$Unique_ID{COW01309} $Pretitle{367} $Title{Finland Chapter 2A. Historical Setting} $Subtitle{} $Author{Theodore L. Stoddard} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{finland finnish russian swedish finland's church estates-general political tsar century} $Date{1974} $Log{} Country: Finland Book: Finland, A Country Study Author: Theodore L. Stoddard Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1974 Chapter 2A. Historical Setting Finland's history as a nation relates the passage from Swedish to Russian domination, then from Russian domination to independence. That history has been significantly shaped by Finland's geopolitical position with regard to Scandinavia, Imperial Russia, and the Soviet Union. Modern Finland has arrived at a political accommodation with the Soviet Union and has managed to safeguard a Western cultural heritage that makes it Nordic in customs and institutions. During this evolution, however, the economy and society of the Finns were shaped more by the rough land of forest and water than by the neighboring powers' centuries-long struggle for influence in the area. These natural barriers to communication isolated the Finns and made them dependent upon their own skills and ingenuity for survival. Then, as contact with the outer world increased from the eighteenth century on, the resources provided by the land became the raw material for industrial development and a medium of exchange and contact. Both the political and the economic development of Finland have been marked by an East-West orientation, so that despite the need to consider East European interests and relationships, the country has been able to maintain and extend close relations with the West European and Scandinavian countries. Swedish Union (1154-1809) Finnish recorded history only begins with development of Swedish-Russian rivalry over the area that includes modern Finland, from about the twelfth century. The country's earliest historical records are archaeological ones. The scarcity of even these records precludes any definite knowledge of the origins of the Finnish people, which has been a much debated topic. Anthropological evidence suggests that their Finno-Ugrian ancestors migrated from an area south of the Gulf of Finland between 200 B.C. and A.D. 400. These migrants, whose ancestors had in turn come from the Volga River area of Russia, absorbed indigenous peoples believed to have been in the territory comprising modern Finland as early as 8000 B.C. The earliest Finns lived in relative isolation until Viking raiders and traders initiated more contacts after A.D. 800. Communication over the Baltic Sea was easier than through the dense forest and swamp barrier to the east so that Finland was more open to Scandinavian influence than to influence from Imperial Russia and Roman Europe. In the eleventh century the Swedes sought to revive trade with Novgorod, the ancient Russian city-republic situated on the shores of Lake Il'men, but at the same time the Swedes were concerned about increased Russian forays and influence in the area of modern Finland. To make the trade route across Finland safe, the Swedes conducted a series of crusades that lasted over a 200-year period. Also, in this episode of Swedish contact with Russia lay the origins of Finnish recorded history. According to popular legend, the crusade most critical in establishing Swedish rule over Finland was that led by King Eric and the Roman Catholic Bishop Henry of Uppsala. This crusade is thought to have occurred in 1154 or 1157. Eric's successors continued the conquest, and by the mid-thirteenth century, a trail of forts secured the Swedish position. The Roman Catholic Church was closely allied with the Swedish crown in the colonizing process and established a diocese in Finland in 1216. Christianity, like Swedish rule, however, did not appear after only one crusade, for a rough and inaccessible hinterland and the tenacity of indigenous beliefs delayed the process (see ch. 6). Administration At the time Swedish domination began, the only Finnish political structure was clan based. In the clan an assembly called the ting regulated kin affairs, and a lagman, or lawman, made rules. Consequently, the Swedes were relatively free to set up their own administration, and Finland was ruled by a provincial governor appointed by the king. The governor wielded considerable autonomous power, especially when troubles in Sweden itself meant little attention could be given to outlying provinces. Once the Swedish administration was in place, the pitaja (local parish) was its most significant element. Although it was actually a judicial district meant to administer the law, the local parish officials often were responsible for daily government action. The traditional ting council was retained at the local parish level to provide a meeting ground for the local inhabitants and allow participation in the governmental process. The ting participated in the taxation process, for which a local crown appointee, the bailiff, was responsible. Middle Ages-Society and Economy After the thirteenth century, four distinct social classes (referred to as estates) developed: nobles, clerics, burghers, and peasants. No native Finn nobility really existed at the beginning of Swedish rule so, as a