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"Our troops, with their usual courage, struggling against obstacles and overcoming all the difficulties that lay before them, forging a path through places that were previously considered impassable, meeting the enemy everywhere and bravely defeating them, have captured and occupied almost all of Swedish Finland. This country, thus subjugated by Our arms, We henceforth forever annex to the Russian Empire, and therefore We have ordered that its inhabitants swear allegiance to Our throne."

STUDIO: With these words, Emperor Alexander I addressed the world and the people of Finland in 1808. Although the Russo-Swedish War continued and not all Finnish territory had yet come under Russian military control, its command considered Finland conquered. The Grand Duchy of Finland officially became part of the empire after the signing of the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in 1809. This is the podcast "We'll Manage It Ourselves." My name is Andrey Allakhverdov. Hello.

The Russian Empire included several territories, annexed at different times, that enjoyed varying degrees of autonomy—the Baltic territories, the Caucasus, and Bessarabia. But Finland and Poland enjoyed the most extensive autonomy. Finland was incorporated into Russia piecemeal, says a researcher. National Archives of Finland Professor Dmitry Frolov.

DMITRY FROLOV: That is, not even two, but three, five, and ten pieces gradually became part of the Russian Empire. But it must be remembered that Russia and the Novgorod Republic waged war against the Kingdom of Sweden for many hundreds of years, and, accordingly, this may even have become something of a national sport. But it was indeed incorporated piecemeal, and Finland finally became part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809.

STUDIO: And in 1811, all Finnish territories were united into one by an imperial manifesto.

Manifesto of December 11, 1811. On the naming of old and new Finland collectively as Finland

With the annexation of new Finland to the Russian Empire, we find the distinction between old and new Finland, both in their names and in the very form of government, to be unnecessary and inappropriate to the current situation of this region. Having heeded the opinion of the State Council, we have deemed it advisable to decree the following: 



1) from now on, the old and new Finland will be collectively called Finland; 



2) the former Finnish province, along with the provinces existing in Finland, will henceforth be part of the main administration established by Us for this country.

DF: In principle, Finland enjoyed considerable autonomy even as part of the Kingdom of Sweden. It wasn't like the Russian Empire, but it did enjoy considerable autonomy. After Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire, it enjoyed all the trappings of statehood. That is, it had its own currency, its own senate, its own postal service, postage stamps, borders, and customs.

In order for a citizen of the Grand Duchy of Finland to travel to the mainland—the metropolis—of the Russian Empire, they needed a passport. Similarly, to visit Finland, they needed, well, not a passport, but travel documents for citizens of the Russian Empire. Incidentally, passports are also connected to the fact that the population of Finland… It's not just about passports; it's also connected to religion, of course. Finland's population was one of the most highly educated and literate—or rather, literate—populations in the entire Russian Empire. That is, according to the 1896-1898 census, over 75% of both sexes were literate in the Grand Duchy of Finland. By comparison, in St. Petersburg it was 45-55%, and in Moscow, less than 50%. Approximately the same percentage was found in the Baltic provinces and Poland. This is because Lutherans had to be able to read and write to read the Bible and obtain passports. You had to sign your name to receive a passport, and thus, you could travel. So, the slight misconception that these were deep, remote provinces, provinces, you know, "the refuge of the poor Finn," isn't quite true.

Taxes collected within the Grand Duchy of Finland remained within the Grand Duchy of Finland and were not transferred to the Russian treasury. In Russia, the Emperor had a Minister-State Secretary for Finnish Affairs. This meant that the Emperor received information about Finland from two sources: the Governor-General, who was stationed in Finland and acted as the Tsar's representative, and the Minister-State Secretary, a Finnish representative who had the right to report directly to the Emperor on the situation in one of the most peaceful provinces of the Russian Empire.

