The Great Northern War: The History of the Conflict that Made Russia the Dominant Empire in the Baltic

The Great Northern War, fought from 1700-1721, gets its name from the fact the war focused on the Baltic, but the battlefields extended into Germany and deep into Poland and Ukraine. Sweden was a military power with a small empire in the Baltic, while Russia was still a landlocked place, backward when compared to the rest of Europe, not very powerful, and highly xenophobic. The Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth was still powerful, and the Cossacks were still free. Moreover, despite the fact the Ottoman Empire was weakened, it held sway in the Balkans and deep into Eastern Europe, and the Krim Tatars were still raiding into Ukraine, Russia, and Poland for slaves. The Great Northern War would involve the Ottomans and the Tatars as well.

At the time, Denmark ruled Norway, and Saxony was ruled by the elector Augustus the Strong, who was also king of Poland (an elector was a ruler with a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna). Sweden was an absolute monarchy ruled by Charles XII, and Finland had been a Swedish territory for centuries. Sweden also controlled Estonia, Ingria (the region around the current city of St. Petersburg), most of Livonia and Pomerania, Karelia, and a number of places along the German Baltic coast. The king of Poland was also the grand duke of Lithuania.

Given the length of the conflict, perhaps it’s not surprising that other Western European kingdoms ended up in the mix. Brandenburg-Prussia was involved in the later phases of the war - Frederick William was an elector of Brandenburg and had just been granted the right (by the Holy Roman Emperor) to call himself king in Prussia. He held both titles, but there was still a formal separation between Brandenburg and Prussia. Frederick William was strongly interested in acquiring some or all of Pomerania, a region on the Baltic coast, particularly in acquiring a port, which would eliminate paying Swedish tolls in Swedish-controlled ports.

Britain’s involvement may seem more unusual, but the British brought in George I of Hanover as king in 1714, and as an elector, it meant he held a vote in electing the Holy Roman Emperor. George ruled Hanover as an elector from 1698-1727, and even though Hanover was never formally a part of Britain, it was, in a sense, joined to Britain with George as ruler. Hanover was in the region disputed between Denmark and Sweden and drawn into the later phases of the war, which meant Britain was involved.

Ultimately, the most important aspect of the war is that it laid the foundations for the Russian Empire. By 1718, the Russians had conquered most of Finland, the port of Riga, and the Swedish city of Vyborg. These gains in the Baltic Sea strengthened the burgeoning Russian Empire and provided ports and access to the rich resources of Finland, including valuable meat and lumber. Peter also proved to be a rather benevolent conqueror, allowing these regions to maintain both their faith and culture. In conjunction with those developments, as his naval forces became strengthened and experienced in battle, Peter commenced an invasion of Sweden in 1720. Peter’s newly-built and well-designed galleys could navigate both open water and shallow rivers, making them ideal for battle in the region of the Baltic Sea. Charles XII, having returned to Sweden not long before, did not survive the war, dying in Norway in November 1718. Shortly after the death of Charles, Sweden sued for peace, and eventually Peter signed the Treaty of Nistadt in 1721, ending the war between Russia and Sweden. Peter and Russia retained their gains in the Baltic, including the newly founded capital city of St. Petersburg (built at the site of the 1703 victory at Nienchanz), and secured very favorable terms. After the treaty, the Russian Senate named Peter the Emperor of Russia, making him the first to be called by that title.