Grand Duchy of Finland
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{{Infobox Former Country
|native_name=''Storfurstendömet Finland''<br>''Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta''<br>''Великое княжество Финляндское'' <br>''Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe''
|conventional_long_name= Grand Duchy of Finland
|common_name = Finland
|continent=Europe
|status=Client state
|empire=Russia
|status_text=<small>[[Autonomy|Autonomous]] [[grand duchy]] of the [[Russian Empire]]</small>
|p1=Sweden–Finland
|flag_p1= Flag of Sweden.svg
|s1=Kingdom of Finland (1918)
|flag_s1= Flag of Finland.svg
|year_start=1809
|date_start=March 29
|event_start=[[Diet of Porvoo]]
|year_end=1917
|date_end=December 6
|event_end=Independence
|title_leader=[[List of Finnish monarchs|Grand Duke]]
|leader1=[[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]]
|year_leader1=1809-1825
|leader2=[[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]]
|year_leader2=1825-1855
|leader3=[[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]]
|year_leader3=1894-1917
|title_deputy=[[Governor-General of Finland|Governor-General]]
|deputy1=Count [[Georg Magnus Sprengtporten|Sprengtporten]]
|year_deputy1=1808-1809
|deputy2=Prince [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly|Barclay de Tolly]]
|year_deputy2=1809-1810
|deputy3=General [[Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov|Bobrikov]]
|year_deputy3=1898-1904
|image_flag=Flag of Russia.svg
|flag=Flag of the Russian Empire
|image_coat=Grand Duchy of Finland Arms.svg
|image_map=Grand Duchy of Finland.png
|government_type=Principality
|common_languages=[[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]]¹, [[Russian language|Russian]]¹
|religion=[[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland|Evangelical Lutheran]] and [[Finnish Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]]
|legislature=[[Diet of Finland]]
|stat_area1=360000
|stat_area2=338145
|stat_pop1=1636900
|stat_year1=1850
|stat_year2=Present day Finland
|capital=[[Turku]] (until 1812)<br>[[Helsinki]] (from 1812)
|currency=[[Russian ruble|Ruble]]² (1840-1859)<br>[[Markka]] (1860–1865) as the expression of a quarter-ruble<br>[[Markka]] (1865 onwards)
|footnotes=¹ Finnish language official from 1883, Russian language, 1809-1863 and 1900-1917<br>² Before 1840, old Swedish money, Russian money and Finnish 'kopeekka' issued in Turku since 1811.
}}
The '''Grand Duchy of Finland''' ({{lang-la|Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ}}) ({{lang-ru|Великое княжество Финляндское}} ''''Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe'') was the [[predecessor state]] of modern [[Finland]] that existed in its territory 1809–1917 as part of the [[Russian Empire]].
== History ==
An extended [[Finland Proper]] was made a titular [[Grand Duchy]] (more correctly, Grand [[Principality]]) in 1581, when King [[John III of Sweden]], who as a prince had been the [[Duke of Finland]] (1556–1561/63), extended the list of subsidiary titles of the Kings of Sweden considerably. <!-- ''"Sveriges, Götes och Vendes konung, storfurste till Finland, Karelen, Votski (Salonski) Pätin och Ingermanland i Ryssland och öfver de ester i Livland hertig".'' --> The new title [[Grand Duke of Finland]] did not result in any increase of Finnish autonomy. During the next two centuries, the title was used by some of John's successors on the throne, but not all. Usually it was just a subsidiary title of the king, used only on very formal occasions. However, in 1802 as an indication of resolve to keep Finland within Sweden in the face of increased [[Imperial Russia|Russia]]n pressure, King [[Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden|Gustav IV Adolf]] gave the title to his new-born son, Prince Carl Gustaf, who died three years later.
During the [[Finnish War]] between Sweden and Russia, the [[Riksdag of the Estates|four Estates]] of occupied Finland were assembled at the [[Diet of Porvoo]] on [[March 29]], [[1809]] to pledge allegiance to [[Alexander I of Russia]]. Following the Swedish defeat in the war and the signing of the [[Treaty of Fredrikshamn]] on [[September 17]], [[1809]], Finland became a true [[Autonomous entity|autonomous]] [[grand duchy]] as a part of the [[Imperial Russia|Russian Empire]]. For the foundation of the Grand Duchy as an entity with relatively greater autonomy within the Russian realm, and for regaining of the so-called [[Old Finland]] that was lost to Russia in the previous century, the Finnish-born [[Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt]], councillor to the emperor, was instrumental.
The history of the Grand Duchy can briefly be characterised as:
* 1809–1862: fifty years of consolidation, during which the Grand Duchy's authorities succeeded in convincing the Russian court not only of their own loyalty, but of that of all Finns.
* 1863–1898: thirty-five years of increased independence, including the re-establishment of the [[Diet of Finland]] and the elevation of [[Finnish language|Finnish]] from a language for the common people to a national language equal to [[Finland-Swedish|Swedish]]
* 1899–1917: twenty years of attempted [[Russification of Finland|russification]], ultimately unsuccessful and detrimental for Finland's relationship with the Russian Empire (and the [[Soviet Union]] that was formed shortly afterwards).
