Treaty of Oliva

The Treaty or Peace of Oliva (; ; ) was one of the peace treaties ending the Second Northern War (1655–1660). It was signed on . The Treaty of Oliva, the Treaty of Copenhagen in the same year, and the Treaty of Cardis in the following year marked the high point of the Swedish Empire.

At Oliwa (Oliva), Poland, peace was made between Sweden, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburgs and Brandenburg-Prussia. Sweden was accepted as sovereign in Swedish Livonia, Brandenburg was accepted as sovereign in Ducal Prussia and John II Casimir Vasa withdrew his claims to the Swedish throne. All occupied territories were restored to their prewar sovereigns.

The signatories were the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Elector Frederick William I of Brandenburg and King John II Casimir Vasa of Poland. Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, the head of the Swedish delegation and the minor regency, signed on behalf of his nephew, King Charles XI of Sweden, who was still a minor.

Negotiations

thumb|240px|Poland–Lithuania in 1660 (significant territories occupied by Russia during the [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)]]

During the Second Northern War, Poland–Lithuania and Sweden had been engaged in a ravaging war since 1655 and both wanted peace, in order to attend to their remaining enemies, Russia and Denmark, respectively. In addition, the politically ambitious Polish queen Marie Louise Gonzaga, who had great influence over both the King of Poland and Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, wanted a peace with Sweden because she wanted a son of her close relative, the French Louis, Grand Condé, to be elected as successor to the Polish throne. This could only be achieved with the consent of the Kingdom of France and its ally Sweden.

On the other hand, the Danish and Dutch envoys, as well as those of the Holy Roman Empire and Brandenburg, did what they could to derail the proceedings.

France, in practice governed by Cardinal Mazarin, wanted a continued Swedish presence in Germany to counterbalance Austria and Spain, which were France's traditional enemies. France also feared that a continued war would increase Austria's influence in Germany and Poland–Lithuania. The Austrian and Brandenburgian intrusion into Swedish Pomerania was considered a breach of the Peace of Westphalia, which France was under the obligation to prosecute. France therefore threatened to contribute an army of 30,000 soldiers to the Swedish cause unless a treaty between Sweden and Brandenburg was concluded before February 1660.

Negotiations had begun in Toruń (Thorn) in autumn of 1659. The Polish delegation later moved to Gdańsk, and the Swedish delegation made the Baltic town of Sopot (Zoppot) its base.

When news of the death of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden arrived, Poland–Lithuania, Austria, and Brandenburg began to increase their demands. A new French threat of assistance to Sweden, however, finally made Poland–Lithuania give in. The treaty was signed in the monastery of Oliwa on 23 April 1660.

thumb|Allegory of the Peace of Oliwa by [[Theodoor van Thulden]]

Terms

The treaty had John II Casimir renounce his claims to the Swedish crown, which his father Sigismund III Vasa had lost in 1599. He was to retain the title of a hereditary Swedish king for life.

Brandenburg's House of Hohenzollern was also confirmed as independent and sovereign in the Duchy of Prussia. It had previously held the territory as a fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. If the Hohenzollern dynasty became extinct in the male line in Prussia, the territory was to revert to the Commonwealth.

The treaty was achieved by Brandenburg's diplomat, Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal, on the first diplomatic mission of his career.

Sources

References

Bibliography

(Stockholm: F. & G. Beijers Förlag)

External links

Annotated edition of the Peace of Oliva at ieg-mainz.de (Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz)