Russian-Swedish war 1808 1809. New encyclopedia

Causes of the war.

Russia's accession to the continental blockade of 1806-1814, the war between Russia and England that began in 1807, the need to establish control over the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, ensuring the security of St. Petersburg. The Peace of Tilsit concluded by Russia and France led to an open conflict between Russia and Sweden, since according to the peace treaty, Russia undertook to close its harbors to English ships, inducing Sweden to do the same or forcing it to do so by force. Alexander I demanded from Sweden that its ports be closed to the British, but the Swedish king Gustav IV refused such an alliance with Russia against England and entered into an alliance with England.

Reason for war.

On November 27, 1808, Gustav IV returned the Russian order granted to him to Alexander I on the grounds that Napoleon had received the same one. Sweden tried to gain time until the spring of 1808 and, waiting for help from the British, avoided actions that could be regarded in St. Petersburg as preparation for war.

Russia's goals: Russia did not want to fight with Sweden and tried, through diplomacy, to persuade Sweden to an alliance.

Command of the Russian army:

Infantry General F. F. Buxhoeveden (1808)

Infantry General B.F. Knorring (1808-1809)

M.B. Barclay de Tolly (1809)

Command of the Swedish Army:

Field Marshal V.M. Klingspor (1808)

General K.Yu. Adlerkreutz (1808)

Lieutenant General G.K. von Döbeln (1808-1809)

Territory of military operations - Sweden, Finland

Main battles

1808

8.02. Crossing the border without declaring war and the entry of the Russian army under the command of General F.F. Buxhoeveden to Finland, which was followed by Sweden's declaration of war on Russia.

18.02. Capture of Helsingfors by Russian troops under the command of D.P. Gorchakov.

20.02. Detention in Stockholm of the Russian envoy to Sweden D.M. Alopeus and his imprisonment.

6. 03. Capture of the Svartholm fortress by Russian troops.

16.03. Russia declares war on Sweden.

20.03. Manifesto of Alexander I on the annexation of Finland to Russia.

15.04. The battle of Russian troops under the command of Major General M. L. Bulatov near the city of Revolax.

16.04. Capture by Russian troops under the command of N.A. Tuchkova, Saint-Michel (Saint-Mikkeli).

24.04. Capture of Sveaborg fortress.

3.06. Victory near Varkaus of Russian troops under the command of Lieutenant General M.B. Barclay de Tolly.

7.06. Capture of Kuopio by Russian troops under the command of M.B. Barclay de Tolly.

21.06. Victory of Russian troops under the command of Lieutenant General E.I. Vlastov near Lindulaks.

19.08. Victory of Russian troops under the command of Ya.P. Kulneva near the village of Kukhalampi.

20.08. Victory of Russian troops under the command of Ya.P. Kulneva in the battle of Kuortana.

21.08. The defeat of the Swedes at the village of Salmi.

2.09. Victory of Russian troops under the command of General N.M. Kamensky at Orovais.

17.09. Conclusion of a truce. First half of October. Resumption of hostilities.

After Paul's death, his son Alexander I ascended the throne.

Alexander I

The new emperor faced a dilemma: an alliance with Napoleon or participation in another anti-French coalition. Alexander I chose to enter into a coalition with England and Austria. Pre-revolutionary historians explained this by the tsar’s commitment to the sacred rights of legitimism, etc., Soviet historians - by the interest of the nobility in trade with England. Although there was one thing that the nobles, and especially their wives and daughters, were interested in, it was French goods.

In fact, two subjective factors turned out to be decisive - the influence of the “German” party and the ambition of the young tsar. Alexander's mother was the Württemberg princess Sophia Dorothea (in Orthodoxy Maria Feodorovna),

Maria Fedorovna

wife - Princess Louise of Baden (in Orthodoxy she received the name Elizaveta Alekseevna).

Elizaveta Alekseevna

Together with them, a crowd of relatives and courtiers came to Russia, not to mention the “Gatchina” Germans, to whom Paul entrusted the most important posts in the state. This entire company persistently demanded that Alexander intervene in German affairs. Of course! Some “Russian Germans” had selfish interests there, while others had relatives who suffered from Napoleon in their homeland. Alexander himself was extremely ambitious and thirsted for military glory, hoping that it would cover the shame of parricide. He decided to personally lead the troops moving into Germany.

Sweden also joined the third anti-French coalition. More precisely, it was forcibly drawn into it by King Gustav IV.

GustavIV Adolf

He, like Alexander I, was unbearably thirsty for military glory. However, the king had a completely material goal - to seize lands in Pomerania. Gustav IV clearly confused the 19th century with the 17th century and seriously assumed that Sweden could still decide the destinies of Europe.

On January 2 (14), 1805, an alliance treaty was concluded between Russia and Sweden. Historians consider this the date of the official accession of the Swedish kingdom to the third coalition. However, the 1805 campaign ended very sadly for the Allies. On November 20, 1805, near Austerlitz, Napoleon smashed the united Russian-Austrian army to smithereens. Emperors Alexander I and Franz I shamefully fled from the battlefield. The Swedes tried to start hostilities in Pomerania, but were soon forced to retreat.

In 1806, the next, fourth anti-French coalition was created. England, as always, gave a lot of money, Russia and Prussia - soldiers. Sweden also joined the coalition. But now Gustav IV was smarter. He willingly took the English money, but was in no hurry to send soldiers to the continent.

The war of the countries of the fourth coalition with Napoleon ended in the same way as the wars of the first, second and third coalitions. Prussian troops were defeated at Jena and Auerstedt, Russians at Friedland. The French occupied Berlin and Warsaw and for the first time reached the Russian border on the Neman River.

Meeting AlexanderI and NapoleonI

Now Alexander had to put up with it. In the middle of the river that separated the French army and the remnants of the defeated Russian army, French sappers built a huge raft with an elegant tent. On this raft, on June 25, 1807, at 11 a.m., a meeting of the two emperors took place. Napoleon was the first to turn to Alexander: “Why are we fighting?” There was nothing to answer the “crafty Byzantine.” Back in 1800, on Rostopchin’s report, opposite the words “England alternately armed all powers with threats, cunning and money, forgiving France,” Emperor Paul I wrote in his own hand: “And us sinners.”

In turn, England entered into an agreement with Sweden in February 1808, under which it undertook to pay Sweden 1 million pounds sterling monthly during the war with Russia, no matter how long it lasted. In addition, the British promised to provide Sweden with 14 thousand soldiers to guard its western borders and ports, while all Swedish troops were to go to the eastern front against Russia. After the conclusion of this treaty, there was no hope for reconciliation between Sweden and Russia: England had already invested in a future war and sought to extract military-political dividends as quickly as possible.

Fighting on land in 1808

The formal reason for the start of the war was given by the Swedes themselves. On February 1 (13), 1808, the Swedish king Gustav IV informed the Russian ambassador in Stockholm that reconciliation between Sweden and Russia was impossible as long as Russia held Eastern Finland. A week later, Alexander I responded to the challenge of the Swedish king with a declaration of war.

For the war with Sweden, a 24,000-strong army was formed, the command of which Alexander entrusted to the infantry general Count F.F. Buxhoeveden.

Fedor Fedorovich Buxgewden

The allocation of such small forces was explained by the fact that Russia continued to wage war with Turkey, and on the other hand, the bulk of the Russian troops were stationed in the western provinces in case of a new war with Napoleon. Swedish troops numbering 19 thousand were scattered throughout Finland. They were commanded by General Kleckner.

On February 9, 1808, the Russian army crossed the border of Finland on the Kyumen River. On the night of February 15-16, Russian troops defeated a detachment of Swedes under the command of Adlerkreutz near the town of Artchio. When Russian troops advanced to the Borga River, they received news of the gathering of Swedish forces at Helsingfors. But this message turned out to be misinformation; in fact, the Swedes were concentrated at Tavasgus.

Buxhoeveden formed a detachment of Major General Count Orlov-Denisov consisting of Jaeger and Cossack regiments and one squadron of dragoons to capture Helsingfors.

The detachment moved with a forced march to Helsingfors, sometimes following the coastal road, and sometimes straight along the ice. On February 17, when approaching the city, Orlov-Denisov met a Swedish detachment. After a short skirmish the enemy fled. The Russians took six field guns and 134 prisoners. On February 18, the main Russian forces, led by General Buxhoeveden, entered Helsingfors. 19 guns, 20 thousand cannonballs and 4 thousand bombs were found in the city. On February 28, the Russians, despite the severe frost, occupied Tammerfors.

