The Polish–Swedish War (1617–1618) was a phase of the longer

Polish–Swedish War This is a List of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1562 and 1814. More narrowly, it refers to particular wars between 1600 and 1629. These are the wars ...

of 1600–1629. It continued the war of 1600–1611 and was an attempt by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

to take Polish pressure off Russia. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was then also fighting

Tartars Tartary (Latin: ''Tartaria''; ; ; ) or Tatary () was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the northern borders of China ...

and (on the southern front) the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Russia and Sweden were at that stage allied, prior to the

Ingrian War The Ingrian War () was a conflict fought between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia which lasted between 1610 and 1617. It can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles, and is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duk ...

, part of Russia's

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (), also known as Smuta (), was a period of political crisis in Tsardom of Russia, Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Feodor I of Russia, Feodor I, the last of the Rurikids, House of Rurik, and ended in 1613 wit ...

. The 1617–1618 war's cause was a dispute over

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, and a dispute between

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

and

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

over the Swedish throne.

Background

After the death of

Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl (; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric XIV and of ...

, Sweden was ruled by his teenage son,

. The young monarch was supported by influential Chancellor

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (; 1583–1654) was a Swedish statesman and Count of Södermöre. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of ...

, who in April 1612 agreed to prolong the truce with the Commonwealth until September 1616. At the same time, Polish king

did not renounce the Swedish crown (see

Polish–Swedish union The Polish–Swedish union was a short-lived personal union between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Sweden between 1592 and 1599. It began when Sigismund III Vasa, elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, wa ...

), and plotted against Gustavus Adolphus, trying to win over Swedish nobility. Sigismund even considered another campaign in Sweden, but failed to do so, due to the ongoing war with Russia. After lengthy negotiations, on 27 February 1617 Sweden and Russia signed the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War. Gustavus Adolphus was now able to concentrate his efforts in

. He was supported by other Protestant states, England and Holland.

War

On 19 June 1617, four months after the Treaty of Stolbovo, a Swedish naval squadron of four ships entered the

Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia (, , ) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main connection between the gulf and t ...

and anchored at Dyjament/Dunamunde. The fortress was defended by weak Polish–Lithuanian forces under the

starosta Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

of Rūjiena, Wolmar Farensbach, who capitulated after a two-day siege and joined the invaders. The Swedish fleet blocked

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, and in July, when reinforcements came, Swedes occupied almost the whole Livonian coast, from Grobiņa to

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

. The city of Parnu itself was attacked on 11 August and surrendered after a three-day siege.

Salacgrīva Salacgrīva () is a town in Limbaži Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. The centre of the area surrounding Salacgrīva is the mouth of Salaca River, and the town's name literally means "Mouth of Salaca" in Latvian. Since 2007, it is f ...

was captured on 18 August, and by late summer the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

controlled all of Livonia except for Riga. Radziwiłł, who was the first in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to use dragoons to fight, showed off his exceptional energy, determination and organizational talent, thanks to which the Lithuanians very quickly regained all the lost fortresses except Pärnu, which was too strongly fortified. After recovering most of its losses, the Lithuanian army entered Courland, which was behaving suspiciously. The Hetman wanted to annex the entire Courland to Lithuania, but Sigismund III Vasa did not agree to this and left complete control over the duchy to Frederick Kettler. Offended at the king, Radziwiłł resigned from the high command in Livonia and handed it over to Colonel Jan Siciński, who, with only 100 soldiers, moved to Estonia. Because the Swedes closed themselves in their fortresses and the Lithuanian army did not have enough infantry and artillery, hostilities ceased. The Swedes, realizing that despite the reforms, their army was not yet able to compete with the Lithuanian army, came forward with peace proposals In September 1618, a truce between the Commonwealth and Sweden was signed. The Polish–Lithuanian side demanded the return of Pärnu,Oakley, Steward (1993), ''War and peace in the Baltic'', 1560–1790, Routledge, p.51. but since the war between the Commonwealth and Muscovy continued, Sigismund argued successfully that the city would temporarily remain in Swedish hands. The truce was valid for two years, expiring in November 1620.

References

Bibliography

*Leszek Podhorodecki, ''Rapier i koncerz'', Warszawa 1985, , str. 119–122 *Henryk Wisner: ''Zygmunt III Waza''. Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich – Wydawnictwo, 2006, s. 199–202. . *Steward Oakley, 1993, War and peace in the Baltic, 1560–1790, New York: Routledge. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polish-Swedish War (1617-1618) Conflicts in 1617 Wars involving Sweden Wars involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Poland–Sweden relations Lithuania–Sweden relations Warfare of the early modern period 1617 in Sweden 1618 in Sweden 1617 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1618 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Conflicts in 1618 Polish-Swedish war