Finland under Swedish rule

Finland Finland under den svenska tiden (Swedish) Ruotsin vallan aika Suomessa (Finnish)
Part of Sweden
1150s–1809
Flag Coat of arms
Gustav IV Adolf (Last)
Regent
• 1438–1440	Karl Knutsson Bonde
• 1512–1520	Sten Sture the Younger
Legislature	Riksdag of the Estates
Historical era	Middle Ages to Napoleonic Wars
• First Swedish Crusade	1150s
• Established	1150s
• Kalmar Union	1397–1523
• Swedish Empire	1611–1721
• Finnish War	1808–1809
• Diet of Porvoo	1809
• Treaty of Fredrikshamn	17 September 1809
Preceded by Succeeded by Finnish tribes Grand Duchy of Finland
Today part of	Finland

In

Swedish rule in the area of modern-day Finland started as a result of the Northern Crusades. The Finnish upper class lost its position and lands to new Swedish and German nobility and to the Catholic Church.^[1] The Swedish colonisation of some coastal areas of Finland with Christian population was a way to retain power in former pagan areas that had been conquered. It has been estimated that there were thousands of colonists.^[2] Colonisation led to several conflicts between the colonists and local population which have been recorded in the 14th century. In colonised areas the Finnish population principally lost its fishing and cultivation rights to the colonists.^[3][4] Though the Finnish provinces were an integral part of the Kingdom of Sweden with the same legal rights and duties as the rest of the realm, Finnish-speaking Swedish subjects faced comparative challenges in dealing with the authorities as Swedish was established as the sole official language of government. In fact, it remained a widely accepted view in Sweden proper that the Finns were in principle a separate and conquered people and therefore not necessarily entitled to be treated equitably with Swedes. Swedish kings visited Finland rarely and in Swedish contemporary texts Finns were often portrayed as primitive and their language inferior.^[5] Approximately half of the taxes collected in Finland was used in the country, while the other half was transferred to Stockholm.^[6]

Under Sweden, Finland was annexed as part of the Western Christian domain and the cultural, communal and economic order of Western Europe, on which the market economy, constitutional governments and legalistic principles were founded. Finland was the eastern frontier of the realm, which brought many wars and raids to the areas. The Finnish language, dating from prehistoric times, and some parts of folklore religion and culture remained under Swedish rule, even though they changed as they adapted to new circumstances.^[7] For example, in this period Finnish adopted the Latin alphabet as its writing system and approximately 1100 Swedish loanwords, though most of them are originally from Latin or Greek.^[8]

The historian Peter Englund has noted that Swedish-ruled Finland was not so much part of a national union or a province as "the eastern half of the realm which was practically destroyed in 1809, when both parts went on along their separate ways." Englund thinks that the period of Sweden as a superpower was the common "property" of Sweden and Finland, because the rise as a superpower would have been impossible for a poor nation without the resources of the eastern part of the realm.^[9] For a time, Finns were considered by a majority of historians to be the first inhabitants of Sweden together with the Sámi. This was also believed by some Swedish historians, like Olof von Dalin (18th century), who believed them to be one of the biblical Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. This change in attitude largely stemmed from a need to create a more equal footing during the decline of the Swedish Empire. They still faced difficulties in dealing with higher Swedish authorities in Finnish and a lack of publications in Finnish. ^[10]

Middle Ages (c. 1150 – 1523)

Finland becomes part of Sweden

The starting point of the Swedish rule is under a large amount of uncertainty. It is connected to the efforts of the Catholic Church to expand the faith in the Eastern Baltic Sea region and to Northern Crusades.

According to the

To help establish the power of the

Unlike the situation in central Europe, peasants in Sweden were free and feudalism never developed in the Swedish realm in the proportion it did in central Europe. The local government was based on local settlements (socken) and parishes in the countryside.

In the medieval times, the concept of cities was introduced to Finland. The bourgeoisie living in the cities, such as merchants and handicraft workers, only represented a small part of the population. The most important medieval cities in Finland were Turku and Viipuri. Other cities were Naantali, Rauma, Ulvila and Porvoo. Faraway trade in Finland and other Nordic countries in the medieval times was mostly in the hands of German Hanseatic League merchants and as such a significant portion of the bourgeoisie in Turku and Viipuri were Germans. In cities, the local government was in the hands of a court led by a mayor.

The frälse

The Ordinance of Alsnö, given during the reign of Magnus III of Sweden, established a small secular frälse (Finnish: rälssi) or nobility, freed from tax, in Sweden and Finland in 1280. The spiritual frälse meant spiritual people who were exempt from paying tax to the secular government (such as priests, nuns and beggar brothers).

