The Treaty of Nystad (russian: Ништадтский мир; fi, Uudenkaupungin rauha; sv, Freden i Nystad; et, Uusikaupunki rahu) was the last peace treaty of the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...
of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...
and the
Swedish Empire on in the then Swedish town of
Nystad ( fi, Uusikaupunki, in the south-west of present-day Finland). Sweden had settled with the other parties in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
(1719 and 1720) and in
Frederiksborg (1720).
During the war
Peter I of Russia had occupied all Swedish possessions on the eastern
Baltic coast:
Swedish Ingria (where he began to build the soon-to-be new Russian capital of
St. Petersburg in 1703),
Swedish Estonia
Estonia under Swedish rule (1561–1710) signifies the period of time when large parts of the country, and after 1645, entire present-day Estonia, were under Swedish rule. In the wake of the breakup of the State of the Teutonic Order, the Ba ...
and
Swedish Livonia (which
had capitulated in 1710), and
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
.
In Nystad, King
Frederick I of Sweden formally recognized the transfer of Estonia, Livonia, Ingria, and Southeast Finland (
Kexholmslän and part of
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...
) to Russia in exchange for two million silver
thaler, while Russia returned the bulk of Finland to Swedish rule.
The Treaty enshrined the rights of the German
Baltic nobility
Baltic German nobility was a privileged social class in the territories of today's Estonia and Latvia. It existed continuously since the Northern Crusades and the medieval foundation of Terra Mariana. Most of the nobility were Baltic Germans, ...
within Estonia and Livonia to maintain their financial system, their existing customs border, their self-government, their
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
religion, and the German language; this special position in the Russian Empire was reconfirmed by all Russian Tsars from
Peter the Great (reigned 1682-1725) to
Alexander II (reigned 1855-1881).
Nystad manifested the decisive shift in the
European balance of power which the war had brought about: the
Swedish imperial era had ended; Sweden entered the
Age of Liberty, while
Russia had emerged as a new empire.
Fe- Medal 1721 Treaty of Nystad Peter the Great, Obverse.jpg, The obverse of an Fe- medal 1721 by the Danish medallist Anton Schultz. Treaty of Nystad to end the Great Northern War by Peter the Great.
Fe- Medal 1721 Treaty of Nystad Peter the Great, Reverse.jpg, The reverse of the above medal.
Treaty of Nystad.jpg, Signing of the Treaty of Nystad
Legacy
In pre-1917 Saint Petersburg, in the Vyborgsky district (relatively nearest to Russo-Finnish border) one of the thoroughfares (now ''Lesnoy prospekt'') was named after the Nystad treaty (Nystadt Street, Rus. Ништадтская улица).
[Лев Успенский. Записки старого петербуржца. (Lev Uspenskii. Zapiski starogo peterburjca.) Any edition.] The district also houses a church commemorating the first Russian victory in the Great Northern war, the Battle of Poltava – St. Sampsonius' Cathedral.
See also
*
List of treaties
This list of treaties contains known agreements, pacts, peaces, and major contracts between states, armies, governments, and tribal groups.
Before 1200 CE
1200–1299
1300–1399
1400–1499
1500–1599
1600–1699
1700–1799
...
References
External links
Freden i Nystad – Ништадтский мир 1721 – Uudenkaupungin rauha 1721.Trilingual source publication (Finnish, Swedish, Russian) of the documents concerning the peace treaty from The Russian Foreign Ministry Archives. Published by Agricola – The Finnish History Network publication series number 10. 2014 (Heidi Pitkänen red.)
International conference ‘The Border of the Treaty of Nystad – Peter the Great’s Line’ dedicated to the Tercentenary of the Great Northern War’s end and the making of the Treaty of Nystad. Vyborg, Leningrad Region. October 7-8, 2021The Conference is dedicated to the Tercentenary of the Great Northern War’s, making of the Treaty of Nystad and demarcation of the border between Russia and Sweden in 1722. The aim of the conference is to thoroughly study the history of the border demarcation between Russia and Sweden, its influence on the historical and cultural heritage in the borderline territories, to draw attention to the problems of preservation of monuments dated back to the Peter the Great’s period as well to expand co-operation between Russian and European researchers in studying Peter I’s period.
Vyborg, Leningrad Region. October 7-8, 2021
{{Authority control
Nystad
18th century in Estonia
Ingria
Swedish Livonia
Nystad
Nystad
History of the Karelian Isthmus
1721 in Finland
1721 in Russia
1721 in Sweden
Uusikaupunki
Treaties involving territorial changes
1721 treaties
Treaties of the Russian Empire
Russia–Sweden treaties