Polish-Swedish War (1600–1629)

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The territorial expansion of Sweden from 1560 to 1660

The Swedish-Polish Wars from 1600 to 1629 were a military conflict between Sweden and Poland-Lithuania , in which it was a question of inheritance claims and supremacy in the Baltic Sea region . They are part of a whole series of Nordic Wars that took place from the 16th to the 18th centuries. With several interruptions, the war dragged on for almost 30 years. The clashes took place partly in parallel, but largely independently of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).

Origins of the conflict: Sigismund Wasa's claims to the throne

Sigismund Wasa, 1587–1632 King of Poland, 1592–1599 King of Sweden (painting by Martin Kober )

In 1587, after the death of the previous Polish king Stephan Báthory , Sigismund Wasa was elected King of Poland by the Polish-Lithuanian noble assembly. He climbed under the name of Sigismund III. Wasa (Polish Zygmunt III Waza , Lithuanian Zigmantas Vaza ) the Polish throne. The opposing candidate in the election was the Habsburg Archduke Maximilian , who was defeated militarily with his supporters in the Battle of Byczyna in 1588 by the troops led by Jan Zamoyski , was captured and thereupon renounced his claims to the throne.

Sigismund was the son of the Swedish King John III. and his wife Katharina Jagiellonica , who was a Polish-Lithuanian princess from the Jagiellonian family and the daughter of King Sigismund I of Poland (* 1467, † 1548). Especially under the influence of his mother, Sigismund was brought up Catholic. It was already clear when he ascended the throne in Poland that he would also ascend the Swedish throne after the death of his father. The prospect of a Catholic king in Sweden, which is now purely Evangelical-Lutheran, sparked unrest in Sweden's leading political circles. Therefore, after his accession to the throne in Poland, Sigismund signed the Kalmar Articles , which were to regulate the future relationship between Poland and Sweden.

The independence of both kingdoms from each other was laid down in it. Protestant Sweden was guaranteed freedom of religion. After the death of his father, Sigismund Wasa was also crowned King of Sweden in 1594, so that both kingdoms were united in personal union. However, Sigismund continued to reside in the Polish capital Krakow and tried to rule Sweden from there. Four years later there was a rebellion of his opponents in Sweden under the leadership of his Protestant uncle Karl, the Duke of Södermanland . Sigismund was accused of failing to keep his earlier promises to secretly promote the Counter-Reformation in Sweden and to restrict Sweden's independence. Sigismund then landed with a force of several thousand mercenaries on the Swedish coast in Kalmar to defend his rights to the throne.

After initial success, however, he suffered a defeat in the Battle of Stångebro on September 25, 1598 and was forced to leave Sweden again. He was then declared forfeited of his rights to the throne by the Swedish Diet. His Protestant uncle Karl, the leader of the rebellion, first became imperial administrator and climbed as Karl IX. in 1604 the Swedish throne. Officially, Sigismund Wasa never gave up his claim to the Swedish crown and continued to call himself “King of Poland and Sweden”.

Outbreak and course of war 1600–1611

While Sigismund had to base his Swedish claims to the throne mainly on recruited foreign mercenary armies and as good as no Polish troops were involved in the Swedish throne disputes, war broke out between the two countries. The occasion was King Sigismund's claim to Estonia, which was under Swedish rule . Even in the negotiations before Sigismund's accession to the throne in Poland, there had been discussions as to whether Swedish Estonia should, as it were, be handed over to Poland-Lithuania as the prize for obtaining the Polish royal crown. However, this was recognized by all political circles in Sweden, especially King John III. decidedly rejected, so that this was not contractually fixed.

After losing the Swedish crown, King Sigismund succeeded in winning over the leading aristocratic circles in Poland-Lithuania for a campaign in Estonia. However, the Swedes got ahead of the Polish-Lithuanian attack and went on the offensive themselves. During the year 1600, Swedish troops led by Duke Charles invaded Livonia from Estonia and occupied the cities of Dorpat and Pernau . The Swedes advanced as far as the Daugava and began to siege Kokenhusen Castle about 100 km east of Riga . However, Duke Karl did not dare to attack the heavily fortified Riga. In view of the Swedish successes, the Sejm approved the funds for the creation of an army of about 20,000 men. Under the leadership of the Grand Hetman of Lithuania Krzysztof Radziwiłł, this force advanced to Livonia.