The parishes of the

The Nordic Kalmar Union was founded by Queen of Denmark Margaret I in 1397. In practice, conflicts arose within the union, as the Swedish high classes with their expansion policy were interested in the east, the direction of Russia, whereas the Danish were more interested in the south – the direction of the German lands. There were also internal conflicts between the high class of individual nations. The struggle to power was not only the result of "foreign political" differences in modern parlance.

Even in the union age, Finland did not form a continuous governmental area but was divided into two separate governmental districts. Viipuri acted as a significant, sometimes almost independent centre, whereas Turku was a more integral part of the governmental area of the central authority. According to Kauko Pirinen, "In the decentralised union nation Finland was also decentralised. In practical terms, it was not a continuous political entity."^{[This quote needs a citation]}

The independent position of Viipuri was evident in that although Finland was divided into two separate lawspeaker areas, Southern and Northern Finland, in 1435, Viipuri had its own independent Karelian lawspeaker area already in the 1440s, with the lawspeaker probably appointed by the chief of the Viipuri Castle. However, the Karelian lawspeaker had no authority in the Turku land court.^[19]

In the union age, Finland's position as part of the realm changed. For four decades, the monarch's grasp of Finland was tighter than before. King Eric of Pomerania visited Finland twice, in 1403 and in 1407. With the union, the leading authorities in Finland also changed, as the king placed his own trustees to lead the castles. Abraham Broderson rose as the chief of the Turku Castle and the Danish Klaus Fleming was appointed as lawspeaker. Later, Klaus Lydekesson Djäkn [fi; sv] and Krister Nilsson Vasa [fi; sv] rose to significant positions. The bishop Magnus II Tavast [fi; sv] was a supporter of the union power.

The community under the union times

The frälse and the clergy formed the leading political group under the union times. Finland's own frälse only rarely ruled over larger slottslän, which were mostly ruled by Swedes or Danes, sometimes even German-born men, who had however lived in Finland for decades. The Finnish frälse was mostly responsible for the lower government, military duty and especially justice. The most significant duties in the church were also assigned to sons of the Finnish frälse under the union times. However, peasants could also participate in the activities of different courts and have an effect in political decisions, such as the election of the king.

Apart from Turku and Viborg, cities under union times were small, and numbered very few. As such, foreign trade was modest. Even Viborg could not compete with Reval (Tallinn) as the centre of Russian trade. Domestic trade was economically more significant than foreign trade.

Under the union times, the Finnish government was reorganised to help the economic situation. In 1405, hundreds of farms had their tax exemption status revoked. With this, the foundation for systematic agricultural taxing was created. The crown attempted to raise tax income also by settler activities: farming fields caused tax income, whereas work in the wilderness did not. Tax income could be raised by dealing out wilderness areas for permanent population. In 1409, Turku started minting its own money, which had a different value than the money used in the rest of Sweden. They were örtugs made of silver and six penny coins. In 1407, Finland got its own supreme court, the Turku land court, which was also given governmental powers. The leaders of Finland could now decide on their country's matters in their own meetings.

The union begins to fall apart

Externally, the early times of the

No one from Finland participated in the Arboga meeting in 1435. In the same autumn, the bishop Magnus II Tavast and Krister Nilsson arrived in Sweden, and in the negotiations there they participated in the discharge of the leaders of the Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson rebellion and the forming of a compromise. Krister Nilsson became the drots (seneschal) and Karl Knutsson Bonde became the marshal. After Nilsson had returned to Finland in the same autumn, rebel movements started in Sweden again.

In order to fight the rebel movements, the Finnish peasants were promised a cut in taxes in a letter dated 24 June 1436, signed by the archbishop, the drots and the marshal, under authority from the government. The stated reason was that the Finns had proven to be loyal to the realm and sworn never to take up a leader of their own, and promised not to rise up in rebellion, and accepted the leader appointed by the government. Seppo Suvanto [fi; sv] has interpreted this so that Sweden feared that the Finnish local government would detach itself from the Swedish realm and the Finns would choose a leader of their own.^[23]

Clashes of power between Finland and Sweden

The king was finally deposed in 1439, after which Sweden was ruled by a council of

In 1440, the Danish invited Christopher of Bavaria to their country and elected him as their king. In Sweden, negotiations were being held about the conditions of his recognition. Charles VIII of Sweden moved to Finland in the same year and took hold of the Turku and Kastelholm castles, promising to denounce his position as leader of the realm if he were to receive the whole of Finland as his county. This wish was granted, apart from Åland. However, the situation changed very quickly, and Charles VIII had to contend himself with the Vyborg slottslän. Turku returned to the power of an official appointed by the king. The king's intention was to prevent the forming of a continuous Finland.

