Фрагменты одной войны : Русскоязычные материалы русско-шведской войны 1741-43 годов в архивах Швеции [Fragments of a War: Russian Sources in Swedish Archives on the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–43]
In the summer of 1742, at the climax of the conflict subsequently known as the Russo-Swedish war of 1741–43, the Swedish-Finnish army surrendered to its Russian opponent not far from Helsinki. Peace was restored a year later by the peace treaty of Turku. Large parts of Finland were occupied by Russian troops, and in 1743–44 a Russian force of some 12,000 soldiers landed on the East coast of Sweden. Officially, the operation was undertaken in order to deter a possible Danish invasion. The war and the subsequent Russian presence in Sweden and Finland left traces in Swedish archives. During the summer of 2010 the author of the present article carried out a survey of materials in five Swedish archives, looking for documents in Russian. The survey yielded documents of four different kinds: documents relating to diplomacy, military intelligence materials, private letters and administrative documents. The material has not previously been subject to scholarly research. In addition to the survey, the article addresses the issues of why this particular material has survived, and how it might be used in order to shed light on the development of the Russian language in the 18th-century.