At the death of Charles XII. there was a total change of measures in Sweden. Charles had governed with a despotic power, and his sister Ulrica was elected Queen on express condition of renouncing arbitrary government. Charles intended to form an alliance with the czar against England and its allies, and the new government of Sweden now joined those allies against the czar.
The congress at Oeland, however, was not broken up; but the Swedes, now in league with the English, flattered themselves that the fleets of that nation sent into the Baltic would procure them a more advantageous peace. A body of Hanoverian troops entered the dominions of the duke of Mecklenburg (Feb. 1716.), but were soon driven from thence by the czar's forces.
Peter likewise had a body of troops in Poland, which kept in awe both the party of Augustus, and that of Stanislaus; and as to Sweden, he had a fleet always ready, either to make a descent on their coasts, or to oblige the Swedish government to hasten matters in the congress. This fleet consisted of twelve large ships of the line, and several lesser ones, besides frigates and galleys. The czar served on board this fleet as vice-admiral, under the command of admiral Apraxin.
A part of this fleet signalized itself in the beginning against a Swedish squadron, and, after an obstinate engagement, took one ship of the line, and two frigates. Peter, who constantly endeavoured, by every possible means, to encourage and improve the navy he had been at so much pains to establish, gave, on this occasion, sixty thousand French livres[111] in money among the officers of this squadron, with several gold medals, besides conferring marks of honour on those who principally distinguished themselves.
About this time also the English fleet under admiral Norris came up the Baltic, in order to favour the Swedes. Peter, who well knew how far he could depend on his new navy, was not to be frightened by the English, but boldly kept the sea, and sent to know of the English admiral if he was come only as a friend to the Swedes, or as an enemy to Russia? The admiral returned for answer, that he had not as yet any positive orders from his court on that head: however Peter, notwithstanding this equivocal reply, continued to keep the sea with his fleet.
The English fleet, which in fact was come thither only to shew itself, and thereby induce the czar to grant more favourable conditions of peace to the Swedes, went to Copenhagen, and the Russians made some descents on the Swedish coast, and even in the neighbourhood of Copenhagen, (July 1719.) where they destroyed some copper mines, burnt about fifteen thousand houses, and did mischief enough to make the Swedes heartily wish for a speedy conclusion of the peace.
Accordingly the new queen of Sweden pressed a renewal of the negotiations; Osterman himself was sent to Stockholm, and matters continued in this situation during the whole of the year 1719.
The following year the prince of Hesse, husband to the queen of Sweden, and now become king, in virtue of her having yielded up the sovereign power in his favour, began his reign by sending a minister to the court of Petersburg, in order to hasten the so much desired peace; but the war was still carried on in the midst of these negotiations.
The English fleet joined that of the Swedes, but did not yet commit any hostilities, as there was no open rupture between the courts of Russia and England, and admiral Norris even offered his master's mediation towards bringing about a peace; but as this offer was made with arms in hand, it rather retarded than facilitated the negotiations. The coasts of Sweden, and those of the new Russian provinces in the Baltic, are so situated, that the former lay open to every insult, while the latter are secured by their difficult access. This was clearly seen when admiral Norris, after having thrown off the mask, (June 1720.) made a descent in conjunction with the Swedish fleet on a little island in the province of Esthonia, called Narguen, which belonged to the czar, where they only burnt a peasant's house; but the Russians at the same time made a descent near Wasa, and burnt forty-one villages, and upwards of one thousand houses, and did an infinite deal of damage to the country round about. Prince Galitzin boarded and took four Swedish frigates, and the English admiral seemed to have come only to be spectator of that pitch of glory to which the czar had raised his infant navy; for he had but just shewn himself in those seas, when the Swedish frigates were carried in triumph into the harbour of Cronslot before Petersburg.[112] On this occasions methinks the English did too much if they came only as mediators, and too little if as enemies.
Nov. 1720.] At length, the new king of Sweden demanded a cessation of arms; and as he found the menaces of the English had stood him in no stead, he had recourse to the duke of Orleans, the French regent; and this prince, at once an ally of Russia and Sweden, had the honour of effecting a reconciliation between them. (Feb. 1721.) He sent Campredon, his plenipotentiary, to the court of Petersburg, and from thence to that of Stockholm. A congress was opened at Nystadt,[113] but the czar would not agree to a cessation of arms till matters were on the point of being concluded and the plenipotentiaries ready to sign. He had an army in Finland ready to subdue the rest of that province, and his fleets were continually threatening the Swedish coasts, so that he seemed absolute master of dictating the terms of peace; accordingly they subscribed to whatever he thought fit to demand. By this treaty he was to remain in perpetual possession of all that his arms had conquered, from the borders of Courland to the extremity of the gulf of Finland, and from thence again of the whole extent of the country of Kexholm, and that narrow slip of Finland which stretches out to the northward of the neighbourhood of Kexholm; so that he remained master of all Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, Carelia, with the country of Wybourg, and the neighbouring isles, which secured to him the sovereignty of the sea, as likewise of the isles of Oessel, Dago, Mona, and several others: the whole forming an extent of three thousand leagues of country, of unequal breadth, and which altogether made a large kingdom, that proved the reward of twenty years' immense pains and labour.