After Christopher died in 1448, Charles VIII sailed from Vyborg to

Dispute over the eastern border

The next period was marked by problems in the eastern parts of the realm. As population spread to the wilderness, border disputes and fights with Novgorod and the Karelians started. As Savonian population spread, Northern Karelia was also populated. In 1478, Novgorod was annexed to Moscow, and a new power arose beyond the eastern border. To secure the border, the Olavinlinna castle was built to protect the new settlers. The Russians viewed this as a breach of the border treaty, and open war reigned for many years until the interim peace in 1482. However, the parties could not agree on where the border was to be located.

From Axelsson to Sten Sture

In the battle for the Swedish crown, Finnish castles were also conquered and persuaded to the union king's side. The Danish knight Erik Axelsson Tott came with his brothers to conquer castles in the 1480s, and in the end, all the castles were under the power of the Axelssons. After Erik's death he left the Vyborg, Hämeenlinna and Savonlinna counties to his brothers Ivar and Lauri, who already ruled over Raseborg. However, the formation of a continuous circle of power did not fit to the regent Sten Sture's plans. In 1481 Sten Sture arrived in Finland, all the way to Vyborg. The regent and the local governors could not come to an agreement: the regent promised tax cuts to the people; the local landowners could not accept this.

In the end of the union times, no regent had universal acceptance from all the Nordic countries any more. The King of Denmark John (reigned 1481–1513) was not accepted in the union countries, and the councils took power into their own hands. In 1483 Sten Sture received power over three counties in Finland: Vyborg, Savonlinna and Hämeenlinna. The former realm of the Axelssons became the regent's support area and Finland became an even more integral part of the central government; especially as even Raseborg came to the power of Sten Sture's supporter Knut Posse. Sture did not distribute the castles to the nobility, but ruled over them through officials dependent on him, gathering a significant amount of tax income to himself.

Unrest during the end of medieval times

In the late 15th century, previous skirmishes with Moscow escalated into a

In the same year, the Privy Council of Sweden deposed Sten Sture as regent. However, the Finnish slottsläns remained under his control. A civil war followed, where King John beat the regent's troops, becoming King of Sweden himself (1497–1501). In 1499, Sture had to renounce his areas in Finland. In 1503, Svante Nilsson Sture (reigned 1504–1512) was elected as regent, and the Finnish leaders swore their loyalty to him. In a meeting held in Turku, the people showed their support for his position. However, the unanimity was only specious, as part of the leaders of Finland supported their own political standpoint together with Sten Sture's family. Their goals have remained somewhat unclear. However, national history has emphasised the role of eastern politics in the disagreements.

The age of Vasa (1523–1617)

The reign of Gustav Vasa

The final battles of the union

The final times of the union were a time of unrest in most of Finland, not only in Vyborg. In the late 16th century, the Danish went on pillages on the Finnish coast, and the pirate captain Otto Rudi robbed Turku and its

An early modern state is born

During the reign of Gustav Vasa, a continuous Swedish realm started to form. He managed to suppress the regional communities who had been driving their own politics. In turn, the reformation suppressed the church. The high nobility, already weakened by the bloodbath, was now attached to support royal politics. However, the governing was still done in the medieval tradition: the king had numerous noblemen and scribes to help him, but these were not really officials. Also the government did not have a clear distinction of jobs, but tasks under the king's service changed according to the situation. In the 1530s, Gustav Vasa started to bring in German government officials to the country, along with whom new visions of royal power arrived in Sweden. During the 1544 Västerås Diet [fi; sv], the royalty was changed to hereditary and Gustav Vasa's eldest son Erik was named heir to the throne.

The crown's local government concentrated in the hands of officials after land grants had been revoked. Their jobs were numerous, but collecting taxes was one of the most important ones. During Gustav Vasa's reign, tax collecting switched to literal government; first, systematic land documents (of ownership of land) were kept to help in taxation, other kinds of catalogues and literal accounts soon followed. The officials were also responsible for repopulating vacated houses, providing transport and roads. The officials also had to prevent illegal trade and handwork practiced in the countryside. Also overall peacekeeping and justice work belonged to the officials' duties – this way the crown's share of tax and fine income could be secured. Enhancing government raised the crown's tax income by tens of percents.