General Klöckner became confused and lost control of the troops, so at the end of February he was replaced by General Moritz Klingspor. However, the new commander-in-chief turned out to be no better than the previous one and on March 4 was defeated near the city of Bierneborg. Thus, the Russians reached the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Most of the Swedish troops retreated along the coast north to the city of Uleaborg.

On March 10, Major General Shepelev’s brigade occupied the city of Abo without a fight. And only after that the residents Russian Empire learned about the war with Sweden. A message was published in the newspapers: “From the Minister of War about the actions of the Finnish Army under the main command of the Infantry General Buxhoeveden.” The population was informed that “the Stockholm court refused to unite with Russia and Denmark in order to close the Baltic Sea to England until the completion of sea ​​world"The message indicated that, having exhausted their means of persuasion, the Russians crossed the border and fought successful battles.

On March 16, 1808, the Tsar pleased the population and dotted all the i’s in the Highest Manifesto (Declaration) on the accession of Finland. The reason for publishing the manifesto was the arrest on February 20 (March 3), 1808, of the Russian ambassador in Stockholm Alopeus and all members of the embassy. As stated in the Manifesto: “The obvious inclination of the King of Sweden towards a power hostile to us, a new alliance with it and, finally, a violent and incredible act committed against our envoy in Stockholm... made war inevitable.”

The annexation of Finland (its Swedish part) to Russia was presented by the Manifesto as a repressive act in response to Sweden’s failure to fulfill its allied obligations towards Russia under the treaty of 1800 and its alliance with Russia’s enemy, England.

The Manifesto stated that “from now on, the part of Finland known under the name of Swedish Finland (the southwestern part), occupied by Russian troops who suffered losses in manpower and material costs, is recognized as an area conquered by the force of Russian weapons, and forever joins the Russian Empire ".

AlexanderI'm on the manifesto announcement

A small detachment of Swedes left Abo and took refuge in the Åland Islands. He was chased by the Cossacks of Major Neidgard and the battalion of rangers of Colonel Vuich. On February 17, Vujic entered the city of Åland, captured local military warehouses and destroyed the optical telegraph station connecting the islands with the Swedish coast. However, Vuich’s immediate superior, Prince Bagration, ordered him to leave the Åland Islands.

Upon returning, Vuich received instructions from St. Petersburg itself to reoccupy the islands. For this, Vuich was given one battalion of the 25th Jaeger Regiment (the same one with which he was in Aland), 20 hussars and 22 Cossacks. On April 3, Vuich occupied the island of Kumblinge in the very middle of the archipelago. There he stopped. With the approach of spring, Commander-in-Chief Buxhoeveden, realizing the danger of the position of the Russian troops on the Åland Islands, intended to return them back, especially since their very presence there to delay the movement of the Swedes across the ice from Stockholm to Abo lost its significance with the opening of navigation. But at this time the Highest command came to send a corps of 10 to 12 thousand people through Aland to Sweden. This order was a development of the plan, which consisted of directing the main attack not to Finland, but to southern part Sweden.

As soon as the ice began to melt, the Swedish galleys with the landing force approached the island of Kumblinge. The Swedish landing force, together with armed local residents, attacked Vuich's detachment. The Swedish galleys supported the attack with heavy cannon fire. Vuich had no guns at all. After a four-hour battle, the Russians surrendered. 20 officers and 490 lower ranks were captured. The consequences of the Swedish capture of the Åland Islands were immediate in the spring of 1808. The archipelago became a springboard for landing operations and an operating base for the Swedish fleet.

On February 20, two divisions under the command of Lieutenant General N.M. Kamensky besieged Sveaborg, the most powerful Swedish fortress in Finland, which the Swedes called the “Gibraltar of the North.”

Nikolai Mikhailovich Kamensky

The fortress garrison numbered 7.5 thousand people with 200 guns. Supplies of shells, gunpowder and food were designed for a months-long siege. On April 22, after a 12-day bombardment, Sveaborg capitulated.

Sveaborg fortress

But the outcome of the battle was decided not by steel and lead, but by gold. For, according to the famous aphorism of the Roman commander Sulla, “the walls of a fortress that legions cannot overcome are easily jumped over by a donkey loaded with gold.” Kamensky simply bribed the commandant of Sveaborg, Vice Admiral Karl Olof Kronstedt.

Under the terms of the surrender, the entire garrison was released to Sweden on their word of honor not to take up arms until the end of the war. In Sveaborg, the Russians captured a Swedish rowing flotilla of 100 ships. Among them were the gems "Helgomar" (26 guns), "Storn-Biorn" (26 guns); half-gem "Audouen"; turuma "Ivar-Benlos"; brig "Comerstax" (14 guns); as well as 6 shebeks, 8 yachts, 25 gunboats, 51 gunboats, 4 gunboats and one “royal barge” (12 oars). In addition, with the approach of the Russians in various ports of Finland, the Swedes themselves burned 70 rowing and sailing ships.

Gustav IV decided to launch an offensive against Danish troops in Norway. Therefore, the Swedes were unable to gather significant forces for the operation in Finland. However, with the beginning of navigation in 1808, the king planned two landing operations. In the first, Colonel Bergenstrole was supposed to leave the Swedish port of Umea on ships and land in Finland near the city of Vasa. In the second operation, Major General Baron von Vegesack was supposed to reach Abo through the Åland Islands and occupy it.

Abo Castle

On June 8, 1808, Fegezak’s detachment of 4 thousand people with eight cannons freely landed at the town of Lemo, 22 versts from the city of Abo. Next, the landing detachment moved on foot to Abo, but along the way it was met by a battle of the Libavsky regiment with one cannon, under the command of Colonel Vadkovsky. The superior forces of the Swedes began to push back Vadkovsky’s soldiers, but soon several infantry battalions, a squadron of dragoons and hussars, and an artillery company came to his aid. The Swedes had to retreat to their landing site at Lemo. Under the cover of naval artillery fire, they evacuated. Fifteen Russian rowing gunboats sent by Buxhoeveden to Lemo did not manage to arrive in time. Thanks to this, the Swedish ships went beyond the islands of Nagu and Korno.

In the summer of 1808, the position of Russian troops in central Finland became more complicated. On July 2, the 6,000-strong detachment of General Raevsky, pressed by the troops of General Klingspor and Finnish partisans, was forced to retreat first to Salmi, and then to the town of Alavo. On July 12, Raevsky was replaced by N.M. Kamensky, but the latter also had to retreat to Tammerfors. Finally, on August 20, Kamensky’s corps fought with Klingspor’s troops near the village of Kuortane and the lake of the same name. The Swedes were defeated and retreated by the year of Vasa.

Soon Klingspor left Vasa; he moved 45 miles north to the village of Orovais. There the Swedes gained a foothold and decided to give battle to Kamensky’s corps that was pursuing them. Seven thousand Swedes took up a position behind a swampy river. The right flank of the Swedes abutted the Gulf of Bothnia, where several Swedish rowing gunboats were stationed. On the left flank, steep cliffs began, bordered by dense forest.

At 8 a.m. on August 21, the Russian vanguard under the command of General Kulnev attacked the Swedish positions.

Yakov Petrovich Kulnev

Kulnev's attack was repulsed, and the Swedes began to pursue him. But two infantry regiments of General Demidov, who came to the rescue, overthrew the enemy and drove him away. In the middle of the day, Kamensky himself arrived on the battlefield with a battalion of rangers and two companies of infantry. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon the Swedes attacked again, but then the troops of General Ushakov (approximately two regiments) approached. As a result, the Swedes were again thrown back to their original positions. By this time it was already dark. At night, Demidov’s detachment took a detour through the forest. In the morning, the Swedes saw that the Russians were trying to surround them, and retreated north in an orderly manner. Both sides lost almost a thousand people.

Some Russian military historians consider the Battle of Orovai "an outstanding example of Russian military art." In fact, Kamensky scattered his forces before the battle, and then brought them into battle piece by piece. The result was not the defeat of the enemy, but the displacement of him from his position.

On September 3, a Swedish detachment of General Lantingshausen numbering 2,600 people landed from rowing ships near the village of Varannyaya, 70 versts north of Abo. The landing was successful, but the next morning near the village of Lokkolaksa the Swedes came across Bagration’s detachment and were forced to retreat.

Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration

Meanwhile, a new Swedish landing force landed under the command of General Bonet at the village of Helsinge near Abo. Gustav IV himself accompanied the landing ships on the yacht Amadna. On September 14 and 15, five thousand Bohne Swedes pursued a small Russian force. On September 16, near the town of Himaisa, the Swedes were counterattacked by the main forces of Bagration.

