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Author : L. Suni
Professor at Pertrozavodsk State University, Doctor of Sciences (History)
EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED 200 years ago the war of
1808-1809 and the joining of Finland to Russia were caused by the
political and international processes triggered by the French Revolu-
tion and Napoleonic Wars.
Back in the early 18th century, during the Great Northern War Peter
the Great used to say that he needed Finland to add flexibility to the
Swedish neck rather than as territorial acquisition. This is true of the
early period of the 1808-1809 war waged by Aleksandr I to force Swe-
den join the continental blockade of Britain. Under contemporary
international law occupation of Finland was occupatio bellica to be
ended when the main aim, peace between Sweden and France had
been achieved.
This and the war added new dimensions to the Finnish problem: from that time on it was not
enough to plan military operations; the country acquired civil administration under Commander-
in-Chief F.W. von Buxhoevden yet it remained unclear on which conditions the Finnish territories
should be joined to the empire.
At this stage there was no agreement about the status of the newly acquired territory: the Russian
troops were pressing forward too easily to contemplate any special rights for Finland.
All decisions that imparted the Grand Duchy of Finland with elements of statehood should be
ascribed, in the final analysis, to Aleksandr I.
The new imperial course was formed under Georg Sprengtporten's great influence with a direct
involvement of Mikhail Speransky, one of the architects of Finland's autonomy.
It was at the same time that the status of Finland as part of the Russian Empire was gradually
taking shape. Sprengtporten together with War Minister Arakcheyev and General von Knorring
drafted a project of Finland's central government they called the Committee of Government to
be housed in the city of Tavastgus (Fin. Hämeenlinna).
With time the efforts to build up the administrative system and clarify many of the economic is-
sues continued after the Porvoo Diet convinced the local people to accept a much more benev-
olent and positive view of their new situation.
When in December 1917 Finland declared its independence it had, as a sovereign state, practically
the entire set of administrative instruments at its disposal: it had the laws, government, one of
the most democratic parliaments of the time, and national economy. The wide autonomy of the
Grand Duchy of Finland that allowed it to develop its domestic sphere and the Finns who never
spared effort to build up their economy, culture and statehood made this possible.
Finland: 200 Years of Autonomy. The Beginning