[ceilingcorner]

The historical portion of this article is misleading and relies on Western people’s lack knowledge of the region. It makes you think that Sweden then was Sweden today, a neutral peaceful country. In reality, Sweden had spent the previous century invading and destroying Central and Eastern Europe. It was so destructive that some historians estimate the damage in Poland exceeded that of World War 2.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_(history)

Peter the Great indeed did “take back” the land from Sweden, which Sweden had conquered from Russia about a century beforehand.

Nyenschantz was built in 1611 to establish Swedish rule in Ingria, which had been annexed from the Tsardom of Russia during the Time of Troubles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyenschantz

[scythe]

In fact, Sweden was so intent on dominating Russia that England intervened to ensure Russia would retain trade independence:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Stolbovo

> From the outset, Sweden had gone into the negotiations with very high ambitions and hopes of fulfilling the old dream of making all Russian trade pass through Swedish territory. As a consequence of that ambition, the Swedes originally demanded far-reaching territorial gains into western Russia, including the important northern port of Arkhangelsk.[3]

> However, King James I of England sent a delegation to mediate, and the United Provinces did the same, mostly to ensure that Arkhangelsk did not fall into Swedish hands, which would have made the extensive trade between Western Europe and Russia far more difficult.

[JumpCrisscross]

> Sweden had spent the previous century invading and destroying Central and Eastern Europe

Alongside Russia [1]. Also, all this happened in the 17th century. When Russia was still finishing its conquest of Siberia [2].

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Polish_War_(1654–1667)

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_conquest_of_Siberia#17...

[ceilingcorner]

The whole region was chaotic for centuries. Poland invaded Russia at one point as well. Everyone pretty much invaded everyone else.

Certainly no one was “justified” here, I just meant to point out that the article is written to be misleading. The region in question (St. Petersburg) does indeed seem to have been occupied by Russians for a considerable period of time prior to Sweden occupying it.