THE SWEDISH CONNECTION 343
Transylvanian imitators routed. In 1658-9, Czarniecki was free to attack
Sweden from the Danish bases in Jutland. In that year Charles X died. On 3 May
1660, at the Treaty of Oliwa, peace was concluded. In return for Elbling in
Prussia and Dunebourg in Semigalia, Sweden kept the whole of Livonia. The
Swedes abandoned all further claims on the Republic. Jan Kazimierz abandoned
the traditional claim of his family to the throne of the Vasas. At this point the
Republic's link with Sweden was formally severed.
Thus, after a century of struggle, Semigalia and the Duchy of Courland were
the only two parts of the former Teutonic state of Livonia which remained
under Polish control. The former, known henceforward as 'Polish Livonia', was
tacked on to the three coastal enclaves of the territory of Piltyn (Ventspils), and
administered as an integral part of the Republic. The latter was left in the capa-
ble hands of its Kettler dukes, as a joint fief of Poland and Lithuania. Its capital
city of Mitau (Jelgava) and the port of Windau (Windawa) developed into
important centres of trade and culture. The greatest of its dukes, Jakub Kettler
(1638-82), was a prominent figure in Baltic politics, with important connections
in Holland, and, as godson of James I, with England. He even branched out into
colonial enterprises. In 1645 he bought the island of Tobago from the Dutch,
and in 1651 established a trading-post on Fort James Island in Gambia, in West
Africa. His activities were interrupted between 1655 and 1660 during the
Swedish occupation of Courland, when he himself was held as a prisoner-of-
war. His descendants held the Duchy until 1737, when, with the Biren dynasty
in power, it passed into the Russian orbit.^15
Throughout the long era of Swedish wars, the conduct of Muscovy was of
constant importance. As shown both by the Livonian struggle and by the policy
of Charles X, Moscow played a part in all calculations relating to the
Polish-Swedish conflict. The Baltic power struggle was not just 'bi-polar'. It
was triangular. Muscovy, Sweden, and Poland—Lithuania were all locked in the
same three-sided arena. Each of the contestants had to shift its position contin-
ually, to accommodate the changes occurring in the postures of the other two.
When one of the powers was strong, the others had to consider combining to
resist. When one was weak, both the others would compete to exploit it. This
situation lasted from the start of the Livonian war in 1558 until the Treaty of
Oliwa in 1660. After that, when the Polish side of the triangle had collapsed,
Sweden was left facing Muscovy alone, and did so until the defeat of Charles XII
by Peter the Great at Poltava in 1709. The introduction of the Republic into this
complex involvement was one of the principal effects of the Vasa connection;
and the only beneficiary in the end was Moscow.
Hence in accordance with the laws of the triangle, the Republic's wars with
Sweden were interlaced with related campaigns which each of them fought
against Muscovy. In the case of the Republic, following Bathory's victories in
1579-81, there were Muscovite wars in 1609-12 and 1617-19 during Moscow's
'Time of Troubles'; in 1632—4 over Smolensk; and in 1654-67 in the Ukraine.
The final round was fought in 1700-21 in the Great Northern War.