Himaisa fortress

The Swedes were defeated and began to retreat to Helsinga. At this moment, a squadron of Grodno hussars under the command of Major Leaders attacked the retreating. The Swedes fled. About a thousand Swedish corpses remained on the battlefield. 15 officers, 350 lower ranks and 5 guns became Russian trophies. Russian artillery set fire to the village of Helsinge. The fire, fanned by a strong wind, began to threaten the Swedish ships standing off the coast. Therefore, they had to leave before the evacuation of the surviving paratroopers was completed. All this happened in front of Gustav IV, who watched the battle through a telescope from on board the yacht.

On September 12, General Klingspor proposed a truce to the Russian commander-in-chief Buxhoeveden. Five days later (September 17), a truce was concluded at the Lakhtai manor. However, Alexander I did not recognize it, but called it an “unforgivable mistake.” Buxhoeveden received the Highest order to continue hostilities, after which he ordered the corps of Major General Tuchkov to move from Kuopio to Edensalmi and attack the 4,000-strong Swedish detachment of Brigadier Sandels.

Nikolai Alexandrovich Tuchkov

The Swedes took a position between two lakes connected by a strait. On the other side of the strait, two lines of trenches were dug and artillery pieces were installed. On October 15, Tuchkov brought his corps to the strait. The corps included 8 infantry battalions, 5 squadrons of regular cavalry and 300 Cossacks, a total of about 5 thousand people. The Swedes damaged the bridge across the strait. But Russian sappers restored it under grapeshot and rifle fire. Using the bridge, Russian infantry crossed the strait and captured the first line of trenches. At this point, Sandels brought in reserves, and the Russians were driven back over the bridge. In the battle, the Russians lost 764 people killed or missing.

The next day, the Swedes left the well-fortified position and retreated 20 versts to the north. Tuchkov did not dare to pursue the enemy and stood at the bridge for two weeks, posting three guard companies at a distance of five miles. It was them that Sandels decided to attack. On the night of October 30, a Swedish detachment suddenly attacked the Russian vanguard. However, the Swedes were repulsed, losing 200 people killed and captured.

At the beginning of November 1808, Buxhoeveden again entered into negotiations with the Swedes. This time he acted more cautiously and asked permission in St. Petersburg in advance. But Buxhoeveden failed to sign the truce - he received the Highest Decree on his dismissal from command of the army. Lieutenant General Count N.M. was appointed the new commander. Kamensky. He signed a truce on November 7 (19), 1808 in the village of Olkijoki. The count lasted in this position for only a month and a half. On December 7, 1808, B.F. became commander-in-chief instead of Kamensky. Knorring (1746-1825). However, 4 months later (April 7, 1809) Knorring was also fired.

The truce was concluded for a period from November 7 to December 7, 1808. Under the terms of the truce, the Swedish army cleared the entire province of Österbotten (Österbothnia) and withdrew troops beyond the Kemi River, 100 km north of the city of Uleaborg. Russian troops occupied the city of Uleaborg and set up pickets and guard posts on both sides of the Kemi River, but did not invade Lapland or try to reach Swedish territory at Torneo.

Combat actions of ground forces in 1809

At the beginning of 1809, the situation of the Swedes became hopeless. The English fleet was ready for the campaign of 1809, but everyone understood that enlightened sailors would capture merchant ships, plunder unprotected cities and villages on the coast, and were not going to send their army to Sweden or Finland. And Kronstadt is not Copenhagen; going there was also not part of the British Admiralty’s plans.

However, the stubborn Gustav IV decided to continue the war. Moreover, he ordered that combat-ready units of the Swedish army be left in Scania (in the south of the country) and on the border with Norway, although no particular danger from the Danes was foreseen in 1809. 5 thousand people were recruited for the immediate defense of Stockholm.

In Åland they managed to gather 6 thousand regular troops and 4 thousand militias. The defense of the Åland Islands was entrusted to General F. Debeln.

Georg Karl von Debeln

Fearing that the Russians would bypass the archipelago from the south, Debeln evacuated the entire population southern islands in a strip 140 versts wide, he burned and devastated all the villages in it, except for churches. Debeln gathered his forces on Greater Åland, blocked all the routes with fences, set up batteries at the most important coastal points, and built a redoubt on the westernmost island of Ecker.

In February 1809, Alexander I replaced the supreme command of the Russian troops in Finland. Bagration became the commander of the southern corps of Russian troops instead of Wittgenstein. Central building instead of D.V. Golitsyn was headed by Lieutenant General Barclay de Tolly, and the northern corps, instead of Tuchkov 1st, was headed by P.A. Shuvalov.

Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly

Pavel Andreevich Shuvalov

Campaign plan for 1809 Russian command composed tactically and strategically competently. The northern corps, based at Udeaborg, was supposed to move along the Gulf of Bothnia and invade Swedish territory. The central corps, based in the city of Vasa, was supposed to cross the Gulf of Bothnia across the ice through the skerries and the Kvarken Strait ( modern name Norra-Kvarken) with access to the Swedish coast. A similar task was assigned to the southern corps, stationed between the cities of Nystad and Abo. The corps was supposed to reach Sweden by ice through the islands of the Åland archipelago.

On March 6 (18), General Shuvalov notified the commander of the northern group of Swedish troops, Grinpenberg, about the termination of the truce. The Swedes responded to this by concentrating troops near the town of Kalix, 10 versts away. west of the city Torneo. Meanwhile, on March 6, Russian troops crossed the Kemi River and moved west along the coast. The Swedish vanguard, located in the city of Torneo, did not accept the battle, but hastily retreated, leaving 200 sick soldiers in the city.

Shuvalov's troops made marches of 30-35 versts a day in thirty-degree frost. Approaching Kalix, Shuvalov invited Grinpenberg to surrender, but the Swede refused. Then the main forces of the Russians began a frontal attack on Kalix, and General Alekseev’s column went around on the ice and cut off Grinpenberg’s path to retreat.

The Swedes sent envoys asking for a truce. Shuvalov did not agree to a truce, but demanded complete surrender, giving a period of 4 hours.

The Russian terms were accepted, and on March 13 Grinpenberg signed the instrument of surrender. His corps laid down their arms and went home on their word of honor not to fight in this war again. The Finns went to Finland, the Swedes to Sweden. In total, 7 thousand people surrendered, of which 1,600 were sick. Russian trophies included 22 guns and 12 banners. All military warehouses (shops) up to the city of Umeå were to be handed over to the Russians intact. According to military historian Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, the Kalik operation “destroyed the last link connecting Finland with Sweden.”

Monument in Kalix

According to the plan, Barclay de Tolly's central corps was supposed to number 8 thousand people. But most of the corps' forces were delayed in moving to Vasya. Barclay, fearing that the ice would soon begin to melt, ordered the units that had already arrived in Vasa to attack. His corps included 6 infantry battalions and 250 Cossacks (3,200 people in total) with six guns. On March 6, a prayer service was served at the assembly point and an order was read out, in which Barclay, without hiding the difficulties ahead, expressed confidence that “the impossible does not exist for Russian soldiers.”

That same day the first battalion went forward to lay a road. Following him, with the aim of reconnaissance and capture of advanced Swedish posts at six o'clock in the evening, Kiselev's flying detachment (40 musketeers of the Polotsk regiment on carts and 50 Cossacks) set out. After a thirteen-hour journey, Kiselev’s detachment approached the island of Grosgrund, where it captured an enemy picket. Swedes were also found on the island of Golme.

On March 7, Barclay's entire corps moved to the island of Vals-Erard, and on March 8, at 5 o'clock in the morning, moved through Kvarken in two columns. In the right column was Colonel Filisov with the Polotsk regiment and one hundred to the island of Golme, in the left was Count Berg with the rest of the troops to the island of Gadden. Barclay was also in the same column. The artillery with a battalion of life grenadiers followed separately behind the right column.

The troops walked knee-deep in snow, every minute bypassing or climbing over ice blocks; it was especially difficult for the left column, which did not even have a hint of a road. The heavy march continued until 6 pm, when the columns reached Großgrund and Gadden and bivouacked in the snow. However, fifteen-degree frost and a strong north wind did not provide any opportunity to rest. At 4 o'clock in the morning the troops moved on. In the morning, Filisov's column began a battle with three companies of Swedes occupying the island of Golme. Outflanked, the enemy retreated, leaving one officer and 35 lower ranks prisoners. Fearing for the lagging artillery, Filisov only the next morning decided to continue moving towards the village of Tefte.

