1.
Swedish language
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Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken natively by more than 9 million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is currently the largest of the North Germanic languages by number of speakers, Standard Swedish, spoken by most Swedes, is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties descended from the rural dialects still exist. The standard word order is, as in most Germanic languages, V2, Swedish morphology is similar to English, that is, words have comparatively few inflections. There are two genders, no cases, and a distinction between plural and singular. Older analyses posit the cases nominative and genitive and there are remains of distinct accusative and dative forms as well. Adjectives are compared as in English, and are inflected according to gender, number. The definiteness of nouns is marked primarily through suffixes, complemented with separate definite and indefinite articles, the prosody features both stress and in most dialects tonal qualities. The language has a large vowel inventory. Swedish is also notable for the voiceless velar fricative, a highly variable consonant phoneme. Swedish is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, by many general criteria of mutual intelligibility, the Continental Scandinavian languages could very well be considered dialects of a common Scandinavian language. In the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language began to undergo new changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, the dialects of Old East Norse that were spoken in Sweden are called Runic Swedish while the dialects of Denmark are referred to as Runic Danish. The dialects are described as runic because the body of text appears in the runic alphabet. Unlike Proto-Norse, which was written with the Elder Futhark alphabet, Old Norse was written with the Younger Futhark alphabet, from 1200 onwards, the dialects in Denmark began to diverge from those of Sweden. An early change that separated Runic Danish from the dialects of Old East Norse was the change of the diphthong æi to the monophthong é. This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain, there was also a change of au as in dauðr into a long open ø as in døðr dead
2.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
3.
Russian Empire
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The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
4.
Flag of Finland
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The flag of Finland, also called siniristilippu, dates from the beginning of the 20th century. On a white background, it features a blue Nordic cross, the state flag has a coat of arms in the centre, but is otherwise identical to the civil flag. The swallow-tailed state flag is used by the military, like Swedens, Finlands national flag is based on the Scandinavian cross. It was adopted after independence from Russia, when many patriotic Finns wanted a flag for their country. The blue coloring is said to represent the thousands of lakes. This color combination has also used over the centuries in various Finnish provincial, military. The first known Flag of Finland was presented in 1848, along with the national anthem Maamme and its motif was the coat of arms of Finland, surrounded by laurel leaves, on a white flag. The current blue-crossed design was first used in Finland by Nyländska Jaktklubben, in addition to the blue cross on the white background, the yacht club flag had the crowned arms of the province of Uusimaa within two crossed branches in the upper hoist quarter. Except for the position of the cross, the flag was similar to the flag of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, the design can be traced to the Russian Navy ensign, which has a blue cross saltire on a white background. During the Crimean War, Finnish merchant ships captured by the British-French fleet flew a flag called Flag of St. George, in this variant, the cross was thinner than in the modern flag, and the proportions were equal. Another blue-cross flag was made official in 1861 for private vessels, in 1910, in connection with Russification of Finland, the Russian authorities decreed that a Russian flag was to be added to the canton. However, this was met with resistance, the flag was derided as the slaves flag, instead, a triangular pennant without this modification was flown, thereby circumventing the decree concerning flags. Shortly after Finland gained independence in 1917, a competition was held for the design of the Finnish flag. Regarding the colours, the entries fell mainly into two categories – one using the red and yellow from the Finnish coat of arms, one entry had the Dannebrog cross design, but with a yellow cross on a red background. Another entry had diagonal blue and white stripes, but it was criticized as being suitable for a barber shop than a newly independent country. Akseli Gallen-Kallela proposed a similar flag, but with colors inverted. Finally, artists Eero Snellman and Bruno Tuukkanen specified the form of the flag. The state flag was modified in 1922, when the coronet was removed
5.
Coat of arms of Finland
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The coat of arms of Finland is a crowned lion on a red field, the right foreleg replaced with an armoured hand brandishing a sword, trampling on a sabre with the hindpaws. The coat of arms was created around the year 1580. The heraldic lion originated from the Lion of Judea is quite common in Western Europe, in Nordic heraldry, the lion is first found in the coat of arms of Denmark in the later part of the 12th century. The first known use of the lion in Sweden was on the seals of Erik Knutsson and Erik Eriksson. The first king of the Folkunga family, Valdemar Birgersson, also used 3 lions on his seal and this version of the arms was quite similar to the modern coat of arms of Finland, but the lion did not yet brandish any weapon. The grand-ducal coat of arms is thought to have resulted out of a combination of the Göta lion, the result was that the lion brandishes one weapon and treads on another. The best-known version of the coat of arms is found on the tomb of Gustavus I in the Uppsala cathedral. It has been suggested that either Duke John himself, or his brother Eric XIV, was leading the work on the heraldic signs on the tomb. Neither statement can be confirmed, but it is known that Eric XIV showed an interest in heraldry, the monument was commissioned from Guillaume Boyen, a Flemish architect and sculptor who had worked in Sweden. He started on the task in Antwerp in 1562, completing it 10 years later, however, the tomb was not in place in Uppsala until the early 1580s, and the finishing work lasted until 1591. In addition to the arms of Sweden and those of Finland. From Finland they include North and South Finland, as well as Tavastia and Karelia, the purpose of the nine roses remains unknown, but are now mostly considered to be decorative only. They have sometimes claimed to represent the nine historical provinces of Finland. The lion experienced several changes during the 17th century, after Finland had been ceded to Russia, Elias Brenners version of the lion was chosen by the authorities as the model for the new coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire. Obviously, any interpretation of the lion as trampling on a Russian sabre had been lost at point in time. During the reform of the Russian official heraldry in 1857, the lion was changed on the initiative of baron Bernhard Karl von Köhne. The sword in the right forepaw had shrunk in size, to the point of resembling a dagger rather than a sword. During the years when the Russian emperors attempted russification of Finland, the use of the arms of Finland increased significantly, the director of the Finnish National Archives, Karl August Bomansson made the first significant study on the arms of Finland in modern times
6.
Maamme
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Maamme or Vårt land is the title of Finlands de facto national anthem. The music was composed by the German immigrant Fredrik Pacius, with words by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, and was performed for the first time on 13 May 1848. The original poem, written in 1846 but not printed until 1848, had 11 stanzas and formed the prologue to the great verse cycle The Tales of Ensign Stål, a masterpiece of Romantic nationalism. The current Finnish language text is attributed to the 1889 translation of Ensign Stål by Paavo Cajander. The Tales of Ensign Stål were much appreciated throughout all of Scandinavia, note that in the original Swedish text there is no reference to Finland, only to a country in the north, but the Finnish text explicitly refers to Finland. The poems theme is, furthermore, remarkably similar to that of the anthems of Sweden. There is no law regarding an official anthem in Finland, in the same way as Coat of arms. Instead its position has been established gradually by convention over the years, today, Maamme is firmly established by convention. In formal occasions it is both in Finnish and in Swedish. It is played at sporting events, such as the Olympics, some Finns have proposed that the Finnish national anthem be changed to Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, with lyrics by V. A. There are also those who simply prefer Finlandia as a musical piece and it is said that Pacius composed the tune in four days. It was popular throughout the 19th century, but established as national anthem only after Pacius death, the melody of Maamme has similarities with the German drinking song Papst und Sultan. Many believe that Fredrik Pacius intentionally or unintentionally copied parts of the tune, another Finnish patriotic song, Sotilaspoika, composed by Pacius, also includes similarities with Papst und Sultan. The melody of Maamme is also used for the anthem of Estonia with a similarly themed text, Mu isamaa. It is also considered to be the anthem for the Livonians as Min izāmō
7.
Turku
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Turku is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Southwest Finland. Turku, as a town, was settled during the 13th century and founded most likely at the end of the 13th century and it quickly became the most important city in Finland, a status it retained for hundreds of years. Because of its history, it has been the site of many important events. Along with Tallinn, the city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland, due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers traveling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn. As of 31 December 2016, the population of Turku was 187,564, there were 318,168 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region. The city is bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue. The Finnish name Turku originates from an Old East Slavic word, tǔrgǔ, the word turku still means market place in some idioms in Finnish. The Swedish word for market place is torg, and was borrowed from Old East Slavic. The Swedish name Åbo may be a combination of å. As this pattern does not appear in any other Swedish place names in Finland, one theory is that it comes from Aabo, the Finnish rendition of the Russian Avram, which could also be the origin of the name of the river Aura. There is however an old legal term called åborätt, which gave citizens the right to live at land owned by the crown. In Finnish, the genitive of Turku is Turun, meaning of Turku, the Finnish names of organizations and institutes of Turku often begin with this word, as in Turun yliopisto for the University of Turku. Turku has a history as Finlands largest city and occasionally as the administrative center of the country. The citys identity stems from its status as the oldest city in Finland, originally, the word Finland referred only to the area around Turku. Although archaeological findings in the date back to the Stone Age. The Cathedral of Turku was consecrated in 1300, during the Middle Ages, Turku was the seat of the Bishop of Turku, covering the then eastern half of the Kingdom of Sweden until the 17th century. Even if Turku had no official status, both the short-lived institutions of Dukes and Governors-General of Finland usually had their Finnish residences there
8.
