necessary agreements, which left Karelia and Ingria in Swedish hands, thus shutting out Muscovy from the Baltic Sea. The Swedes retreated from Novgorod and other surrounding lands in the Russian north.
After the Thirty Years’ War broke out in 1618, Gustavus attempted to incite Muscovy into a war with Poland because Smolensk was still in Polish hands. However, just as the Russian assembly was deliberating this issue, Sweden made peace with Poland in 1621. By 1630, Gustavus was seeking to make an alliance with Muscovy to import Russian grain for his troops on campaign in Pomerania and to reopen the war with Poland. Patriarch Filaret, the czar’s father, instead wished Gustavus to attack Poland from another flank to ease the Russian attack on Smolensk. Faced with the prospect of the Polish throne, Gustavus agreed to cooperate in this war for Smolensk. In the summer of 1632, Prince Mikhail Shein mobilized Russian troops for combat, only to discover that the Swedish king was killed in battle at Lützen. Without Swedish support, the Russians were then unable to retake Smolensk, especially when the Turks attacked Muscovy from the South. With fresh recruits, the new Polish king Władysław IV Vasa came personally to Smolensk to undertake charge of its defense. Shein concluded an armistice in 1634 that left the city in Polish hands, and Władysław renounced further claims to the Muscovite throne. Nevertheless, preparations for the Russo-Swedish war with Poland did enable the Russians to fashion a modern army, partly with the aid of a Scot, Alexander Leslie, sent to Moscow by the Swedish king in 1630.
Aftermath
A war between Muscovy and Sweden broke out in 1656 during the Russian war with Poland over Ukrainian lands. When Russian troops finally retook Smolensk and Lithuanian territories, Swedes were anxious to capitalize on Polish weaknesses and seized the opportunity to dismember Poland. This resulted in a contest for Polish lands and a Russo-Swedish War. King Charles X Gustav of Sweden also hoped to gain the Polish crown for himself. The crucial battle was over Riga, which the Swedes successfully defended against Russian troops. Charles X arranged a truce in 1658 but died before the treaty was completed. The Treaty of Kardis, 1661, was signed by Charles XI and Czar Alexis I, essentially restoring things to their prewar status.
Bibliography
Ahnlund, Nils. Gustavus Adolphus the Great. New York: History Book Club, 1999.
Dukes, Paul. The Making of Russian Absolutism, 1613–1801. New York: Longman, 1982.
Henty, G. A. The Lion of the North: A Tale of the Times of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars of Religion. Salem, Ohio: Schmul, 1997.
Solovev, Sergei Mikhailovich. The First Romanov: Tsar Michael, 1613–1634. Gulf Breeze, Fla.: Academic International Press, 1991.
Vernadsky, George. The Tsardom of Moscow, 1547–1682. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1969.