Livonian War
The Livonian War concerned the control of Old Livonia. The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.
From 1558 to 1578, Russia dominated the region with early military successes at Dorpat and Narva. The Russian dissolution of the Livonian Confederation brought Poland–Lithuania into the conflict, and Sweden and Denmark-Norway intervened between 1559 and 1561. Swedish Estonia was established despite constant invasion from Russia, and Frederick II of Denmark-Norway bought the old Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, which he placed under the control of his brother Magnus of Holstein. Magnus attempted to expand his Livonian holdings to establish the Russian vassal state, the Kingdom of Livonia, which nominally existed until his defection in 1576.
In 1576, Stephen Báthory became King of Poland as well as Grand Duke of Lithuania and turned the tide of the war with his successes between 1578 and 1581, including the joint Swedish–Polish–Lithuanian offensive at the Battle of Wenden. That was followed by an extended campaign through Russia, culminating in the long and difficult Siege of Pskov. Under the 1582 Truce of Jam Zapolski, which ended the war between Russia and Poland–Lithuania, Russia lost all of its former holdings in Livonia and Polotsk to Poland–Lithuania. The following year, Sweden and Russia signed the Truce of Plussa, with Sweden gaining most of Ingria and northern Livonia while retaining the Duchy of Estonia.
Prelude
Pre-war Livonia
By the mid-16th century, economically prosperous Old Livonia had become a region organised into the decentralised and religiously divided Livonian Confederation. Its territories consisted of the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, the prince-bishoprics of Dorpat, Ösel–Wiek, as well as Courland, the Archbishopric of Riga and the city of Riga. Together with Riga, the cities of Dorpat and Reval, along with the knightly estates, enjoyed privileges enabling them to act almost independently. The only common institutions of the Livonian estates were the regularly held common assemblies known as Landtags. As well as a divided political administration, there were also persistent rivalries between the Archbishop of Riga and the Landmeister of the Order for hegemony. A schism had existed within the Order since the Reformation had spread to Livonia in the 1520s, although the transformation of the country into a Lutheran region was a gradual process, resisted by part of the Order that to a varying degree remained sympathetic to Roman Catholicism. As war approached, Livonia had a weak administration subject to internal rivalries, lacked any powerful defences or outside support, and was surrounded by monarchies pursuing expansionist policies. Robert I. Frost notes of the volatile region: "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 the Gebietigers, as well as the owners of Livonian estates, were all lesser nobles who guarded their privileges and influence by preventing the creation of a higher, more powerful noble class. Only the archbishopric of Riga successfully overcame resistance of the lesser nobles. Wilhelm von Brandenburg was appointed as Archbishop of Riga and Christoph von Mecklenburg as his Coadjutor, with the help of his brother Albert of Brandenburg–Ansbach, the former Prussian Hochmeister who had secularised the southern Teutonic Order state and in 1525 established himself as duke in Prussia. Wilhelm and Christoph were to pursue Albert's interests in Livonia, among which was the establishment of a hereditary Livonian duchy styled after the Prussian model. At the same time the Order agitated for its re-establishment in Prussia, opposed secularization, and creation of a hereditary duchy.
Aspirations of Livonia's neighbours
By the time the Livonian War broke out, the Hanseatic League had already lost its monopoly on the profitable and prosperous Baltic Sea trade. While still involved and with increasing sales, it now shared the market with European mercenary fleets, most notably from the Dutch Seventeen Provinces and France. The Hanseatic vessels were no match for contemporary warships, and since the league was unable to maintain a large navy because of a declining share of trade, its Livonian members Riga, Reval, and trading partner Narva were left without suitable protection. The Danish navy, the most powerful in the Baltic Sea, controlled the entrance to the Baltic Sea, collected requisite tolls, and held the strategically important Baltic Sea islands of Bornholm and Gotland.A long bar of Danish territories in the south and lack of sufficient year-round ice-free ports severely limited Sweden's access to Baltic trade. Nevertheless, the country prospered due to exports of timber, iron, and most notably copper, coupled with the advantages of a growing navy and proximity to the Livonian ports across the narrow Gulf of Finland. Before the Livonian War, Sweden had sought expansion into Livonia, but the intervention of the Russian tsar temporarily stalled these efforts through the Russo-Swedish War of 1554–1557, which culminated in the 1557 Treaty of Novgorod.
Through its absorption of the principalities of Novgorod and Pskov, the Tsardom of Russia had become Livonia's eastern neighbour and grown stronger after annexing the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan. The conflict between Russia and the Western powers was exacerbated by Russia's isolation from sea trade. The new Ivangorod port – built in 1550 during the reign of Tsar Ivan IV on the eastern shore of the Narva River – was considered unsatisfactory on account of its shallow waters. Thereafter the tsar demanded that the Livonian Confederation pay about 6,000 marks to keep the Bishopric of Dorpat, based on the claim that every adult male had paid Pskov one mark when it had been an independent state. The Livonians eventually promised to pay this sum to Ivan by 1557, but were sent from Moscow when they failed to do so, ending negotiations. Ivan continued to point out that the existence of the Order required passive Russian support, and was quick to threaten use of military force if necessary. He aimed to establish a corridor between the Baltic and the new territories on the Caspian Sea, because if Russia were to engage in open conflict with major western powers, it would need imports of more sophisticated weaponry.
