From Stockholm to St. Petersburg

From Stockholm to St. Petersburg Commercial Factors in the Political Relations between England and Sweden 1675-1700 By Sven-Erik Åström Helsinki 1962 STUD IA HISTORICA Published by The Finnish Historical Society Suomen Historiallinen Seura — Finska Historiska Samfundet vol. 2 SVEN-ERIK ÅSTRÖM From Stockholm to St. Petersburg Commercial Factors in the Political Relations between England and Sweden 1675-1700 o TURUN SANOMALEHTI JA KIRJAPAINO OSAKEYHTIÖ TURKU 19(12 The dating of letters and documents is that of the originals. This means that Swedish documents are dated Old Style, whereas the English ones are usually dated according to both Old and New Styles. Where only one style is used this can be assumed to be the Old Style, which in the seventeenth century was for both England and Sweden ten days behind that of the New Style used on the Continent. One exception to the con- temporary dating has been adopted. In Eng- land the year began officially on Lady Day, March 25, though in many cases Englishmen, particularly when writing from abroad or to someone abroad, indicated the year between Jan. 1 and March 25 by double dating. For the sake of clarity I have always taken the year to begin on Jan. l. • Preface Northern Europe provides us with a sector of English foreign policy during the 17th and 18th centuries in which elements of power politics and commercial policy came together in an interesting way. Interests of trade and power were closely entwined in the political relations between England and the Nordic Kingdoms. The commercial element in England's Baltic policy during these critical years, especially at the beginning of the 18th century, has already been strongly emphasised by historians.1 So far, however, research has principally been concerned with connections between England and Russia and their economic aspects. Thereby, an interesting phase of England's Baltic policy has been bypassed. During the latter part of the 17th century, Sweden, the leading political and economic power in the Baltic, played as England's political and economic partner a role which strongly reminds one of that of Russia after 1700. This was based partly on the same political and economic factors, the control of important Baltic harbours and products. This applies particularly to the period after 1670, when England intensified her trading with Sweden's Baltic dominions. From the mid-1600's to the end of the century, Sweden's command of important export harbours and production areas caused trade with areas under Swedish domination to occupy a more central position in England's Baltic trade than at any time before or after. The period from the middle of the 17th century up to the wars of Charles X I I might well be called the 'Swedish period' in the history of England's Baltic policy. After this turn- ing-point it became more and more concentrated on Russia, whose acqui- sition of Swedish territory in Carelia, Ingria, Estonia and Livonia in 1721 offered her completely new opportunities for direct trade with the West. Russia was able gradually to put on the market products (such as iron, tar and pitch) which at one time had almost been a Swedish monopoly. An investigation of this nature ought to have been carried out by an English or a Swedish historian, as such a person could make full use of the extensive archives either in London or in Stockholm. But relations between England and Sweden in the latter half of the 17th century have, on the whole, been touched upon to an insignificant extent by research in 1 E.g., J. J. Murray, "Baltic Commerce and Power Politics in the Early Eighteenth Century", Huntington Libr. Quart., New Ser. VI (1942-43), 293 ff. J. J. Murray, "Robert Jackson's Mission to Sweden (1709-1717)", fourn. Mod. Hist. XXI (1949), 1 ff. 6 From Stockholm to St. Petersburg the two countries concerned. Consequently, I have been encouraged to attempt to map out at least the commercial side of these political relation- ships, using far-off Finland as my starting-point. My subject is, in fact, only one aspect of English-Swedish relations, although it is a very important one. It is to be hoped that some day the connections between England and Swe- den during the latter part of the 17th century will receive the comprehensive and penetrating investigation they deserve. I am fully aware that I have not been able to make such use of the material in the archives of England and Sweden — not to mention those of Denmark, Brandenburg, Poland and Russia — as even this undertaking would seem to demand, especially from the point of view of an orthodox diplomatic historian. Unfortunately also, Birger Steckztn's excellent Guide to the Materials for Swedish Historical Research in Great Britain (1958) had not yet