Abstract
In this article we discuss the Baltic trade in the 'grain stage' which runs from the 1550s to the 1660s. The most severe economic problem of Western Europe in that era was the 'food crisis'. The increasing population made people of Western Europe hard to live without Baltic, especially Polish grain. Danzig was the centre of Baltic grain export, and the Dutch exported almost all grain of Danzig. But the population of Europe passed its peak in about 1600, and European people were able to solve the food crisis. Raw material-forest products, iron and copper-began to take the place of grain. Evidently Polish economy declined from the 1620s. Indeed until the late 17th century Poland remained economically the main area of the Baltic, but we can see Konigsberg and Sweden rising. Konigsberg's main export was forest products, and Sweden's main export was iron and copper. Polish trade with the West was on good terms, but estimated freight and merchants' profits surpassed the Polish profits surpassed the Polish profits because Polish trade depended upon the Dutch and freight cost was higher than one would think. Foreigners-mainly the Dutch-controlled not only Danzig's but Konigsberg's trade. On the other hand, the Swedish did not depend upon foreigners in trade with western countries. Therefore, as Polish economy declined, Sweden became the economic centre of the Baltic.