Helsinki
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Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki has a population of 629,512, a population of 1,231,595. Helsinki is located some 80 kilometres north of Tallinn, Estonia,400 km east of Stockholm, Sweden, Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities. The Helsinki metropolitan area includes the core of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen. It is the worlds northernmost metro area of one million people. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Nordic countries, Helsinki is Finlands major political, educational, financial, cultural, and research center as well as one of northern Europes major cities. Approximately 75% of foreign companies operating in Finland have settled in the Helsinki region, the nearby municipality of Vantaa is the location of Helsinki Airport, with frequent service to various destinations in Europe and Asia. In 2009, Helsinki was chosen to be the World Design Capital for 2012 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, the city was the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest 2007. In 2011, the Monocle magazine ranked Helsinki the most liveable city in the world in its Liveable Cities Index 2011, in the Economist Intelligence Units August 2015 Liveability survey, assessing the best and worst cities to live in globally, Helsinki placed among the worlds top ten cities. Helsinki is used to refer to the city in most languages, the Swedish name Helsingfors is the original official name of the city. The Finnish name probably comes from Helsinga and similar names used for the river that is known as the Vantaa River. Helsingfors comes from the name of the parish, Helsinge and the rapids, which flowed through the original village. As part of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire, one suggestion for the origin of the name Helsinge is that it originated with medieval Swedish settlers who came from Hälsingland in Sweden. Others have proposed that the name derives from the Swedish word helsing, other Scandinavian cities located at similar geographic locations were given similar names at the time, for example Helsingør and Helsingborg. The name Helsinki has been used in Finnish official documents and in Finnish language newspapers since 1819, the decrees issued in Helsinki were dated with Helsinki as the place of issue. This is how the form Helsinki came to be used in written Finnish, in Helsinki slang the city is called Stadi. Hesa, is not used by natives to the city, helsset is the Northern Sami name of Helsinki
9.
Finnish Orthodox Church
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The Finnish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Finland, is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Church has a position as a national church in the country. With its roots in the medieval Novgorodian missionary work in Karelia, today the church has three dioceses and 58,000 members that account for 1.1 percent of the native population of Finland. The parish of Helsinki has the most adherents, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Orthodox Church of Finland has a special position in Finnish law. The church is considered to be a Finnish entity of public nature, the external form of the church is regulated by an Act of Parliament, while the spiritual and doctrinal matters of the church are legislated by the central synod of the church. The church has the right to tax its members and corporations owned by its members, previously under the Russian Orthodox Church, it has been an autonomous Orthodox archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople since 1923. The Finnish Orthodox Church is divided into three dioceses, each with a subdivision of parishes, there are 25 parishes with 140 priests and more than 58,000 members in total. The number of members has been steadily growing for several years. A convent and a monastery also operate within the church, the laymen representatives are elected indirectly. The nominations for representatives are made by the parish councils which also elect the electors who then elect the lay representatives to the central synod, the central synod elects the bishops and is responsible for the economy and the general doctrine of the church. The parishes are governed by the rector and the parish council, All full-age members of the parish are eligible to vote and to be elected to the parish council. The parish council elects the board, which is responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the parish. Financially, the church is independent of the state budget, the parishes are financed by the taxes paid by their members. The central administration is financed through the contributions of the parishes, the central synod decides yearly the amount of contributions the parishes are required to make. The special status of the Orthodox church is most visible in the administrative processes, the church is required to conform with the general administrative law and the decisions of its bodies may be appealed against in the regional administrative courts. However, the court is limited to reviewing the legality of the decision. It may not overturn a decision on the basis of its unreasonableness. The decisions of the synod of bishops and the synod are not subject to the oversight of the administrative courts
10.
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity, the church is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches. It is also a member of the Porvoo Communion and is involved in ecumenical relations. With slightly under four million members permanently resident in Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world and it is Finlands largest religious body, at the end of 2016,71. 9% of Finns were members of the church. The current head of the Church is the Archbishop of Turku Kari Mäkinen, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland traces its lineage to the medieval Diocese of Turku, which coincides geographically with present-day Finland. Christianity was introduced to Finland slowly, the first signs of the Christian faith being found in sites dated to the 11th century. Based on etymological evidence, it seems that its very first influences came to present-day Finland from the Eastern Christian tradition, archaeological evidence shows that by the middle 12th century, Christianity was dominant in the region around present-day Turku. One legend recounts a crusade dated around 1054, but no contemporary or archaeological evidence backs the story, another legend is that the martyr-bishop St. Henry founded the Finnish Church, but that is also most likely fictional. The introduction of Christianity was mostly a peaceful, slow process contemporaneous with the integration with Sweden that culminated in the Sweden-Finland union. The first bishop, whose name was Thomas, lived in the first half of the 13th century, the ecclesiastical hierarchy was completely established during the Second Swedish Crusade. During the Middle Ages, the Diocese of Turku was under the primacy of the Archbishop of Uppsala, the diocese had a school, making it capable of educating its own priests, but several Finns also studied abroad in the universities of Germany and Paris. Before the Reformation, the most important monastic orders active in the bishopric were those of the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the liturgy of the diocese followed the Dominican model. The Swedish Reformation began during the reign of King Gustav Vasa, Sweden, like other Nordic countries, adopted the Lutheran form of Protestantism. Most monastic estates in Finland, along with Kuusisto Castle, which was the residence of the Bishops of Turku, were confiscated by the Swedish crown. The first Lutheran Bishop of Turku was Martinus Johannis Skytte, former Vicar General of the Dominican Province of Dacia and he retained most of the old Catholic forms within the Diocese, which was part of the now-independent Church of Sweden. The doctrinal reformation of the Finnish Church took place during the episcopacy of Mikael Agricola, Agricola translated the whole New Testament and large portions of the Old Testament into Finnish. While images and sculptures of saints were retained in the churches, Agricola was the first Bishop of Turku who was married. By the end of the 16th century, the Swedish Reformation was finally complete, membership in the church was obligatory, as was weekly attendance at Divine Service
11.
Monarchy
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The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolic, to partial and restricted, to completely autocratic. Traditionally and in most cases, the monarchs post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy, Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Currently,47 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state,19 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia reign, the word monarch comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule. Depending on the held by the monarch, a monarchy may be known as a kingdom, principality, duchy, grand duchy, empire, tsardom, emirate, sultanate, khaganate. The form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric, the Greek term monarchia is classical, used by Herodotus. The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as king, the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period. Since antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome, much of 19th century politics was characterised by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism. Many countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. In the modern era, monarchies are more prevalent in small states than in large ones, most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history, rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of leadership
12.
Alexander I of Russia
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Alexander I reigned as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825. He was the son of Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, Alexander was the first Russian King of Poland, reigning from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland. He was sometimes called Alexander the Blessed and he was born in Saint Petersburg to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later Emperor Paul I, and succeeded to the throne after his father was murdered. He ruled Russia during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. As prince and emperor, Alexander often used liberal rhetoric, in the first years of his reign, he initiated some minor social reforms and major, liberal educational reforms, such as building more universities. He promised constitutional reforms and a desperately needed reform of serfdom in Russia, Alexander appointed Mikhail Speransky, the son of a village priest, as one of his closest advisors. The Collegia was abolished and replaced by the The State Council, plans were also made to set up a parliament and sign a constitution. In foreign policy, he changed Russias position relative to France four times between 1804 and 1812 among neutrality, opposition, and alliance and he fought a small-scale naval war against Britain between 1807 and 1812. He and Napoleon could never agree, especially about Poland, the tsars greatest triumph came in 1812 as Napoleons invasion of Russia proved a total disaster for the French. As part of the coalition against Napoleon he gained some spoils in Finland and Poland. He formed the Holy Alliance to suppress revolutionary movements in Europe that he saw as threats to legitimate Christian monarchs. He helped Austrias Klemens von Metternich in suppressing all national and liberal movements, in the second half of his reign he was increasingly arbitrary, reactionary and fearful of plots against him, he ended many earlier reforms. He purged schools of teachers, as education became more religiously oriented as well as politically conservative. Speransky was replaced as advisor with the artillery inspector Aleksey Arakcheyev. Alexander died of typhus in December 1825 while on a trip to southern Russia and he left no children as heirs and both of his brothers wanted the other to become emperor. After a period of confusion that included the failed Decembrist revolt of liberal army officers, he was succeeded by his younger brother. Alexander and his younger brother Constantine were raised by their grandmother, some sources allege that she planned to remove her son Paul I from the succession altogether. From the free-thinking atmosphere of the court of Catherine and his Swiss tutor, Frédéric-César de La Harpe, but from his military governor, Nikolay Saltykov, he imbibed the traditions of Russian autocracy
13.
Nicholas I of Russia
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Nicholas I was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855. He was also the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland and his biographer Nicholas V. Riasanovsky says that Nicholas displayed determination, singleness of purpose, and an iron will, along with a powerful sense of duty and a dedication to very hard work. He saw himself as a junior officer totally consumed by spit. A handsome man, he was nervous and aggressive. Trained as an engineer, he was a stickler for minute detail, in his public persona, says Riasanovsky, Nicholas I came to represent autocracy personified, infinitely majestic, determined and powerful, hard as stone, and relentless as fate. His reign had an ideology called Official Nationality that was proclaimed officially in 1833 and it was a reactionary policy based on orthodoxy in religion, autocracy in government, and Russian nationalism. He was the brother of his predecessor, Alexander I. Nicholas inherited his brothers throne despite the failed Decembrist revolt against him and his aggressive foreign policy involved many expensive wars, having a disastrous effect on the empires finances. He was successful against Russias neighbouring southern rivals as he seized the last territories in the Caucasus held by Persia by successfully ending the Russo-Persian War and he ended the Russo-Turkish War successfully as well. Later on, however, he led Russia into the Crimean War with disastrous results, historians emphasize that his micromanagement of the armies hindered his generals, as did his misguided strategy. Fuller notes that historians have concluded that the reign of Nicholas I was a catastrophic failure in both domestic and foreign policy. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its zenith, spanning over 20 million square kilometers. Nicholas was born at Gatchina Palace in Gatchina to Grand Duke Paul, five months after his birth, his grandmother, Catherine the Great, died and his parents became emperor and empress of Russia. He was a brother of Emperor Alexander I of Russia, who succeeded to the throne in 1801. Riasanovsky says he was, the most handsome man in Europe, Nicholas was not brought up to become the Emperor of Russia, he had two elder brothers. However, as both of them failed to produce sons, Nicholas remained second in the line of succession, in 1825, when Alexander I died suddenly of typhus, Nicholas was caught between swearing allegiance to his second-eldest brother, Constantine Pavlovich, and accepting the throne for himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine, who was in Warsaw at that time, additionally, on 25 December, Nicholas issued the manifesto proclaiming his accession to the throne. That manifesto retroactively named 1 December, the date of Alexander Is death, during this confusion, a plot was hatched by some members of the military to overthrow Nicholas and to seize power
14.
