The Minister–Secretary of State for Finland (in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

''ministerivaltiosihteeri''; in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

''ministerstatssekreterare'') represented interests of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...

in the Imperial Court in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

from 1809 to 1917. Before 1834 the title was secretary of state. The Russian

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

was represented in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

by the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

. The first secretary of state was Alexander I's Russian advisor

Mikhail Speransky Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky (russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Спера́нский; 12 January 1772 – 23 February 1839) was a Russian reformist during the reign of Alexander I of Russia, to whom he was a close advisor. ...

. After Speransky (whose term had yet the Committee for Finnish Affairs as another actor in same matters), this State Secretary was required, as were Senators and so forth, to be a subject of the grand duchy. This secretary of state was an official who, and whose office (there were deputy and assistants) had the monopoly to present Finnish affairs to the Emperor. All acts of the Emperor concerning the grand duchy, were to be countersigned by this State Secretary, or deputized officials. When the Finnish autonomy was establishing, other Finnish-related officials generally supported, and helped to build this monopoly (to mention, Governor-General

Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov Prince Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov (russian: Князь Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Ме́ншиков; 26 August 17872 May 1869) was a Russian nobleman, military commander and statesman. He was made adjutant general in 1817 and ...

was a supporter of this particularism and although he resided in St Petersburg and was in close contact with the emperor as simultaneous Russian Minister of Navy, he consistently had Finnish affairs to go through the Minister State Secretary). The tradition, endorsed by conservative Emperors such as Nicholas I, created a strong precedent. Russian general government was effectively kept out of Finnish affairs, this Minister having the benefit of the channel, and many possibilities to stall Russian ministers. Only in last two decades of the grand duchy, those periods of russification, the system was attempted to be broken in some regards, but it created counteroffensives based on illegality arguments. Vyacheslav von Plehwe's appointment in 1900 was criticized as illegal, because he was not a

Finnish citizen Citizenship of Finland can be obtained on the basis of birth, marriage of parents, adoption, or the place of birth. In addition, it may be acquired by application or by declaration to authorities. Finnish citizenship acquisition is based prima ...

. Afterwards, russified Finnish citizens were occasionally used in this office and as members of the senate in Helsinki.

State Secretary

Minister–Secretary of State

Finland's representative

Minister–Secretary of State

References

* Osmo Jussila, Seppo Hentilä and Jukka Nevakivi. From Grand Duchy to a modern state: a political history of Finland since 1809. {{DEFAULTSORT:Minister-Secretary of State for Finland Grand Duchy of Finland Political history of Finland