governing class of Finnish nobles grew, it became closely tied to Sweden and spoke Swedish. Most nobles lived on rent from large estates. Later the class increased in size as prominent soldiers, diplomats, and civil servants were included. Their privileged status provided them freedom from crown taxes and allowed them to dominate the political institutions in Stockholm. The predominant position of the noble class led to a number of political conflicts between it and the crown. From the 1400s the Swedish kings gradually transformed the monarchy from an elected to a hereditary one and steadily centralized their governing power. The nobles resisted this process because of the loss of their power, and as late as the 1780s the struggle continued. The predominantly Finnish clergy in Finland was affected by these power struggles as well. The Roman Catholic Church was fully established in Finland by the fourteenth century, and after 1385 the head bishops, located at Turku, the administrative capital of Finland, were Finns. The church was wealthy, holding a great deal of property and land, and influential because of its role in education and its voice in politics. However, as the crown sought to increase its own power, the Swedish kings encroached upon the church, especially for financial reasons. Finally, the 1527 Vasteras Edict of King Gustavas Vasa (1496-1560) transferred church property to the crown, severed relations with Rome, and made the king head of the church. The church lost its independent wealth and influence and was no longer able to affect state politics as it had in the past. Moreover, the crown control and restrictions on religious activity and ceremony opened the door for new ideas and change so that the Protestant Reformation began in Sweden-Finland about 1540. King John III's Church Ordinance of 1571 led to official acceptance of Lutheranism in 1593. Outstanding Finnish clerics who brought their country into the mainstream of the Reformation were Pietari Sarkilahti, Paavali Juusten, and Mikael Agricola. The Lutheran Church continued to grow and became an important force in the social arena. Its efforts to teach were responsible for the large degree of literacy of the population, and when Turku University was founded in 1640, the church had an important part in it. The church also helped bring some organization to the frontier settlements through its administration of the interior parishes, provided employment for artisans, and promoted trade and communications with its religious holidays, fairs, and festivals. Moreover, the church conducted its affairs in Finland in Finnish, not Swedish, giving the language a strong base and preserving a degree of Finnish separateness from Sweden. Throughout history, peasants composed the largest social group in Finland but, unlike those in Russia and Europe, the majority were freemen. The freemen in the peasant class owned 96 percent of agricultural and forest land; the remainder were tenants on land belonging to nobles or to the crown. All owed the kingdom some form of taxes, labor, or military service. Freemen generally lived in villages and pooled their surrounding land in common ownership and management. The forest was important in this scheme because hunting and fishing were crucial to the economy. Cattle were the most important farm animals; oats, wheat, and barley were the most important grains; turnips and potatoes were staples of the Finn's diet. The peasantry was not bound in a feudal relationship to the nobility; consequently, when the crown tried to free itself from domination by the nobility, the peasantry developed a spirit of independence from the noble and cleric classes and a subsequent desire to be represented in political affairs. The wild frontier further reinforced an independent pioneer spirit that emphasized man's lonely independent struggle with nature. Often, when burdens of war and taxes became excessive, farmers gave up their settlements and moved to the interior. The peasant class provided the trade goods, furs, and naval stores that supported the towns. Despite this trade and the fact that peasants could only sell agricultural produce to the burgher-class merchants in the towns, there were but eighteen such settlements as late as the eighteenth century. Nor were towns politically important, as they were not the centers of political control. In addition, foreign merchants controlled much of the trade, siphoning off its income, and not until the eighteenth century did Finnish merchants challenge them. All these factors, in addition to weakness in numbers, made the town burgher class the least powerful in the kingdom. The Parliamentary Riksdag Sweden's early status as an association of provinces with an elective monarchy had an inherent instability that was settled only as royal rulers established a hereditary and absolutist monarchy. Constitutional institutions, however, also grew alongside to check regal power, and a parliamentary body, the Riksdag, began to take shape in the fourteenth century. For a long period it had no more weight than that of its most influential members, the nobility. Then in 1617 it became a national body with clear parliamentary procedure, representing the four major social classes: nobles, clerics, burghers, and peasants. In