Topic: Diplomacy
On 3 September 1700 the County Governor in Viborg Anders Lindehielm sent a letter to Stockholm and enclosed a summary of the latest reports from the border. One of these stated that the Ottomans were besieging Azov, which suggested that there was no danger of a Russian attack on Sweden. The second came from a spy, who had visited the border area and spoken with a Russian official. The latter had told him that there were no worrying news from Russia. The forces that were gathering near the borders were in preparation for a war with Poland. Lindehielm wrote that all sorts of rumours circulated, but he hoped that nothing serious would happen. It seemed unlikely, he added, that the Czar would take action on a new front as long as the war with the Ottomans was ongoing.
On 9 September Lindehielm wrote again, this time saying that the Russian forces gathered near the border were rumoured to be mainly intended as support for King Augustus, but also to attack the Swedish borders. These reports had caused such fear among the inhabitants of Nyen that they had started to pack their things. A local official had come from Nyen to Viborg to request soldiers, muskets and ammunition in order to mobilize the peasants. Lindehielm had replied that he couldn't believe the Czar would break his assurances in such a way. Anyway, without orders from the General (likely Governor Otto Vellingk) Lindehielm could not help.
Source: Riksarkivet, ÄK 243, vol. 77