Meanwhile, the left column moved to the mouth of the Umea River, with fifty Cossacks and two companies of the Tula Regiment in the vanguard. After eighteen hours of movement, the column stopped at 8 o'clock in the evening, six miles short of Umeå. The soldiers were extremely exhausted. The troops again spent the night on the ice. They were lucky that there were two merchant ships frozen in the ice nearby. The ships were immediately dismantled for firewood, and dozens of fires were lit on the ice of the bay. Meanwhile, the tireless Cossacks reached the outskirts of Umeå and started shooting there. There was panic in the city. The commandant of Umeå, General Count Kronstedt, found himself in prostration - there was shooting in the city, a sea of ​​​​lights on the ice.

On the morning of March 10, when Barclay's vanguard began a battle near the village of Teknes, and the entire column was already reaching the mainland, a Swedish envoy arrived, announcing the upcoming truce. According to the agreement, General Kronstedt surrendered Umeå with all supplies to the Russians and withdrew his troops 200 miles to the city of Gernesand. Having occupied Umeå, Barclay made all orders to establish himself in it, and was preparing to assist Count Shuvalov’s column, which was marching through Torneo. During these preparations, on the evening of 11 March, news of the truce was received, along with a surprise order to return to Vasa. Barclay found it difficult to carry out this order. He took all measures to ensure that the reverse movement “did not look like a retreat.” Therefore, the main forces moved no earlier than March 15, and the rearguard only on March 17. Unable to remove military booty (14 guns, about 3 thousand guns, gunpowder, etc.), Barclay announced in a special proclamation that he was leaving everything captured “as a sign of respect for the nation and the military.”

The troops set out in two echelons with a rearguard and in three marches reached the island of Bjorke, from where they headed to the old apartments in the Vasa area. Despite the severe frost, the return movement along the already paved road was much easier, which was also facilitated by warm clothes and blankets taken from Swedish warehouses, as well as carts and equipment for weakened and sick soldiers. Speaking from Umeå, the local governor, magistrate and representatives of the estates thanked Barclay for the generosity of the Russian troops.

The southern corps, commanded by Prince Bagration, consisted of 15.5 thousand infantry and 2 thousand cavalry (four squadrons of Grodno hussars and Cossacks). Ahead of Bagration's troops were two vanguards: the right - Major General Shepelev, the left - Major General Kulnev.

On February 22, the Cossacks had a successful skirmish with the enemy’s advanced posts. On February 26, Bagration’s main forces went onto the ice and moved towards the island of Kumblinge. The troops were fully provided with short fur coats, warm caps and felt boots. A caravan of sleighs loaded with food, vodka and firewood trailed behind the troops. On February 28, Minister of War Count Arakcheev and Commander-in-Chief Knorring, accompanied by the Russian envoy to Sweden Alopeus, joined the column. Alopeus had diplomatic powers in case the enemy wanted to enter into negotiations.

Otton Fedorovich Knorring

On March 2, the troops concentrated on Kumling, and on March 3, divided into five columns, bypassing ice holes and snowdrifts. The infantry walked in rows, the cavalry sometimes in twos, sometimes in single file. The advanced units of the Swedes left the small islands and went west. On the evening of March 3, the first four columns occupied the island of Varde, located in front of Greater Åland, and the fifth column passed through Sottunga to the island of Bene, where it encountered the enemy rearguard. The Cossacks attacked him, Kulnev with the rest of the troops went around the island, which forced the Swedes to hastily retreat. Just at this time, the head of the Åland detachment received news of a coup d'etat in Stockholm.

The Russians had only five or six passages left to reach the Swedish capital, so the new Swedish government sent Colonel Lagerbrinn to meet the Russians for negotiations. Bagration did not enter into negotiations with Lagerbinn, but sent him on a convoy to Arakcheev and Knorring. Bagration himself ordered the troops to continue the offensive. Two days later, the entire Åland archipelago was occupied without a fight. Only the vanguard of Kulnev overtook the enemy rearguard near the island of Lemland. After a small skirmish, the Swedes fled, abandoning their guns.

Meanwhile, a coup d'etat took place in Stockholm. Guard regiments overthrew Gustav IV. The Riksdag elected uncle Gustav IV, Duke of Südermanland, who ascended the throne under the name Charles XIII, as the new king.

Swedish King CharlesXIII

The attack of three Russian corps on Sweden put it in a hopeless situation. Therefore, the new government first turned to the Russians with a request for a truce.

On March 4, Major General Georg-Karl von Debeln, commander of the Swedish coastal forces, arrived in Bagration's corps with a request for a truce. He began negotiations first with Knorring and Sukhtelen, then with Arakcheev. The latter at first did not agree to a truce, citing the fact that Emperor Alexander’s goal was to sign peace in Stockholm, and not to conquer the Åland archipelago. Arakcheev even ordered to speed up the offensive of the Russian troops.

By the evening of March 5, all Swedish forces were already on the western shore of Ecker Island, and on the night of March 6 they began to retreat through Alandegaf. The Russians got abandoned batteries with ammunition, an infirmary and transport ships. The cavalry of Kulnev's vanguard, which had not left the ice for five days, overtook the rearguard of the retreating Swedes at Signalsher. Isaev’s Cossacks surrounded one column, curled up in a square, crashed into it, recaptured two guns and took 144 people prisoners, then they caught up with the second square and took two more guns. The Grodno hussars surrounded the separated battalion of the Südermanland regiment (14 officers and 442 lower ranks with a commander at the head) and, after a short firefight, forced it to surrender. The total number of prisoners taken by Kulnev exceeded the strength of his detachment, and the entire space of the snow cover of Alan-degaf was strewn with abandoned carts, charging boxes, and weapons.

Meanwhile, Arakcheev sent Döbeln the conditions under which the Russians could stop hostilities. The conditions included:

Sweden will forever cede Finland to Russia in the borders up to the Kalix River, as well as the Åland Islands; the maritime border between Sweden and Russia will pass along the Gulf of Bothnia.

Sweden will abandon its alliance with England and enter into an alliance with Russia.

Russia will provide Sweden with a strong corps to counter the English landing, if necessary.

If Sweden accepts these conditions, then it sends representatives to Åland to conclude peace.

However, Arakcheev made an unforgivable mistake by stopping the invasion of Russian troops into Sweden. Only Kulnev with cavalry was sent through Alangaf (the Ural hundred, two hundred regiments of Isaev and Lashchilin, three squadrons of Grodno hussars).

Kulnev spent the night from March 5 to 6 in Signalider. Having set out at 3 o'clock in the morning, Kulnev entered the Swedish coast at 11 o'clock in the morning, where the guard posts, amazed by the appearance of the Russians, were attacked by the Cossacks, and then knocked out from behind the stones by dismounted Urals. Kulnev scattered his detachment so skillfully that it seemed to the Swedes several times stronger than it actually was. In addition, Kulnev, through the negotiator, assured the Swedes that the main forces were moving towards Nortelga.

The appearance of even one Kulnev detachment on the Swedish coast caused a stir in Stockholm. But the appeal of the Duke of Südermanland, transmitted through Döbeln, to send a commissioner to negotiate, prompted Knorring and Arakcheev, in order to prove the sincerity of our aspirations for peace, to meet the wishes of the new ruler of Sweden and order Russian troops to return to Finland. This order also applied to other columns (Barclay and Shuvalov), who had already achieved great success by that time.

In fact, Döbeln deliberately misled the Russian generals and deliberately sent an envoy so that not a single Russian detachment would enter Swedish soil. In this way he saved Stockholm from the danger that threatened it. But at the beginning of April 1809, when Russian troops left Swedish territory, and the melting of the ice made it impossible for Russian troops to cross the skerries near Abo and Vasa on foot, the Swedish government began to put forward peace conditions that were unacceptable to Russia. In this regard, Alexander I ordered Shuvalov’s corps, which had withdrawn under the terms of the truce to Northern Finland, to re-enter Swedish territory.

On April 18, 1809, Shuvalov’s 5,000-strong corps set out from Torneo in three columns. On April 26, Shuvalov approached Piteå with a forced march and, having learned about the presence of the Swedes in Skellefteå, went there. Not reaching 10 versts, on May 2 he sent under the command of Major General I.I. Alekseev four infantry regiments (Revelsky, Sevsky, Mogilevsky and 3rd Jaeger) with artillery and a small number of Cossacks along the ice that barely held off the coast directly to the rear of the enemy, to the village of Itervik. Shuvalov led the remaining four regiments (Nizovsky, Azov, Kaluga and 20th Chasseurs) along the coastal road.