the eighteenth century the executive Council of State and the Riksdag were the important seats of power, with the Riksdag legislating and controlling the executive. Moderation and common sense prevailed in this parliamentary system, which lasted until 1772 when a swing back to royal absolutism occurred. Finland was poorly represented in the Riksdag because the distance made attendance a burden, especially for those in the poor areas. Moreover, Finland's farmer class interests suffered because Riksdag affairs were controlled by a secret committee that barred the peasant estate. There was also the language problem (see Between the World Wars, this ch.). Besides this, Finnish representatives generally spoke as members of their estate, not as Finns about Finnish problems. Sweden-Finland-Great Power Sweden steadily grew stronger in the Middle Ages. Gustavas Vasa made a final break from the Danish-controlled Kalmar Union of Scandinavian countries (1397-1523) and established an independent hereditary monarchy. Finland, somewhat freed from Sweden by many Kalmar Union wars, was returned to close control by the Swedish monarchy and was ultimately named a grand duchy in 1581. King Gustavas Adolphus (1594-1632) brought further change and progress to Finland, installing a more efficient administration, formalized in the 1634 Form of Government Act. Sweden's participation in the Thirty Years War (1618-48) marked Sweden as a great power, but that status did not come cheaply. Although Finnish troops in the Swedish armies distinguished themselves in battle during this particular conflict and during another fifty years of war, the toll in men and taxes was heavy. The Great Northern War (1700-21) was even more costly in human terms. Russia, allied with Denmark, invaded Finland in 1710, occupying it all by 1713. War and plague decreased the population during the war from 400,000 to less than 300,000. The land was ravaged, cities and towns were burned. The Peace of Uusikaupumki (1721) that ended the war marked Sweden's decline for, although the Russians departed, Sweden's Baltic empire was finished, and Finland's eastern border was pared. Worse, however, the peace was not final. Conflict recurred until all Finland was ceded to Russia in 1809. The wars were costly to Finland, but some aftereffects were beneficial. A Finnish literary movement began, and great intellectual and administrative advances were made. European interest in Finland increased, and ties between Finland and Sweden were strengthened. Finland's legacy from 700 years of Swedish rule is great. There was never a marked clash between the two "nations," and their culture and politics grew to be similar. Yet, the Finns retained an independent spirit so that, although Finland became a Scandinavian country in many ways, it retained differences. Swedish law as applied in Finland had a Finnish element; the Swedish Lutheran church in Finland was Finnish in language and custom. Folk history, song, and customs remained Finnish. A growing awareness of these differences formed the basis of Finnish nationalism, which after 100 years of Russian hegemony was to triumph in independence. Russian Grand Duchy (1809-1917) In 1809 Finland became a Russian grand duchy under the personal rule of the tsar. This ended centuries of conflict that resulted from the inevitable Russian reaction to Sweden-Finland's attainment of great power status. By the early seventeenth century, Swedish expansion had provided Finland with a territorial buffer along its eastern border, but Peter the Great's ascendant Russia checked Swedish expansion and, after Sweden's defeat in the cataclysmic Great Northern War, its influence in this area diminished. The Napoleonic Wars ultimately gave Russia the opportunity to wrest Finland from Sweden. A Russo-Swedish war began in February 1808, when Sweden was attacked for not cooperating with the Franco-Russian blockade against England. Russian troops overran Finland, and an armistice was signed in November, 1808. Swedish resistance continued, however, and the war was not completely over until the Hanuna Peace, September 27, 1809, by which Finland and the Ahvenanmaa Islands were ceded to Russia. The French general, Jean Bernadotte, elected to the Swedish throne and crowned King Charles XIV in July 1810, conceded the transfer. Finland was formally recognized as part of Russia by Swedish-Russian accords in April 1812. To placate the Swedes and Finns, Russian advisers persuaded the tsar, Alexander I (1777-1825), that a conciliatory policy toward Finland should be followed. Consequently, although Alexander declared himself grand duke of Finland in December 1808, he officially confirmed in March 1809 that Finnish institutions would be upheld; that Swedish constitutional law, along with ancient rights and customs, would continue to govern the country; and that the tie with Russia was based only on the tsar's position as grand duke. Continued Finnish resistance forced Alexander to convene the Estates-General (formerly the Riksdag) and convinced him of the strength of popular sentiment for Finnish autonomy. It was not a policy popular with all the Russian court, but endured until Pan-Slavism swept Russia in the late nineteenth century. Government and Administration The legal framework for Finland's