STUDIO: In fact, this was the difference. Historian Osmo Jussila points out that direct subordination to the emperor was practiced in other areas—or, as we would say today, regions—as well. However, here the Grand Duchy of Finland existed, in effect, as a separate state within the empire: "With the creation of the special position of State Secretary of Finland, matters concerning Finland were presented separately from other imperial affairs. Decrees of the Russian Senate became effective in Finland only after the Finnish State Secretary resubmitted them to the emperor, and specifically in a form adapted to the conditions of Finland, according to which they were to be implemented there. Thus, Finland and the Finns were subordinated directly to the emperor, bypassing the mechanisms of Russia's central administration."

«By the Providence of the Most Highеhaving taken possessionиe VelikоPrincipality of Finlandиand recognized Мы for the benefit of this, to re-confirm and certifyеto write рeligиyu, the fundamental laws, rights and privileges with which each stateиof this Principality in particular and in everythingе subjects inhabiting itиe from small to large doshardly on constitutionsиpits they used, aboutеkeeping them inviolable and immutable powerе and dеactionsиand…»

STUDIO: This formula, confirming Finland's special position within the empire, would be repeated by every emperor upon ascending the throne. It was first uttered in that same year, 1809, in one of Finland's oldest cities, Porvoo—Borgö in Swedish—where Alexander I convened the Diet, an assembly of representatives of the four estates of Finnish society: the nobility, the clergy, the townspeople, and the peasantry. It is considered that the convening of the Diet in Porvoo marked the beginning of the Finnish state. However, the Diet did not meet for many years afterward—it would not be convened again until 1863, under Alexander II, a period during which the country was called "state night" in Finnish. At that time, the country was governed by the Senate, which drafted bills that were then sent directly to the emperor.

DF: ЕThe only thing Finland didn't have, despite all these trappings of state power, was an army. So yes, Finland did have a guard. The guard consisted of 5000 men, without artillery. It existed until 1901, which was due to the period of Russification.

For example, there was no serfdom in Finland. However, there was conscription during the Swedish Empire. Therefore, during the reign of Peter the Great, a fairly large number of Finns were captured near Poltava and Perevolochna. They were recruited into the Swedish army and fought. Afterwards, they were exiled to Tobolsk in Siberia, where they lived.

STUDIO: But there were no recruitment drives within the Russian Empire?

DF: Finland was exempt from conscription until 1901. After a new conscription law was passed in 1901, Finns began to be drafted, or rather, attempted to be drafted, into the Russian Imperial Army, and this was one of the factors that prompted some Finns to emigrate, to North America, for example. In other words, there was nothing but the Guard.

The Guard wasn't an army in the true sense of the word. Certain restrictions were imposed on the Guard. For example, the Guard couldn't be deployed outside the Grand Duchy of Finland. Despite this, Finns participated in "military tourism" in many units—in suppressing the Hungarian uprisings of 1848, the Polish uprisings, the Crimean War, and the Turkish War. So, in principle, the Guard was, so to speak, being tested. But the only problem was that there was no opportunity to build a military career. Therefore, if Finns wanted to continue their military careers, they transferred to the Imperial Army or Navy. About 600 Finns rose to the rank of general or admiral in the Russian Imperial Army and Navy. For example, Mannerheim, and many others like him.

STUDIO: It's well known that Finland was a place where dissidents, as we would now say, fled or hid. They lived there and traveled to Russia via Finland. So, does that mean the police didn't interfere with what was happening in Finland?

DF: What do you mean, "didn't interfere?" Still, we have to assume this was the territory of the Russian Empire. They existed. And no one could prohibit the police from doing their job. Well, the Finnish police were Finnish police, and the gendarme corps was, after all, an imperial structure. So, yes, they were present, but in most cases, I wouldn't say they were merely decorative, but they primarily served a ceremonial and administrative function. That is, during visits by high-ranking guests, they provided security and so on, and so forth, and so forth. And then they became more active. So, for example, any visit by a member of the imperial family was characterized by a surge in activity by the Finnish Gendarme Directorate. There were spies who kept an eye on untrustworthy individuals, there were officers who carried out some kind of educational work, and so on. During the imperial family's visits to the skerries and so on, they would act as the local population's servants, fishermen, and boatmen. There's even a story, I believe—not a story—that one of the emperors encountered Finnish fishermen on the skerries, handed them all a silver ruble, and then the Gendarme Department ordered its agents to hand over the money, these rubles, to the treasury. In principle, naturally, there was more than one department, a gendarmerie department. There was a gendarmerie department in Finland, and there was a gendarmerie department in the fortress of Sveaborg (Suomenlinna), since it wasn't part of the Grand Duchy of Finland; it was a fortress under imperial jurisdiction. And there was a gendarmerie headquarters there, although it was stationed in the city of Helsinki.