Shuvalov's offensive took the enemy by surprise. Furumak's detachment at Skellefteå, not having time to break the bridges on the river, hastily retreated to Itervik, pushed towards the sea by Shuvalov's entire column. And on the opposite side, the Swedes were met by Alekseev’s column that came ashore. Two days later (May 5), the bay was already free of ice. Furumaku, caught in pincers, had to surrender. The Russians took 691 prisoners, 22 guns and four banners.

wounded swedish soldier

At this time, Major General von Döbeln was appointed commander of the Swedish troops in the North. He was ordered to take the remaining food out of Westrobothnia, avoiding battle. Arriving in Umeå, Döbeln resorted to the same trick to detain the Russians. He turned to Count Shuvalov with a proposal to negotiate a truce. Shuvalov sent Döbeln's letter to Commander-in-Chief Barclay de Tolly and suspended the offensive.

While the negotiations were ongoing, transport ships were being hurriedly loaded into Umeå and taken out to sea through canals cut into the ice. Finally, when on May 14 Shuvalov, without waiting for an answer from the commander-in-chief, concluded a preliminary convention with the Swedes on the transfer of Umeå to the Russians on May 17, seven ships left Umeå, taking out all the supplies and property of the Swedes. Döbeln retreated across the Ere River.

Barclay de Tolly rejected the truce and ordered Shuvalov to “threaten the enemy with an active war in Sweden itself.” But this order was late. The mistake made by Shuvalov had a significant impact (due to poor condition Russian naval forces) throughout the campaign. Leaving command of the corps, Shuvalov handed it over to his eldest, Major General Alekseev. The latter occupied Umeå, and then advanced the advanced units to the southern borders of Vestrobothnia, occupying a number of points on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia with separate detachments.

Immediately the food issue became quite acute. The region was already depleted, all food warehouses were removed by Döbeln, and the delivery of food through Torneo to the ports of the Gulf of Bothnia occurred with great delays. However, until mid-June 1809, Alekseev occupied Westrobothnia without experiencing significant inconvenience. Meanwhile, the desire to raise the prestige of the newly proclaimed King Charles XIII made the Swedes want, taking advantage of their superiority at sea, to organize an attack on the corps of General Alekseev, which had climbed deep into the country.

At the end of June, a Swedish squadron of three ships already appeared in the Gulf of Bothnia. The Russian fleet was afraid of the British and defended itself in Kronstadt, so the Swedes reigned supreme at sea. The onset of the flood forced Alekseev to bring together individual groups of the corps and pull the vanguard located on the Era River closer to Umeå.

Meanwhile, the Swedes again changed the command of their northern group - Döbeln was replaced by Sandels. Sandels decided to attack the Russians on land with naval support from four sailing frigates and a rowing flotilla. On the night of June 19, Sandels' vanguard crossed the Ere River at Hocknes on a floating bridge, and the next day the main forces crossed to the north bank. The surprise of the attack failed, as one Swede warned the Russians.

Alekseev decided to counterattack the Swedes. To do this, he assembled a group of five infantry regiments and two hundred cavalry with four guns under the command of Major General Kazachkovsky. Sandels' troops stopped at the Gerne River near the town of Gernefors, sending forward a small guard detachment of Major Ernroth. On the evening of June 21, the advanced units of the Swedes were defeated at Södermjele, and the next morning the battle began again at the front, but the Russian troops were repulsed. Seeing that the Russians themselves had gone on the offensive and that the planned attack was unlikely to bring success, Sandels decided to retreat across the Ere River, especially since the terrain at Gernefors was inconvenient for battle. However, the Swedes continued to stand at Gernefors on June 23, 24 and 25, sending only three outposts.

On the evening of June 25, Kazachkovsky moved forward, dividing his detachment into two columns. He himself, with the Sevsky, Kaluga and 24th Jaeger regiments, having the Nizovsky regiment in reserve, went along high road, and sent Colonel Karpenkov with the 26th Jaeger Regiment around the enemy’s left flank, through the forest, along a difficult path. This attack came as a complete surprise to the Swedes. Having knocked down the outposts, the Russians pushed back the enemy units, which had fallen into disarray. Sandels' attempt to gain a foothold on the bridge failed, and he began to withdraw his troops back, and assigned a battalion of the famous partisan Dunker to cover the retreat. The latter courageously defended every inch of land, but when Sandels sent Dunker the order to retreat as soon as possible, he was already cut off by Karpenkov’s column. Duncker responded to the offer to surrender with a volley. Seriously wounded, he died a few hours later. In the battle near Gernefors, the Swedes lost 5 officers, 125 lower ranks and part of the convoy as prisoners.

It’s funny that after the success of Gernefors, Alexander I removed I.I. Alekseev from the command of the corps and appointed Count N.M. in his place. Kamensky. Almost simultaneously, Barclay de Tolly took the post of commander-in-chief of the Russian army in Finland instead of Knorring.

Taking advantage of the absolute superiority of the Swedish fleet in the Gulf of Bothnia, the Swedish command developed a plan for the destruction of Kamensky’s northern corps. Sandels' corps was reinforced by troops removed from the border in northern Norway. And at Ratan, two marches from Umeå, the landing of the “coastal corps”, which had previously covered Stockholm, was supposed to take place.

Kamensky decided to counterattack the Swedes. The northern corps left Umeå on August 4 in three columns: the first - General Alekseev (six battalions), the second - Kamensky himself (eight battalions), the third - Sabaneev's reserve (four battalions). The first column was ordered to cross the Ere River at the 15th verst above the mouth and then attack the left flank of the Swedes. The remaining forces were supposed to force the crossing on the main coastal road and push the enemy behind the Olofsborg kirk.

However, on August 5, the landing of Count Wachtmeister’s 8,000-strong corps began with one hundred transport ships near Ratan. Thus, the Russians found themselves between two fires: from the front across the Ere River was General Wrede with seven thousand soldiers, and from the rear was the Wachtmeister. From the Ere River to Ratan there were five to six days' marches. It was possible to move only in a narrow coastal strip, which precluded maneuvering. The Swedes dominated the sea; the path of the troops was crossed by the beds of deep rivers, which allowed the entry of shallow-draft ships.

Battle of Ratan

Kamensky, without hesitation, decided to attack the landing corps, as the most powerful and dangerous group for Russian troops. On August 5, he ordered Sabaneev’s reserve (which had barely passed Umeå) to go back to support Frolov, the head echelon of the left column (under the command of Erikson) to remain on the Ere River, continuing to force crossings, and keep Sandels in error, and at night to retreat to Umeå, destroying behind them bridges. All other troops were ordered to follow Sabaneev. These movements took the entire day of August 5th. The Swedes managed to land the vanguard (seven Lagerbrink battalions with a battery). Having advanced to Sevar and pushing back the Russian advanced units, the Wachtmaster began here to await further orders from Puke. This stop turned out to be disastrous, especially since the terrain near Sevar did not allow a defensive battle at all.

Kamensky occupied the entire day of August 6 with feverish activity. While Sabaneev supported Frolov, the rest of the troops hurried to Umeå. At dawn on August 7, Alekseev’s troops approached Tefta. The rest of the forces lingered in Umeå, waiting for Erikson, who successfully deceived Wrede all day on August 6, and left for Umeå under cover of darkness. On the morning of August 7, Kamensky attacked with the existing forces of the Wachtmeister at Sevar. The bloody battle, which lasted from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., ended with the retreat of the Swedish landing force back to Ratan.

Kamensky, despite receiving news that Wrede was approaching Umeå, which reduced the distance between both groups of Swedes to two or three marches, decided to finish off Wachtmeister. He began to pursue the retreating Swedish troops with all his might. The battle at Ratan ended with the Swedes boarding the ships, which Kamensky could not prevent, since his soldiers were running out of ammunition. Therefore, Kamensky decided on August 12 to retreat to Pitea to replenish ammunition there from the transport sent by sea from Uyaeborg. After three days of rest, on August 21, the corps moved to Umeå.

Meanwhile, the Swedes again started talking about a truce. After short negotiations, a truce was concluded near Skellefteå, according to which the Russians stayed in Piteå, and the Swedes in Umeå, not counting the vanguards. The Swedish fleet was withdrawn from Kvarken and pledged not to act against Åland and the Finnish coast, and not to prevent unarmed ships from sailing throughout the Gulf of Bothnia. Kamensky motivated the need for a truce by the difficulty of meeting the needs of the corps, as well as by the concentration of all Swedish forces in one group in Umeå, which made it much stronger than the Russian corps.

In St. Petersburg they considered it best not to respond to the Swedes' proposals. At the same time, Kamensky was ordered to prepare for an offensive. The Russians took advantage of the freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Bothnia to concentrate supplies in Pitea. A special reserve has advanced to Torneo to support Kamensky in case of need. All these measures were aimed at forcing the Swedes to agree to peace terms that were beneficial to the Russians. Russian chief commissioner in Friedrichsham, Count N.P. Rumyantsev demanded that Kamensky be forced to advance. He even insisted on landing troops near Stockholm, just to achieve the necessary impact on the Swedes.

