The result of the complex of conflicts now known as the Great Northern War, which finally ended in 1721, was to bring forward new powers in the Baltic area, and to reduce the old competitors, Sweden and Denmark, to the second rank. The new great power in the region after 1721 was Russia, but after the death of Peter I in 1725, it became an uncertain power, undergoing frequent succession crises. Prussia emerged as a major power in the mid-century under King Frederick II. Sweden was internally at odds between its political parties, and between the aristocracy and the Crown, rendering it a victim in international affairs rather than a force. The basic antagonism in the Baltic region was now that between Russia and Sweden; the latter attempted several times to recover its former East Country lands, but the disparity in force and size was so great that Sweden failed in all its attempts. Denmark, governed by a pure royal absolutism, was rarely involved in any of these wars, but was constantly nervous about Schleswig and Holstein and about its control of the Sound. Its weakness suited all its neighbours.

The peace treaties in 1720–1721, so painstakingly achieved, left awkward issues hanging about waiting to be exploited by any interested party. One issue was the fate of the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty, and its lands. Denmark had succeeded in gaining a clear title to Schleswig in the treaties with Sweden and Hanover and Britain, and this was recognized by Russia, but the southern part of the area, Holstein, was still the subject of dispute. In 1723 Tsar Peter mobilized his fleet, put the current Holstein claimant Duke Karl Friedrich on board, and sent the fleet sailing towards Stockholm with the intention of having him recognized as the heir to the Swedish throne. He had a colourable claim, being the son of Karl XII’s eldest sister; in fact, if an hereditary claim was admitted, he had a better claim than Ulrika Eleanora or her husband. But, of course, the constitutional changes after the death of Karl XII meant that the royal succession was decided in the aristocrat-dominated Riksdag.

As the Russian fleet moved west towards Stockholm everyone in the Baltic came alert. In London preparations were made to send a fleet once more.