Mission Marlborough
In 1706, Swedish troops occupied Saxony. The Saxon elector and the Polish king August II were forced to sign a separate peace. According to the peace treaty signed in the village of Altranstedt, Augustus II abdicated the Polish throne in favor of Stanislav Leszczynski, renounced the alliance with Russia, gave the obligation to withdraw the Saxons from Russian service and hand over to the Swedes the Russian representative of Livonian Patkul, as well as all other Russian servicemen who were in Saxony. The elector promised to surrender the Polish fortresses of Krakow, Tykocin and others with all the artillery to the Swedes and place Swedish garrisons in the Saxon lands.
There was a definite pause in the war. The victorious 40th thousand Swedish army stopped in the center of Europe, arousing the fears of some and the hopes of others in the War of the Spanish Succession. Charles XII consistently defeated all his enemies - Denmark (with the help of England and Holland), Russia and Saxony. Moreover, Denmark and Saxony were completely withdrawn from the war. And the Swedish king did not accept Russia as a serious enemy. Sweden could have entered the War of the Spanish Succession. The French king Louis XIV, who was in a difficult situation, was not slow to send his secret envoy to the Swedes. The French monarch recalled the traditional Franco-Swedish friendship, the glory of Gustav Adolf, appealed to Charles's ambition. The Swedish king listened to these proposals favorably, especially since his relations with the Austrians, opponents of the French, were strained.
The Austrians were openly afraid that the Swedish army would oppose them. The Austrian emperor Joseph I feared the Swedish king-general. The Swedes in Silesia collected indemnities, recruited people into the army, although it was an Austrian possession, but the emperor did not even protest. In addition, Charles XII demanded that the emperor hand over the churches in Silesia that had previously been taken from the Protestants.
London and Vienna understood the danger of the situation and sent to Charles XII the commander-in-chief of the British forces and favorite of Queen Anne, John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough. The Duke received the Queen's consent to transfer large pensions to Swedish ministers. He officially announced that he had come to study the art of war with the "great commander". Marlborough did not serve a day with the Swedish monarch, but he spent more than one day persuading Charles and bribing his associates, inviting him to move east. Thus, the British helped accelerate the Swedish army's invasion of Russia. Sweden's ability to participate in the War of the Spanish Succession was ruined. It should be noted that during this period Peter was still ready for peace negotiations on very modest terms. The Russian tsar had enough access to the Baltic Sea.
Incident with Matveev
In 1707, Pyotr Alekseevich sent an envoy to Holland, Andrei Matveyev, to England on a special mission. On May 17, the Russian envoy was received by the British Queen Anne. A few days later Matveyev met with Secretary of State Harley. The Russian envoy presented him with the Tsar's proposal for England to take over mediating functions in the reconciliation of Russia and Sweden. If the Swedes refuse to reconcile, Peter offered to conclude an alliance between England and Russia. Matveyev also asked on behalf of the tsar that London not recognize the Altranstedt Peace and give it its guarantees, and also did not recognize Stanislav Leszczynski as the Polish king. On May 30, Matveyev made another meeting with the queen. The Queen promised to give an answer through the Secretary of State.
Garley outwardly showed interest in the proposal, but did not give clear answers and was playing for time. The British were playing for time, as they expected the imminent defeat of the Russian troops. On July 21, 1708, Matveyev's carriage was attacked, the servants were beaten. Matveyev himself was also beaten. The townspeople ran to the screams and detained the attackers. But the attackers said that they had arrested Matveyev on a written order from the sheriff for non-payment of a debt. The people dispersed, and the Russian ambassador was thrown into a debt prison. He was released only with the help of foreign diplomats.
The British authorities pretended that the merchants were to blame for the incident, who had lent Matveyev and began to fear his departure from the country. However, this is hardly an accident. The beating of Matveyev expressed the attitude of England towards Russia. In addition, at this time the Russian army was retreating, and Karl was planning to seize Moscow. At the same time, England recognized Stanislav Leszczynski as king of Poland.
However, the British were clearly in a hurry to draw conclusions about the defeat of Russia. The Swedish army suffered a crushing defeat at Poltava, and the defeated remnants surrendered at Perevolochna. The Swedish king fled to the Ottomans. The Saxon Elector declared the Peace of Altranstedt annulled and himself the Polish king. Stanislav Leshchinsky was forced to flee. It is clear that the brilliant Poltava victory and its results also changed the attitude of England towards Russia. In February 1710, the English ambassador Whitworth (Whitworth), on behalf of his queen, made an official apology to Peter I in the Matveyev case. And Peter was first called "Caesar", that is, the emperor.