Alexander II of Russia
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Alexander II was the Emperor of Russia from 2 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881. He was also the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland, Alexanders most significant reform as emperor was emancipation of Russias serfs in 1861, for which he is known as Alexander the Liberator. In foreign policy, Alexander sold Alaska to the United States in 1867, despite his otherwise pacifist foreign policy, he fought a brief war with Turkey in 1877–78, pursued further expansion into Siberia and the Caucasus, and conquered Turkestan. Although disappointed by the results of the Congress of Berlin in 1878, among his greatest domestic challenges was an uprising in Poland in 1863, to which he responded by stripping that land of its separate constitution and incorporating it directly into Russia. Alexander was proposing additional parliamentary reforms to counter the rise of nascent revolutionary, born in Moscow, Alexander Nikolaevich was the eldest son of Nicholas I of Russia and of Charlotte of Prussia. Personal and official censorship was rife, criticism of the authorities was regarded as a serious offence, aleksandrs alleged lack of interest in military affairs resulted from his reaction to the effects of the unsavoury Crimean War of 1853-1856 on his own family and on the whole country. Unusually for the time, the young Alexander was taken on a tour of Russia. He also visited many prominent Western European countries in 1838 and 1839, as Tsesarevich, Alexander became the first Romanov heir to visit Siberia. Alexander II succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father in 1855, the first year of his reign was devoted to the prosecution of the Crimean War and, after the fall of Sevastopol, to negotiations for peace led by his trusted counsellor Prince Alexander Gorchakov. The country had exhausted and humiliated by the war. Bribe-taking, theft and corruption were everywhere, in 1867 he sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million after recognising the great difficulty of defending it against the United Kingdom or the former British colony of Canada. After Alexander became emperor in 1855, he maintained a generally liberal course, despite this, he was a target for numerous assassination attempts. On 13 March 1881, members of the Narodnaya Volya party killed him with a bomb and this step had been followed by one even more significant. The hint was taken, in all provinces where serfdom existed, the emancipation was not merely a humanitarian question capable of being solved instantaneously by imperial ukase. It contained very complicated problems, deeply affecting the economic, social and political future of the nation, the emperor gave his support to the latter project, and the Russian peasantry became one of the last groups of peasants in Europe to shake off serfdom. The architects of the manifesto were Alexanders brother Konstantin, Yakov Rostovtsev. On 3 March 1861, six years after his accession, the law was signed and published. The changes included universal military conscription, introduced for all classes on 1 January 1874
15.
Alexander III of Russia
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Alexander III was the Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death on 1 November 1894. He was highly conservative and reversed some of the reforms of his father, Alexander II. During Alexanders reign Russia fought no wars, for which he was styled The Peacemaker. Although an enthusiastic amateur musician and patron of the ballet, Alexander was seen as lacking refinement, indeed, he rather relished the idea of being of the same rough texture as some of his subjects. His education was not such as to soften these peculiarities, more than six feet tall, he was also noted for his immense physical strength. A sebaceous cyst on the side of his nose caused him to be mocked by some of his contemporaries. I was struck by the size of the man, and although cumbersome and heavy, there was indeed something of the muzhik about him. The look of his eyes made quite an impression on me. As he passed where I was standing, he raised his head for a second and it was a look as cold as steel, in which there was something threatening, even frightening, and it struck me like a blow. The look of a man who stood above all others, but who carried a burden and who every minute had to fear for his life. In later years I came into contact with the Emperor on several occasions, in more ordinary cases Tsar Alexander III could be at once kind, simple, and even almost homely. Great solicitude was devoted to the education of Nicholas as tsesarevich and this included acquaintance with French, English and German, and military drill. Pobedonostsev instilled into the mans mind the belief that zeal for Russian Orthodox thought was an essential factor of Russian patriotism to be cultivated by every right-minded emperor. On his deathbed the previous tsesarevich was said to have expressed the wish that his fiancée, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, the union proved a happy one to the end, unlike his fathers, there was no adultery in his marriage. The couple spent their night at the Tsesarevichs private dacha known as My Property. To the scandal of many at court, including the Tsesarevich himself, on 1 March 1881 Alexanders father, Alexander II, was assassinated by members of the terrorist organization Narodnaya Volya. As a result, he ascended to the Russian imperial throne in Nennal on 13 March 1881 and he and Maria Feodorovna were officially crowned and anointed on 27 May 1883. On the day of his assassination Alexander II had signed an ukaz setting up commissions to advise the monarch
16.
Nicholas II of Russia
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Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic, Soviet historiography portrayed Nicholas as a weak and incompetent leader, whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects. The Anglo-Russian Entente, designed to counter German attempts to influence in the Middle East. Nicholas approved the Russian mobilisation on 30 July 1914, which led to Germany declaring war on Russia on 1 August 1914 and it is estimated that around 3,300,000 Russians were killed in World War I. Following the February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas abdicated on behalf of himself and his son, Nicholas, the recovered remains of the Imperial Family were finally re-interred in St. Petersburg, eighty years to the day on 17 July 1998. In 1981, Nicholas, his wife and their children were canonized as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, located in New York City. On 15 August 2000 Nicholas and his family were canonized as passion bearers, Nicholas was born in the Alexander Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. He had five siblings, Alexander, George, Xenia, Michael. Nicholas often referred to his father nostalgically in letters after Alexanders death in 1894 and he was also very close to his mother, as revealed in their published letters to each other. His paternal grandparents were Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and his maternal grandparents were King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark. Nicholas was of primarily German and Danish descent, his last ethnically Russian ancestor being Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna, Nicholas was related to several monarchs in Europe. His mothers siblings included Kings Frederik VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece, Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom. Nicholas was also a first cousin of both King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, as well as King Constantine I of Greece, Tsar Nicholas II was the first cousin-once-removed of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich. To distinguish between them the Grand Duke was often known within the Imperial family as Nikolasha and Nicholas the Tall, while the Tsar was Nicholas the Short. In his childhood, Nicholas, his parents and siblings made annual visits to the Danish royal palaces of Fredensborg and Bernstorff to visit his grandparents, the king and queen. The visits also served as family reunions, as his mothers siblings would come from the United Kingdom, Germany. It was there in 1883, that he had a flirtation with one of his English first cousins, in 1873, Nicholas also accompanied his parents and younger brother, two-year-old George, on a two-month, semi-official visit to England. In London, Nicholas and his family stayed at Marlborough House, as guests of his Uncle Bertie and Aunt Alix, the Prince and Princess of Wales, where he was spoiled by his uncle
17.
Georg Magnus Sprengtporten
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Count Georg Magnus Sprengtporten, or Göran Magnus Sprengtporten, as he preferred to call himself, was a Swedish, Finnish and Russian politician, younger brother of Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten. Sprengtporten was born in Porvoo, Uusimaa, Kingdom of Sweden and he entered the army and rose to the rank of captain during the Seven Years War. He assisted his brother in the revolution of 1772, and in 1775 was made a colonel, here he distinguished himself greatly as an organizer and administrator. The military school which he founded at Haapaniemi, Kuopio subsequently became a state institution, for the next two years he was in the French service, returning to Finland in 1781. Due in part to contacts with Benjamin Franklin who was there contemporaneously he conceived of the idea of separating the grand duchy from Sweden and this aim was first approached through the Walhalla-orden subversive secret society and scheming with the kings brother, Charles XIII of Sweden. This scheming was apparently stillborn, as Charles informed his brother of the schemers approaches, the chosen Plan B was to establish an independent state under the protection of Russia. In the following year, at the invitation of Catherine II of Russia, when the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790 began, Sprengtporten received the command of a Russian army corps directed against Finland. He took no part in the Anjala conspiracy but urged Catherine to support it more energetically. His own negotiations with his countrymen, especially after Gustav III of Sweden had brought the treacherous army officers of the Anjala conspiracy back to their allegiance. Nor was he able to serve Russia very effectively in the field for he was wounded at the battle of Porrassalmi 1789. For the next five years, therefore 1793-1798, he thought it expedient to quit Russia and he was re-employed by the emperor Paul of Russia who, in 1800, sent him to negotiate with Napoleon concerning the Maltese Order and the interchange of prisoners. After Paul’s death Sprengtporten was again in disgrace for seven years, on 1 December 1808 he was appointed the first Russian Governor-General of Finland with the title of count, but was so unpopular that he had to resign his post the following year. The last ten years of his life were lived in retirement, Sprengtporten died in Saint Petersburg in 1819. Georg Magnus Sprengtportens Memorial stones are located in Harbour park of Kuopio, while staying in Teplice, Sprengtporten was in regular contact with the Count Waldsteins librarian, Giacomo Casanova. Their correspondence has been saved and is known to scholars. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain
18.
