Mobile Prisoners and Immobile Colonisers: Prisoners of War in the Eighteenth-Century Russian Borderlands

Abstract

This study uses the experiences of Swedish prisoners of war in the Great Northern War (1700–1721), to nuance the connection between coercion and imperial expansion. It examines the discursive and practical applications of coercion, coerced actors in settlements, and religious missions. Based on ego-documents as well as administrative material, it shows how the 25,000 Swedish prisoners presented themselves as, and were perceived as, prisoners, slaves, serfs, settlers, and missionaries—all in parallel. With examples of various male and female actors, this study shows how their experiences were classed and gendered. With its focus on prisoners of war in Russia’s eastward expansion, this study thereby broadens our view of early modern imperial ambition, and the diverse roles of coerced actors in it.