The Polish King and Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus was wary of Russian expansionist aspirations. Expansion of Russia into Livonia would have meant not only a stronger political rival but also loss of lucrative trade routes. Therefore, Sigismund supported his cousin Wilhelm von Brandenburg, archbishop of Riga, in his conflicts with Wilhelm von Fürstenberg, the Livonian Order's landmeister. Sigismund hoped that Livonia, just like the Duchy of Prussia under Duke Albert, would become a vassal state of Poland–Lithuania. With weak support in Livonia, von Brandenburg had to largely rely on external allies. Among his few Livonian supporters was landmarschall Jasper von Munster, with whom he planned an April 1556 attack on his opponents that would involve military aid from both Sigismund and Albert. However, Sigismund hesitated over participation in the action, fearing that it would leave the Kiev Voivodeship exposed to a pending Russian attack. When von Fürstenberg learned of the plan, he led a force into the archbishopric of Riga and in June 1556 captured the main strongholds of Kokenhusen and Ronneburg. Jasper von Munster fled to Lithuania, but von Brandenburg and Christoph von Mecklenburg were captured and detained at Adsel and Treiden. This resulted in a diplomatic mission to petition for their release being dispatched by the Pomeranian dukes, the Danish King, Emperor Ferdinand I, and the estates of the Holy Roman Empire. A cross-party meeting in Lübeck to resolve the conflict was scheduled for 1 April 1557, but was cancelled due to quarrels between Sigismund and the Danish envoys. Sigismund used the killing of his envoy Lancki by the landmeister's son as an excuse to invade the southern portion of Livonia with an army of around 80,000. He forced the competing parties in Livonia to reconcile at his camp in Pozvol in September 1557. There they signed the Treaty of Pozvol, which created a mutual defensive and offensive alliance, with its primary target Russia, and provoked the Livonian War.
1558–1562: Dissolution of the Livonian Order
Russian invasion of Livonia
Ivan IV regarded the Livonian Confederation's approach to the Polish–Lithuanian union for protection under the Treaty of Pozvol as casus belli. In 1554 Livonia and Russia had signed a fifteen-year truce in which Livonia agreed not to enter into an alliance with Poland–Lithuania. On 22 January 1558, Ivan reacted with the invasion of Livonia. The Russians were seen by local peasants as liberators from the German control of Livonia. Many Livonian fortresses surrendered without resistance while Russian troops took Dorpat in May, Narva in July and laid siege to Reval. Reinforced by 1,200 Landsknechts, 100 gunners, and ammunition from Germany, Livonian forces successfully retook Wesenberg along with a number of other fortresses. Although the Germans raided Russian territory, Dorpat, Narva, and many lesser fortresses remained in Russian hands. The initial Russian advance was led by the Khan of Qasim Shahghali, with two other Tatar princes at the head of a force that included Russian boyars, Tatar, and Pomestnoe cavalry, as well as Cossacks, who at that time were mostly armed foot soldiers. Ivan gained further ground in campaigns during the years 1559 and 1560. In January 1559, Russian forces again invaded Livonia. A six-month truce covering May to November was signed between Russia and Livonia while Russia fought in the Russo-Crimean Wars.Prompted by the Russian invasion, Livonia first unsuccessfully sought help from Emperor Ferdinand I, then turned to Poland–Lithuania. Landmeister von Fürstenburg fled to Poland–Lithuania to be replaced by Gotthard Kettler. In June 1559, the estates of Livonia came under Polish–Lithuanian protection through the first Treaty of Vilnius. The Polish sejm refused to agree to the treaty, believing it to be a matter affecting only the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In January 1560, Sigismund sent ambassador Martin Volodkov to the court of Ivan in Moscow in an attempt to stop the Russian cavalry rampaging through rural Livonia.
Russian successes followed similar patterns featuring a multitude of small campaigns, with sieges where musketmen played a key role in destroying wooden defences with effective artillery support. The Tsar's forces took important fortresses like Fellin, yet lacked the means to gain the major cities of Riga, Reval, or Pernau. The Livonian knights suffered a disastrous defeat by the Russians at the Battle of Ērģeme in August 1560. Some historians believe the Russian nobility were split over the timing of the invasion of Livonia.
Eric XIV, the new King of Sweden, turned down Kettler's requests for assistance, along with a similar request from Poland. Kettler turned to Sigismund for help. The weakened Livonian Order was dissolved by the second Treaty of Vilnius in 1561. Its lands were secularised as the Duchy of Livonia and Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and assigned to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Kettler became the first Duke of Courland, in doing so converting to Lutheranism. Included in the treaty was the Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti by which Sigismund guaranteed the Livonian estates privileges including religious freedom with respect to the Augsburg Confession, the Indygenat, and continuation of the traditional German administration. The terms regarding religious freedom forbade any regulation of the Protestant order by religious or secular authorities.
Some members of the Lithuanian nobility opposed the growing Polish–Lithuanian union and offered the Lithuanian crown to Ivan IV. The Tsar publicly advertised this option, either because he took the offer seriously, or because he needed time to strengthen his Livonian troops. Throughout 1561, a Russo-Lithuanian truce was respected by both sides.