The Great Famine of Estonia (also The great starvation) kills about a fifth of Estonian and Livonian population (70,000 – 75,000 people) in two years.

The climate had been unfavorable for crops in 1694 and the summer of 1695 had been cold and rainy, followed by an early autumn frost that destroyed the summer crops.

Cold conditions continue during 1696, and rain falls throughout the summer.

Peasants, orphans and the elderly begin to die en masse of starvation and the spring snow-melt of 1697 reveals many corpses.

Meanwhile, landlords and merchants export grain to Finland and Sweden, where crops also have failed.

About a fifth of Estonian population (70,000 to 75,000 people) die during the famine in Swedish Estonia, which does not end until 1698.