Opportunities in the East, 1553–1569
摘要
This chapter examines the development of the eastern branch of the Swedish intelligence organization during the 1550s and 1560s. The Swedish–Muscovite War of 1554–1557, the Coadjutor’s Feud of 1556–1557 and the Muscovite invasion of Livonia in 1558 were conflicts that spurred Swedish strategic commitment in the eastern Baltic. Gustav Vasa, the heir Duke Erik, Duke Johan of Finland and several Swedish officials, such as Klas Kristersson Horn, separately deployed expanding networks of agents in Livonia and Muscovy. They reported on a wide range of subjects pertaining to the strategic interests and military activities of Muscovy, Denmark, Poland and Livonian authorities. This book argues that these preparations were crucial when Erik XIV accepted dominion over Reval and its adjoining counties in 1561. It further shows that the intelligence networks were rapidly expanded as soon as Swedish authorities established control in Reval. Officers, interpreters, diplomatic envoys, German merchants and others were crucial actors in the collection of intelligence. Swedish strategic focus did not merely expand eastward but was partly also redirected, which is evident from the eastward redeployment of key agents formerly operating in Germany.