Nikolai Vissarionovich Nekrasov
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Nikolai Vissarionovich Nekrasov was a Russian liberal politician and the last Governor-General of Finland. Born in the family of a priest, Nekrasov graduated with a degree in engineering in 1902. After returning to Russia in 1904, he became a professor at the Tomsk Engineering Institute, in late 1905, at the height of the Russian Revolution of 1905, he helped found the Constitutional Democratic Party and headed its regional office in Yalta, Crimea. He was elected to the 3rd and 4th State Dumas, between 1909 and 1915, Nekrasov was a member of the Kadets Central Committee, where he was consistently Left of center. On June 11,1915 he resigned from the Central Committee over what he saw as the willingness to give the government a blank check during World War I. On November 6,1916, Nekrasov was elected deputy Chairman of the Duma, nicholas’ 13-year-old son, Alexei, would then assume the throne and Nicholas more liberal brother, Grand Duke Michael, would become Regent. Their plans were still in progress when the February Revolution of 1917 made them moot, Nekrasov became a member of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma on February 27,1917. On March 2 he was appointed minister in the Russian Provisional Government formed by the Duma. He argued for the inclusion of moderate socialists in the government, in late June Nekrasov was one of the Provisional Governments representatives at the negotiations with the Ukrainian Rada, which granted Ukraine a measure of autonomy within Russia. The agreement was opposed by the Kadet leadership, which wanted to postpone any decisions regarding ethnic minorities until the convocation of the Russian Constituent Assembly. When the coalition was re-formed under Kerensky on July 24, Nekrasov remained deputy prime minister and also became finance minister, on September 17 Nekrasov was appointed Governor-General of Finland after Mihail Aleksandrovich Stahovich quit from his post. Nekrasovs job was to negotiate between the Finnish Senate and the Russian Provisional Government, the Senate wanted to secure the Finnish autonomy with a treaty. This was approved by Kerensky in September, but in October the Senate came with a new proposal which would further increase Finnish independence and he informed the Senate that he would not return to Finland. Nekrasov kept a low profile during the Russian Civil War and didnt resist the Bolsheviks, after the war ended, he was arrested in March 1921 and kept in prison for 2 months. He was released in May and made a member of the board of the Union of Consumer Cooperatives. He was accused of having been involved in the fictitious Menshevik Center, after an early release in March 1933, he was arrested again on June 13,1939, sentenced to death and shot on May 7,1940. Order of the Red Banner of Labour Perspektivy razvitiia potrebitelskoi kooperatsii na piat let,1927, generalnye dogovory vo vzaimootnosheniiah gosudarstvennoi promyshlennosti i poterbitelskoi kooperatsii, Moscow,1928, xi, 174p. Politicheskie deyateli Rossii 1917, Biograficheskij slovar, ed. Pavel Volobuev, Moscow,1993, ISBN 5-85270-137-8
19.
Senate of Finland
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The Senate of Finland combined the functions of cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in the independent Republic of Finland from 1917 to 1918. The body that would become the Senate was established in 1809, when the Diet of Porvoo was requested to, in 1816, this institution was renamed the Senate by the tsar, to demonstrate that it was equal to, rather than subsidiary to its Russian equivalent. The Senate was headed by the Governor-General of Finland, the members of the Senate had to be Finnish citizens. The Senate was divided into the division and the judicial division. In 1822 both divisions were given a Finnish vice-chairman, from 1858 and onwards the members of the senate were formally known as senators. After the February Revolution in Russia the Vice Chairman of the Economic Division became the Chairman of the Senate, due to the Civil War in 1918 the Senate was relocated to the town of Vaasa from January 29 to May 3. In 1918 the economic division became the Cabinet and the division became the Supreme Court. The vice chairman of the division became the Prime Minister of Finland
20.
Parliament of Finland
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The Eduskunta is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and normally meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki, however, during the 2015–2017 renovation of the Parliament House, the parliament temporary meets in the nearby Sibelius Academy. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 19,2015, under the Constitution of Finland, the 200-member unicameral parliament exercises supreme decision-making authority in Finland. Sovereignty belongs to the people and that power is vested in the parliament and it passes legislation, decides on the state budget, approves international treaties, and supervises the activities of the government. It may alter the constitution, bring about the resignation of the Council of State, legislation may be initiated by the Council of State, or one of the members of the Eduskunta. To make changes to the Constitution, amendments must be approved twice by the Eduskunta, the Eduskuntas 200 representatives are elected directly by secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation. The electoral period is four years, Elections previously took two days but as early voting became popular they are now conducted on one day, since 2011 the third Sunday in April. Every citizen who is at least 18 years of age by the date is entitled to vote in general elections. All registered parties are entitled to nominate candidates, individual citizens, in parliamentary elections, Finland is divided into 13 electoral districts. The number of representatives returned by each district depends on the population, Åland is an exception in that it always elects one representative. The provincial state offices appoint a board in each electoral district to prepare lists of candidates. The Ministry of Justice is ultimately responsible for elections, prior to the new constitution the President had the power to do this independently. The President has called an early election eight times in Finnish history, however, there is no hard and fast election threshold to get a seat in Parliament. In large part due to this, it is impossible for one party to win an outright majority. Since the first election in 1907, only one party has won a majority—in the election of 1916. Since Finland gained independence in 1917, no party has won the 101 seats necessary for a majority and it is also very difficult for the socialist and non-socialist blocs to form a government on their own. Most Finnish governments in recent history have been coalitions between three or more parties, and many of them have been coalitions between socialist and non-socialist parties. The seats for each district are assigned according to the dHondt method
21.
Diet of Porvoo
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The Diet of Porvoo, was the summoned legislative assembly to establish the Grand Principality of Finland in 1809 and the heir of the powers of the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates. The session of the Diet lasted from January to July 1809, the central event at Porvoo was the sovereign pledge and the oaths of the Estates in Porvoo Cathedral on 29 March. Alexander I subsequently promised to govern Finland in accordance with its laws and let the Finnish keep their religion, the diet had required that it would be convened again after the Finnish War, which separated Finland from Sweden, had been concluded. On 17 September the same year, the conflict was settled by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn, during the rise of Finnish nationalism later in the 19th century, it was claimed that the Diet implied that a Treaty between States had been signed at the Diet between Finland and Russia. Diet had participants from different estates as follows, Nobility 75 representatives, the burghers were mainly represented by merchants
22.
Treaty of Fredrikshamn
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The Treaty of Fredrikshamn or the Treaty of Hamina was a peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Russia on 17 September 1809. The treaty concluded the Finnish War and was signed in the Finnish town of Hamina, Russia was represented by Nikolai Rumyantsev and David Alopaeus, while Sweden by Infantry General Kurt von Stedingk and Colonel Anders Fredrik Skjöldebrand. According to the treaty Sweden ceded parts of the provinces Lappland and Västerbotten, Åland, a reference to Emperor Alexanders promise to retain old laws and privileges in Finland was included, but the treaty overstepped any formal guarantees of the legal position of Finlands inhabitants. The Russians refused, and the Swedes were not in a position to insist, similar clauses had been common in peace treaties, but they were also regularly circumvented. During the negotiations, Swedish representatives had namely endeavoured to escape the loss of the Åland islands, the Åland islands were culturally, ethnically and linguistically purely Swedish, but such facts were of no significance at that time. During the Second War against Napoleon, Russia and Sweden concluded an alliance directed against Imperial France and they planned to effect a landing in Swedish Pomerania, which had been overrun by the French. Russia promised to press Denmark into ceding Norway to Sweden and it was understood that Great Britain would join the treaty too, however, this never came to pass. Other plans failed to materialise due to Napoleons invasion of Russia, Внешняя политика Руси, России и СССР за1000 лет в именах, датах, фактах, Справочник, М
23.
Finnish Declaration of Independence
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The Finnish Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Parliament of Finland on 6 December 1917. Declaring the independence was only part of the process leading to independence of Finland. There were negotiations between the Russian Provisional Government and Finnish authorities, at the time of the vote it was believed that the Provisional Government would be quickly defeated by the rebellion in Saint Petersburg. The Provisional Government survived, however, disapproved of the Power Act, the regency council was however never elected because of the strong opposition of Finnish socialists and their general strike which demanded for more radical action. On 2 November 1917, the Bolsheviks declared a right of self-determination, including the right of complete secession. On the same day the Finnish Parliament issued a declaration by which it assumed, pro tempore, the old Instrument of Government was however no longer deemed suitable. Leading circles had long held monarchism and hereditary nobility to be antiquated, the Senate of Finland, the government the Parliament had appointed in November, drafted a Declaration of Independence and a proposal for a new republican Instrument of Government. Chairman of the Senate Pehr Evind Svinhufvud read the Declaration to the Parliament on 4 December, the Declaration of Independence was technically given the form of a preamble of the proposition, and was intended to be agreed by the Parliament. Parliament adopted the Declaration on 6 December, the people of Finland feel deeply that they cannot fulfil their national and international duty without complete sovereignty. The century-old desire for freedom awaits fulfilment now, Finlands people step forward as a nation among the other nations in the world. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania declared their independence from Russia during the same period, see Estonian War of Independence, Latvian Independence and Lithuanian Wars of Independence. These three countries were occupied by, and annexed into, the Soviet Union, see Occupation of the Baltic states. The people of Finland have by this step taken their fate in their own hands, the people of Finland feel deeply that they cannot fulfil their national duty and their universal human obligations without a complete sovereignty. The century-old desire for freedom awaits fulfilment now, The People of Finland has to step forward as an independent nation among the nations in the world. Achieving this goal requires mainly some measures by the Parliament, the same goal also calls for measures from the part of the Government. The Government will approach foreign powers to seek an international recognition of our country’s independence as a state. And widely over all the horrors of the war is heard a voice, that one of the goals of the present war is to be, that no nation shall be forced against its will to be dependent on another. The Finnish people believe that the free Russian people and its constitutive National Assembly don’t want to prevent Finland’s aspiration to enter the multitude of the free and independent nations
24.
