Peace of Nystad — Russia Proclaimed an Empire
The Great Northern War ended at Nystad in 1721 and Russia became a Baltic power in place of Sweden. The war had run for twenty-one years. Sweden in 1700 held Finland, Estonia, Livonia, Ingria and Pomerania and controlled the Baltic trade; Charles XII spent his first decade winning battles against everyone and his second losing the war after Poltava in 1709. The peace transferred Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and a portion of Karelia to Russia, and returned most of Finland, with Russia paying two million thalers in compensation — a detail that mattered to Peter, who wanted the acquisition to look like a purchase rather than a seizure. Sweden's century as a great power ended with it, and its political system changed accordingly: the Age of Liberty followed, with power in the Riksdag rather than the crown. Russia's gains were narrow in area and decisive in kind. They gave it ice-free ports, the Baltic trade, and a capital — St Petersburg had been founded in 1703 on ground taken in the first campaign and was already the seat of government when the treaty confirmed the title. The senate offered Peter the titles of emperor, father of the fatherland and the Great, and he accepted them at a ceremony that made the point explicit. The other European courts spent two decades arguing about whether to recognise the imperial title. Russia entered the European system as a permanent factor, and every subsequent settlement had to account for it. Sweden tried twice more to recover the Baltic provinces, in 1741 and 1788, and lost both wars. Finland went to Russia in 1809, and Sweden has not fought a war since 1814.
- Year: 1721 CE
- Category: Diplomatic
