The
Grand Duchy of Finland (, , ,
''Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe) was the
predecessor state of modern
Finland that existed in its territory 1809–1917 as part of the
Russian Empire.
History
An extended
Finland Proper was made a titular
Grand Duchy in 1581, when King
John III of Sweden, who as a prince had been the
Duke of Finland (1556–1561/63), extended the list of subsidiary titles of the Kings of Sweden considerably. The new title
Grand Duke of Finland did not result in any increase of Finnish autonomy. During the next two centuries, the title was used by some of John's successors on the throne, but not all. Usually it was just a subsidiary title of the king, used only on very formal occasions. However, in 1802 as an indication of resolve to keep Finland within Sweden in the face of increased
Russian pressure, King
Gustav IV Adolf gave the title to his new-born son, Prince Carl Gustaf, who died three years later.
During the
Finnish War between Sweden and Russia, the
four Estates of occupied Finland were assembled at the
Diet of Porvoo on
March 29,
1809 to pledge allegiance to
Alexander I of Russia. Following the Swedish defeat in the war and the signing of the
Treaty of Fredrikshamn on
September 17,
1809, Finland became a true
autonomous grand duchy as a part of the
Russian Empire. For the foundation of the Grand Duchy as an entity with relatively greater autonomy within the Russian realm, and for regaining of the so-called
Old Finland that was lost to Russia in the previous century, the Finnish-born
Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, councillor to the emperor, was instrumental.
The history of the Grand Duchy can briefly be characterised as:
- 1809–1862: fifty years of consolidation, during which the Grand Duchy's authorities succeeded in convincing the Russian court not only of their own loyalty, but of that of all Finns.
- 1863–1898: thirty-five years of increased independence, including the re-establishment of the Diet of Finland and the elevation of Finnish from a language for the common people to a national language equal to Swedish.
- 1899–1917: twenty years of attempted russification, ultimately unsuccessful and detrimental for Finland's relationship with the Russian Empire (and the Soviet Union that was formed shortly afterwards).
Politics
The constitutional status of Finland was not codified in Russian law before the February Manifesto of
1899, by which time Finns and Russians had developed quite different ideas about the status of Finland. The autonomy of Finland was at first encouraged by the Russians in part due to the relatively developed governmental structures in Finland (as compared to the emperor-centered Russia of early 19th century) and in part as a deliberate policy of goodwill to win over the minds of the Finnish people. The autonomous status lead Finns to develop their own ideas of nationalism and constitutional monarchy, which they could to a large extent implement in practice with the assent of the Tsar. However, while each tsar at the time of their coronation did agree to uphold the special status of the local laws in Finland, there is no evidence that they understood their position as one of a
constitutional monarch, despite the growing prevalence of such an interpretation in Finland in the latter part of the 19th century. As governmental organizations developed in Russia, and unity of the empire became one of the leading tenets of Russian politics, clashes between the Russian and Finnish governmental organizations grew frequent and lead to the attempted
russification.
Finland nevertheless enjoyed a high degree of
autonomy, until its independence in 1917. In 1917, after the
February Revolution in Russia, Finland's government worked towards securing and perhaps even increasing Finland's autonomy in domestic matters. On
December 6,
1917, shortly after the
October Revolution in Russia,
Finland declared its independence.
Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse was elected the new monarch as king instead of grand duke, marking the new status of the nation, but he never reigned, as a
republic was proclaimed.
The emperor ruled as the
Grand Duke of Finland and was represented in Finland by the
Governor-General of Finland. The
Senate of Finland was the highest governing body of the Grand Duchy, and was composed of native Finns. In
St. Petersburg Finnish matters were represented by the
Finnish Minister Secretary of State. From 1863 onwards the
Diet of Finland convened regularly. In 1906, the Diet, with its hereditary rather than universally elected representation, was dissolved and the modern
Parliament of Finland was established. As one of the first regions in the world, Finland implemented
universal suffrage and
eligibility, including both women and landless people.
Geography
The Grand Duchy of Finland lay approximately within the same borders that had existed before the
Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940. The main difference was
Petsamo, which was ceded to Finland only in the
Treaty of Tartu in 1920.
Provinces
250px|thumb|right|The Provinces of Finland, about 1900.The administrative division of the grand duchy followed the Russian imperial model with provinces (
governorate, , ) headed by governors. However few changes were made and as the language of the administrators was still
Swedish the old terminology from during the Swedish time continued in local use. The
Viipuri Province was not initially part of the grand duchy, but in 1812 it was transferred by Tsar
Alexander I from Russia proper to Finland. After 1831 there were eight provinces in the grand duchy until the end and that continued in the independent Finland:
Heraldry
The arms were originally designed for the sarcophagus of
Gustav Vasa around 1580. The arms were adopted also for the grand duchy, though the position of the "eastern" sword was changed later in the 19th century so that the lion was holding it in his other arm instead of walking over it.
In the 1860s talk about a Finnish flag started in the
fennoman movement. In 1863 numerous proposals were presented for a national flag. The two main proposals were flags based on red/yellow and blue/white. The flag proposals never had a chance to be presented to the
Diet, so none of them ever became an official flag, however people used different designs for flags of their own choosing.