Swedish riksdaler
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The riksdaler was the name of a Swedish coin first minted in 1604. Between 1777 and 1873, it was the currency of Sweden, the daler, like the dollar, was named after the German Thaler. The similarly named Reichsthaler, rijksdaalder, and rigsdaler were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands, riksdaler is still used as a colloquial term for kronor in Sweden. The daler was introduced in 1534 and it was initially intended for international use and was divided into 4 marks and then a mark is further subdivided into 8 öres and then a öre is further subdivided into 24 pennings. In 1604, the name was changed to riksdaler, in 1609, the riksdaler rose to a value of 6 mark when the other Swedish coins were debased but the riksdaler remained constant. From 1624, daler were issued in copper as well as silver, because of the low value of copper, large plate money was issued. These were rectangular pieces of copper weighing, in some cases, as silver became scarce, the silver daler rose in value relative to the copper daler, with the exchange rate between the two eventually being set at a ratio of 3 to 1. Denominations in copper money were marked K. M. or KMT, the cumbersome size and weight of plate money eventually prompted Sweden to become the first country in Europe to issue banknotes. There were introduced issued by Stockholms Banco in 1661, the notes lost much of their value due to over production but succeeded in alleviating the immediate problem. In 1681, the silver daler was debased, such that 1 riksdaler =2 silver daler, in 1776, a new currency system was announced, which came into use at the beginning of 1777. The new currency was based on the subdivided into 48 skilling. Pre-existing copper coins were halved in value and only the most recent silver coins retained their face values, the new currency was issued in banknotes and silver and copper coins. At first, only the Riksens Ständers Wexel-Banco could issue banknotes but, in 1789, the riksdaler specie was minted in silver, the riksdaler banco was issued by the Bank and the riksdaler riksgälds was issued by the Debt Office. Both the Bank and Debt Office issued copper coins, the riksdaler specie was protected against inflation through its connection to silver but the banknotes suffered heavily from a seigniorage induced inflation. In 1803, the values of the two paper moneys were tied, with 1 riksdaler banco = 1 1⁄2 riksdaler riksgälds, in 1830, the exchange rate to the silver coinage was also fixed, with 1 riksdaler specie = 2 2⁄3 riksdaler banco =4 riksdaler riksgälds. The value of the coins of the Riksens Ständers Wexel-Banco fell in line with the banks paper money. Thus, from 1830, there were 128 bank skilling to the riksdaler specie, in 1855 two reforms took place, the introduction of the riksdaler riksmynt and the change to a decimal system. One riksdaler specie was equal to 4 riksdaler riksmynt, each of which was divided into 100 öre, the Scandinavian Monetary Union replaced the riksdaler riksmynt in 1873 with a new currency, the krona
25.
Russian ruble
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The Russian ruble is the currency of the Russian Federation, the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the two unrecognized republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The ruble is subdivided into 100 kopeks, the ruble was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. Today apart from Russia, Belarus and Transnistria uses currencies with the same name, the ruble was the worlds first decimal currency, it was decimalised in 1704 when the ruble became legally equal to 100 kopeks. In 1992 the Soviet ruble was replaced with the Russian ruble at the rate 1 SUR =1 RUR. In 1998 following the crisis, the Russian ruble was redenominated with the new code RUB. Today, although RUB being the code of the Russian ruble. The ruble is the oldest national currency after the Pound sterling in the world, the ruble has been used on the Russian territories since the 13th century. The modern Russian ruble actually appeared in December 1991 in parallel with the Soviet ruble, following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet ruble remained the currency of the Russian Federation until 1992. A new set of coins was issued in 1992 and a new set of banknotes was issued in the name of Bank of Russia in 1993. The Russian ruble with the ISO4217 code is RUR and number 810 replaced the Soviet ruble at the rate 1 SUR =1 RUR. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation introduced new coins in 1992 in denominations of 1,5,10,20,50 and 100 rubles, the coins depict the double-headed eagle without a crown, sceptre and globus cruciger above the legend Банк России. It is exactly the same eagle, that the artist Ivan Bilibin painted after the February Revolution as a coat of arms for the Russian Republic. The 1 and 5 ruble coins were minted in brass-clad steel, the 10 and 20 ruble coins in cupro-nickel, in 1993, aluminium-bronze 50 ruble coins and cupro-nickel-zinc 100 ruble coins were issued, and the material of 10 and 20 ruble coins s was changed to nickel-plated steel. In 1995 the material of 50 ruble coins was changed to brass-plated steel, as high inflation persisted, the lowest denominations disappeared from circulation and the other denominations became rarely used. During this period the commemorative one ruble coin was regularly issued and it was practically identical in size and weight to a 5 Swiss franc coin. For this reason, there have been instances of ruble coins being used on a large scale to defraud automated vending machines in Switzerland. In 1961, new State Treasury notes were introduced for 1,3 and 5 rubles, along with new State Bank notes for 10,25,50 and 100 rubles. In 1991, the State Bank took over production of 1,3 and 5 ruble notes and also introduced 200,500 and 1,000 ruble notes, although the 25 ruble note was no longer issued
26.
Finnish markka
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The Finnish markka was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The dual circulation period – when both the Finnish markka and the euro had legal tender status – ended on 28 February 2002, the markka was divided into 100 pennies, postfixed p). At the point of conversion, the rate was fixed at €1 =5.94573 mk, the markka was introduced in 1860 by the Bank of Finland, replacing the Russian ruble at a rate of four markkaa to one ruble. In 1865 the markka was separated from the Russian ruble and tied to the value of silver, from 1878 to 1915, Finland adopted the gold standard of the Latin Monetary Union. Up to World War 1, the value of the markka fluctuated within +23%/−16% of its initial value, however, the markka suffered heavy inflation during 1914–18. Gaining independence in 1917, Finland returned to the standard from 1926 to 1931. But the markka suffered heavy inflation during the war years and then up to 1951, in 1963 the markka was replaced by the new markka, equivalent to 100 old markkaa. Finland joined the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1948, the value of markka was pegged to the dollar at 320 mk/US$, which became 3.20 new mk/US$ in 1963 and devalued to 4.20 mk/US$ in 1967. After the breakdown of the Bretton Woods agreement in 1971, a basket of currencies became the new reference, occasionally, devaluation was used, 60% in total between 1975 and 1990, allowing the currency to more closely follow the depreciating US dollar than the rising German mark. The paper industry, which traded in US dollars, was often blamed for demanding these devaluations to boost their exports. Various economic controls were removed and the market was gradually liberalized throughout the 1980s, the monetary policy called strong markka policy was a characteristic feature of the 1980s and early 1990s. The main architect of this policy was President Mauno Koivisto, who opposed floating the currency, as a result, the nominal value of markka was extremely high and in the year 1990, Finland was nominally the most expensive country in the world. Koivistos policy was maintained only briefly after Esko Aho was elected Prime Minister, in 1991, the markka was pegged to the currency basket ECU, but the peg had to be withdrawn after two months with a devaluation of 12%. In 1992, Finland was hit by a recession, the early 1990s recession in Finland. It was caused by several factors, the most severe being the incurring of debt, also, the Soviet Union had collapsed, which brought an end to bilateral trade, and existing trade connections were severed. The most important source of revenue, Western markets, were also depressed during the same time. As a result, by some opinions years overdue, the fixed exchange rate was abandoned. Its value immediately decreased 13% and the inflated nominal prices converged towards German levels, in total, the value of the markka had decreased 40% as a result of the recession
27.
Gustavian era
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This is a History of Sweden from 1772 through 1809, more known as the Gustavian era of Kings Gustav III and Gustav IV, as well as the reign of King Charles XIII of Sweden. Adolf Frederick of Sweden died on February 12,1771, nothing could be done, however, till the return of the new king, Gustav III, from Paris. The new coronation oath contained three revolutionary clauses, The first aimed at making abdications in the impossible by binding the king to reign uninterruptedly. The third clause required him, in all cases of preferment, to be guided not principally as heretofore, all through 1771 the estates wrangled over the clauses. An attempt of the king to mediate foundered on the suspicions of the estate of burgesses, the non-noble Cap majority now proceeded to attack the Privy Council. The Riksrådet, the last stronghold of the Hats, and, on April 25 of that year and it was now, for the first time, that Gustav began to consider the possibility of a revolution. The new constitution of August 20,1772 which Gustav III imposed upon the Riksdag of the Estates, converted a weak and disunited republic into a strong, but these extensive powers were subjected to important checks. Thus, without the consent of the estates, no new law could be imposed, no old law abolished, no offensive war undertaken. The estates alone could tax themselves, they had the control of the Riksbank - the Bank of Sweden. In Sweden the change was most popular, but Gustavs first Riksdag, that of 1778, opened the eyes of the deputies to the fact that their political supremacy had departed. But it was not till after eight years more had elapsed that actual trouble began, the Riksdag of 1778 had been obsequious, the Riksdag of 1786 was mutinous. It rejected nearly all the royal measures outright, or so modified them that Gustav himself withdrew them, when he dismissed the estates, the speech from the throne held out no prospect of their speedy revocation. Nevertheless, within three years, the king was obliged to summon another Riksdag, which met at Stockholm on the January 26,1789 and his attempt in the interval to rule without a parliament had been disastrous. Abroad the Swedish revolution made a great sensation, unknown to party leaders, Gustav had renewed the Swedish alliance with France and had received solemn assurances of assistance from Louis XV if Gustav were to reestablish monarchical rule in Sweden. Moreover, France agreed to pay its outstanding subsidies to Sweden, amounting to 1.5 million livres annually, beginning from January 1772. Whats more, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, was to be sent to Stockholm to circumvent the designs of Russia just as he had previously done in the Sublime Porte at Constantinople, the new king, Gustav IV, still a minor, was brought up among Jacobins. During the kings minority, Gustaf Reuterholm virtually ruled Sweden, the negotiations with the French Jacobins exacerbated the hatred which Gustavs supporters felt for the Jacobin counselors of Charles, the duke-regent, later Charles XIII of Sweden. They formed a conspiracy to overthrow the government, led by Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, which was to have been supported by a Russian fleet, the conspiracy was discovered and vigorously suppressed
28.