The war against Russia

Continuing conflicts with Russia were still significant in Finnish foreign politics. In the start of Gustav Vasa's reign, negotiations were held in an attempt to regain an idea of where the borderline went. The Swedish tried to postpone checking the borderline for as long as possible, and despite temporary agreements, conflicts and raids on both sides continued. In a nobility meeting held in Vyborg in 1555, the king was advised to go to war. The attack resulted in a counter-attack by Ivan the Terrible from the direction of Vyborg and Savonia. Negotiations held from 1556 to 1557 resulted in an interim peace lasting 40 years. There was a plan to hold a new negotiation about the borderline in 1559, but this never happened.

Misconduct by the nobility

In war times, the king had spent a long time in Finland. There he ordered an extensive investigation of misconduct by the nobility. This investigation resulted in the so-called Jakob Teit complaint list, which is a significant source of community history in the 16th century. In summer 1556, the king made Finland into its own duchy, and named his son John as its ruler. Gustav Vasa died in September 1560.

From throne conflicts to the start of great power politics

The reign of Erik XIV

Erik XIV was crowned as king in 1561. He attempted to strengthen the monarchy even more in regard to the nobility and also to his brothers. To weaken their position, Erik founded new counties and baronships to divide the power of dukes. In Finland, the king's politics also resulted in new lawspeakers being appointed to the country. In 1561 the king approved the so-called Arboga articles at a diet, which submitted the dukes to the king's control and stripped them of a chance for independent foreign politics.

Destroying the position of John, the duke of Finland, was important to the king. As John's duchy, Finland became a "feudal minicountry"^[

nobility also resigned from the German knighthood.

The struggle for power

After the conflict had intensified, the king assembled a diet in 1563, where John was sentenced to death. The development led to the siege of the Turku Castle in summer 1563. After conflicts and bombardments, the castle surrendered on 12 August 1563, after which the luxury of the castle was destroyed, the duke and his wife were arrested and sent to Sweden for imprisonment. In the 1560s, Swedish foreign policy was marked by war against Poland in the

Denmark-Norway and Lübeck

. This required good relations to the east: concentrating military forces elsewhere required good relations towards Moscow. Erik XIV's era ended in 1568 after the nobility rose up against the king. This time even the Finnish nobility was on the side of the rebels, both old supporters of John and Erik's trusted men. The Turku Castle fell under the power of the rebels. Erik spent the next years in prison, until he was sentenced to death and poisoned in 1577.

The Long Wrath

Under the reign of

Viena Karelia. The war ended in 1595 with the Treaty of Teusina

.

A new struggle for the throne

After John III died in 1592, the throne was left vacant. There were two candidates for his successor: Sigismund and the duke Karl. The question of the monarchy was entwined with church politics: in the time of the

Lutheran Sweden. In 1593, Sigismund arrived in the country to be crowned. He took his oath as a ruler in the autumn of the next year. At the same time, he accepted the Lutheran line of the Uppsala

estate and church meeting (1593). With Sigismund's coronation, a personal union between Sweden and Poland, lasting a few years, was born; Sigismund was king of Poland until 1632.

After the king returned to Poland, conflicts arose among the nobility about Karl's position as a regent. In this conflict, Finland's leader Klaus Fleming sided with the king. At the Arboga diet in 1597, Karl was still named as regent. At this time, he declared his opponents, especially Klaus Fleming, to be rebels.

Justice becomes stricter

In general, secular courts in Europe during the start of the New Age in the 16th and 17th centuries started using the so-called "

magic was forbidden, and for example blasphemy, swearing, betraying one's parents, perjury, killing, demanding too high interest, false testimony and numerous sexual crimes could be punished by death. The Law of Moses became a general guide of justice in the Swedish realm in 1608 and remained in force until the new law of the realm in 1734. However, the law was often not used to the full extent of its cruelty, and death penalties were replaced with lesser penalties in about half of the cases.^[24][25]

The peasant unrest in the 16th century and the Cudgel War

Unrest increased among the peasants during Gustav Vasa's reign, because of both heightened taxes and the struggle for power amongst his sons. The unrest resulted in the Cudgel War from 1596 to 1597. It ended bloodily, with the army beating the Ostrobothnian and Savonian peasants, armed by cudgels, spears and bows. The rebellion in Finland was directed at the nobility in power and especially at Klaus Fleming. The rebels sought help from the duke Karl who had been trying to usurp the throne. According to current research, the reasons for the rebellion included strain left from the 25-year war, financial setbacks and suffering caused by the castle camp system. Researchers disagree on how big an effect the duke Karl's leading the rebels against Klaus Fleming had on the outbreak of the Cudgel War.^[26][27]

