Abstract
It is well established that during the early modern period, the Baltic Sea region, particularly the Kingdom of Sweden, supplied essential materials, iron and naval stores to the leading maritime powers – the Dutch Republic and England. While Dutch–Baltic economic relations have long been a classic topic, sparking academic debate for decades, the commercial relations between England and Sweden have received significantly less attention. This oversight is surprising, given the crucial role of Anglo-Swedish economic cooperation in state-building and overseas expansion during this period. The most ambitious in-depth analyses of Anglo-Swedish relations were conducted by the Finnish economic historian Sven-Erik Åström in the twentieth century, but faced limitations due to the availability of sources and more challenging travel opportunities at the time. 1 The scholarly community has awaited a reappraisal of the subject ever since.
Adam Grimshaw's study, Anglo-Swedish Commercial Connections and Diplomatic Relations in the Seventeenth Century, is an ambitious endeavour to fill the gap in the existing literature. By aiming to ‘trace the nature and extent of commercial association between England and Sweden across the seventeenth century’ (3), Grimshaw has delved deeply into source material to construct an original, nuanced analysis. These sources include previously unexplored toll accounts from Stockholm and Gothenburg (the main export ports to England), the Sound Toll Registers database and diplomatic correspondence. The study is organized chronologically into five chapters, covering the period from 1603 to 1700.
The source work carried out for the monograph is impressive, given the challenging nature of many of the original documents. Typically, researchers have steered clear of the Swedish toll accounts due to their immense size and physical form. The Sound Toll Registers have usually served as a starting point for conducting case studies and analyses of trade volumes between two (or more) regions. Grimshaw's analysis demonstrates the value of craftsmanship in handling original sources while integrating digitally available sources to complement the picture. Diplomatic reports from English commercial and diplomatic representatives in Sweden provide valuable information on the institutional evolution and commercial legal context in which economic relations developed.
By providing precise statistical information on the long-term development of export figures, Grimshaw highlights the dramatic increase in Swedish exports to England from the mid seventeenth century onwards. While previous research has acknowledged the relative and absolute increase in England's role as a trading partner in the latter half of the seventeenth century, these studies have not fully exploited the rich potential of Swedish toll accounts with the same consistency. As Grimshaw demonstrates, following the first Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654), there was a notable peak in Stockholm’s and Gothenburg's export trade to England, with commerce truly taking off in the 1660s. This significant rise in trade is evidenced by statistical data on exports, especially of iron, copper, tar and pitch. This information, which is at times rather difficult to digest, is thankfully complemented by illustrative tables and figures. For instance, Grimshaw contextualizes the rise of Anglo-Swedish trade by offering tables on overall Swedish exports in value to various destinations, such as in 1675, 1680 and 1686 (192, 205, 216). A reader interested in the merchant communities in Stockholm will benefit from the detailed lists Grimshaw provides of the town's top exporters to England (for instance, 173).
Completing the picture offered by the statistical data, Grimshaw examines the political and institutional developments related to Anglo-Swedish trade, including trade treaty negotiations and shifts between war and peace. Following the increase in trade, the number of English merchants operating in Sweden grew significantly. While, at the beginning of the century, commercial contacts were few and trade was minimal, the English merchant community in Sweden began playing a greater role in facilitating the growing trade shortly after 1655. The analysis confirms the earlier notions that the English dominated not only Swedish export and import trades, but also the broader Baltic trades during the Scanian War (1675–1679) until trade relations between the belligerents – the Dutch Republic and Sweden – were normalized.
When it comes to the interplay between interstate relations and trade, it is evident that it was in the 1670s that English politicians and diplomatic officials began to emphasize commercial matters in Swedish relations. This, as Grimshaw shows, was partly due to the fact that the strategic role of Sweden for England was recognized properly in London. From the 1680s onwards, English individuals started to face more serious problems in Sweden. The attacks against Swedish–French trade during the Nine Years War (1688–1697) in particular changed the dynamics of the relations between Sweden and the now united maritime powers led by the Grand Alliance under Stadtholder-King William III. This period significantly impacted commercial–political relations, with English merchants being expelled in retaliation for attacks on Swedish–French trade. Despite the poor state of political relations, Anglo-Swedish trade persisted, with Swedish skippers taking over the bulk of traffic previously managed by English ships. The outcome remained the same, however: English demand for strategically important goods from Sweden was met even during the most testing period in Anglo-Swedish relations.
Grimshaw's study offers plenty of further points to reflect on broader historical questions. For instance, in light of his own findings on the flexibility of how Anglo-Swedish bilateral trade was organized, it is intriguing that he takes such a firm stance on the ‘long-term effectiveness’ of the Navigation Acts. According to Grimshaw, it is evident that these Acts were a significant factor, as ‘non-English and non-Swedish shipping was a rarity in Anglo-Swedish trade for the remainder of the century’ (103–4). Although the Acts were definitely an important factor, one might speculate that the primary driver was the rapidly increasing appetite in England for Swedish goods, rather than restrictive legislation itself. As Grimshaw illustrates, Anglo-Swedish ties were already robust by the middle of the 1650s. Consequently, even without the Navigation Acts, the Dutch merchant community would have probably encountered difficulties participating in this trade. Another interesting point to discuss further would be the long-term evolution of the positions of the Dutch and English in the Baltic. Although Dutch trade suffered during the periods of Anglo-Dutch rivalry in the 1660s (Anglo-Dutch War) and 1670s (Third Anglo-Dutch War, Franco-Dutch War and Scanian War), Dutch merchants might have continued their business as usual by flying the Hamburg or another neutral flag. On the other hand, Anglo-Dutch cooperation increased in the 1690s, both politically and commercially. Therefore, it would be fruitful to analyse the experiences of the subjects of both maritime powers in Sweden together. Certainly, Grimshaw's study opens up numerous avenues for further critical analysis of the entangled history of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea region.
Overall, Grimshaw's valuable contribution provides a thorough study of the evolution of Anglo-Swedish commercial and diplomatic contacts from the small-scale enterprises of the early seventeenth century to the strategically invaluable connections between both countries towards the end of the century. The monograph is recommended reading not only for experts in early modern Scandinavian and English maritime history, but also for anyone interested in the interplay between state-building and growing bilateral (and multilateral) trade.