The contradictory nature of English politics
Nevertheless, British policy towards Russia remained contradictory even after Poltava. On the one hand, England was in dire need of Russian goods - the English fleet was built from Russian materials. British imports from Russia rose from half a million pounds in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to £ 823,000 in 1712-1716. On the other hand, London did not want Russia to gain a foothold on the shores of the Baltic Sea.
In 1713, Peter actually curtailed trade through Arkhangelsk, ordering all goods to be transported to St. Petersburg. England and Holland were faced with a fact. After that, all commercial traffic began to be carried out through the Baltic Sea. British and Dutch warships had to escort their merchants to protect them from Swedish privateers. In 1714, English and Dutch merchants were greatly annoyed by Swedish privateers. Already by May 20, 1714, that is, at the beginning of navigation, Swedish privateers captured more than 20 Dutch ships, mainly sailing with a load of bread from St. Petersburg. By July 20, 130 Dutch ships had already been captured. A large amount of goods accumulated in Russian ports, which there was no one to take. Holland was forced to organize convoys.
Queen Anne died on August 1, 1714. By this time, all 13 of her children had already died. After her death, in accordance with the Act of Succession to the throne of 1701, the throne of England passed to the Elector of Hanover from the House of Welfs, George Ludwig, grandson of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I. The first representative of the Hanoverian dynasty on the English royal throne did not know English and in his foreign politics was guided by the interests of Hanover. George I dreamed of annexing the cities of Verdun and Bremen to Hanover. For this purpose, he entered into negotiations with the Russian Tsar.
On November 5, 1714, the Russian ambassador Boris Kurakin arrived in London. He proposed to the English monarch a plan to expel the Swedes from Germany, Bremen and Verdun should go to Hanover. Russia received those Baltic lands that it managed to conquer from Sweden. Under pressure from Peter Alekseevich, who, wishing to end the war as soon as possible, wanted an alliance with England and help from the British fleet, Denmark in February 1715 ceded Bremen and Verdun to the British.
By this time, relations between England and Sweden were strained. Charles XII pursued an overly independent policy. The British in 1714 protested against Sweden's actions to block trade in the Baltic. However, there was no sense in this. At the beginning of 1715, the British presented the Swedish government with a claim for compensation for the 24 ships and their cargo captured by the Swedes in the amount of 65 thousand pounds sterling. The Swedish king not only did not satisfy England's demands for free trade in the Baltic Sea and compensation for losses, but, on the contrary, moved on to even more severe measures to suppress Baltic trade. On February 8, 1715, Karl issued the "Marques' Charter", which actually banned the English from trade with Russia. In addition, the British prohibited trade with the Baltic ports, which were occupied by the Poles and Danes. All ships carrying any goods to or from the ports of Sweden's enemies were subject to seizure and confiscation. By May 1715, even before full navigation, the Swedes had captured more than 30 English and Dutch ships.
In March 1715, England sent John Norris' squadron of 18 ships to the Baltic Sea, and Holland sent De Witt's squadron of 12 ships. Norris was ordered to defend British ships and intercept Swedish ships. The prizes were to compensate for the English losses. Swedish military and privateer ships were forced to take refuge in ports. The Anglo-Dutch fleet began to see off trade caravans.
On October 17, 1715, an allied treaty was concluded between Peter and George. The English king undertook to provide Russia with the acquisition of Ingria, Karelia, Estland and Revel from Sweden. Peter undertook to ensure the transfer of Bremen and Verdun to Hanover. George I, as a Hanoverian elector, declared war on Sweden and sent 6,000 Hanoverian soldiers to Pomerania.
In May 1716, an English squadron was sent to the Sound. Norris presented the Swedish government with three main demands: 1) to convert privateering and to compensate the British merchants; 2) to take an oath not to help the Jacobites, who in 1715 revolted in order to enthrone the brother of the late Anna, Catholic Jacob (James) Stuart; 3) stop hostilities against Danish Norway.
King George I, having received Bremen and Verdun, rather quickly from Peter's ally became his enemy. The reason for the aggravation of relations between Russia and England, as well as Denmark, Prussia and Saxony was the so-called. "Mecklenburg case". In 1715, Peter got into strife between the Duke of Mecklenburg and his nobility. This frightened Prussia, Hanover and Denmark, which were afraid of strengthening Russia's position in Central Europe. Allies of Russia became its political opponents. In 1716, a Russian-Danish landing was planned for southern Sweden, under the protection of the English, Dutch, Danish and Russian fleets. At the same time, the Russian galley fleet, with the support of the Danish fleet, was to conduct a landing in Sweden from the Aland side. It seemed that the success of the operation in Scania (southern Sweden) was assured. But, neither the Danes nor the British were in a hurry with the beginning of the operation, they were dissuaded by various pretexts. As a result, the landing was postponed until next year.
