Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658)
The Russo-Swedish War 1656–1658 was part of the Second Northern War .
background
Taking advantage of the Polish weakness in the Russo-Polish War 1654–1667 , the Swedes invaded Poland in 1655 and soon took Warsaw and Krakow . As a result, Russia and Poland concluded a ceasefire agreement in the Niemież Treaty . While Poland needed a free hand to fight for freedom against Sweden, Russia had several reasons to go to war against Sweden. In addition to the general fear that Sweden would become too powerful, the Russians wanted to regain access to the Baltic Sea , which they had lost in the Ingrian War and since then had to accept disadvantageous economic and political isolation. Finally, war with Sweden became inevitable when Hetman Janusz Radziwiłł in the Union of Kėdainiai formally subordinated the Lithuanian part of Poland-Lithuania to the Swedish crown. However, since this part of the country had been conquered and held almost completely by the Russians at that time, this resulted in a war between Sweden and Russia.
Course of war
The theaters of war were the Baltic States and Ingermanland . A Russian army, led by Tsar Alexei Michailowitsch personally, marched into Livonia from Lithuania , captured Daugavpils and Kokenhusen and began the siege of Riga . A second Russian army under Pyotr Potjomkin captured the Swedish fortresses of Nöteborg and Nyenschanz on the Neva . Other Russian associations took Dorpat .
However, due to the lack of a naval blockade by the Danish allies , the siege of Riga proved ineffective and was lifted. The Swedes were able to move new troops to the Baltic States, who undertook a campaign against Pskov and were victorious at Valga . At Gdow , however, they were defeated in 1658 by the troops of Iwan Chowanski .
armistice
Since Sweden was ousted from Poland and had little chance of success on the Russian front, it offered an armistice. At the same time, Russia was facing a dramatic turnaround in Ukraine , where a large part of the Cossack elite under Hetman Ivan Wyhowskyj switched sides and formed an alliance with Poland. Both sides signed the three-year Valiesar armistice , which kept the status quo. Thus Swedish areas in the Baltic States and Ingermanland initially remained in Russian hands.
peace contract
Setbacks in the ongoing war against Poland forced Russia to conclude the unfavorable Peace of Kardis with Sweden in 1661 , in which the pre-war status was restored. All Russian conquests, including access to the Baltic Sea, had to be returned. It was not until the Great Northern War that Russia finally conquered the Baltic coast.
literature
- Курбатов О. А. Русско-шведская война 1656-58 гг .: проблемы критики военно-исторических источников // Россия и Швеция в средневековье и новое время: архивное и музейное наследие. М, 2002.
- R.Fagerlund «Kriget i Ostersjoprovinserna 1655-1661»