Finland under Swedish rule
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Finland under Swedish rule refers to the period in the history of Finland when it was a part of Sweden. It has traditionally been considered as starting from 1150, when according to the legend of St. Erik the king Eric IX of Sweden, the actual starting point of the Swedish rule is however under a large amount of uncertainty and controversy. Clear historical evidence of the establishing of Swedish rule in Finland exist from 1249 onwards, the period of Swedish rule ended in the Finnish war in 1808–1809. Swedish-ruled Finland has in the 20th century also referred to as Sweden-Finland. The term has been used to refer to the realm consisting of the parts of current Sweden. Finland was the frontier of the realm, which brought many wars. The Finnish language, dating from prehistoric times, and some parts of folklore religion and culture remained under Swedish rule, for example, in this period Finnish adopted the Latin alphabet as its writing system and a huge amount of Swedish loanwords. The written history of Finland is said to have begun at the 12th century, up until the 14th century, information about Finland has been incomplete and unreliable. The latter part of the 12th century and the 13th century are sometimes called Finlands protohistory, according to the legend of Eric the Holy, the King of Sweden Eric the Holy began the conquest of Finland by making the first crusade to Finland to southwest Finland in the 1150s. According to the chronicle and other sources, the bishop Henry was converting people to Christianity in the areas of Finland Proper. There has been controversy over the factualness of this information, establishing the Christian church as an institution in Finland has probably caused some resistance in the native Finnish population, as told in the legend of the peasant Lalli. It is however probable that the western or eastern Christianity had spread to Finland already during Finlands prehistory, there have been hints about this for example in graves found during archaeological diggings. The old-fashioned romantic nationalist view of a quick conquest of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden was only starting to form in the 12th century. The area what is now Finland moved to or formed as a part of the Swedish realm gradually during the 12th or 13th century, most native people in the area spoke Finnish or Sami dialects. The Finnish-speaking population probably did not have a common identity, in the 13th century, Sweden made crusades to Western Finland or Tavastia and to Karelia. Apparently this caused the Swedish rule to be finally established, by approximately 1300, what is now Western and Southern Finland, up to the Karelian isthmus, had become part of Sweden and the Uppsala diocese, which was ruled from castles. The Käkisalmi area and the Ladoga Karelia retained their ties to the Orthodox southwest Russia, the collision between the Catholic and the Orthodox cultures happened in the area that is now Finland. The Treaty of Nöteborg, made in 1323, was the first peace treaty between Sweden and Novgorod and it also defined the eastern boundary of the Swedish realm and Finland at least for Karelia
29.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
30.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
31.
Grand Prince
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The title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below king and emperor and above a sovereign prince. German, Dutch, Slavic and Scandinavian languages do use separate words to express this concept, the title of grand prince was once used for the sovereign of a grand principality. The last titular grand principalities vanished in 1917 and 1918, the territories being united into other monarchies or becoming republics. The last sovereign to reign whose highest title was grand prince was Ivan IV of Moscow in the 16th century, when Ivan IVs pre-tsarist title is referred to in English, however, it is usually as grand duke. Velikiy knjaz is also a Russian courtesy title for members of the family of the Russian tsar, Grand Prince, used in the Slavic and Baltic languages, was the title of a medieval monarch who headed a more-or-less loose confederation whose constituent parts were ruled by lesser princes. Those grand princes title and position was at the time usually translated as king, in fact, the Slavic knjaz and the Baltic kunigaikštis are cognates of king. However, a prince was usually only primus inter pares within a dynasty. All princes of the family were eligible to inherit a crown. Often other members of the dynasty ruled some constituent parts of the monarchy/country, an established use of the title was in the Kievan Rus and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Thus, Veliki Knjaz has been more like high king than grand duke, at least, as these countries expanded territorially and moved towards primogeniture and centralization, their rulers acquired more elevated titles. Grand Prince was the used by contemporary sources to name the leader of the federation of the Hungarian tribes in the 10th century. It was used by Géza and his son and heir Stephen of Hungary, in the Middle Ages, the Serbian veliki župan was the supreme chieftain in the multi-tribal society. The title signifies overlordship, as the leader of lesser chieftains titled župan and it was used by the Serb rulers in the 11th and 12th centuries. In Greek, it was known as archizoupanos, megazoupanos and megalos zoupanos, in the 1090s, Vukan became the veliki župan in Raška. Stefan Nemanja expelled his brother Tihomir in 1168 and assumed the title of veliki župan, a Latin document used mega iupanus for King Stefan the First-Crowned. Afterwards, it was a noble rank with notable holders such as Altoman Vojinović. Later, several princes of nationally important cities, which comprised vassal appanage principalities, from 1328 the Grand Prince of Moscow appeared as the titular head of eastern Rus and slowly centralized power until Ivan IV was crowned tsar in 1547. Since then, the grand prince ceased to be a hereditary office
32.
Tsar
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Tsar /zɑːr/ or /tsɑːr/, also spelled tzar, csar, or czar, is a title used to designate certain Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, occasionally, the word could be used to designate other secular supreme rulers. Simeon II, the last Tsar of Bulgaria, is the last person to have borne the title Tsar, the title Tsar is derived from the Latin title for the Roman emperors, Caesar. In the history of the Greek language, basileus had originally meant something like potentate and it gradually approached the meaning of king in the Hellenistic Period, and it came to designate emperor after the inception in the Roman Empire. Thus, tsar was not only used as an equivalent of Latin imperator but was used to refer to Biblical rulers. From this ambiguity, the development has moved in different directions in the different Slavic languages, thus, the Bulgarian language and Russian language no longer use tsar as an equivalent of the term emperor/imperator as it exists in the West European tradition. Currently, the term refers to native sovereigns, ancient and Biblical rulers, as well as monarchs in fairy tales. The title of king is sometimes perceived as alien and is by some Russian-speakers reserved for European royalty, foreign monarchs of imperial status, both inside and outside of Europe, ancient as well as modern, are generally called imperator, rather than tsar. Biblical rulers in Serbian are called цар and in Croatian kralj, in the Polish language however tsar is always used as imperator, never as king. The term tsar is very used to refer to the Russian rulers after Peter the Great. In 705 Emperor Justinian II named Tervel of Bulgaria Caesar, the first foreigner to receive this title, the sainted Boris I is sometimes retrospectively referred to as tsar, because at his time Bulgaria was converted to Christianity. However, the tsar was actually adopted and used for the first time by his son Simeon I. Since in Byzantine political theory there was place for two emperors, Eastern and Western, the Bulgarian ruler was crowned basileus as a spiritual son of the Byzantian basileus. In Latin sources the Emperor of Bulgaria is sometimes designated Emperor of Zagora, various additional epithets and descriptions apart, the official style read Emperor and autocrat of all Bulgarians and Greeks. During the five-century period of Ottoman rule in Bulgaria, the sultan was referred to as tsar. This may be related to the fact that he had claimed the legacy of the Byzantine Empire or to the fact that the sultan was called Basileus in medieval Greek, after Bulgarias liberation from the Ottomans in 1878, its new monarchs were at first autonomous prince. With the declaration of independence, Ferdinand I of Bulgaria adopted the traditional title tsar in 1908. However, these titles were not generally perceived as equivalents of emperor any longer, in the Bulgarian as in the Greek vernacular, the meaning of the title had shifted
33.
History of Finland
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The land area that now makes up Finland was settled immediately after the last ice age, which ended in 9000 BC. Finnish nationalism emerged, focused on Finnish cultural traditions, including music and—especially—the highly distinctive language, the catastrophic Finnish famine of 1866–1868 was followed by eased economic regulations and extensive emigration. A civil war between the Finnish Red Guards and the White Guard ensued a few later, with the Whites gaining the upper hand during the springtime of 1918. After the internal affairs stabilized, the mainly agrarian economy grew relatively quickly. Relations with the West, especially Sweden and Britain, were strong, however, Finland remained an independent democracy in North Europe. In the latter half of its independent history, Finland has maintained a mixed economy, since its post-World War II economic boom in the 1970s, Finlands GDP per capita has been among the worlds highest. The expanded welfare state of Finland from 1970 and 1990 increased the public employees and spending. In 1992, Finland simultaneously faced economic overheating and depressed Western, Russian, Finland joined the European Union in 1995, and replaced the Finnish markka with the euro in 2002. According to a 2005 poll, most Finns at that point were reluctant to join NATO, if confirmed, the oldest archeological site in Finland would be the Wolf Cave in Kristinestad, in Ostrobothnia. The last ice age in the area of the modern-day Finland ended c.9000 BC, starting about that time, people migrated to the area of Finland from the Kunda and—possibly—Swiderian cultures, and they are believed to be ancestors of todays Finnish and Sami people in Finland. The oldest confirmed evidence of the human settlements in Finland are from the area of Ristola in Lahti and from Orimattila. Finland has been inhabited at least since the end of the last ice age. The earliest post-glacial inhabitants of the area of Finland were probably mainly seasonal hunter-gatherers. Their artifacts discovered are known to represent the Suomusjärvi and the Kunda cultures, among finds is the net of Antrea, the oldest fishing net known ever to have been excavated. By 5300 BC pottery was present in Finland, the earliest samples belong to the Comb Ceramic Cultures, known for their distinctive decorating patterns. This marks the beginning of the period for Finland, although subsistence was still based on hunting and fishing. Extensive networks of exchange existed across Finland and northeastern Europe during the 5th millennium BC, rock paintings — apparently related to shamanistic and totemistic belief systems — have been found, especially in Eastern Finland, e. g. Astuvansalmi. Between 3500 and 2000 BC, monumental stone enclosures colloquially known as Giants Churches were constructed in the Ostrobothnia region, the purpose of the enclosures is unknown
34.