The Great Power age (1611–1721)

The Treaty of Stolbovo

From 1604 to 1611, the duke Karl of Södermanland was king

Gustav II Adolf inherited the throne. The realm was in a bad state and Sweden had to sign a peace treaty with Denmark in 1613. The Treaty of Stolbovo was signed with Russia in 1617, which resulted in the Käkisalmi county, Nöteborg and part of Ingria

being annexed into Sweden.

Modernisation and renewals

Under the leadership of the king and the chancellor of state

Niels Bielke and count Per Brahe the Younger, whose official residence was the Turku Castle. During the superpower age, new cities were founded in Finland, as well as the Turku court of justice and in 1640, Finland's first university, the Royal Academy of Turku

.

The Thirty Years' War

Åke Tott was a Finnish soldier / Field marshal

.

Gustav II Adolf in the Battle of Breitenfeld

in 1631

In the Baltics, Sweden was still at war with Poland, and in 1629 the temporary

Protestant princes in 1630 after making landfall in Northern Germany. Sweden's aim in the war was to support the German Protestants and strengthen its own position. However, Gustav II Adolf died in the Battle of Lützen in 1632 and his daughter Christina succeeded him on the throne while still a minor. In practice, the realm was ruled by a caretaker government led by Axel Oxenstierna. In the Peace of Westphalia

that had ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648, Sweden secured its position as a superpower. However, the Thirty Years' War and other conflicts in the superpower age drained Sweden's and Finland's resources badly. A significant part of the peasants had to serve in the army and the navy, and many of them died in service.

From the wars to the age of peace

During Christina's reign from 1632 to 1654, a large amount of lands were given as

Great Famine

, which resulted in a significant part of the population dying of hunger and illnesses.

The Great Northern War

During the reign of Charles XI's successor Charles XII of Sweden, the Great Northern War erupted in 1700, resulting in Sweden losing its superpower position. The cause of the war was an alliance against Sweden made by its enemies Denmark, Russia, Poland and Saxony. In the 1617 Treaty of Stolbovo, Russia had lost its connection to the Baltic Sea. The renovation-minded tsar Peter the Great sought to reopen a connection to the Baltic Sea for Russia, so that its connections and trade to Western Europe would become easier.

Although Charles XII managed to beat Denmark, Russia's attacking troops (in the

Greater Wrath. The occupation period was destructive to Finland. Thousands of people were killed and even more were sent to Russia, and a large part of the country's officials and clergy fled to Sweden. The Great Northern War and the Greater Wrath ended in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. In the treaty, Ingria, Estonia, Livonia, the Käkisalmi county and Vyborg were annexed to Russia. The part of Karelia annexed to Russia is commonly called Old Finland. Russians also sometimes enslaved large parts of the Finnish population, both Swedes and Finns. Swedish boys were praised for their high literacy and almost all Swedish slaves were able to read. They were considered luxury goods by Russian and Ottoman nobles for their beautiful eyes and blonde hair. Slavery was banned in Sweden in the 14th century. But the primitive ruling system in Russia enabled slavery to remain economically feasible. During the Swedish and Russian wars, Finns were frequently sold into slavery by Russian Cossacks. Due to the Swedish state, higher morals and political pressure concerning slavery created a demand to stop the trade of Finnish and Swedish slaves in Russia among Russian noblemen.^[28][29]

Karl XII also spoke some Finnish with the Finnish part of the Swedish military.[30]

Proposals about the Swedification of Finland

During the Great Northern War, professor

Skåne as immigrants to Finland to defend the country against Russian attacks. In return, Finnish soldiers could be moved to Skåne as farmers and to defend the border against Denmark. Also the Finnish sauna custom – "that constant sauna bathing" – should be eliminated as it wasted firewood and was different from the Swedish customs.^[31]

In the 18th century, there was discussion about bringing Swedish population as immigrants to Finland in a different context. The idea was to kill two birds with one stone. On one hand, areas suffering from overpopulation, such as Dalarna County, would be addressed. On the other hand, farming could be extended to sparsely-populated areas in Finland. The Swedish official and economist Ulrik Rudenschöld [fi; sv] specified in 1738 that this kind of migration would help develop bilingualism in the eastern parts of the realm.^[31]

