Riga Export Trade at the Time of the Continental Blockade, 1807–1812

By the end of the Great Northern War, Russia emerged a Baltic power. Riga became a Russian city in 1710 when it capitulated to the Russian army. As a consequence of the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Riga was incorporated into the Empire as the administrative centre of the Vidzeme Government and became an important stronghold in the Russian frontier. After the city recovered from the dual destruction of the war and the Black Death, it experienced considerable growth due to the almost uninterrupted increase in trade. [Author]