DEFENSE OF ARKHANGELSK FROM THE SWEDES IN 1701* Under the terms of the Stolbovo Peace Treaty concluded in 1617 with Sweden, Russia was cut off from the Baltic Sea. The interests of Russian foreign trade suffered considerable damage. The only seaport of the country remained Arkhangelsk, the importance of which at that time for Russia is difficult to overestimate: through it it received the necessary goods, and the treasury was replenished at the expense of duties. It is no accident that the Swedish military commander J. Delagardi, who advised King Gustav II Adolf in 1614 to destroy the port of Arkhangelsk, "decades later could not console himself that his advice was not heard at the time" 1 . Sweden made plans to transfer trade from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea, under its control, which would bring it significant benefits and advantages. To this end, the Swedish authorities sought to persuade Holland, England, and German cities (primarily Hamburg and Bremen)to do so. trade with Russia only through the possessions of the Swedish kites. In the middle of the 17th century, the Swedish government, using the contradictions that had arisen between England and Russia, attempted to push the British to attack the northern Russian port in order to eliminate it. 2 In a number of embassies sent from Stockholm to the Russian court, there were people specially assigned to collect information about the Russian Archangel trade with the merchants of Western European countries. Such information was used, in particular, to select arguments with which it was supposed to present the Arkhangelsk trade in the eyes of merchants less profitable than the Baltic one. Reports compiled by Swedish residents in Russia and agents I. Rhodes, P. Lufeldt, I. F. Kilburger, I. S. Petter-Lillienhof and others 3 are invaluable sources for researchers studying the history of Arkhangelsk trade. Petter-Lillienhof, who visited Russia in 1674, followed Rhodes and Kielburger to the conclusion that it is undou ... Read more