Hertz's gamble
In the last years of the Northern War, the talented statesman of German origin Georg Heinrich von Goertz became the closest adviser to the Swedish king. Goertz traveled to all the great Western European powers and, realizing the futility of a further war with Russia, conceived a grandiose plan. Goertz understood that it was impossible to persuade Charles XII to satisfy all the claims of Russia, which turns Sweden into a minor power. However, it is possible to create a new alliance of Russia, Sweden, Spain and France against England, Austria, Denmark and the Commonwealth.
If this plan was successful, both Russia and Sweden would benefit greatly. Sweden received compensation at the expense of Poland and Denmark, which exceeded its losses in Karelia, Ingria, Estonia and Livonia. Russia could regain the lands of Little and White Russia. The annexation of these lands to Russia was facilitated by the fact that with the beginning of the Northern War, the Right Bank of the Dnieper was controlled by Russian troops and Cossacks.
Hertz planned to start building a coalition by diplomatic means using special operations and only then start an open war. In 1715, Louis XIV died in France. By this time, his son and grandson had died. The throne passed to the great-grandson of Louis XV born in 1710. Regents were Philip of Orleans (the king's great-uncle) and Cardinal Dubois. In Spain, Philip V of Bourbon ruled, the grandson of the deceased "king-son", the son of the Dauphin Louis, the grandfather of Louis XV. The Swedish minister proposed to Cardinal Alberoni, the de facto ruler of Spain, to organize a coup in France. Remove from power Philippe d'Orléans and Dubois, and transfer the regency to the Spanish king Philip, the uncle of the young French monarch, in fact the same Alberoni. The Spanish cardinal agreed. In Paris, this coup was to be organized by the Spanish ambassador Cellamar and the Swedish officer Fallard.
England was also planning a coup. It was based on the Jacobites, it was planned to erect Jacob (James) Stewart instead of George on the throne. Hertz visited Rome, where Jacob lived and agreed with him on a plan for the restoration of the Stuarts in England. A Jacobite uprising broke out in Scotland. A pretender to the throne appeared in Scotland, and on January 27, 1716, he was crowned at Skun, under the name of James VIII. However, the uprising was soon defeated, and Jacob was forced to flee to continental Europe.
In the Commonwealth, Hertz planned to put Stanislav Leshchinsky on the throne. Denmark was supposed to be occupied by Russian-Swedish troops. However, at the end of 1716, Cardinal Dubois's men were able to intercept Hertz's correspondence with the Parisian conspirators. He immediately informed London. The British began to intercept the letters of the Swedish ambassador, and then arrested him. From the documents that were seized from the Swedish ambassador, it became known that the physician of Tsar Peter was in correspondence with the leader of the Jacobites, General Marr. The Russian tsar allegedly promised to support Yakov. Peter immediately denied this accusation, said that the medical life had nothing to do with politics and Hertz intertwined the name of the Russian tsar in this case on purpose.
This conspiracy further complicated Russia's relations with Denmark and England. The English king even gave an order to Admiral Norris to seize the Russian ships and the tsar himself and not let him go until the Russian troops leave Denmark and Germany. However, the admiral, having found fault with the form of the order, refused to carry out the order. The British ministers quickly explained to the king that in response the Russians would arrest all English merchants and interrupt the profitable trade on which the state of the fleet depended. Thus, the matter did not come to a war between Russia and England. But the Russian troops had to leave Denmark and Northern Germany.
In 1717, rumors in England were alarmed by rumors that many of Jacob's supporters were in Courland, where Russian troops were stationed, and that a marriage agreement had already been concluded between the pretender to the English throne and the Duchess of Courland Anna Ivanovna, Peter's niece. In reality, Peter and Yakov were in correspondence, negotiations were underway about the marriage of Anna and Yakov. Dozens of Jacobites were recruited into Russian service.
Georg Heinrich von Goertz.
Towards peace
In 1718, Charles XII, proceeding from the deteriorating situation in Sweden, decided to start peace negotiations with Russia. They took place on the Åland Islands. By the end of the summer, the contract was agreed. Ingria, Estland, Livonia and part of Karelia with Vyborg remained behind Russia. Finland, occupied by Russian troops, and part of Karelia were returned to Sweden. Peter agreed to allocate 20 thousand soldiers to the Swedish king Karl XII for military operations against Hanover, which captured the duchies of Bremen and Verdun, which belonged to Sweden. Peter refused to fight against Denmark.