Well, that's precisely the jurisdiction for delimiting powers. Like the Tammerfors Bolshevik Conference. Everyone knew perfectly well that Lenin was there, and we had documents, we had investigative files, or whatever they're called, inquiries from the gendarmerie department of the metropolitan police department about these people. But somehow it all happened in such a way that the Finnish police weren't particularly... I wouldn't say they sabotaged orders from their superiors, because that couldn't have happened, but they weren't very active. It's the same story about Lenin traveling through Sweden and the Bolsheviks traveling through Sweden—well, that's about the porous borders. Everyone knew about that, but nothing more. It's the same story about how the Bolsheviks crossed the border into the Russian Empire. Rakhya brought them on a steam locomotive. There are a lot of interesting legends here that could be discussed. For example? For example, about how the Bolsheviks actually moved, how they hid. The spill is a hut again.

Incidentally, here's an interesting picture: the site of the gendarmerie office in the Sveaborg fortress was repurposed as the Russian embassy after diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Finland were established. One of the first bombs the Soviet Union dropped during the war of 1941-1944 hit the Soviet embassy. And after the embassy moved, the municipality was located there. Helsinki City Hall is there. Well, they've moved there now, too. A holy place abhors a vacuum.

STUDIO: What explained such broad autonomy for Finland within the empire?

DF: Well, Poland had the same status as Finland, with a few restrictions. Poland and Finland are two radically different countries. As I always joke, Poland represents the revolutionary path of development, while Finland represents the evolutionary path of the Russian Empire.

Firstly, Finland's annexation was the result of a treaty. More precisely, its autonomy was the result of a treaty, because Russia was seriously concerned that Sweden might attack Russia again in 1812. Therefore, Finnish laws were confirmed, a Senate was established, and so on. It was a combination of carrot and stick.

Well, this probably has to do with what I said about Finland being more tolerant of evolutionary and revolutionary paths of development than other outlying regions of the Russian Empire. While there was a national movement and so on, everything in Finland was still determined by law. And the laws that were established in Finland were Swedish. It was quite convenient and comfortable to live under these laws. The Finns, again according to tradition, were the first to swear allegiance to the new emperor. And in principle, this status quo suited the Russian authorities, and to some extent, the Governor-General, the Minister of State Secretary, and parliament, or more precisely, the Senate. Therefore, some of these strong movements had a moral and ethical underpinning: we are not Swedes, we will never be Russians, so listen, we must be Finns, Finns. So, things continued like this here until a certain point, namely until the period of the beginning of the 20th century, or rather the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the period of Russification, when Finland’s rights began to be infringed upon, and then something completely different began to happen here.

STUDIO: In 1890, the so-called "Postal Manifesto" was issued, abolishing the independence of the Finnish postal service. In 1891, the Committee on Finnish Affairs was abolished, and the Minister of State Secretary was now required to coordinate bills concerning Finland submitted to the Emperor with the central institutions of the Empire. In July 1891, a decree was issued making Russian the official language of the Governor-General's communications with the Finnish Senate and Diet.

DF: Well, the narrowing of autonomy is, strictly speaking, a single process that took place under... It began, basically, with Alexander III and continued under Nicholas II. Incidentally, Maria Feodorovna wrote, "Leave those poor, unfortunate Finns alone. Let them live by their own laws." This isn't an exact quote, but it's something like that. There was an attempt to unify Russian legislation. That is, all independent and autonomous territories were to be brought together, internal legislation was to be abolished, and, accordingly, everything was to be brought under a single denominator, the law of the Russian Empire. That's why in Finland it's called Russification, and in Russia it's called unification.

