In 1721, stubborn Charles XII of Sweden gave up hope of beating Russia's huge black-haired Peter the Great, signed the Peace of Nystad. Among lands ceded to Russia at that time, was flat marshy Dagö Island at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, not far from St. Petersburg itself. Twenty years before, Dagö Island had been colonized by good industrious Swedes who fished in the Gulf and made hay on the salt marshes. In 1787, Peter's grand-daughter-in-law, plump, passionate Catherine II grew tired of this Swedish colony practically at her doorstep. With...
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