Between 1561 and 1629 Sweden made conquests in the Eastern Baltic. All of them were lost in accordance with the
Treaty of Nystad in 1721, which concluded the
Great Northern War.
Estonia Estonia placed itself under Swedish rule in 1561 to receive protection against
Russia and
Poland as the
Livonian Order lost their foothold in the Baltic provinces. Territorially it represented the northern part of present-day Estonia. The area was significantly populated by
Estonian Swedes, who inhabited
the area for centuries after Sweden lost control of it. After the
Soviet Union's
Baltic offensive and
re-occupation of Estonia in 1944, nearly all the Estonian Swedes fled to Sweden proper.
Kexholm Kexholm was a sparsely inhabited part of
Karelia on the Western and Northern shores of
Lake Ladoga, annexed by Sweden in 1605. At that time, most inhabitants were Finnish-speaking
Orthodox Christians. During the 17th century, Lutheran persecution of Orthodox Christianity and an influx of
Lutheran Finns from neighbouring province of
Savonia converted most of the area into Lutheran faith. The Swedish law and the Swedish structure of local administration were used in the area which does not seem to have had any prior written legal tradition. Nowadays the county is divided between Finnish regions of
North Karelia and
South Karelia and the Russian
Republic of Karelia.
Ingria Russia ceded
Ingria and southern
Karelia to Sweden in the
Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617, following the
Ingrian War. A century later Russia reconquered the area, providing an opportunity for
Peter the Great to lay the foundations of his new capital,
Saint Petersburg, in 1703. The area was then formally ceded in 1721 by the
Treaty of Nystad.
Riga The
Hanseatic city of
Riga fell under Swedish control in the late 1620s. For the nearly hundred years that followed, Riga was the second largest city in the
Swedish Empire, after
Stockholm.
Livonia Livonia was conquered from the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1629 in the
Polish-Swedish War. By the
Treaty of Oliva between the Commonwealth and Sweden in 1660 following the
Northern Wars the
Polish-Lithuanian king renounced all claims to the Swedish throne and Livonia was formally ceded to Sweden. Swedish Livonia represents the southern part of present-day Estonia and the northern part of present-day
Latvia (
Vidzeme region).
Lithuania During the
Second Northern War,
Lithuanian nobility signed a
series of acts with the Swedish Empire and became its
protectorate in 1655 with King
Charles X Gustav serving as its
Grand Duke. However, following Sweden's defeat at the
Battle of Prostki and weak military presence in the region, the protectorate fell in 1657 and Lithuania was once again reincorporated into the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Ösel By the
Treaty of Brömsebro (1645), following the
Torstenson War,
Denmark-Norway ceded
Jämtland,
Härjedalen,
Idre & Särna,
Gotland,
Halland and
Ösel to Sweden. Ösel and
Dagö, islands off the coast of
Estonia, were ceded to Russia in 1721 by the Treaty of Nystad. The other territories remained part of Sweden. == Scanian Dominion ==