Nikolay Ivanovich Bobrikov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Бо́бриков; in St. Petersburg – June 17, 1904 in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland) was a Russian general and politician. He was the Governor-General of Finland and the

Finnish Military District 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 ...

from to during the early reign of Emperor

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

, and was responsible for the

Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...

of Finland. After appointment as the governor-general, he quickly became very unpopular and was assassinated by Eugen Schauman, a Finnish nationalist born in Kharkiv.

Biography

Early life

Nikolay Ivanovich Bobrikov was born on January 15, 1839, and attended the 1st Cadet Corps. Upon graduation, he became a lieutenant and served in the

Imperial Guards An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, in ...

. After which he served in the Kazan military district and as divisional chief-of-staff in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

. He became a colonel in 1869. A year later he was transferred to Saint Petersburg for special duties in the Imperial guard. This gave Bobrikov access to the Imperial court. In 1878 he became a major general.

Governor-General of Finland

In 1898, Tsar

appointed Bobrikov as the Governor-General of Finland as well as the

. Upon appointment, he introduced a

programme into the Grand Duchy, the 11 main points were: * Unification of the Finnish army. * Restricting the power of the Minister–Secretary of the State. * Introducing of a special programme for dealing with cases common to the Empire and the Grand Duchy. * Adoption of The

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

as the official language of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, education and administration. Bobrikov quickly became very unpopular and hated in Finland as he was an adamant supporter of the curtailing of the grand principality's extensive autonomy, which had in the late

1800s 1800s may refer to: * The century from 1800 to 1899, almost synonymous with the 19th century (1801–1900) * 1800s (decade) File:1800s collage.jpg, 420x420px, From top left, clockwise: Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned Emperor of the French Empire and ...

come into conflict with Russian ambitions of a unified and indivisible Russian state. In 1899, Nicholas II signed the "February Manifesto" which marks the beginning of the first " Years of Oppression" () from the traditional Finnish perspective. In this manifesto the Tsar decreed that the Diet of the Estates of Finland could be overruled in legislation if it was in Russian imperial interests. Half a million Finns, considering the decree a coup against the Finnish constitution, signed a petition to Nicholas II requesting to revoke the manifesto. The Tsar didn't even receive the delegation bringing the petition. In 1900, Bobrikov issued orders that all correspondence between government offices was to be conducted in Russian and that education in the Russian language was to be increased in schools. The Finnish army was abolished in 1901, and Finnish conscripts could now be forced to serve with Russian troops anywhere in the Russian empire. To the first call-up in 1902, only 42% of the conscripts showed up. In 1905, conscription in Finland was abolished since Finns were seen as unreliable. In 1903, Bobrikov was given dictatorial powers by the Tsar so that he could dismiss government officials and close newspapers.

Assassination

On June 16, 1904, Bobrikov was assassinated by Eugen Schauman in Helsinki. Schauman shot Bobrikov three times and then himself twice. Schauman died instantly, while Bobrikov, mortally wounded, died at the hospital in the early hours of the following morning. It was described as the following ( Old Style dates):

Honours and awards

Domestic

Order of St. Anna, 3rd class (14.4.1865) * Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon

Order of St. Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poni ...

, 2nd class * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anna, 2nd class with Imperial Crown (17.11.1869, Imperial Crown on 30.8.1873) * Saint vladimir (bande)

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer ...

, 4th class (30.8.1871) * Saint vladimir (bande)

Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class (30.8.1875) * Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon

Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st class (30.8.1878) * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anna, 1st class (30.8.1880) * Saint vladimir (bande)

Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class (15.5.1883) * Order White Eagle (Russia) ribbon

Order of the White Eagle (30.8.1887) * Russian Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky ribbon bar

Order of St. Alexander Nevsky The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Emperor ...

with diamonds signs (30.8.1891, diamond sign on 14.5.1896) * Saint vladimir (bande)

Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class (1.1.1902)