Treaty of Friedrichsham and its consequences

On September 5 (17), 1809, a peace treaty was signed between Russia and Sweden in the city of Friedrichsham. On behalf of Russia it was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count N.P. Rumyantsev and Russian Ambassador to Stockholm David Alopeus; from Sweden - Infantry General Baron Kurt Stedinck and Colonel Andras Scheldebront.

The military terms of the treaty included the withdrawal of Russian troops from Swedish territory in Västerbotten to Finland across the Torneo River within a month from the date of exchange of ratifications. All prisoners of war and hostages were mutually returned no later than three months from the date the treaty came into force.

The military-political conditions consisted of preventing British military and merchant ships from entering Swedish ports. It was prohibited to fill them with water, food and fuel. Thus, Sweden actually joined Napoleon's continental blockade.

According to the terms of the agreement:

Sweden ceded to Russia all of Finland (up to the Kem River) and part of Västerbotten up to the Torneo River and all of Finnish Lapland.

The border between Russia and Sweden should run along the rivers Torneo and Munio and further north along the line Munioniski - Enonteki - Kilpisjärvi and to the border with Norway.

The islands on the border rivers, located to the west of the fairway, go to Sweden, and to the east of the fairway - to Russia.

The Åland Islands go to Russia. The border at sea runs along the middle of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Åland Sea.

According to the economic terms of the agreement:

The term of the Russian-Swedish trade agreement, which expired in 1811, was extended until 1813 (by 2 years, deleted from its validity by the war).

Sweden retained the right to duty-free purchase of 50 thousand quarters of bread (grain, flour) annually in Russian ports on the Baltic.

Duty-free mutual export of traditional goods from Finland and Sweden was maintained for three years. From Sweden - copper, iron, lime, stone; from Finland - livestock, fish, bread, resin, timber.

Seizures were mutually lifted from assets and financial transactions, debts and incomes interrupted or disrupted by the war were returned. Decisions were made or restored on all property claims in Sweden and Finland, as well as in Russia, related to the Finnish economy.

Estates and property sequestered during the war were returned to their owners in both countries.

Swedes and Finns could freely move from Russia to Sweden and back, along with their property, for three years from the moment the treaty was signed.

Defeated, Alexander I went into negotiations with Napoleon, which resulted in the conclusion Treaty of Tilsit. With this treaty, the war ended, in which Sweden, Prussia and Austria participated on the side of Russia against France. In Tilsit, Napoleon insisted that he was concluding peace and allied relations with Russia. And Alexander I then offered mediation to Gustav IV, the Swedish king, in concluding peace with France.

According to the Treaty of Tilsit, Russia entered into a continental blockade of England. Denmark was also going to join the blockade, for which Great Britain attacked and captured the Danish navy in August $1807. Russia had family ties with the Danish court, and they were also allies in the fight against Sweden, so Russia announced a severance of diplomatic relations with England until the return Denmark fleet and damages.

Alexander I also insisted that the King of Sweden Gustav IV assisted in accordance with the agreements of $1780$ and $1800$. and helped close the Baltic to Western fleets. However, Sweden refused and began a rapprochement with England.

Finished works on a similar topic

As a result, diplomatic ties were severed and the Anglo-Russian War began, but it proceeded very sluggishly.

Note 1

Alexander I appealed to Gustav IV again, but he stood his ground and refused to close the Baltic Sea while the French were there. Gustav IV also set his sights on helping England in the war with Denmark, because was going to take Norway. In turn, Alexander I decided to occupy Finland in order to secure St. Petersburg.

Napoleon also wanted Sweden's ports to be closed to England. He offered his assistance to Alexander I in conquering all of Sweden.

Progress of the war

War was not declared, but Russian troops invaded Sweden in February 1808 and occupied Helsingfors. The occupation of the island of Gotland turned out to be particularly successful, because After this, the Swedes surrendered Sveaborg. In the spring of 1808, the Svartholm fortress, Cape Gangut, and the Åland Islands were also captured. And only in mid-March, after the Swedish king ordered the arrest of the entire Russian embassy, ​​Russia officially declared war.

In Finland, the situation was unsuccessful for the Russian troops due to the actions of the Finnish partisans. In general, after the declaration of war, the Russian army began to have troubles, for example, a powerful Swedish flotilla and rebellious local residents forced the surrender of the Åland Islands, and Gotland capitulated in May.

The turning point in the war came in the fall of $1808. With the onset of autumn, the Finnish partisans reduced their activity, Russian troops began to attack unhindered. Already in November, the Russian army occupied all of Finland.

In $1809, it was planned to wage war only on Swedish territory. According to the plan of Alexander I, the Russian army was supposed to occupy Stockholm and also destroy the Swedish fleet.

In March 1809, Bagration's corps captured the Åland Islands and moved on to Stockholm. The kingdom's government requested peace negotiations. The offensive stopped, and a coup d'etat took place in Sweden, King Gustav IV Adolf was deprived of his crown, power was seized by his relative the Duke of Südermanland, who became Charles XIII.

Alexander I refused a truce and changed the leadership of the Russian army. Charles XIII also decided to continue to fight. But the Swedes failed to achieve success.

Results

Peace was concluded in September 1809. Friedrichsgame. The Swedes entered into a continental blockade of Great Britain, and also gave Finland and part of other lands to Russia, including the Åland Islands.

The confrontation between Russia and Sweden began in the 18th century, when Peter the Great decided to gain access to the Baltic Sea for his country. This became the reason for the outbreak of the Northern War, which lasted from 1700 to 1721, which Sweden lost. The results of this conflict changed political map Europe. Firstly, Sweden, from a great and powerful maritime power dominating the Baltic Sea, has turned into a weak state. To regain its position, Sweden had to fight for decades. Secondly, the Russian Empire appeared in Europe with its capital in the city of St. Petersburg. The new capital was built by Peter the Great on the Neva, next to the Baltic. This made it easier to control the region and the sea. Thirdly, the war between the Russian Empire and Sweden continued for a long time. The peak of the struggle was the war, known in historical literature and documents as the Russian-Swedish war. It began in 1808 and ended in 1809.

The situation in Europe at the end of the 18th century.

The revolutionary events that began in France in 1789 influenced the situation in Russia, Sweden, Germany, and England. Political and economic situation in many countries it changed by leaps and bounds. In particular, in France the monarchy was overthrown, King Louis the Sixteenth was killed, and a republic was proclaimed, which was quickly replaced by Jacobin rule. The military took advantage of the political confusion and brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power, who created a new empire in France. Napoleon sought to conquer Europe, to subjugate not only its western regions, but also to extend his power to the Balkans, Russia, and Poland. Russian Emperor Alexander the First spoke out against the grandiose plans of the French emperor. He managed to stop Napoleon's army in Russia and shake the foundations of the French state. The empire created by Bonaparte began to fall apart.

So, to the main prerequisites for the Russian-Swedish war of the early 19th century. the following factors include:

• Sweden's loss in the Northern War.
• The creation of the Russian Empire and the transition under its authority of important trade routes that were located in the Baltic Sea.
• The Great French Revolution, which was inevitable and which influenced the course of European history in the 19th – 20th centuries. Many consequences of events in France in the late 1780s and 1790s. are still felt in Europe today.
• Napoleon's rise to power, his conquests in Europe and his defeat in Russia.
• Constant wars between the monarchs of Europe and Napoleon's army to protect the national borders of their states from French influence.

Campaigns of the Napoleonic army at the beginning of the 19th century. contributed to the unification of European states into an anti-French coalition. Austria, England and Russia opposed Bonaparte. Emperor Alexander the First pondered for a long time which side to prefer. This choice was due to two important factors. Firstly, the influence on the Russian emperor of the so-called German party, whose members determined foreign policy ambitious Alexander the First. Secondly, the ambitious plans of the new ruler of Russia, who constantly interfered in the internal affairs of the German principalities and lands. Germans were everywhere in the empire - in important government positions, in the army, at court, and the emperor was married to a German princess. His mother was also from a noble German family and had the title of princess. Alexander wanted to carry out constant campaigns of conquest, win, win battles, striving with his achievements to wash away the stain of shame from the murder of his father. Therefore, Alexander the First personally led all campaigns in Germany.

There were several coalitions against Napoleon, Sweden joined the third of them. Its king, Gustav the Fourth, was as ambitious as the Russian emperor. In addition, the Swedish monarch sought to get back the lands of Pomerania, taken away in the 18th century. Only Gustav the Fourth did not calculate the power of his country and the military capabilities of the army. The king was confident that Sweden was capable of cutting out the map of Europe, changing borders and winning grandiose battles, as before.

