TREATY OF ABO (1743)

Peace settlement that concluded the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-43 by obliging Sweden to cede a strip of suthern Finland to Russia and to become temporarily dependent on Russia. As a result of the Northern War (Peace of Nystad, 1721), Sweden had lost Estonia, Livonia, Ingria, and part of Karelia to Russia. In 1741 Sweden reached a secret understanding (through French mediators) with Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter I the Great; Elizabeth agreed to return the Baltic territories to Sweden in exchange for Swedish support in her efforts to seize the Russian throne from the infant emperor Ivan VI. In July 1741 the Swedes declared war on Russia, announcing that they would withdraw when Elizabeth became the Russian empress. Although the lost a major battle at Vilmanstrand (August 1741), the Swedes advanced toward St. Petersburg; their threat to the Russian capital enabled Elizabeth to stage a succesful coup d`etat (Nov.25,1741, old style); thereupon the Swedes retreated into Finland.


But Elizabeth reneged on the agreement. Russian troops conquered Helsingfors and Abo (then the capital of Finland) and occupied a large portion of Finland. Hostilities ended in 1742; Russia, taking advantage of a succession crisis in Sweden, offered to return most of Finland if Sweden would accept the Russian-supported candidate -Adolphus Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp-Eutin- as its heir apparent.


The Swedes agreed; the final settlement signed at Abo (August 1743) gave Russia a strip of southern Finland that included the cities of Vilmanstrand and Frederikshamn. Russian troops were to be allowed to occupy Sweden to make sure that nothing interfered with his selection. With the Swedish heir inclined to heed its advice and with its troops on Swedish soil, Russia was able to exert a tremendous influence on Swedish affairs. But after the peace settlement, Russian influence was short-lived; all the Russian troops were withdrawn from Sweden by July 1744, and Adolphus Frederick quickly ended his dependence on Russia.