At the Diet of 1738, the president of the court Samuel Åkerhielm the younger [fi; sv] started a discussion about languages at the discussion of the great secret court. According to Åkerhielm, the peculiarity of the eastern part of the realm was exaggerated and the use of the Finnish language was a lesser problem than what had been claimed. According to him it was short-sighted to demand knowledge of both languages in order to get official posts in the eastern parts of the realm. If posts in the eastern parts of the realm required knowledge of Finnish, which in practice meant being born in Finland, the same requirement had to be also in the western parts of the realm. He saw this as causing envy and striking a wedge between "our two nations", which would harm the realm. However, he saw it as an unchangeable fact that the people in the realm spoke two different languages. Jakob Faggot continued the same thought in his letter in 1745, but according to him, the Finnish people should be taught Swedish so they could become as good Swedes in their language as they were in their mind.^[32]

The Diet of 1746–1747 saw the increase of the use of the Swedish language in Finland as favourable. It was seen as "strengthening the trust between two peoples". However, even the proponents of this matter saw its practical fulfilment as impossible.^[31]

The Age of Liberty and the Gustavian Age (1721–1809)

Power away from the king

In the Swedish realm after Charles XII, the estates took power away from the king in the 1719 and 1720 governments and the age of autocracy changed into the age of estate rule (the "Age of Liberty"). Economy and science progressed during this age, but on the other side, power politics among parties caused problems. France and Russia gained power in Sweden by financing competing parties, which were called the Caps and the Hats.^[33]

Finnish became an official language of the Swedish administration in Civil Code of 1734. So monolingual Finnish parliamentarians could always use Swedish translators at the Riksdag of the Estates and use Finnish with local administrators. It was a new liberal reform made to modernize the Swedish state.^[34] The reform had been proposed earlier in the 18th century but the invasion of Finland by Russia delayed the Swedish government from passing the new law until 1734. The law is also the oldest law both partially still in use in both Finland and Sweden. It was the first time in Sweden and Finland's history when the king and Riksdag created a unitary legal code applied to the entire country. It was also translated to Finnish so that Finnish speakers would understand.^[35]

The Hats' War

The Hats' rise to power in the 1738–1739 diet led to a Russophobic foreign policy, which was a disadvantage for Finland. An attack war against Russia, known as the

Lesser Wrath. The Russian empress Elizabeth spread a manifesto in 1742, urging Finns to abandon Sweden and form an autonomous state protected by Russia. However, after the occupation of Finland, promises of autonomy stopped.^[36] The occupation ended in the Treaty of Åbo

. The occupation during the Lesser Wrath did not cause as much damage as the longer and more violent Greater Wrath a couple of decades earlier.

Thoughts in the new age

After the war, the mercantilist principles in the trade led to the financial gain from tar and shipbuilding being left in Stockholm. In 1760, Anders Chydenius, the vicar of Kokkola, started demanding freedom of trade and speech.^[33] During the last decades of the 18th century, interest to Finnish history and Finnish national poetry arose in the Royal Academy of Turku, especially because of Henrik Gabriel Porthan, the "father of Finnish history".^[37] Of the researchers, Eino Jutikkala says: "People in various regions and of various estates in Finland in the late 18th century consciously considered themselves as Finnish as opposed to the Swedish who lived on the other side of the sea."^[38]

The Swedish clergy demanded universal literacy. Finland and Sweden had the highest literacy rates in comparison to other European nations due to Lutheran priests demanding pupils and farmers to read the Bible, which led to quick development in reading skills. Already in the 1660s religious school classes could read with good scores for the time in comparison with other European nations. Charles XI of Sweden believed that an illiterate man could never become a full member of the Swedish church. Therefore, he could never join the church and would never marry if he were not a member of the church. In Carl av Forsell's [sv] official examinations of Finland and Sweden, he found high literacy an essential part of religious education for commoners in both countries in 1833.^[39] The first Finnish papers only started to appear in the late 18th century.^[10]

The restless reign of Gustav III

In 1772, after

new constitution was made, giving power back to the king. The age tried to get rid of mercantilism. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion expanded. Finnish officers trusted the king less, because the nobility lost their power to the king, who was supported by the people. Some high-ranking soldiers moved to serve in Russia.^[33]

From 1788 to 1790, the so-called

Gustav III's war, started by Gustav III, was fought between Sweden and Russia. Sweden was also confronted by Denmark. The officers in the Anjala conspiracy, among others, opposed the war. Despite a decisive marine victory at the Battle of Svensksund, Sweden did not gain any new territories in the Treaty of Värälä. The Union and Security Act of 1789 strengthened the king's power even more. With the war, the nobility grew even more bitter towards the king, and this eventually led to the king's murder in 1792.^[33]

Sweden loses Finland

The Finnish War was fought from 1808 to 1809 between Russia and Sweden. The reason for the war were the Treaties of Tilsit made between Russia and France on 7 July 1807. In the treaties, France and Russia had become allies and Russia had promised to pressure, with armed force if necessary, Sweden and other countries to join the Continental System against the United Kingdom, an embargo that France would have used to strengthen its position against the maritime power of the United Kingdom.