On June 23, 1601 the battle of Kokenhusen took place , which was victorious for the Polish-Lithuanian army. The Swedes had to withdraw again largely from Livonia and give up most of their conquests. Also in the battle of Weissenstein on September 15, 1604, the Polish-Lithuanian army under Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was victorious. The Swedish Reichstag then approved funds for military reinforcements. In 1605 a 5,000-strong Swedish army landed under Anders Lennartsson in Estonia and marched on Riga with the aim of capturing this important Baltic port. In the battle of Kirchholm on September 27, 1605, the united Swedish armed forces under the high command of King Charles IX. however devastated by the outnumbered Polish-Lithuanian army under the command of Chodkiewicz. In the period that followed, however, the Poles did not succeed in using their military successes in the long term. Due to outstanding wages, Chodkiewicz's army largely disbanded and Poland was weakened by internal unrest (including the Zebrzydowski uprising in 1605-09 against King Sigismund). In addition, war broke out between Poland and Russia in 1609 . Finally, in 1611, an armistice was signed between Sweden and Poland, which essentially enshrined the pre-war acquis.

New acts of war 1617–1618

Gustav II Adolf, ca.1630

In 1611 Gustav II. Adolf ascended after the death of his father, King Charles IX. the Swedish throne. Even under his father, Sweden intervened militarily in the Russian turmoil in the Ingermanland War and temporarily occupied the cities of Novgorod and Pskow (Pleskau) , among other things . In the Treaty of Stolbowo in 1617, Russia ceded the city of Nöteborg (Schlüsselburg) and most of the historical province of Ingermanland to Sweden.

In the years 1617 and 1618 fighting broke out again between Sweden and Poland-Lithuania in Livonia, which ended with the Swedes making little land in Livonia.

The conflict 1621–1625

The previous armistice between Sweden and Poland expired in November 1620, whereupon the Swedes under Gustav II Adolf went on the offensive again. In 1621, the Swedes managed to take Riga. Poland was unable to use all of its forces because it was at war with the Ottoman Empire . In the Treaty of Mitau of March 1, 1625, another armistice was concluded for three years.

The war of 1626–1629

After the armistice had expired, the Swedes under Gustav II Adolf again took the military initiative, now to invade the Prussian royal part, which was under Polish sovereignty . The Swedish invasion fleet wisely landed on the coast of the Duchy of Prussia , which was under Polish feudal sovereignty, but actually allied with Sweden through Elector Georg Wilhelm von Brandenburg, who had also been Duke of Prussia since 1620 . From there the Swedes marched by land against royal Prussia. However, the capture of the large Hanseatic and port city of Danzig did not succeed. In December 1626, the Polish-Lithuanian troops in Livonia suffered a severe defeat near Kokenhusen . In the sea ​​battle of Oliwa off Danzig on November 28, 1627, a Danzig flotilla was able to win a victory over the Swedish fleet. In the Battle of Górzno on February 2, 1629, however, the Polish troops suffered a defeat.

On October 26, 1629, the Altmark armistice was finally concluded for six years. The treaty guaranteed Sweden possession of most of Livonia including the city of Riga ( Swedish Livonia ). In addition, Sweden was given control of the Prussian cities of Elbing , Memel , Fischhausen , Braunsberg and Frauenburg . The truce with Poland and the considerable income from the sea tariffs of the cities of Riga, Memel, Elbing and Fischhausen allowed King Gustav II Adolf to land with a Swedish army on the coast of Pomerania and on the side of the oppressed Protestants in their thirties To intervene at war in Germany.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ralph Tuchtenhagen : History of the Baltic States , Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-50855-3 , p. 36.