Twenty-five years’ wars of the XVI century in the history of Russia and Finland

The article analyzes the Finnish aspect of the Twenty-Five Years’ War between Sweden and Russia (1570-1595), as well as the content and the significance of its image in the collective memory of the Finns. The relevance of the article is determined by the absence of a complete concept of the Twenty-Five Years’ War in the Russian historiography. The Livonian War (1558-1583) has become a more important part of the constructed narrative. For this reason, many events of the confrontation between Sweden and Russia during the second half of the XVI century were seen as less significant ones, and the Finnish aspect of that war was almost excluded from the Russian historiography. The author makes an attempt to propose a new approach to the study of the Russian foreign policy events during the second half of the XVI century. It was concluded that the Finnish aspect of the Twenty-Five Years’ War between Sweden and Russia is important for understanding the development not only of Finland in the second half of the XVI century, but also of the entire Baltic region. In addition, the historical experience of Finland during numerous wars between Sweden and Russia, including the period of “Pitkä viha”, was used in forming the Finnish national identity.