administration under the tsar was Sweden's 1772 Constitution, as amended by the Act of Association and Security of 1789. The tsar preferred it because its autocratic structure favored the royal executive over a parliament. The existing provincial and local government was retained, so that only higher echelons were changed. It was clear that the tsar would make final decisions regardless of the Finnish Estates-General, and such a regular parliament was not guaranteed until the 1860s. The governing body was the Senate, whose twenty members were appointed by the Russian tsar for three-year terms. Ten senators formed the Supreme Court; the other ten headed the administrative departments. All civil administrators had to be Finnish, and Finnish nationality separate from Russian was maintained by law. This government, however, was limited in its powers so that its position was mostly an advisory one, although its recommendations were usually accepted. Still, the Senate was at the top of the pyramid and was viewed by the Finns as a real national government, particularly after Russian concessions in the 1860s enabled the Estates-General as a parliament to gather power and make the Senate its executive. The tsar's personal representative was the governor general; except for one instance, only Russians were appointed. The governor general was the titular head of the Senate but, because the Russians could rarely speak Swedish, a Finn usually presided at its sessions. Until the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, the governor general was no more than the tsar's observer and commander of the few isolated garrisons of Russian troops. More important than the governor general in the actual direction of Finland's administration was the minister-secretary of state for Finnish affairs. This official was appointed by the tsar and worked with a small staff in Saint Petersburg, the Russian capital. Because Finland had special status as a grand duchy under the tsar's personal rule, the minister-secretary did not come under the Russian Council of Ministers but dealt directly with the tsar. Personal rights of the Finns were greater than those of the Russians because they were guarded by the Swedish Law of 1734, an impressive codification that covered civil, criminal, and administrative justice. In contrast to the Russian serfs, Finland's citizens were equal before the law, could petition, and were allowed free movement. In addition, a procurator oversaw the operations of justice and administration in order to protect the common citizen from abuses of power. The same liberality, however, did not apply to political rights; freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and other rights were curtailed. Estates-General Reconvened, 1863 The first fifty years of Russian hegemony were relatively uneventful. Despite the tsar's oppressive policy, there was a strong undercurrent of Finnish nationalism. Demands included a request that the Finnish Estates-General be permitted to assemble because the tax base needed revision; there were complaints about restrictive policies such as press censorship. Finland's response to Tsar Nicholas I's death in 1855 was very calm compared to the open revolt that followed in Poland. Finland was rewarded in June 1863 when Nicholas' successor, reformer Tsar Alexander II, granted the request for a parliament. Alexander II addressed the Estates-General in September 1863, saying that he would consult it on fiscal matters, that it could pass tax laws, but that the Swedish constitutional form would be retained. All laws would be passed to the tsar before going to the Senate for enactment. Alexander also reminded Finland that it was still part of the Russian Empire. This meant that the Estates-General could not liberalize itself beyond some minor reforms, and only slowly did it become an effective barometer of public opinion. The Estates-General saw as its first task maintenance of Finland's autonomous status, either by insisting on the rights inherited from the past or by strengthening newer institutions. Actually, the executive Senate was more successful in this respect than the Estates-General; one reason was that until 1883 the Estates-General could consider only what was placed before it by the administration. The Senate, however, was little disposed to rapid change. Nominated by the governor general, the senators had become used to their status as a ruling class and were particularly slow to realize that their own interests and those of the nation were not always the same. Thus, conservatism delayed democratic change until the first decade of the twentieth century when, in the aftermath of Russian oppression, the parliaments of the 1900s enacted reforms that made Finland a much more democratic state. Even before the Estates-General made itself into a representative parliament from 1905 to 1907, there already were political groups that would later develop into Finland's political parties. The nascent political formation existed from the middle nineteenth century and was closely related to issues involving the church, education, and institutional reform. Another most important issue concerned adoption of Finnish as an official language. Swedish was the language of the upper classes and educated people