Old Finland

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Old Finland (

• In the Treaty of Nystad (1721) that concluded the Great Northern War, Sweden was forced to cede Käkisalmi County and Viborg/Viipuri County to Russia. The ceded Finnish-speaking Ingria around Saint Petersburg, however, was not included in Old Finland.
• In the
  Kymi river and around Savonlinna
  to Russia.

The Russian ruler guaranteed religion, property rights, old Swedish laws, and some privileges to the inhabitants of these territories. However, a circumvention occurred, as the Russian administrators and Russian military were unfamiliar with the Swedish system. The Russians were used to a different system with its serfs, serfdom. As a result, the economy of the area was markedly different from that on the other side of the border.

The ruler's guarantee froze the situation. Thus legal developments in Sweden were not introduced to these areas: the Viipuri and Käkisalmi territory did not adopt the 1734 General Law of Sweden (though

The territories enjoyed a sort of

Under Russian rule the combined territories formed the Vyborg Governorate, or Government of Vyborg.

Ecclesiastically, the areas were administered as a diocese, but without a

The area was not forced to contribute men to the Russian Army until 1797. However, there were many non-Finnish troops in the area, especially after the 1788–90 war.

Scandinavian-style district courts continued in judicial function, each with a judge and lay members. However, the Russian estate owners and military often ignored these courts' decisions and imposed illegal punishments on the peasants.

Because of the absence of an evenly applied, up-to-date legal system in the area, apathy in some ways dominated among Old Finland's residents; and not many figures from the area have a prominent place in history. Two of these are

• Fief of Viborg
• Finnish Karelia
• History of the administrative division of Russia

Sources

Further reading

• Viipurin läänin liittäminen muun Suomen yhteyteen, A. Danielsson-Kalmari

References