(Q126193804)
Statements
The Unruly Buffer Zone: The Swedish province of Ingria in the late 17th century (English)
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Kasper Kepsu
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1 July 2017
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This article discusses the province of Ingria, part of Sweden from 1617 until 1704, and its position in the Swedish Kingdom in the late 17th century. The main purpose is to examine how Sweden implemented its centralization and unification policy in Ingria and what reactions it triggered at the local level. Court records and other administrative documents have been used as source material. Ingria was a borderland that was primarily of military importance for Sweden as a buffer zone against Russia. A strong defence was also essential in order to secure the profitable Russian transit trade, in which the Ingrian towns of Narva and Nyen played a pivotal role. Sweden’s centralization and unification policy, which peaked in the middle of the 1680s, aimed particularly at strengthening its military presence in Ingria. Resources were obtained by confiscating fiefs and later privatizing the administration of manors, to be handled by leaseholders. Tax farming resulted in peasant unrest, and eventually the Crown had to regulate the taxation. Ultimately, the Crown was not strong enough to carry out a coherent integration policy. Ingria remained a borderland province that formed a link between the core areas of Sweden and the Baltic provinces. (English)
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