Relations between Russia and Sweden before the war

In January 1805, the two countries signed a treaty to create a new alliance, considered the third anti-Napoleonic coalition of European monarchies against revolutionary and recalcitrant France. In the same year, a campaign was carried out against Bonaparte, which ended in a serious defeat for the allied forces.

The battle took place in November 1805 near Austerlitz, the consequences of which were:

• Escape from the battlefield of the Austrian and Russian emperors.
• Huge losses among the Russian and Austrian armies.
• Sweden attempted to independently conduct a campaign in Pomerania, but the French quickly drove them out of there.

In such a situation, Prussia and Austria tried to save themselves on their own, bypassing the terms of cooperation with Russia. In particular, Austria signed an agreement with France in Pressburg, which historians call a separate agreement. Prussia went to establish allied relations with Napoleon Bonaparte. So, in December 1805, Russia was left alone with France, which did everything to ensure that Alexander the First agreed to sign a peace treaty. But the ruler of the Russian Empire was in no hurry to do this, since he defended the interests of the German dynasties and family ties.

Scientists believe that Alexander the First, in order to maintain dominance in the Baltic, control in Finland and over the Black Sea straits, Caucasian republics, had to agree to peace with Bonaparte. Instead, he showed stubbornness and began to fight with him.

In 1806, new conditions arose for the creation of a new coalition against Napoleon. England, Russia, Sweden, and Prussia took part in it. The English monarch acted as the main financial sponsor of the coalition; the army and soldiers were provided mainly by Prussia and the Russian Empire. The union needed Sweden for balance in order to control Alexander the First. But the Swedish king was in no particular hurry to send his warriors to the European continent from the Scandinavian Peninsula.

The coalition lost again, and Bonaparte’s troops captured Berlin, Warsaw, and reached Russian border, which passed along the Neman River. Alexander the First personally met with Napoleon and signed the Treaty of Tilsit (1807). Among its conditions it is worth noting:

• Russia should not have interfered in the internal affairs of Western European states, including Germany and Austria.
• Complete severance of diplomatic relations and alliance with Austria.
• Russia's observance of strict neutrality.

At the same time, Russia got a chance to deal with Sweden, as well as Turkey. Napoleon during 1807-1808 did not allow Alexander the First to enter Austria, not allowing him to “communicate.”

After the Peace of Tilsit, diplomatic and military games on the European continent did not end. Russia continued to actively interfere in all the affairs of Germany, Britain continued to attack all ships that were regarded as a threat to its state. Thus, the ships of Denmark were accidentally attacked, trying to avoid being drawn into the French wars and coalition alliances against Bonaparte.

In the summer of 1807, British troops landed on Danish territory and Copenhagen was bombed. The British captured the fleet, shipyards, and naval arsenal; Prince Frederick refused to capitulate.

In response to England's attack on Denmark, Russia declared war on Britain because of obligations and family ties. Thus began the Anglo-Russian war, which was accompanied by a blockade of trade ports, goods, and the withdrawal of diplomatic missions.

England was also blockaded by France, which did not appreciate the capture of the Danish fleet and the destruction of Copenhagen. Bonaparte demanded that Russia put pressure on Sweden and that it close the ports to all British ships. This was followed by an exchange of diplomatic letters between Napoleon and Alexander the First. The French emperor offered the Russian all of Sweden and Stockholm. This was a direct hint at the need to begin military action against Sweden. To prevent this Scandinavian country from losing, England signed an agreement with it. His goal was to maintain the position of British merchant ships and companies in Scandinavia and cut off Russia from Sweden. Among the terms of the Anglo-Swedish agreement it is worth noting:

• Paying the Swedish government £1 million every month.
• The war with Russia and its conduct as long as circumstances require.
• Sending British soldiers to Sweden to take control of the country's western border (important ports were located here).
• The transfer of the Swedish army to the east to fight Russia.

In February 1808, it was no longer possible for both countries to avoid military conflict. England wanted to quickly receive “dividends,” and Russia and Sweden wanted to resolve their long-standing disputes.

The course of military operations in 1808-1809.

The war began in February 1808, when Russian troops invaded Sweden in the area of ​​Finland. The effect of surprise gave a serious advantage to Russia, which by mid-spring managed to capture half of Finland, Sveaborg, the Gotland and Åland islands.

The Swedish army suffered huge losses both on land and at sea. In the port of Lisbon at the end of the summer of 1808, the Swedish fleet capitulated to the British, who received the ships for storage until the end of the war. England provided serious assistance to Sweden, providing its troops and navy. Because of this, Russia's situation in Finland worsened. Further events took place in this chronological order:

• In August–September 1808, Russian troops won a number of victories in Finland. Alexander the First sought to clear the occupied territory from the Swedes and the British.
• September 1808 - a truce was signed, but the Russian emperor did not accept it, because he wanted the Swedes to leave Finland for good.
• Winter of 1809 was a winter campaign launched by the Russian Empire to isolate Sweden. The invasion took place through the Gulf of Bothnia (on ice) and along the shore of the bay. The British could not help Sweden from the sea due to weather conditions. The Russian army launched an offensive through the Gulf of Bothnia to the Åland Islands, which they managed to capture, knocking out the Swedes from there. As a result, a political crisis began in Sweden.
• After the winter campaign of 1809, a coup d'état took place in the kingdom, during which Gustav the Fourth was overthrown. The formed government appointed a new regent, and advocated a truce. Alexander the First did not want to sign the treaty until he received Finland.
• March 1809 - General Shuvalov's army marched along the northern shore of the Gulf of Bothnia, capturing Torneo and Kalix. Near the last settlement, the Swedes laid down their arms, and Shuvalov’s troops again went on the offensive. The soldiers, under the skillful leadership of the general, won a victory, and another Swedish army capitulated near the city of Shelefteå.
• Summer of 1809 - the Battle of Ratan, which is considered the last in the Russian-Swedish war. The Russians were advancing on Stockholm, trying to capture it in short terms. By that time, the ice in the bay had melted, and British ships rushed to the aid of the Swedes. Decisiveness and surprise were the main factors in the victory of Kamensky’s troops, who gave last Stand to the Swedes at Ratan. They lost, losing one third of their army.

Peace Treaty of 1809 and its consequences

Negotiations began in August and continued for several weeks with the signing of a peace agreement. The agreement was signed in the city of Friedrichsham, now Hanin in Finland. On the Russian side, the document was signed by Count N. Rumyantsev, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and D. Alopeus, who served as the Russian Ambassador in Stockholm, and on the Swedish side by Colonel A. Scheldebront and Baron K. Stedinck, who was an infantry general.

The terms of the agreement were divided into three parts - military, territorial and economic. Among the military and territorial conditions of the Friedrichsham Peace, attention is drawn to such points as:

• Russia received the Alan Islands and Finland, which received the status of a Grand Duchy. It had autonomy rights within the Russian Empire.
• Sweden was forced to abandon its alliance with the British and take part in the Continental Blockade, aimed at weakening England and its trade in the ports of Sweden.
• Russia withdrew its troops from Swedish territory.
• A mutual exchange of hostages and prisoners of war was carried out.
• The border between the countries passed along the Munio and Torneo rivers, along the Munioniski-Enonteki-Kilpisjärvi line, which stretched to Norway.
• In the border waters, the islands were divided along the fairway line. To the east the island territories belonged to Russia, and to the west to Sweden.

Economic conditions were favorable to both countries. Trade between the states continued, in accordance with the previously signed agreement. Trade remained duty-free in Russian ports on the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Finland. Other conditions in the field of economic cooperation were beneficial to the Russians. They could receive back the taken property, possessions, and lands. In addition, they filed lawsuits to get their property back.

So, the situation in the economic and political spheres after the war changed the status of Finland. She became integral part The Russian Empire began to integrate into its economic and economic systems. The Swedes, Finns, and Russians carried out profitable trade operations, regained their property and possessions, and strengthened their positions in Finland.

Plan
Introduction
1 Causes and purposes of the war
2 State of the parties before the war
3 Undeclared War
4 Declaration of war
5 Unsuccessful start of the war for Russia
6 Fracture
7 Swedes' defeat in Finland
8 Foreign policy results
9 Military results

Russo-Swedish War (1808-1809)

Introduction

Russian-Swedish War 1808-1809, also Finnish War (Finnish: Suomen sota, Swedish. Finska kriget) - a war between Russia, supported by France and Denmark against Sweden. It was the last of a series of Russian-Swedish wars.

The war ended with the victory of Russia and the conclusion of the Friedrichsham Peace Treaty, according to which Finland passed from Sweden to Russia, becoming part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland.