== Politics ==
The constitutional status of Finland was not codified before the February Manifesto of 1899, by which time Finns and Russians had developed quite different ideas about the status of Finland. The autonomy of Finland was at first encouraged by the Russians in part due to the relatively developed governmental structures in Finland (as compared to the emperor-centered Russia of early 19th century) and in part as a deliberate policy of goodwill to win over the minds of the Finnish people. The autonomous status lead Finns to develop their own ideas of nationalism and constitutional monarchy, which they could to a large extent implement in practice with the assent of the Tsar. However, while each tsar at the time of their coronation did agree to uphold the special status of the local laws in Finland, there is no evidence that they understood their position as one of a [[Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarch]], despite the growing prevalence of such an interpretation in Finland in the latter part of the 19th century. As governmental organizations developed in Russia, and unity of the empire became one of the leading tenets of Russian politics, clashes between the Russian and Finnish governmental organizations grew frequent and lead to the attempted [[Russification of Finland|russification]].
Finland nevertheless enjoyed a high degree of [[Wiktionary:autonomy|autonomy]], until its independence in 1917. In 1917, after the [[February Revolution]] in Russia, Finland's government worked towards securing and perhaps even increasing Finland's autonomy in domestic matters. On [[December 6]], [[1917]], shortly after the [[October Revolution]] in Russia, [[Finland's declaration of independence|Finland declared its independence]].
[[Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse]] was elected the new monarch as king instead of grand duke, marking the new status of the nation, but he never reigned, as a [[republic]] was proclaimed.
The emperor ruled as the [[Grand Duke of Finland]] and was represented in Finland by the [[Governor-General of Finland]]. The [[Senate of Finland]] was the highest governing body of the Grand Duchy, and was composed of native Finns. In [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]] Finnish matters were represented by the [[Finnish Minister Secretary of State]]. From 1863 onwards the [[Diet of Finland]] convened regularly. In 1906, the Diet, with its hereditary rather than universally elected representation, was dissolved and the modern [[Parliament of Finland]] was established. As one of the first regions in the world, Finland implemented [[universal suffrage]] and [[eligibility]], including both women and landless people.
== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of Finland}}
The Grand Duchy of Finland lay approximately within the same borders that had existed before the [[Moscow Peace Treaty (1940)|Moscow Peace Treaty]] of 1940. The main difference was [[Petsamo]], which was ceded to Finland only in the [[Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Finnish)|Treaty of Tartu]] in 1920.
== Counties ==
{{main|Counties in Finland}}
[[Image:Finlandduchy.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Finland c. 1900]]
The administrative division introduced during the Swedish era in 1634 was continued with few changes.
* [[Uusimaa County]] ''Uudenmaan lääni / Nylands län''
* [[Häme County]] ''Hämeen lääni / Tavastehus län''
* [[Turku and Pori County]] ''Turun ja Porin lääni / Åbo och Björneborgs län''
* [[Viipuri County]] ''Viipurin lääni / Viborgs län''
* [[Mikkeli County]] ''Mikkelin lääni / St. Michels län''
* [[Kuopio County]] ''Kuopion lääni / Kuopio län''
* [[Ostrobothnia County|Vaasa County]] ''Vaasan lääni / Vaasa län''
* [[Oulu County]] ''Oulun lääni / Uleåborg län''
== Heraldry ==
:''Main articles: [[Flag of Finland]], [[Coat of Arms of Finland]]''
The arms were originally designed for the sarcophagus of [[Gustav I of Sweden|Gustav Vasa]] around 1580. The arms were adopted also for the grand duchy, though the position of the "eastern" sword was changed later in the 19th century {{Fact|date=April 2007}} so that the lion was holding it in his other arm instead of walking over it.
In the 1860s talk about a Finnish flag started in the [[fennoman]] movement. In 1863 numerous proposals were presented for a national flag. [http://flagspot.net/flags/fi!prop1.html] The two main proposals were flags based on red/yellow and blue/white. The flag proposals never had a chance to be presented to the [[Diet of Finland|Diet]], so none of them ever became an official flag, however people used different designs for flags of their own choosing.
== Miscellaneous topics ==
* [[Diet of Finland]]
* [[Military of the Grand Duchy of Finland]]
==See also==
* [[Congress Poland]] - Kingdom of Poland (1815-1831), another [[constitutional monarchy]] within the [[Russian Empire]]
* [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]
* [[Russification]]
==External links==
* [http://www.histdoc.net/historia/altfinl.html#suom The text of The Imperial Manifesto of 1811 in German and Finnish]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Petri_Krohn/Finland_1911 Article on ''Finland''] in [[1911 Encyclopedia Britannica]]
[[Category:Former countries in Europe|Finland]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Europe|Finland]]
[[Category:Grand Duchy of Finland| ]]
[[Category:History of Finland]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of the Russian Empire|Finland]]
[[Category:1809 establishments]]
[[Category:1917 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Former Russian colonies]]
{{Link FA|de}}
[[be:Вялікае княства Фінляндскае]]
[[de:Großfürstentum Finnland]]
[[es:Gran Ducado de Finlandia]]
[[eo:Grandprinclando Finnlando]]
[[eu:Finlandiako Dukerri Handia]]
[[fo:Hertugadømið Finnland]]
[[fr:Grand-duché de Finlande]]
[[io:Finlando kom autonomio]]
[[os:Финляндийы Стыр Кънйазад]]
[[it:Granducato di Finlandia]]
[[la:Magnus Ducatus Finlandiae]]
[[nl:Grootvorstendom Finland]]
[[ja:フィンランド大公国]]
[[pl:Wielkie Księstwo Finlandii]]
[[pt:Grão-ducado da Finlândia]]
[[ro:Marele Principat al Finlandei]]
[[ru:Великое княжество Финляндское]]
[[fi:Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta]]
[[sv:Storfurstendömet Finland]]
[[uk:Фінляндське генерал-губернаторство]]
[[zh:芬兰大公国]]