STUDIO: Has Finland's status changed in any way since the February Revolution?

DF: Well, I wouldn't say it's changed much. But, firstly, after the February Revolution, Finland was simply shocked by the orgy of murders of Russian officers, when sailors of the Baltic Fleet slaughtered officers. We have countless memories of ordinary people being in shock, afraid to go outside, drunken sailors walking around... Around two hundred people were killed. Not just in Sveaborg, but that was on the mainland, in Helsinki. Because, after all, the fleet was based in Helsinki, in Helsinki. So all the brigades, the mine brigades, and the ships, the battleships were stationed here. Sveaborg had its pogroms, its atrocities. But Sveaborg is not particularly visible, so to speak, while Helsinki is. In the Orthodox cemetery in Helsinki, there are still graves of admirals who were killed.

Manifesto on the approval of the Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Finland and on its full application

Armed with full power, we hereby reaffirm and certify the religion, fundamental laws, rights and privileges which the citizens of the Grand Duchy of Finland, from the smallest to the greatest, enjoy under the constitution of this country, promising to preserve them in their inviolable and immutable force and effect.

The Finnish Diet, which we have decided to convene as soon as possible, will be presented with drafts of a new form of government for the Grand Duchy of Finland, and, if circumstances so require, drafts of individual fundamental legal provisions, developing the Constitution of Finland, will be submitted beforehand. […] As well as draft laws on an independent supreme court, on freedom of the press, and on unions.

We solemnly confirm to the Finnish people, on the basis of their constitution, the inviolable preservation of their internal autonomy, the rights of their national culture, and their languages. We express our firm conviction that Russia and Finland will henceforth be bound by respect for the law, for the sake of mutual friendship and the well-being of both free peoples.

In Petrograd, March 7/20, 1917.

STUDIO: When did the question of independence arise?

DF: The question of independence was constantly raised, especially after the autocracy was overthrown. Independence was considered a key issue. Finland was destined to become independent. It was a natural evolutionary process, as it had been in Norway, so to speak. The situation changed slightly after the October Revolution. Those on the left, for example, who demanded Finnish independence—the so-called left—began to say that they needed to wait for Russia to grant it. Meanwhile, those on the right began to demand immediate independence. That's why independence was declared on December 6th. And one of these myths is that Russia constantly claims that Lenin granted Finland independence. Well, no, that's not quite true, or rather, not true at all. Finland's independence was declared on December 6th. The decree wasn't even signed by Lenin, who, by and large, played a relatively minor role in granting this independence. Stalin, Trotsky, Bonch-Bruyevich, and a dozen others were present, including Lenin. And only on January 4, 1918, did this decree come into force, and, accordingly, it turned out that Russia de facto recognized what had already happened in Finland. In other words, the Finnish Senate simply followed its habit of coordinating all this. Even if Lenin hadn't recognized it, Finland's independence would have happened. Yes, it would have been a little more complicated. Because, again, Finland was considered part of the Russian Empire, and Western countries believed that Finland's independence should be recognized only after the mother country gave its permission. This is one of the reasons. There are many, many reasons, but one of them is that civil war broke out in Finland immediately. And, in fact, it was a four-sided war: the White and the Red, plus two sides—the German expeditionary force. And we mustn't forget that Russian troops were still on Finnish territory. But it was because the Russian troops behaved so passively that, in fact, the Whites seized power. The situation was that the Reds had artillery but no gunners, and the Whites had gunners but no artillery. Well, after Russian troops failed to intervene, the Whites captured the artillery, and, accordingly, one of the reasons for the defeat, including that of the Reds, was this civil war.

STUDIO: I would like to thank Dmitry Frolov, a researcher at the National Archives of Finland, for his story and comments. This was the podcast "We'll Do It Ourselves From Now On." Listen to us, comment—your opinions are important to us. See you there.