The last Grand Duke of Finland during the Swedish era was Gustav IV Adolf's second son Karl Gustaf, who was born in 1802 and died as an infant in 1805.^[40] Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, the last Swedish king of Finland, ironically was one of few Swedish kings to learn Finnish. He also became popular among the people in Finland when he was nine years old and spoke Finnish with local Finns during his visit to Finland. Gustav travelled to Finland on several vacations because of his extensive knowledge of the language. But he was considered an incompetent ruler when it came to international politics and his management of Swedish Armed Forces.^[41][42]

The Swedish attitude towards Finland

The Swedish thought Finland was far away from the centre of power and from

Niels Bielke, who had arrived in Turku in the 1620s to strengthen the rule of the central power, described Finland as a repulsive land of barbarians, and the bishop Isaacus Rothovius felt he was "in the middle of scorpions and barbarians".^{[This quote needs a citation}

]

Professor Michael Gyldenstolpe [fi; sv], who had moved from Växjö to Turku in 1640, repeatedly wrote to Per Brahe the Younger that as a Smålandian, he was "a foreigner in this country" and he felt sorry for "the moment he arrived in this country". Carl Johan Ljunggren, who had served in the Västmanland regiment in the Finnish War in 1808 described the Swedish-speaking people of the coast as similar to the common people of Sweden, but the peasants in the inner country as looking repulsive and impolite. They wore dome-shaped caps on their heads and leather boots on their feet. Living in smoke cabins had made their skin a dirty shade of brown and they spoke "incomprehensible gobbledygook".^[43]

During the period after the loss of the great Swedish power status and due to the potential growth of Finnish nationalism, a need among the Swedish nobles and historians for a common Swedish and Finnish identity arose. Instead of treating the Finnish culture and history as inferior, the Swedish historians and nobles sought to make Finnish culture appear more connected to the history of Sweden. The Swedish state (during the period) advocated that the Finns were the original Inhabitants of Sweden. According to Johannes Messenius, a Finnish king was the first monarch to rule Scandinavia. This thesis that the Finns were the first to rule Scandinavia launched during the 16th century, as previously mentioned this was to create a combined Finnish and Swedish identity. This idea conflicted with previous historical consensus which ruled that the Swedes settled Scandinavia before the Finns arrived.

The first king of Scandinavia was allegedly (according to Messenius) the first monarch of the Fornjót dynasty. This first king was of Finnish descent. Finland was the first kingdom in Scandinavia according to Sven Lagerbring and Johan Ihre.^[44]

Swedish historians and politicians during the Great power era sought to make Sweden appear more prestigious. Considered being connected with a great and glorious past was deemed of great importance. Swedes and Finns being related to ancient peoples with a proud history was invented for Sweden to appear more prestigious among foreign nobles. Swedish historians believed Finns were still speaking Hebrew and were considered a lost tribe of Israel.

Hebrew

tribe. Von Dalin stated in 1732: "they are a mix of Scythians, Greeks and Hebrews". Finns were to have been the creators of the first advanced civilization according to some Swedish historians.^[10] He describes Finns as simple people that live simple lives but are as close to God as they can be: very happy and satisfied with their easy life and closeness to nature and God.^[45] Von Dalin also claims Finns are as fast as trolls on their skis moving incredibly fast, but that their clothing style looks somewhat wild in comparison with Swedes making them look like trolls.^[46]

According to von Dalin, the Finnish and Swedish elite even before the

Old Uppsala kingdom was created. The Finns, according to von Dalin, took part in the Gothic migration from Sweden into the Roman empire. When the East Geats together with the Finns made up the ancestors of the Gothic migration from Sweden.^{[47][clarification needed}

]

This noble Finnish past was also created by a geopolitical need to create a common identity between Swedes and Finns against Russia. The idea of Finns being a lost tribe of Israel became a consensus among Swedish historians. The Finnish language was ancient Hebrew according, to the Swedish priest

Swedes made up the bulk of early Swedish civilization. It got rejected by Swedish mainstream historians that meant it was Finnish tribes

that first reached Sweden. The idea that Finnish was Hebrew was later abandoned by a majority of mainstream historians, though some stuck to the theory. But the Finns being the first people in Sweden stuck among the majority of historians.

