Russia ended the seventeenth century in a strong position, despite Crimean
failures. The 1686 Eternal Peace marked the moment when Russian power eclipsed
that of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth’s evident disarray promised
further opportunities for Russia’s Baltic and steppe ambitions.
RUSSIA AND THE WORLD IN THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Through the eighteenth century, Russia’s foreign policy concerns were shaped by
its long-term trade aspirations and short-term opportunities. Booming European
markets meant that competition for the Baltic would continue, as would Russia’s
focus on the Black and Caspian Seas. The eighteenth century was the century par
excellence of“balance of power”politics, and Russia became a European geopol-
itical player. Common antagonism to both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
and the Ottoman empire shaped alliances with Austria, while Prussia proved a more
problematic partner in its interest against the Commonwealth. Farther afield,
Russia generally associated itself with Britain because of lively trade between the
two countries.
Peter I (ruled 1682–1725) launched his diplomatic career incognito, traveling
Europe on his Grand Embassy, recruiting engineers and military experts and
meeting with rulers in Brandenburg, London, Saxony, and Vienna, trying to
raise enthusiasm for an anti-Turkish coalition. Lacking that, he found interest in
Saxony on a campaign against Sweden, which ultimately brought together in 1700
a coalition of Russia, Poland, and Denmark (joined by lesser powers Prussia,
Hanover, and Saxony) against the dynamic Charles XII and the most modern
military and navy in the Baltic arena. For what became known as the Great
Northern War (1700–21), major powersflocked to support Sweden (Ottoman
empire, England, Holland, France), with the Habsburgs watching nervously from
the side. Russia’s part in the war was primarily played out against Sweden in a few
naval battles and on the plains of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Russia
momentously defeated Charles at Poltava in 1709, by and large ending Russia’s
involvement in the Great Northern War, which continued on through the 1710s
elsewhere. In the midst of it (1717) the Vatican fruitlessly proposed another church
union and anti-Turkish alliance to Russia (an effort repeated again 1728–31).
When it was all settled by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Russia had won Livonia
(Livland and Estland) and parts of Karelia including the Gulf of Finland borderland
where Peter had boldly founded St. Petersburg in 1703. Peter claimed the title of
emperor in 1721 and Russia spent the next several decades winning European
recognition for this upstart move: Prussia and Holland accepted it right away,
Sweden in 1723 and Saxony in 1733, the Ottoman empire in 1741, Austria and
Great Britain in 1742, and France and Spain in 1745. Poland held out until 1764.
The Great Northern War established Russia as a major force in central Europe
and marked the beginning of Sweden’s geopolitical decline. Subsequent Swedish–
Russian wars (1741–3 and 1788–90) resulted in minor territorial gains in Finland
Prologue 15