Interest in Russian history is growing in Finland
Russia and Sweden do not have a common border, but this was not always the case. Since the time of Novgorod Rus, military-territorial conflicts have arisen between our countries 18 times and lasted 139 years in total. The much more famous 69 years of the Russo-Turkish wars pale against this background.
It is known for certain that the territory of Finland served as a bargaining chip in the negotiations on the alliance of Russia and Sweden against Denmark. Written evidence of the circumstances and the meeting place of the cousins of the cousins - King Gustav III of Sweden and Catherine II of Sweden - has survived: the city of Hamina (present-day Finland) or Friedrichsgam in the old way. And also the rumors, carried over from one historical essay to another, that for 200 thousand rubles donated to Gustav in 1783, Catherine secured herself five years of peace with the most restless neighbor of those times.
Finland's belonging to the Swedish and Russian crown today has only educational value for the majority of compatriots. The Finns, on the other hand, are concerned about the history of their young state - they have not yet turned a hundred years old - they cherish all kinds of documents, research and study. So, according to old drawings, at the beginning of the 21st century, the reconstruction of the bastions and military canals of Suvorov began.
Nameless war
Swedish Gustav III, like Catherine the Great, was considered one of the most enlightened rulers of his time. Like her, he tried to fight bribery, but only intensified corruption, endowing his inner circle with unlimited influence. He carried out several reforms, turning parliament against himself. He fought the most brilliant battle in the history of the Baltic Sea without gaining anything from it … And while Catherine II was waging wars for the annexation of the Crimea, the Black Sea region and the North Caucasus, which were under Turkish rule, actively supported the opposition at the Russian court, led by heir Pavel.
In 1788, the restless cousin took advantage of the fact that the forces of Russia were concentrated on another war with the Ottoman Empire - Ochakov was taken - and, incited by England and France, he attempted to seize Kronstadt and Petersburg from the sea. Just 170 kilometers south of the current border crossing Torfyanovka (I quote for the convenience of calculating distances) on the islands near Helsingfors there was a powerful bastion system of Swedes fortifications of Sveaborg. From there, Gustav III undertook a sea voyage to St. Petersburg. After an unsuccessful attempt to storm Vyborg, he took his galley fleet to Rochensalm (the present city of Kotka - 52 kilometers from Torfyanovka), where the Second Rochensalm battle, tragic for Russia, took place. It went down in history by becoming the largest battle in the Baltic Sea with the participation of up to 500 ships on both sides, the death of almost 7,500 Russian sailors and officers, the loss of almost 40 percent of the Baltic Fleet of the imperial coastal defense and the signing of the Verela Peace Treaty.
The Swedes called the battle of 1788-1790 "the War of Gustav III". In Russian, it did not receive a special name.
Inspector from Izmail
At the end of a strange war with her treacherous cousin, Catherine II began to look for a worthy person who could organize and lead the construction of a system of fortifications on the northwestern land border of the Russian Empire. A specialist was found - Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, who had just taken Izmail.
The commander studied fortification from his youth. His father, General-in-Chief Vasily Ivanovich Suvorov, was the compiler of the first military dictionary and translator of books by the Marquis de Vauban, Marshal of France and an outstanding military engineer. According to his treatise "The True Way of Strengthening Cities" Suvorov learned French as a child and learned the work by heart.
It took Suvorov two weeks to inspect the medieval fortresses of Vyborg, Neishlot (Olavinlinna in the present Finnish city of Savonlinna) and Kexholm (in Priozersk).
History reported: in order not to waste time on etiquette techniques with the inevitable "dust in the eyes", Alexander Vasilyevich traveled from fortress to fortress in peasant clothes, talked with servicemen and gave a reliable assessment of the state of defense structures and moods in the garrisons. He sent a report to the Empress, proposing a plan for rebuilding the existing forts and erecting a new, additional fortification in the present Finnish town of Taavetti (Davydovsky Fort). And having reported, he went to fight the Turks and pacify the Don Cossacks.
Now - build
In 1791, Catherine II again sent Suvorov to the Russian part of Finland. He had to not only re-inspect Vyborg, Nyshlot and Kexholm, but also to reconstruct them. In addition, to think over and create a reliable barrier to the capital of the Russian Empire, which was only 250 kilometers away.
Rumor has it that the commander who did not lose a single battle, the new appointment served as a link for sins at court. After reading a lot of materials about that era, I wondered: who else could Catherine II entrust with the rapid development of state funds, in return for receiving real protection for herself and her throne? In addition, they say, he knew how to express himself in Finnish.
I managed to find the modern results of studies of Suvorov's structures or the system of fortifications of South-Eastern Finland, as the locals call them, which were based on three fortification lines. The first took place in the immediate vicinity of the Russian capital and included the existing fortresses of Shlisselburg (the famous Oreshek), Kronstadt, Vyborg and Kexholm. The second chain consisted of the bastions of Hamina and Lappeenranta, located 105 kilometers from each other, and the Davydovsky Fort (Taavetti) located between them, "which should have its movements on all sides to reinforce our forward posts and to resist enemy assassination attempts." Built in eight years after the first inspection of Suvorov, the Davydovsky Fort was supplemented in the northern part with a citadel with five bastions. A garrison town is located inside the fortress. All the roads existing at that time, leading from the Swedish part of Finland to the Russian, had to build a third line of defensive structures.
Arriving at the site in May 1791, Suvorov began to build powerful fortifications in the town of Kyminlinna (part of the current Kotka). Soon the Royal Road leading along the Baltic coast to Vyborg was reliably blocked by the newly erected fortress and the sea forts Slava and Elizabeth. At the same time, the obsolete bastions of Friedrichsgam were rebuilt. The old sandy ramparts have turned into a stone fortress with six bastions, on the territory of which an entire city can be found with beaming streets radiating from the Town Hall Square. Hamina's defensive structures still amaze the imagination of a tourist who looks into a quiet, incredibly Hollywood town. And during the time of the great commander, they nullified the attempts of Gustav III to seize the capital of the Russian Empire.
Of the two years of construction management, Suvorov spent most of his time in Hamina. Whether that was the fault of the widow Madame Griin, with whom Alexander Vasilyevich lodged, history is silent.
Architect of a Thousand Lakes
Having built several supporting forts in the Hamina area, Suvorov proceeds to implement the second part of his grandiose plan. It was decided to dig four canals and connect the reservoirs of the Saimaa lake system for an unobstructed passage of the skerry flotilla.
Technically, Suvorov's military channels were well thought out. The bottom and walls were built of natural stone reinforced with wooden piles. The length of the four channels is different - from 100 meters to almost a kilometer, but the width is the same - 10 meters. The entrances to them could be locked with wooden gates or stretched anchor chains.
At the mouths of the canals at the bottom of the Saimaa, artificial stone barriers were arranged; it was possible to enter the canal only knowing the fairway for sure.
Suvorov was proud of the work carried out, but weighed down by military inactivity. And he went to fight with the Commonwealth.
And the border fortifications, created with a hundred-year safety factor, played an important role in the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809, but soon began to fall into disrepair as unnecessary. The result of the last confrontation between the two states was the entry of Finland with the rights of autonomy into the Russian Empire.