When Finland was lost, the ideas of Finns being the original native population of Sweden and a lost tribe of Israel was gradually abandoned. It was abandoned since there were no geopolitical benefits for building a common identity any longer. New ideas began to develop; instead of the Swedes being mixed with Finnic peoples, the idea arose that Swedes were completely culturally clean both in history and archaeology. Especially due to the shared Viking history with Norway and Denmark, after the

Italy

started to develop among the

Nordic language-speaking populations in Scandinavia in the 19th century.^[10]

References

1. ISBN 9789515832122
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2. ^ Haggren, Georg; Halinen, Petri; Lavento, Mika; Raninen, Sami; Wessman, Anna (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet (in Finnish). Helsinki: Gaudeamus. pp. 420–421.
3. Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
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4. Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
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11. ^ Georg Haggren, Petri Halinen, Mika Lavento, Sami Raninen ja Anna Wessman (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet. Helsinki: Gaudeamus. p. 376.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
12. ^ Uino, Pirjo (1997). Ancient Karelia. Helsinki: Suomen muinaismuistoyhdistyksen aikakausikirja 104. p. 201.
13. ^ Tarkiainen, Kari (2010). Ruotsin itämaa. Helsinki: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. p. 88.
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16. ^ Haggren, Georg; Halinen, Petri; Lavento, Mika; Raninen, Sami; Wessman, Anna (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet (in Finnish). Helsinki: Gaudeamus. p. 343.
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18. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura
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19. ^ Holappa, Veli: Verot ja oikeuslaitos 1500–1600 -luvulla: Keskiaikainen oikeudenkäyttö Archived 14 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
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23. ^ Salminen, Tapio: Suomen linnojen ja voutikuntien hallinto 1412–1448^{[permanent dead link]}, pp. 37–38. Master's thesis, University of Tampere 1993.
24. ^ Nenonen, Marko; Kervinen, Timo: Finnish witch trials in synopsis (1500–1750) Archived 28 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
25. ^ "Jumalan laki astuu voimaan". Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
26. ^ Katajala, Kimmo. "Miksi nuijasota syttyi Pohjanmaalla?" (PDF) (in Finnish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2016.
27. ISBN 951-1-14253-4
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28. ^ "Slave trade continued in Russia even after the Middle Ages". EurekAlert!. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
29. ^ Dash, Mike (15 January 2015). "Slavery on the Steppes: Finnish children in the slave markets of medieval Crimea". A Blast From The Past. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
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31. ^
    ISBN 978-951-583-256-6
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33. ^ ^{a b c d} "Suomi – Vapauden ja hyödyn aika". fennica.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 5 August 2020.
34. ^ Vahtola, p. 162.
35. ^ Mattila, H.E.S. (29 June 2015). "Oikeustiede: kodifikaatio: laajempi kuvaus". Tieteen Termipankki (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
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38. ^ Jutikkala-Pirinen: Kivikaudesta Koivistoon, 1989, pp. 194, 196, 205, the same in the 2002 edition.
39. OCLC 797917608. Archived from the original
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40. WSOY
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    on 4 November 2021.
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45. ^ von Dalin, Olov (1747). Svea Rikes historia. Första Delen (in Swedish). p. 280. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
46. ^ von Dalin, Olov (1747). Svea Rikes historia. Första Delen (in Swedish). p. 276. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
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Bibliography

• Vahtola, Jouko: Suomen historia: Jääkaudesta Euroopan unioniin.
  ISBN 951-1-17397-9
  .
• Zetterberg, Seppo (ed.): Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen.
  ISBN 951-0-14253-0
  .
• Korhonen, Arvi (ed.): Suomen historian käsikirja, previous part. WSOY, 1949, Porvoo – Helsinki.
• Karonen, Petri: Pohjoinen suurvalta: Ruotsi ja Suomi 1521–1809. WSOY, 1999, Helsinki.
  ISBN 951-0-23739-6
  .
• Pohjolan-Pirhonen, Helge: Suomen historia 1523–1617. WSOY, 1960, Porvoo – Helsinki.

External links

• Agricola Finland history network: Events, documents and articles about the history of Finland in chronological order