Southwest Finland
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Southwest Finland, also known in English as Finland Proper is the region in south-western Finland that borders the regions of Satakunta and Tavastia Proper. Its capital and biggest city is Turku with 182,000 inhabitants, Turku was also the most important city in Finland from its establishment around the 13th century until the 1840s. The area comprising the southwest is largely the same as the province of Finland Proper. 5. 7% of population of the region speaks Swedish natively, the name of Finland Proper has a historial function. In historic times, in the area of the present southern Finland lived three tribes, which were the Finns, the Tavastians and the Karelians, the southwestern part of the country, the province where the Finns lived, was called simply Finland. In the 17th century the name began to be used to refer to the whole land, the Finnish term Varsinais-Suomi became established only around the 1850s. The region of Southwest Finland is made up of 27 municipalities, Finland Proper travel guide from Wikivoyage Regional Council of Southwest Finland — official website South Finland EU Office
35.
Grand duchy
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A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. During the 19th century there were as many as 14 grand duchies in Europe at once, in the 21st century, only Luxembourg remains a grand duchy. The only grand duchy still extant is Luxembourg and it regained its independence from Napoleonic France and became a sovereign grand duchy in 1815 by decision of the Congress of Vienna which dealt with the political aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Luxembourg remained in personal union with the crown of the Netherlands until 1890 when William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg, as a consequence, William III was succeeded as grand duke by a distant male cousin, Adolphe from the elder branch of Nassau-Weilburg. The current monarch is Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg since 2000, the contemporary independent republics of Finland and Lithuania have been grand duchies during certain eras of their history. The same is true for the state of what would ultimately become the Russian Empire. As a consequence, a new title was needed to make the difference between important and unimportant regional powers, the grand duke was born. The first monarchy ever officially titled a grand duchy was the Medici sovereignty over Tuscany under suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperors, Tuscany remained a grand duchy until 1860, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia which succeeded in establishing a united Kingdom of Italy. In the early century, Napoléon I occasionally used the title grand duchy for several French satellite states given to his relatives or generals. Other allies abandoned the orbit of the Holy Roman Empire to join Napoleons nominally independent Confederation of the Rhine. The elevation of these vassals to the title of duke was usually accompanied by an expansion of their realms with additional territory gathered at the expense of subdued powers such as Prussia. As a result, the 19th century saw the creation of a new group of duchies in central Europe, such as the grand duchies of Hesse, Baden. The correct form of address is Royal Highness, in several Balto-Slavic languages, the term often translated in English as grand duke is literally grand prince. In some western European languages, the grand prince was rare or non-existent. In German and Scandinavian languages, both titles co-exist, Großherzog and Großfürst, and are used to distinguish, respectively, a grand duke. Within Germany, use of the title expanded after 1815, although grand prince is found in historical references, since the reign of Catherine the Great, the Russian Veliky Knyaz has usually been translated into English as grand duke. Since the 18th century it has used to refer to cadets of the imperial House of Romanov who were children or patrilineal grandchildren of a Russian emperor. More remote descendants of emperors were titled prince, the Polish kings of the Swedish House of Vasa also used this grand-princely title for their non-Polish territories
36.
John III of Sweden
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John III was King of Sweden from 1568 until his death. He was the son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud and he was also, quite autonomously, the ruler of Finland, as Duke John from 1556 to 1563. In 1581 he assumed also the title Grand Prince of Finland and he attained the Swedish throne after a rebellion against his brother Eric XIV. He is mainly remembered for his attempts to close the gap between the newly established Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Catholic church and his first wife was Catherine Jagellonica of the Polish-Lithuanian ruling family, and their son Sigismund eventually ascended both the Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish thrones. He was the son of Gustav Vasa. His mother was Margareta Leijonhufvud, a Swedish noblewoman, as a Duke of Finland, he opposed his half-brother Eric XIV of Sweden and was imprisoned in 1563. After his release from prison, probably because of his brothers insanity, John again joined the opposition, deposed Eric and his important ally was his maternal uncle Sten Leijonhufvud, who at deathbed was made Count of Raseborg. Shortly after this John executed his brothers most trusted counsellor, Jöran Persson, after two more years of fighting, this war was concluded without many Swedish concessions in the Treaty of Stettin. During the following years he successfully fought Russia in the Livonian War, concluded by the Treaty of Plussa in 1583, as a whole his foreign policy was affected by his connection to Poland of which country his son Sigismund III Vasa was made king in 1587. In domestic politics John showed clear Catholic sympathies, inspired by his Polish queen and he launched the Red Book, which reintroduced several Catholic customs and resulted in the Liturgical Battle, which was not to end for twenty years. In 1575, he gave his permission for the remaining Catholic convents in Sweden to start receiving novices again, from time to time he was also at odds with his younger brother Duke Charles of Sudermannia. John III was a patron of art and architecture. In January 1569, John was recognized as king by the riksdag that forced Eric XIV off the throne. But this recognition was not without influence from John, Duke Karl received confirmation on his dukedom without the restrictions of his power that the Arboga articles imposed, the nobilities power and rights were extended and their responsibilities lessened. John was still concerned about his position as king as long as Eric was alive. The fear of a liberation of the locked up king worried him to the point that in 1571 he ordered the guards to, in any suspicion of liberation attempt. It is possible this is how his life ended in 1577, John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland, house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica and she was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland
37.
Duke of Finland
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Duke of Finland was an occasional medieval title granted as a tertiogeniture to the relatives of the King of Sweden between the 13th and 16th centuries. It included a duchy along with customs, and often represented a veritably independent principality. Grand Duke of Finland was a royal title used by Swedish monarchs from the 1580s until 1720, was revived again briefly 1802-1805 and was also used by Russias monarchs until 1917. In the late 15th century, historian Ericus Olai claimed that Bishop Kol of Linköping had been the Duke of Finland. In the late 12th century in Sweden, the Latin title dux was still used in the meaning of jarl, Ericus Olais claim is not supported by other sources. Noteworthy is also that the Bishop of Linköping had some sort of connection to eastern activities during the 13th century. The Pope used him in 1229 to assist the Bishop of Finland in organizing the diocese, the Bishop of Linköping had also accompanied the Swedish ledung on their unsuccessful Estonian expedition. Benedict, an eccleasiastic, the youngest brother of king Valdemar I of Sweden was granted the Duchy of Finland about 1284 by a subsequent brother on the throne, Benedicts appointment ended a 35-year-long period of episcopal rule in Finland, effective since the Second Swedish Crusade around 1249. Benedicts local reign did not last long, the Duke, a consecrated priest and the Chancellor of the Realm, was elected Bishop of Linköping in 1286. As far as is known, he bore revenues from Finland until his death and he was the first known holder of the appanage of Finland. The youngest son of the late King Magnus III of Sweden, valdemars elder brother Duke Eric in the 1310s was establishing a truly independent principality in Western Sweden, Duke Valdemar being his ally. On December 10,1317 he was imprisoned by King Birger in Nyköping together with Eric, sometime in 1318, Dukes Valdemar and Eric died while incarcerated. With his second wife Ingeborg of Norway, Duke Valdemar had a son, born in 1316, the Duke apparently never seriously attempted to establish himself as ruler of Finland, being satisfied to bear revenues from the duchy. He had his seat in Southern Sweden, where he acted as Viceroy of Scania. The Duke became the victim of certain opposition to King Magnus, was exiled in 1357. In 1357, his holdings, including Finland, had given to King Eric. Eric did not need the ducal title, and it was then vacant almost 200 years. In 1556, two hundred years after it was vacated by the removal of Duke Benedict, King Gustav I of Sweden gave the Duchy of Finland to his second son, John was the only holder of the title to establish a genuine princely rule of his own in Finland
38.
Grand Duke of Finland
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Grand Duke of Finland or the Grand Prince of Finland was from around 1580 to 1809 a title in use by most Swedish monarchs. Between 1809 and 1917, it was the title of the head of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. The anachronistic female form of the title in English is usually Grand Princess of Finland, the only women to have used the title were the Swedish Queens regnant Christina and Ulrika Eleonora. A few crown princes of Sweden also were called Grand Prince of Finland, the use of Grand Prince on Johns behalf was a countermeasure to signify his mighty position as sovereign of Sweden, also a multinational or multi-country realm, and equal to a Tsardom. Not only was Finland added, but Karelia, Ingria, and it is said that the first use of the new title was in an occasion to contact Tsar Ivan. As the title had only subsidiary nature without any concrete meaning, the last Swedish monarch to use the title was Ulrika Eleonora who abdicated in 1720. However, in 1802, King Gustav IV Adolf gave the title to his son, Prince Carl Gustaf. The Imperial Grand Prince ruled Finland through his governor and a native Senate appointed by him, although no Grand Prince ever explicitly recognized Finland as separate state in its own right, the country nevertheless enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, until its independence in 1917. Finland was declared an independent nation state on 6 December 1917, after the Civil War in 1918, there was a brief attempt to make Finland a kingdom from 9 October to 14 December 1918. In 1919, Finland was declared a republic, since then, all titles of monarchs are obsolete in the country. Today, there are no pretenders to the title of the Grand Prince of Finland, anjala conspiracy Dukes of Swedish Provinces Finnish Declaration of Independence Governor-General of Finland History of Finland List of Finnish monarchs Monarchy of Finland
39.
