The policy of Russification of Finland (; ; ) was a governmental policy of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

aimed at limiting the special status of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

and possibly the termination of its political autonomy and cultural uniqueness in 1899–1905 and in 1908–1917, fully integrating Finland to the Russian Empire. It was a part of a larger policy of Russification pursued by late 19th–early 20th century Russian governments which tried to abolish cultural and administrative autonomy of non-Russian minorities within the empire. The two Russification campaigns evoked widespread Finnish resistance, starting with

petitions A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

and escalating to strikes, passive resistance (including

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resistance) and eventually active resistance. Finnish opposition to Russification was one of the main factors that ultimately led to Finland's declaration of independence in 1917.

Background

After

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's victory over the

in the June 1807 Battle of Friedland, tsar Alexander I was forced to sue for peace with the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

in the Treaties of Tilsit (7 July 1807). Alexander agreed to join the Continental System against the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, to launch the Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812), and to force

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(which maintained extensive trade relations with the British) to join the Continental System as well. Swedish king Gustav IV Adolf delayed his response to Alexander's ultimatum until he brokered an alliance with Britain in February 1808, after which he rejected Alexander's demands. In response, Imperial Russia invaded Swedish Finland in what later became known as the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

(21 February 1808 – 17 September 1809), which ended favourably for Alexander. In 1809, the lost territory of Sweden became the

, an autonomous part of the

. The Diet of Porvoo (later the

Diet of Finland The Diet of Finland (Finnish language, Finnish ''Suomen maapäivät'', later ''valtiopäivät''; Swedish language, Swedish ''Finlands Lantdagar''), was the Diet (assembly), legislative assembly of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 ...

) recognized

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

as grand duke on 29 March 1809. For his part, Alexander confirmed the rights of the Finns, in particular, promising freedom to pursue their customs and religion and to maintain their identity: This meant that the old Swedish instrument of government from 1772 and the Union and Security Act from 1789 continued to be used in regards to the Finnish form of government. It also meant that the Swedish Civil Code of 1734 continued as the fundamental law of Finland.

Under Imperial Russia

1809–1881

This promise was maintained; indeed, Alexander II amplified the powers of the Finnish diet in 1869. Finland enjoyed prosperity and control over their own affairs, and remained loyal subjects for nearly a century.

First period of Russification

The manifesto which Nicholas II issued on 15 February 1899 was cause for Finnish despair. The manifesto was forced through the Finnish senate by the deciding vote of the senate president, an appointee of the tsar—and after the Governor-General of Finland, Nikolay Bobrikov, had threatened a military invasion and siege. While ostensibly affirming the Finns' rights in purely local matters, the manifesto asserted the authority of the state in any and all matters which could be considered to "come within the scope of the general legislation of the empire". As a response to the manifesto, a petition with 523,000 names was gathered and a delegation of 500 people were sent to deliver it to the tsar. A separate petition called ''Pro Finlandia'' that contained the names of 1,050 prominent foreign people was also gathered few months later. Russification policies enacted included: * The above-mentioned February Manifesto of 1899, the decree by Emperor Nicholas II which asserted the imperial government's right to rule Finland without the consent of local legislative bodies, under which: ** the Orthodox Russian Church's status was strengthened; including, for example, criminalizing the act of subjecting a follower of the Orthodox church to a Lutheran church service; ** the press was subjected to tighter Russian censorship than before; ** the Military of the Grand Duchy of Finland was made subject to Russian rules of

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

. * The Language Manifesto of 1900, a

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

by Nicholas II which made Russian the language of administration of Finland (in 1900, there were an estimated 8,000 Russians in all of Finland, of a population of 2,700,000)—the Finns saw this as placing the Russian minority in charge. * The

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

law, signed by Nicholas II in July 1901 incorporating the Finnish army into the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

and forcing Finns to serve in Russian units. * Finnish stamps were abolished and Russian stamps became the only ones allowed in January 1901. * Some Finnish government offices, such as the

Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and Lighthouse Boards got new, Russian, staff. From April 1903 until the Russian Revolution of 1905, the governor-general was granted dictatorial powers. Bobrikov used these powers to personally abolish several newspapers and to deport notable Finnish political leaders. In June 1904 Eugen Schauman assassinated Bobrikov. The imperial government responded with a purge of opponents of Russification within the Finnish administration and more stringent

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. However the passive resistance campaign also had some successes, notably a ''de facto'' reversal of the new

law. The Russification campaign was suspended and partially reversed in 1905–1907 during a period of civil unrest throughout the Russian Empire following Russian defeats in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

Second period of Russification

The program was reintroduced in 1908, costing Finland much of its autonomy and again causing further Finnish resistance, including the Jäger movement. During 1909–1917 the Finnish politicians in the

Senate of Finland The Senate of Finland (; ) combined the functions of Cabinet (government), cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in independent Finland from 1917 to 1918. The body that would become the Senate was establis ...

were replaced by Finnish-born officers of the Russian army who were formally subjects of the grand duchy, creating the so-called ''admiral-senate'' or ''saber-senate''. Russia demanded higher payments for not conscripting Finns (issue of , "military millions"). The 1910 "Law of all-Empire legislation procedures" removed most Finnish legislative powers from the newly established Finnish Parliament to the Russian

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

and State Council. In 1912 they passed the "Law of equality" which opened all Finnish government and civil service offices to Russians. Many measures were again suspended in 1914–1917 during the

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, but secret government documents published in the Finnish press in November 1914 suggested that the imperial government still harbored plans for the complete Russification of Finland. The second wave halted due to the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

in Russia.

Japanese involvement

During the

, with financial aid from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Finnish rebels bought a shipment of thousands of rifles with the aim of creating an uprising and forming an independent state. However, the ship was wrecked off the coast of Finland and the plan failed. During the First World War, when Russia and Japan were allies fighting against Germany, the Japanese handed the Russian government a list of the leading men in the freedom movement (now in World War I working with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Notes

References

External links

text of the February Manifesto of 1899 ''(in English)''
Nicholas's Decree Limiting Finnish Autonomy, March 20, 1903
''(in English)'' {{Cultural assimilation Anti-Finnish sentiment Grand Duchy of Finland Russification