Charles XII was so confident in the positive outcome of the negotiations with Russia that he began another campaign - he invaded Norway. On November 30 (December 11), 1718, the Swedish king was killed during the siege of the Fredriksten fortress (with a stray bullet or specially shot by the conspirators). In Sweden, in fact, there was a coup d'état. The throne was to go to the son of the king's elder sister - Karl Friedrich Holstein. But the Swedish rigsdag elected the king's younger sister, Ulrika Eleanor, as queen. Royal power was severely restricted. The Duke of Holstein had to flee the country. Baron Hertz was executed.
Thus, obstacles to the Anglo-Swedish alliance were removed. The Aland Congress did not bring about peace, now the British fleet was behind the Swedes. In 1719, a new scandal broke out between Russia and England. A royal decree was sent to the English resident in St. Petersburg, James Jefferys, which forbade the Russians to study in England, and ordered the English ship masters to return to their homeland. Russia has declared that these are hostile acts. Peter refused to release the British from service until the end of the war. And in response to the prohibition of Russians to study in England, he detained several English merchants. Russia insisted that the students complete the period of study stipulated by the contracts.
In June, a British squadron entered the Sound. England began to put pressure on Russia to make peace on Swedish terms. However, the British had little strength for an open conflict: 11 battleships and 1 frigate. The Swedish fleet was in complete decline, and Sweden could only provide a few poorly equipped ships. Russia at that time had 22 ships and 4 frigates. The English fleet stopped at Copenhagen, awaiting reinforcements. As a result, the Russian armed forces calmly carried out amphibious operations on the Swedish coast, and ships intercepted British and Dutch ships, with contraband goods for Sweden. In addition, Apraksin's galley fleet was almost invulnerable to the sailing (ship) fleet of the British. Russian troops in 1719 operated only 25-30 versts from the Swedish capital. The Russian galley fleet actually perpetrated a real pogrom on the Swedish coast, destroying cities, settlements and industrial enterprises. English Admiral Norris received reinforcements from 8 ships, but was never able to prevent the Russians. Only the approach of winter forced the Russian forces to return to their bases.
London, true to its traditions of acting with someone else's hands, tried to incite Prussia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russia. Prussia was promised friendship and Stettin, and the Polish masters were sent 60 thousand zlotys. However, neither Berlin nor Warsaw wanted to fight with Russia. The British wanted to use France and Russia against Russia, but the French limited themselves to sending the Swedes 300 thousand crowns. On August 29, 1719, a preliminary agreement was signed between England and Sweden. Sweden lost to Hanover Bremen and Verdun. The English king promised monetary subsidies to help Sweden in the fight against Russia if Pyotr Alekseevich refuses to accept British mediation and continues the war.
In 1720, the British again sent money to the Poles, the lords willingly took it, but did not fight. In 1720, the situation in the Baltic was repeated. The British fleet arrived in Sweden on May 12. It consisted of 21 battleships and 10 frigates. Admiral Norris had instructions, together with the Swedes, to repel the Russian invasion and gave the order for the squadron to seize, sink, burn the Russian ships encountered. At this time, the Russian galley squadron again began to dominate the Swedish coast. At the end of May, the Anglo-Swedish fleet appeared at Revel, but all its "combat" activities ended with the burning of a hut and a bathhouse on the island of Nargen. When Norris received a message about the Russian landing attack on Sweden, he went to Stockholm. The British only had to witness the pogrom of Sweden by the Russian galley fleet. In addition, at Grengam, the Russians defeated the Swedish squadron and took 4 frigates for boarding.
Battle of Grengam July 27, 1720 Artist F. Perrault. 1841 year.
In the fall, the British squadron returned to England "hungry". As a result, the Swedes had no choice but to make peace with Russia. Peace negotiations began on March 31 (April 10), 1721. True, the Swedes were playing for time again, hoping for England. On April 13, the British fleet of 25 ships and 4 frigates under the command of Norris again moved to the Baltic. Peter, in order to hasten the Swedes, sent another landing party to the shores of Sweden. Lassi's detachment walked gloriously along the Swedish coast. Soldiers and Cossacks burned three towns, hundreds of villages, 19 parishes, destroyed one armory and 12 iron-processing factories, captured and destroyed 40 coasters. From an alliance with England, Sweden received only three years of pogroms. This pogrom was the last straw that forced the Swedes to surrender.
On August 30, 1721, the Nystadt Peace Treaty was concluded. Russia for eternity (no one canceled the Nishtadt peace treaty and it is formally valid, only political will and strength is needed to confirm it) received the conquered by Russian arms: Ingermanland, part of Karelia with the Vyborg province, Estonia, Livonia, islands on the Baltic Sea, including Ezel, Dago, all the islands of the Gulf of Finland. Part of the Keksholm District (Western Karelia) also went to Russia. Russia returned the territories that belonged to her or were included in her sphere of influence even during the existence of the Old Russian state.
