Diet of Finland
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The Diet of Finland (Finnish Suomen maapäivät, later valtiopäivät; Swedish Finlands Lantdagar), was the legislative assembly of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 and the recipient of the powers of the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates. (The term valtiopäivät today means an annual session of the Parliament of Finland, while in Swedish Riksdagen is now the name for both the Parliament and its sessions.)
Åbo Lantdag
The first States of Finland were held in Helsinki in 1616.[1] Other assemblies (Åbo lantdag) were held in Turku, for example in 1676. The assembly was called together by Axel Julius De la Gardie. The estate of peasants was chaired by Heikki Heikinpoika Vaanila.
The Porvoo Diet
During the
The Estates convene again
Not until June 1863, after the Crimean War had taken place, did Alexander II call the Estates again. The opening ceremony was held on 18 September and the Emperor made his declaration promising to introduce changes to the constitution, including having the Diet meet regularly. The Diet duly met again in January 1867, when it passed a law on its own procedures. The Diet was to meet at least every fifth year, but in practice it met every third year.
In the elections for the Diet of 1872, members of the two
The first period of oppression
In 1899
Reform
The unrest during the
Composition and Procedure 1869–1906
From 1869 to 1906 the Diet of Finland was
- Nobility: 201 seats; the heads of noble families had the right either to sit in person or to name a family member as a representative.
- Clergy: 40 seats; included bishops, priests elected from each bishopric, and elected representatives of university personnel and other senior teachers.
- Bourgeoisie: 30–70 seats; these were the representatives of the people living in cities, but only men with taxable wealth were eligible to vote. The number of seats rose when the number of such men grew.
- Peasants: 70 seats; elected through indirect elections in which only peasants who owned land, about 4.5 per cent of the rural population in the early 1900s, could vote. Each municipality in a given rural district chose at least one elector, and these electors together chose the representative for their district.
Normally, all four chambers debated separately, and in the whole history of the Diet there were only two joint sessions, at which voting was not permitted. At least three of the four chambers had to pass a bill before it could be approved by the Emperor. Consensus was sought through joint committees. Any bill affecting the privileges of an estate could be passed only with the consent of that estate. All four chambers had to agree in order to modify constitutional laws.
Sessions and meeting places of the Diet
List of sessions of the Finnish diet.[2]
- 1809 (January to July);
- 1863–1864 (September 1863 to April 1864);
- 1867 (January to May);
- 1872 (February to June);
- 1877–1878; (January 1877 to January 1878);
- 1882 (January to June);
- 1885 (January to May);
- 1888 (January to May);
- 1891 (January to May);
- 1894 (January to June);
- 1897 (January to June);
- 1899 (January to May);
- 1900 (January to June);
- 1904–1905 (December 1904 to April 1905);
- 1906 (January to September);
The Diet of Finland, and the four estates of which it was composed, met in a number of different locations during its existence. In the 1860s, all the estates met in the
Diets and Speakers
See also
- Lantmarskalks of the Finnish House of Nobility
- Parliament of Finland
- Senate of Finland
- Governor-General of Finland
- Finnish nobility
References
External links
- History of the Finnish Parliament – Official site
- Kejsarens tal vid lantdagens avslutande den 19 juli 1809 – in Swedish at Wikisource (Originally in French)
- Comparison between Diet of Finland and Parliament of Finland (in Finnish)