as well as the official medium of government, and only by speaking Swedish could one advance in society. That 85 percent of the population spoke Finnish could not be ignored, however. Thus, because of the language issue, embryonic political groups in the Estates-General formed the basis of a triangular conflict among: Swekomen (favoring Swedish), Fennomen (favoring Finnish), and the Liberals, who were in favor of Finnish but were primarily interested in strengthening Finland's autonomy. Also the Fennomen were divided into Old Finns, or moderates, and the more extremist Young Finns. Although these language-related political groups were relatively new from the 1860s on, Finnish language use had had earlier proponents and was not really a new issue. Among the earliest proponents of the use of Finnish as an official language was Adolf Ivar Arwidsson. Citing fear that Finland might be swallowed by the Russian Empire, he urged that Finnish be officially accepted and formally taught. A significant contribution to this cause was made by Elias Lonnrot (1802-84), whose monumental compilation of oral legends in Finnish, the Kalevala, roused nationalistic spirit (see ch. 8). His use of the language brought it recognition as a viable literary tool. In the 1850s Finnish-language newspapers and periodicals appeared, and the work of Finland's most famous nineteenth-century nationalist, Johan Snellman, did much to push acceptance of Finnish. Finally, Tsar Alexander II, in the same spirit that led him to grant the Finnish request for a session of the Estates-General, proclaimed that from August 1, 1863, Finnish would be an official language of the Russian grand duchy of Finland. Law called for its use in administration and justice and that it be taught in the schools. This only began a new struggle, as there was still strong resistance to the measure. Many nobles and upper bourgeois insisted on keeping Swedish the official language to protect Finland's autonomy and their own status, for they feared that the masses would take over direction of Finland's affairs and would be more susceptible to Russian pressures. It took nearly twenty years for equal status of the languages to be accepted and much longer for practical aspects to work themselves out. Russification and Difficult Times Despite its strength as an issue, the language problem was almost eclipsed in the 1890s and later when the Imperial Russian Government began a series of steps designed to end Finland's autonomous status. Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918) conceded to pressure from Russian adherents of pan-slavism, who felt that Finland should not be administered differently from the rest of the Russian Empire. Russian businessmen were also concerned about special customs status Finland enjoyed. The measures taken to end Finland's autonomy were termed russification and began with modification of the customs laws and postal system in 1890 to make them uniform. In 1899 the Finnish minister-secretary of state in Saint Petersburg was replaced by a Russian; Finland's army was abolished; and the Estates-General was reduced to considering only laws of local interest. In addition, the Russian language was introduced into use; a series of Russian institutions were established; Russian law was given precedence; and Russians entered the Finnish Civil Service. The countrywide Finnish reaction was shock and outrage. Despite the unity of the population in protest, the choice between accommodation and resistance was difficult to make; resistance might incur still more repressive policies. A massive petition was presented to the tsar but was not accepted; a delegation of prominent Europeans also tried to intervene but was ignored. The Finns realized that open revolt was out of the question, so passive resistance to the military law became the major battle strategy. The year 1903 was critical. Disturbances and mass court resignations led the governor general to assume special powers, remove officials, and harden censorship. It appeared that conciliation was impossible and that passive resistance might also fail. Finnish activist groups allied themselves with Russion revolutionaries and began to smuggle arms into Finland so that terrorism escalated. General Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, the governor general, was assassinated in June 1904 by Eugene Schauman, who then committed suicide. He became a nationalist hero once his views, set forth in a letter to the tsar, were known. Shortly thereafter, the Russian minister for Finnish affairs was also murdered in Saint Petersburg. When a new governor general arrived in September, it was clear the Russians had decided to soften their campaign, but they did not give up the basic goal. Conciliatory acts included parliamentary elections, amnesty for purged officials and exiles, and less censorship. A Finn was named minister-secretary of state for Finnish affairs, and he tried to reach an understanding with the Finnish militants. Still many of the russification measures remained, and Finnish-Russian relations continued to be unstable until World War I. These troubles showed that the population at large was committed to preserving Finland's autonomy. Yet there were elements in the population-particularly a poor, landless