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 Treaty of Oliwa, first page of the document | |
| Type | Peace treaty |
|---|---|
| Drafted | 1659–1660 |
| Signed | 3 May [O.S. 23 April] 1660 |
| Location | Oliva,Poland |
| Parties |  Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Swedish Empire.svg) Brandenburg-Prussia.svg) Holy Roman Empire |
TheTreaty orPeace of Oliva (Polish:Pokój Oliwski;Swedish:Freden i Oliva;German:Vertrag von Oliva) was one of the peace treaties ending theSecond Northern War (1655–1660).[1] It was signed on 3 May [O.S. 23 April] 1660.[2] The Treaty of Oliva, theTreaty of Copenhagen in the same year, and theTreaty of Cardis in the following year marked the high point of theSwedish Empire.[3][4]
AtOliwa (Oliva),Poland, peace was made betweenSweden, thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, theHabsburgs andBrandenburg-Prussia. Sweden was accepted as sovereign inSwedish Livonia, Brandenburg was accepted as sovereign inDucal Prussia andJohn II Casimir Vasa withdrew his claims to the Swedish throne but was to retain the title of a hereditary Swedish king for life.[1] All occupied territories were restored to their prewar sovereigns.[1] Catholics in Livonia and Prussia were granted religious freedom.[2][1][5][6]
The signatories were the HabsburgHoly Roman EmperorLeopold I,Elector Frederick William I of Brandenburg and KingJohn 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, KingCharles XI of Sweden, who was still a minor.[7]
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During theSecond 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 andDenmark, respectively. In addition, the politically ambitious Polish queenMarie Louise Gonzaga, who had great influence over both the King of Poland andSejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, wanted a peace with Sweden because she wanted a son of her close relative, the FrenchLouis, Grand Condé, to be elected as successor to the Polish throne.[8] This could only be achieved with the consent of theKingdom of France and its ally Sweden.[9]
On the other hand, the Danish and Dutch envoys, as well as those of theHoly Roman Empire and Brandenburg, did what they could to derail the proceedings.[8] Their goal was assisted by the drawn-out formalities which always took place at negotiations of this age. Several months elapsed before the actual peace negotiations could begin, on 7 January 1660 (OS). Even then, so many hostile words were written in the documents being exchanged by the two parties that the head negotiator, French ambassadorAntoine de Lumbres [fr], found himself having to expurgate long sections which otherwise would have caused offense.
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A Polish–Lithuanian contingent headed by thearchbishop of Gniezno wanted the war to continue in order to expel the exhausted Swedish forces inLivonia. The Danish delegates demanded Poland–Lithuania conclude a treaty together with Denmark; however, the Commonwealth did not want to tie themselves to the outcome of the poor Danish fortunes of war against Sweden. The Habsburgs, which wished to drive Sweden out of Germany through continued warfare, promised Poland–Lithuania reinforcements, but Habsburg intentions were treated with suspicion and theSenate of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth demurred. EvenFrederick William, Elector of Brandenburg offered assistance to Poland–Lithuania to continue the war, with the hope of conqueringSwedish Pomerania.[10]
France, in practice governed byCardinal Mazarin, wanted a continued Swedish presence in Germany to counterbalance Austria andSpain, 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 thePeace 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 inToruń (Thorn) in autumn of 1659. The Polish delegation later moved toGdańsk, and the Swedish delegation made theBaltic town ofSopot (Zoppot) its base.
When news of the death of KingCharles 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 themonastery of Oliwa on 23 April 1660.[11]
The treaty had John II Casimir renounce his claims to the Swedish crown, which his fatherSigismund III Vasa had lost in 1599. Poland–Lithuania also formally ceded to Sweden Livonia and the city ofRiga, which had been under Swedish control since the 1620s. The treaty settled conflicts between Sweden and Poland–Lithuania left standing since theWar against Sigismund (1598–1599), thePolish–Swedish War (1600–1629) and theNorthern Wars (1655–1660). The treaty also secured Swedish dominance over the Baltic.[12]
Brandenburg'sHouse of Hohenzollern was also confirmed as independent and sovereign in theDuchy of Prussia. It had previously held the territory as afief 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.
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