Vyborg Treaty

The Vyborg Treaty is a package of seven documents signed in Vyborg during 1609 between Sweden and Russia, concerning Sweden providing military assistance to the government of Vasily Shuisky. According to the terms of the treaty and its secret protocol, Sweden was to provide a corps of mercenaries, paid for by Russia, in exchange for the fortress of Korela with its district. In 1609–1610, the Swedish auxiliary corps under the command of J. P. Delagardi participated in battles against the supporters of False Dmitry II and Polish invaders. After the overthrow of Shuisky, Delagardi, under the pretext of Russia’s failure to fulfill the treaty conditions, captured Novgorod and a number of other northern Russian cities in 1610–1613, further involving Sweden in the Russian Time of Troubles. The government of Mikhail Romanov conducted negotiations from 1614 to 1617 to end the occupation, but the Swedes insisted on territorial concessions. The negotiations took place amid repeatedly renewed military actions and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Stolbovo.

With the first news of a pretender to the Moscow throne appearing in Poland and his support by the Poles, Charles IX already at the beginning of 1604 offered a large army to assist Boris Godunov. In February 1605, an embassy was sent from Stockholm to Moscow to conclude a treaty. The price for military support was to be the transfer to Sweden of the towns of Ivangorod, Yam, Koporye, and Korela. Due to the sudden death of Boris Godunov, the negotiations did not take place, and soon False Dmitry I ascended the throne.

At the end of 1606, when the southern part of the country was engulfed in a peasant uprising, and later in May 1608, when the forces of False Dmitry II approached Moscow, Charles considered an open attack on the border Russian lands. However, the ongoing war with Poland in Livonia did not allow him to free troops for this purpose.

In the summer of 1608, Vasily Shuisky’s situation became critical — Moscow was besieged by the Tushino forces, and on August 10, the tsar himself sent a letter to the Swedish king requesting military assistance. M. V. Skopin-Shuisky was sent to Novgorod to conduct negotiations and gather troops. From the Swedish side, for preliminary negotiations in Novgorod, an officer of the commander-in-chief in the Baltics, F. I. Mansfeld, Mons Mortensson, was sent. By the end of November, they agreed on sending a Swedish auxiliary corps of 5,000 men to Russia and on the payment of a large salary to the mercenaries by the Moscow government. News of the impending arrival of the traditional enemy, the Swedes, caused dissatisfaction among the residents of the border towns, who one after another sided with False Dmitry II: first Pskov, then Korela and Oreshek.

In early February 1609, negotiations on the terms of the treaty began in Vyborg, in the Round Tower of the Vyborg fortress. The King of Sweden was represented in the negotiations by, among others, member of the State Council (Riksråd) Joran Boye and the regional judge of Karelia, commandant of Vyborg Arvid Tönnesson Wildman. On the Russian side, there were two envoys — stolnik Semyon Vasilyevich Golovin, Skopin-Shuisky’s brother-in-law, and clerk Sydavny Vasilyevich Zinoviev. Regarding the main issue, it was decided to adhere to the conditions accepted in Novgorod, but the Swedish envoys objected:

But what should be expected as a reward? The soldiers must be paid according to the treaty with Mansfeld, but what will the king receive for his service and for sending so many thousands of mercenary warriors?

After this, all members of the Russian embassy were asked to leave the room, and the Swedish representatives took an oath to keep further negotiations secret. As a result, a secret protocol to the treaty was signed, according to which the fortress of Korela with its district was ceded to Sweden in perpetuity. The geographical location of Korela was disadvantageous for defense, and Shuisky’s government understood that “if they do not voluntarily concede, the Swedes will take this territory by force”; moreover, at that time Korela did not actually belong to Shuisky. Nevertheless, the secrecy of the additional negotiations was caused by the fear that voluntary cession of state territory would further increase dissatisfaction with the tsar in the country.

The treaty and the secret protocol were signed on February 28. The secret protocol stipulated that three weeks after the Swedish troops crossed the border, the commander of the Swedish corps, Delagardi, would be handed confirmation letters signed by Skopin-Shuisky, and after another two months — letters signed by the tsar. Korela was to be handed over after 11 weeks (i.e., simultaneously with the tsar’s letters), on the condition that its residents could leave the city and “go to Russia.”

Upon the arrival of Delagardi’s corps in Novgorod, Skopin-Shuisky indeed handed him confirmation letters on the treaty and the secret protocol. But after two months, the tsar’s letters were not delivered, and the city was not handed over, as the townspeople did not even let the tsar’s envoys into the city:

When the Kexholm residents heard from fleeing Swedish soldiers who had been ravaging the Noteburg region that boyars were coming to hand over the fortress to Karl Olafson, Bishop Sylvester and the townspeople gathered and forbade their entry, for which they raised the local peasants.

After the battle near Tver, a mutiny broke out in Delagardi’s corps, mainly due to irregular payment of wages, and most of the mercenaries deserted. The significantly diminished corps retreated to Valday, where by autumn Delagardi nevertheless received some confirmation of the treaty terms from the tsar and two more confirmation letters from Kalazin from Skopin-Shuisky addressed to him and the Swedish king. However, even after this, the city was not handed over.

On December 17, 1609, in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, Skopin-Shuisky and Delagardi concluded an agreement on additional military assistance (confirmed by the tsar a month later), which again mentioned the imminent transfer of Korela, and promised “to fully compensate Sweden as required” in exchange for additional troops. However, Shuisky’s government took no action to actually transfer the lands, turning a blind eye to the townspeople’s disobedience, even rewarding them for it:

Under various pretexts, the Korela authorities postponed the execution of the tsar’s order until Shuisky was overthrown. Under these circumstances, the Swedes decided to take what was promised by force — the Swedish intervention of 1610–1617 began.

Sources:

Johan Widekind, History of the Swedish-Muscovite War of the 17th Century. Moscow: RAS, 2000.[2]

I. P. Shaskolsky, Swedish Intervention in Karelia at the Beginning of the 17th Century. Petrozavodsk: State Publishing House of the KASSR, 1950. 167 pages.[3]

V. V. Pokhlebkin. Foreign Policy of Rus, Russia, and the USSR over 1000 Years in Names, Dates, Facts. Moscow: “International Relations,” 1995.