rural proletariat-that were primarily interested in reform, whether Russian or Finnish. For example, the 1904 Estates-General still represented but 5 to 6 percent of the population, and it voted by estate, that is, by class. Spurred by socialist demonstrations and feeling the need for national unity in face of the Russian pressure, the Estates-General made itself into a national representative body and enfranchised the population, including women. Finland was the first European country to do so. These and other liberalizing reforms confirmed Finland's acceptance of democratic institutional guidelines and helped make Finland ready for independence. Social and Economic Progress During the years that Finland was a Russian grand duchy, there were important social and economic developments. Reform in education was a major accomplishment. The church administered the lower level educational system until 1869, when reform established school boards, government supervision, and additional provisions for Finnish-language education as well as Swedish. Language equality in the schools, however, was not systematically established until 1900. University education was transferred from Turku to Helsinki in 1828. With increased resources, the university became a vibrant intellectual center, particularly important for nationalism after the 1830s. Academia was influenced largely by Danish and German intellectualism, separate from what occurred in Russia. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Church of Finland) was governed by Swedish statutes until the 1867 Estates-General passed a law that created a central lay and clerical council to govern church and parish. This provided more self-regulation and more democratic representation of the parish members. Traditionally, the church's most political function was communication of government business and regulations to the population. During the russification campaign, this did not change, for the archbishop refused to allow the church to do more than pass on information without comment. The decision was not popular, but those ministers who refused to abide by it were disciplined, and the church's separation from politics continued. At the end of the nineteenth century, Finland still had a sparse population settled in a large area devoid of many natural resources, except abundant forest. The infrastructure, which would provide a base for economic development, had been growing, however. In the 1870s the Finn currency, the markka, was completely disjoined from the Russian ruble. As the economy further developed in the 1880s, national banks and savings systems appeared, and insurance companies began operating. Postal and telegraph services were extended, and the school system began to provide technical training to a portion of the population. Progress was impeded by poor communications overland, especially in the interior. The first solution was to develop water communication routes, then the railroad. The railroad line from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg was opened in 1868, and increased export demand later supported a railroad line to Hanko on the southwestern (Baltic Sea) coast, a year-round port. This helped keep the economy from coming to a winter standstill, especially after steamships were introduced and icebreakers could keep bays and river routes open. Despite these advances the agricultural sector, which lagged behind Europe technologically, was the dominant economic factor and was a serious brake on development. Years of shortages, and outright famine in the 1860s forced many people off the land, forming a proletariat in the towns. Then government efforts to improve land communications and import new technology, in addition to growing demand for forest and dairy products, ameliorated conditions. Eventually, the small but growing industrial sector and emigration siphoned off surplus labor and eased tensions. Industrialization began in the 1860s when English and Western European enterpreneurs opened factories, most of them paper mills. Then steel production began and benefited from European demand. Most of these enterprises were oriented to forest products, and diversification took a long time. Eventually, Finland was forced to turn more to Western Europe as a trade outlet when Russia decided on an autarkic economic policy as part of pan-Slavism. Although labor resources were plentiful, only 10 percent of the working population was employed in these infant industries. A first workers were gradually organized into loose local labor groups to fight a lack of legal protection for them, then into more formal larger organizations. A meeting in Turku in 1899 laid the groundwork for a coherent political program, based largely on the social democracy of Germany, that is, state socialism. In 1903 a workers council for a political party was formed, and a newspaper, The Worker, was begun. The Social Democratic Party, which was begun in 1901, adopted a Marxist line but remained moderate in conception and procedure. It was modeled on Western labor parties and refused to join the Communist Third International. Its members were suspicious of leaders who were not of working class origin, so that it remained purely a worker movement that was attracted by socialist militancy.