appeared when I was carrying out my researches in London in 1956 and 1957. This book shows how rich the English diplomatic source materials are, and at the same time how scattered they are over many places and collections. The Swedish ones are considerably more centralised in Riksarkivet in Stockholm. But I by no means wish to claim that when in Sweden I was able to exhaust the relevant sections of, for example, that great collection, the Diplomatica Anglica, in their entirety. Finland, though part of the Swedish state, seems at a superficial glance to stand outside these Anglo—Swedish relations. In 1675, the young English observer William Allestree wrote in his description of 'The King of Swedens Havens', "We have no merchants in the Botnick Sea, because those people as far as to a great city call'd Abo bring their comodities to Stockholm, and so are look'd upon as its dependants". And he adds that "All those of the Sinus Finnicus on the north East side come to Stockholm ..."'- But what Allestree does not mention in this connection is the fact that, as the main tar-producing area, Finland indirectly played an important part in English imports of naval stores. I should not have been able to carry out my researches in English archives without the financial help I received in 1956 from the Foundations of Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth, Waldemar von Frenckell, and Oskar Öflund. I should therefore like to express my deep gratitude to the trustees of these funds for their sympathetic attitude towards my project. In this connection I am especially grateful to Professor Hugo E. Pipping, Chancellor of Åbo Akademi, for his valuable help in furthering my plans. 1 S.P., For. 95/9, f. 238 ff. Preface 7 Professor E. G. Dickens, of the University of Hull, gave me the encourage- ment a historian needs in order to break free from the one-sided study of his own country. I am deeply indebted to him for his help. I owe a very special debt of gratitude to Dr Ragnhild Hatton, of the London School of Economics and Political Science. I am sorry that I have only been able to make belated use of her outstanding knowledge of the period under discussion and its problems, as my own presentation was already completed in manuscript. Unfortunately, ill-health has prevented me from incorporating many of the amplifications and elucidations which Dr Hatton has recommended to me, and I should be the last person to dis- pute the justness of her suggestions. I have only been in a position to put right certain errors and omissions in my treatment of the theme. Mr Michael Webster, of the Swedish School of Economics, Helsingfors, and Miss Diana Colman, of Helsingfors University, have carefully and competently translated this work from Swedish. I thank them both. On behalf of the publishers, The Finnish Historical Society, Dr Hatton has checked the English translation from the terminological point of view. Finally, I should like to thank Dr W. R. Mead, of University College, London, for the kindness and helpfulness he showed to my wife and myself during our research trips to England. His great interest in present day Anglo- Scandinavian relations has also proved to be of great help to those who wish to study these relations in the past. The manuscript was completed in the Spring of 1960, when it was read by Professor Aulis J. Alanen and Professor Eino Jutikkala and accepted for publication by The Finnish Historical Society. For this, too, I should like to express my gratitude. I alone am responsible for any defects in this presentation, and likewise for the fact that my illness has made it impossible to check quotations and references. I hope to be able to publish in another connection the results of my researches on the geographical expansion and economic organisation of England's trade with the Baltic during the Seventeenth Century, as well as a critical analysis of the most important source-material on which these studies are based, the Customs accounts. Helsingfors, September, 1961. Sven- Erik Åström / ) CONTENTS Preface pp• Chapter I. The Staple Products of the Baltic Area, their Colonial Substitutes, and the English Market. 11— 21 Chapter II. Intensified Commercial and Shipping Contacts between England and Sweden. 22— 27 Chapter III. The Diplomatic Framework: Treaty of Alliance versus Trade Agreement 28— 55 Chapter IV. The Baltic Staple Products in Anglo — Swedish Relations. 1. The Position of the English Purchasers of Iron in Sweden . 56— 72 2. England and Swedish Transit Policy in the Baltic Flax and Hemp Ports 72— 81 3. The English Tar Supply and the Swedish Monopolistic Policy . 81— 87 4. Brandenburg and Denmark-Norway as Commercial Alternatives to Sweden 88— 92 5.

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