The Ingrian War (Swedish: Ingermanländska kriget) was a conflict fought between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia which lasted between 1610 and 1617. It can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles[2] and is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duke on the Russian throne. It ended with a large Swedish territorial gain (including Ingria) in the Treaty of Stolbovo, which laid an important foundation to Sweden's Age of Greatness.[3]
Sweden's involvement in Russian affairs gave King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland a pretext to declare war on Russia. After the sudden death of Skopin-Shuisky, De la Gardie's troops were united with Shuisky's army, and the Poles defeated the combined Russo-Swedish force at the Battle of Klushino on 4 July [O.S. 24 June] 1610.[7] The Swedish mercenaries taking part in the De la Gardie Campaign surrendered and De la Gardie concluded an agreement with Polish hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski.[8] The battle had serious consequences for Russia, as the tsar was deposed by the Seven Boyars and the Poles occupied the Moscow Kremlin, after which the Russian state began to fall into its constituent parts.[8] De la Gardie then sought to take control of the Russian north–west in order to prevent the Poles from extending their power and therefore threaten Sweden with an offensive on its Baltic territories.[8]
In the meantime, Gustavus Adolphus succeeded to the Swedish throne. The young king decided to press his brother's claim to the Russian throne even after the Poles had been expelled from Moscow by a patriotic uprising in 1612 and Mikhail Romanov had been elected the new tsar.[4]
He was the first tsar of the House of Romanov.
While the Swedish statesmen envisaged the creation of a Trans-Baltic dominion extending northwards to Archangelsk and eastwards to Vologda, De la Gardie and other Swedish soldiers, still holding Novgorod and Ingria, saw the war as a reaction for their forces not receiving payment for their succour during the De la Gardie Campaign.
In 1613, the Swedish troops advanced towards Tikhvin and laid siege to the city but were repelled. The Russian counteroffensive failed to regain Novgorod, however. The Russian tsar refused to commit his troops to battle, and the war lumbered on until 1614 when the Swedes captured Gdov.
The following year, they laid siege to Pskov but Russian Generals Morozov and Buturlin held their own until 27 February 1617[9] when the Treaty of Stolbovo stripped Russia of its access to the Baltic Sea and awarded to Sweden the province of Ingria with the townships of Ivangorod, Jama, Koporye, and Nöteborg. Novgorod and Gdov were to be restored to Russia.
As a result of the war, Russia was denied access to the Baltic Sea for about a century, despite its persistent efforts to reverse the situation.[4] That led to the increased importance of Arkhangelsk for its trading connections with Western Europe.
^The Cambridge History of Russia. Perrie, Maureen; Lieven, D. C. B.; Suny, Ronald Grigor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2006. ISBN9780521812276. OCLC77011698.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[page needed]
^Velikai︠a︡ russkai︠a︡ smuta : prichiny vozniknovenii︠a︡ i vykhod iz gosudarstvennogo krizisa v XVI–XVII vv. Strizhova, I. M., Стрижова, И. М. Moskva: Dar. 2007. ISBN9785485001230. OCLC230750976.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
Löfstrand, Elisabeth (2005). Accounts of an occupied city: catalogue of the Novgorod Occupation Archives 1611-1617. Series 1. Stockholm: Riksarkivet. ISBN91-88366-67-7.
Göransson, Göte (1994) Gustav II Adolf och hans folk. Höganäs: Bra böcker ISBN91-7119-128-3
Essen, Michael Fredholm von (2024). Sweden's War in Muscovy, 1609-1617: The Relief of Moscow and Conquest of Novgorod. Helion & Company. ISBN9781804510087.
