and Norway, asserting that Vardøhus and "the Lapp country (as far as Tromsø) was from ancient times a perpetual patrimony of the Czar." In 1600, Godunov refused to ratify the Treaty of Tyavzino which resolved conflicting Swedish and Russian claims to the Kola peninsula to the east of Vardøhus as well as other territories both claimed. This treaty did not acknowledge the Norwegian presence at Vardøhus nor the Norwegian claims to this territory. As a result of these border conflicts with Russia, King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway asserted Norway's historic ownership and visited Vardøhus in 1599 to instruct the governor of Vardøhus to collect taxes from Russians in his province, including the Kola peninsula and to exclude the Swedes, who were also attempting to claim the territory based on the Treaty of Tyavzino. At this time, Vardøhus was so decrepit that he continued to live on board his ship, Victor. His name has been preserved as it was carved on a beam from the 1599 fort to commemorate the visit. As a further effort at improving his hold on Finnmark, Christian IV built the fortress of Altenhus near Alta in 1610. Vardøhus By the 1730s, Vardøhus had become decrepit. The seat of government of Finnmark was transferred from Vardøhus to Altengaard. Major upgrades to the current fortress began in 1738. Modern history Vardøhus did not see enemy action until the 20th century. The last time the fortifications were on active anti-invasion duty was during the First World War. The Second World War saw the fortress used as an anti-aircraft site and as a POW camp before the German occupation. Second World War During the period from the beginning of the Second World War to the German invasion of Norway, Vardøhus Fortress was an active unit under the command of Naval District no. 3 in Tromsø. For a time during the Winter War, 15-20 Finnish soldiers were interned at the fortress after being pushed across the border from Northern Finland by Soviet offensives. Norwegian Campaign At the outbreak of the German invasion on 9 April 1940, Vardøhus was under the command of Captain Johan Basilier Basilier. The garrison consisted of one retired lieutenant, two privates, ten non-combatant military personnel, and two civilians. The weapons at the disposal of the garrison in 1940 were: Four Krupp m/1887 8.4 cm field guns Two turn-of-the-century model 37 mm Armstrong cannon (on loan from the