1. Causes and purposes of the war

At the conclusion of the Peace of Tilsit in 1807, Alexander I offered the Swedish king Gustav IV his mediation to reconcile him with France, and when the British, suddenly and without declaring war, attacked Copenhagen and took away the Danish fleet, he demanded Sweden’s assistance so that, on the basis treaties of 1780 and 1800, keep the Baltic Sea closed to the fleets of Western powers. Gustav IV rejected these demands and headed for rapprochement with England, which continued to fight Napoleon, who was hostile to him.

Meanwhile, there was a break between Russia and Great Britain. On November 16, 1807, the Russian government again turned to the Swedish king with a proposal for assistance, but for about two months it did not receive any response. Finally, Gustav IV said that the treaties of 1780 and 1800 would not be fulfilled. cannot proceed while the French occupy the harbors Baltic Sea. Then it became known that the Swedish king was preparing to help England in the war with Denmark, trying to recapture Norway from it. All these circumstances gave Emperor Alexander I a reason to conquer Finland in order to ensure the safety of the capital from the close proximity of a hostile power to Russia.

2. State of the parties before the war

At the beginning of 1808, the Russian army (about 24 thousand) was located along the border, between Friedrichsgam and Neuschlot, leadership was entrusted to Count Buxhoeveden.

The Swedes in Finland at that time had 19 thousand troops, under the temporary command of General Klerker. The commander-in-chief, Count Klingspor, was still in Stockholm, where everyone hoped for a peaceful resolution of misunderstandings: the king himself did not trust the news of the concentration of Russian troops in the Vyborg province and the Swedish army was not transferred to martial law.

When Count Klingspor finally went to Finland, the essence of the instructions given to him was not to engage in battle with the enemy, to hold Sveaborg to the last extremity and, if possible, to act in the rear of the Russians.

3. Undeclared war

Although war was not declared, Russian troops crossed the border on February 9. On February 18, Count Buxhoeveden entered Helsingfors; Swedish troops took refuge in the Sveaborg fortress.

On February 23, Count Klingspor retreated to Tammerfors, ordering all detachments scattered in northern Finland to converge there.

Following this, Tavastehus was occupied by Russian troops.

On February 27, Buxhoeveden ordered Prince Bagration to pursue Klingspor, and General Tuchkov to try to cut off his retreat; Buxhoeveden himself decided to begin the siege of Sveaborg.

The Swedes retreated unhindered to Bragestad, but Sveaborg - mainly thanks to the “golden gunpowder” - surrendered to the Russians on April 26, who received 7.5 thousand prisoners, more than 2 thousand guns, huge reserves of all kinds and 110 warships.

Even earlier, on March 5, the Svartholm fortress surrendered; Almost at the same time, the fortified Cape Gangut was occupied, as well as the island of Gotland and the Aland Islands.

4. Declaration of war

A formal declaration of war on the Russian side followed only on March 16, 1808, when news was received that the king, having learned about the passage of Russian troops across the border, ordered the arrest of all members of the Russian embassy in Stockholm.

Public opinion in Sweden was not on the side of the war, and the emergency measures prescribed by the king were carried out reluctantly and weakly.

5. Unsuccessful start of the war for Russia

Meanwhile, in northern Finland, things took a turn unfavorable for Russia. Tuchkov's detachment, due to the separation of the stages and garrisons, decreased to 4 thousand.

On April 6, the vanguard of the Russian troops, under the command of Kulnev, attacked the Swedes near the village of Siikajoki, but, having stumbled upon superior forces, was defeated; then, on April 15, the same fate befell a detachment of Russian troops at Revolaks, and the commander of this detachment, General Bulatov, Mikhail Leontievich, who had already conducted a number of successful battles, defeating several enemy detachments, was seriously wounded and captured. In February 1809, the captured general was offered freedom in exchange for a promise not to fight against the Swedes and their allies, but he refused, after which he was allowed to leave for Russia without preconditions.

The Finns, incited by the proclamations of the king and Count Klingspor, rose up against the Russians and, with their partisan actions, under the command of Swedish officers, caused a lot of harm to the Russian army.

In eastern Finland, a detachment under the command of Colonel Sandels (sv: Johan August Sandels) spread the alarm as far as Neishlot and Vilmanstrand.

At the end of April, a strong Swedish flotilla appeared near the Åland Islands and, with the help of the rebel inhabitants, forced Colonel Vuich's detachment to surrender.

On May 3, Rear Admiral Bodisko, who occupied the island of Gotland, concluded a capitulation, by virtue of which his detachment, laying down their arms, went back to Libau on the same ships on which they arrived on Gotland.

On May 14, the English fleet arrived in Gothenburg with an auxiliary corps of 14 thousand people under the command of General Moore, but Gustav IV could not agree with him regarding the plan of action, and Moore’s troops were sent to Spain; Only the English fleet remained at the disposal of the Swedish king, consisting of 16 ships and 20 other vessels.

Meanwhile, detachments of Russian troops operating in northern Finland were forced to retreat to Kuopio. Klingspor did not complete his successes by persistent pursuit, but stopped at a position near the village of Salmi, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Sweden and the result of the landings undertaken on the western coast of Finland. The landing forces were defeated in the battle of Lemu and Vaasa. Taking advantage of this, General Count N.M. Kamensky again went on the offensive on August 2.

On August 20 and 21, after stubborn battles at Kuortane and Salmi, Klingspor retreated towards Vasa and Nykarleby, and on September 2 suffered a new setback in the battle of Oravais.

The Swedish landing forces, which at first acted not without success, on the orders of Klingspor, also retreated to Vasa. Other landings undertaken in September from the Åland Islands also ended in failure.

6. Fracture

In eastern Finland, General Tuchkov, having against him the Swedish detachment of Sandels and a detachment of armed residents, remained in a defensive position. Alekseev’s detachment, sent to reinforce him, was stopped by the actions of the partisans and returned to Serdobol on July 30. Only on September 14, Prince Dolgorukov, who replaced Alekseev, reached the village of Melansemi and entered into contact with Tuchkov. The joint attack they had planned on Sandels did not take place, since the latter, having learned about the failure of Klingspor near Oravais, retreated to the village of Edensalmi.

Soon the unrest in eastern Finland subsided. Due to the onset of autumn, a lack of food and the need to rest the troops, Count Buxhoeveden accepted Klingspor's proposal for a truce, which was concluded on September 17, but was not approved by the emperor. The renewed offensive from the Russian side proceeded almost unhindered. Klingspor left for Stockholm, handing over his command to General Klerker, and the latter, convinced of the impossibility of delaying Russian troops, began negotiations with Count Kamensky, the consequence of which was the retreat of the Swedes to Torneo and the occupation of all Finland by Russian troops in November 1808.

Emperor Alexander, however, was not entirely satisfied with Count Buxhoeveden, since the Swedish army, despite the significant superiority of the Russian forces, retained its composition, and therefore the war could not be considered over. At the beginning of December, Buxhoeveden's place was taken by Infantry General Knorring. Emperor Alexander ordered the new commander-in-chief to immediately and decisively transfer the theater of war to the Swedish coast, taking advantage of the opportunity (rare in the history of the usually ice-free bay) to cross there on the ice.

The northern detachment was supposed to move to Tornio, take possession of the stores there and proceed to the city of Umea, to join with another detachment, which was ordered to go there from Vasa along the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia near the Kvarken Islands; finally, the third detachment was to attack the Åland Islands, then all three detachments were to move towards Stockholm.

Knorring delayed the execution of his bold plan and remained inactive until mid-February. Alexander I, extremely dissatisfied with this, sent the Minister of War, Count Arakcheev, to Finland, who, arriving in Abo on February 20, insisted on the speedy implementation of the highest will.

The troops of Prince Bagration, who marched to the Åland Islands on March 2, quickly captured them, and on March 7, a small Russian cavalry detachment under the command of Kulnev had already occupied the village of Grisselgam on the Swedish coast (now part of the Norrtälje commune). Two days later, he was ordered to return to Åland, where the Swedish commissioner arrived with a letter from the Duke of Südermanland, declaring his desire to make peace on the condition that Russian troops would not cross to the Swedish coast. Knorring agreed to a suspension of hostilities; the main forces of Prince Bagration were returned to Abo; Barclay de Tolly's detachment, which had already crossed the bay at Kvarken, was also recalled back.

Meanwhile, the northern detachment of Russian troops, under the command of Count Shuvalov, managed to achieve significant successes. Grippenberg's detachment, which stood against him, lost the city of Tornio without a fight, and then, on March 13, bypassed by the troops of the Russian Empire near the village of Kalix, he laid down his arms. Then Count Shuvalov stopped, having received news of the truce concluded on Åland.