Livonian War

The Livonian War, fought from 1558 to 1583, was a struggle for control over Old Livonia, roughly modern-day Estonia and Latvia. Russia fought against a shifting alliance that included Denmark-Norway, Sweden, and the union of Poland and Lithuania (which later became the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Russia dominated the first two decades, taking Dorpat (Tartu) and Narva early on. When Russia dissolved the Livonian Confederation, Poland-Lithuania entered the fight, and Sweden and Denmark-Norway joined between 1559 and 1561. Sweden established its own Estonian territory despite repeated Russian invasions. Frederick II of Denmark-Norway bought the old Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek and gave it to his brother Magnus, who tried to expand it into a Russian vassal state called the Kingdom of Livonia. That kingdom existed in name only until Magnus switched sides in 1576.

In 1576, Stephen Báthory became king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania. He reversed Russia’s momentum with victories from 1578 to 1581, including a joint Swedish-Polish-Lithuanian attack at the Battle of Wenden. He then led a long campaign into Russia, ending with the grueling Siege of Pskov. The Truce of Jam Zapolski in 1582 ended the war between Russia and Poland-Lithuania, forcing Russia to give up all its Livonian holdings and Polotsk. The next year, Sweden and Russia signed the Truce of Plussa, giving Sweden most of Ingria, northern Livonia, and the Duchy of Estonia.

**Prelude**

By the mid-1500s, Old Livonia was a prosperous but weak region. It was organized into the Livonian Confederation, a loose, religiously divided group. Its parts included the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, the prince-bishoprics of Dorpat (Tartu), Ösel–Wiek, and Courland, the Archbishopric of Riga, and the city of Riga. Riga, Dorpat, Reval (Tallinn), and the knightly estates all had privileges that let them act almost independently. The only shared institution was the Landtag, a regular assembly. Rivalries were constant, especially between the Archbishop of Riga and the Order’s Landmeister over who should lead. The Reformation had split the Order since the 1520s, though Livonia’s shift to Lutheranism was slow and resisted by some Order members who stayed Catholic. As war loomed, Livonia had weak leadership, internal feuds, no strong defenses, and no outside allies. It was surrounded by expansionist monarchies. As historian Robert I. Frost put it, “Racked with internal bickering and threatened by the political machinations of its neighbours, Livonia was in no state to resist an attack.”

The Order’s Landmeister and its Gebietigers, along with estate owners, were lesser nobles who guarded their power by blocking the rise of a higher noble class. Only the Archbishopric of Riga managed to overcome this resistance. Wilhelm von Brandenburg became Archbishop of Riga, and Christoph von Mecklenburg his coadjutor, with help from Wilhelm’s brother Albert (Albrecht) of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Albert had earlier secularized the southern Teutonic Order state and made himself Duke of Prussia in 1525. Wilhelm and Christoph worked to advance Albert’s goals in Livonia, including setting up a hereditary duchy like Prussia. Meanwhile, the Order itself pushed to reclaim its old position in Prussia, opposing secularization and the creation of a hereditary duchy.

By the war’s start, the Hanseatic League had lost its monopoly on Baltic trade. Though still involved, it now shared the market with European mercenary fleets, especially from the Dutch and French. Hanseatic ships could not match modern warships, and the league’s declining trade meant it could not maintain a large navy. Its Livonian members—Riga, Reval, and trading partner Narva—were left unprotected. The Danish navy, the strongest in the Baltic, controlled the entrance to the sea, collected tolls, and held the key islands of Bornholm and Gotland.

Sweden’s access to Baltic trade was limited by a long stretch of Danish territory to the south and a lack of ice-free ports year-round. Still, Sweden prospered from exports of timber, iron, and especially copper, and it had a growing navy close to Livonian ports across the narrow Gulf of Finland. Before the Livonian War, Sweden had tried to expand into Livonia, but Russian intervention stalled those efforts in the Russo-Swedish War of 1554–1557, which ended with the Treaty of Novgorod in 1557.

Russia had become Livonia’s eastern neighbor after absorbing Novgorod in 1478 and Pskov in 1510. It grew stronger by annexing the khanates of Kazan in 1552 and Astrakhan in 1556. Conflict with Western powers was fueled by Russia’s isolation from sea trade. The new port of Ivangorod, built in 1550 under Tsar Ivan IV on the eastern bank of the Narva River, was considered inadequate because its waters were too shallow.