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
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Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph was King of Sweden from 1792 until his abdication in 1809. He was the son of Gustav III of Sweden and his queen consort Sophia Magdalena, eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain. He was the last Swedish ruler of Finland, the occupation of which by Russian Czar Alexander I in 1808-09 was the cause of his violent downfall. After an army revolt, the king was seized by officers and forced to relinquish the throne on behalf of his family on March 29, the anniversary of his fathers death. The Instrument of Government subsequently written was adopted on June 6, the current National Day of Sweden, gustavia in Swedish Pomerania was named after Gustav, but was lost in the Napoleonic Wars. Gustav Adolf was born in Stockholm, after his birth, he was put under the supervision of Maria Aurora Uggla. He was raised under the tutelage of his father and the liberal-minded Nils von Rosenstein, in August 1796 his uncle the regent arranged for the young king to visit Saint Petersburg to betroth him to Catherine the Greats granddaughter, Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna. However, the whole arrangement foundered on the refusal of Gustav to allow his destined bride liberty of worship according to the rites of the Russian Orthodox Church. Nobody seems to have suspected the possibility at the time that emotional problems might lie at the root of Gustavs abnormal piety, Gustav Adolfs prompt dismissal of the generally detested Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, the duke-regents leading advisor, added still further to his popularity. When the king encountered serious opposition at the Riksdag, he resolved never to call another and his reign was ill-fated and was to end abruptly. In 1805, he joined the Third Coalition against Napoleon and his campaign went poorly and the French occupied Swedish Pomerania. When his ally, Russia, made peace and concluded an alliance with France at Tilsit in 1807, Sweden, on 21 February 1808, Russia invaded Finland, which was ruled by Sweden, on the pretext of compelling Sweden to join Napoleons Continental System. Denmark likewise declared war on Sweden, in just few months after, almost all of Finland was lost to Russia. As a result of the war, on 17 September 1809, in the Treaty of Hamina, the autonomous Grand Principality of Finland within Imperial Russia was established. Gustav Adolfs inept and erratic leadership in diplomacy and war precipitated his deposition through a conspiracy of army officers. A more likely cause, however, is that the revolutionaries feared that Gustavs son, if he inherited the throne, would avenge his fathers deposition when he came of age. On 5 June, Duke Charles was proclaimed king under the name of Charles XIII, after accepting a new liberal constitution, in December, Gustav and his family were transported to Germany. In 1812, he divorced his wife and it was there that he suffered a stroke and died
40.
Finnish War
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The Finnish War was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire. Other notable effects were the Swedish parliaments adoption of a new constitution and the establishment of the House of Bernadotte, the king, who viewed Napoleon as the Antichrist and Britain as his ally against Napoleons France, was apprehensive of the systems ruinous consequences for Swedens maritime commerce. He instead entered into negotiations with Britain in order to prepare a joint attack against Denmark, in the meantime, the Royal Navy attacked Copenhagen and the Anglo-Russian War was declared. Referring to the treaties of 1780 and 1800, the emperor demanded that Gustav Adolf close the Baltic Sea to all foreign warships, King Gustav Adolf did this after securing an alliance with England on 8 February 1808. Meanwhile, on 30 December 1807 Russia announced that should Sweden not give a clear reply Russia would be forced to act, the situation was problematic for Sweden, since it once again faced both Denmark and Russia as potential enemies requiring the Swedes to split their forces. The king had thought it impossible to defend Finland should the attack during the winter. Most of the Swedish plans assumed that warfare would be impossible during winter, in addition, several new good roads had been built into Finland greatly reducing the earlier dependency on naval support for any large operation in Finland. Russia had gathered a wealth of information from Finland using spies, the level of detail was so great that Russian maps of Finland were in many respects more accurate than their Swedish counterparts. The Russians used the services of General Georg Magnus Sprengtporten when forming their plans, Sprengtporten suggested going on to an offensive during the winter since Finland would be mostly isolated when seas were frozen. His ideas were developed by General Jan Pieter van Suchtelen before General Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden was appointed as the commander of the Russian army in Finland in December 1807. The plan involved using the series of fortifications built after 1790 as staging grounds for the Russian advances into Finland, in southern Finland, armies were to isolate the fortifications and first take control of the whole of southern Finland before advancing further to the north. Forces in Savolax were to press hard against the Swedes and reach the Gulf of Bothnia towards Uleåborg, on February 21,1808,24,000 Russian troops under Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoevden crossed the border. Since Klingspor had not arrived Lieutenant General Karl Nathanael af Klercker acted as Swedish commander in Finland, before the engagement started Klingspor finally arrived on 2 March and assumed command. Instead of facing the Russians at Tavastehus he ordered the army to withdraw, in Savolax the Russians also forced the Swedes to withdraw. The king was quite unprepared for the attack, especially as war was not declared until April, about 21,000 Swedish troops were stationed in various fortresses in Finland, while the rest of his army was unable to leave southern Sweden for fear of Danish attack. On the first day of the war they had captured the town of Lovisa, borgå was captured on 24 February and Helsingfors on 2 March. Abandoned Swedish fortifications Hangö Peninsula were taken and manned on 21 March, before the end of March 1808 even Vasa was taken
41.
Riksdag of the Estates
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Riksdag of the Estates was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the king, the actual first meeting is likely the one that took place at Uppsala in 1436 after the death of rebel leader Engelbrekt. At the Riksdag in 1517, regent Sten Sture the Younger, at Västerås in 1527 Lutheranism was adopted as the new state religion instead of Roman Catholicism. At Arboga in 1561, the term Riksdag was used for the first time, at Söderköping in 1595, duke Charles was elected regent of Sweden instead of king Sigismund, who was a Catholic and the king of both Sweden and Poland. In 1612 the Riksdag gave the nobility the privilege and right to all higher offices of government. The first open conflict between the different estates happened in 1650, at the Riksdag in 1680 a large scale reduction was enacted, and Sweden became an absolute monarchy. In 1719, the Riksdag elected Ulrika Eleonora as heir in place of her sisters son. In 1809, the Riksdag elected Charles XIII king after his nephew Gustav IV Adolf had been deposed, at the sessions in 1634,1719,1720,1772 and 1809 new constitutions were adopted. The constitution of 1809 divided the powers of government between the monarch and the Riksdag of the Estates, and after 1866 between the monarch and the new Riksdag. In 1866 all the Estates voted in favor of dissolution and at the time to constitute a new assembly. The four former estates were abolished, the House of Nobility, Swedish, Riddarhuset, remains as a quasi-official representation of the Swedish nobility. The modern Centre Party which grew out of the Swedish farmers movement, following the Finnish War in 1809, Sweden ceded its eastmost provinces to the Russian Empire. Comprising much of present-day Finland, these became a Grand Duchy under the Emperor, the Finnish estates assembled in 1809 at Porvoo to confirm the change in their allegiance. This Diet of Finland followed the forms of the Swedish Riksdag, however, during the reigns of Alexander I and Nicholas I it was not assembled and no new legislation was enacted. The diet was next assembled by tsar Alexander II in 1863, after this the Diet met regularly until 1905, when it passed an act forming a new unicameral parliament. That assembly has been Finlands legislative body since then, the Finnish House of Nobility — Finnish, Ritarihuone, Swedish, Riddarhuset — carries on the tradition of the Estate of Nobility, but no new families have been ennobled since 1906. History of Sweden History of Finland History of the Riksdag Riksdagsmusiken
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Autonomous administrative division
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An autonomous administrative division is a subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has a degree of self-governance, or autonomy, from an external authority. Typically, it is geographically distinct from the rest of the country or populated by a national minority. Countries that include autonomous areas may be federacies, federations, or confederations, Autonomous areas can be divided into territorial autonomies, subregional territorial autonomies, and local autonomies. Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the UK. A number of other British Overseas Territories also have autonomy in internal affairs through local legislatures, New Zealand dependent territories New Zealand maintains nominal sovereignty over three Pacific Island nations. The Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing countries in association with New Zealand that maintain some international relationships in their own name. Tokelau remains an autonomous dependency of New Zealand, the Chatham Islands—despite having the designation of Territory—is an integral part of the country, situated within the New Zealand archipelago. The territorys council is not autonomous and has broadly the same powers as other local councils, danish constituent countries The Faroe Islands and Greenland are two autonomous countries within the Kingdom of Denmark. Dutch constituent countries Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten are autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in addition they enjoy autonomy in taxation matters as well as having their own currencies. French overseas collectivities, New Caledonia, and Corsica The French constitution recognises 3 autonomous jurisdictions, Corsica, a region of France, enjoys a greater degree of autonomy on matters such as tax and education compared to mainland regions. New Caledonia, a sui generis collectivity, and French Polynesia and they do not, however, have legislative powers for policy areas relating to law and order, defense, border control or university education. Other smaller overseas collectivities have a degree of autonomy through local legislatures. In Ethiopia, special woredas are a subgroup of woredas that are organized around the traditional homelands of an ethnic minority and these woredas have many similarities to autonomous areas in other countries. The five comarcas indígenas of Panama, Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus in Albania. Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union Bantustans of apartheid-era South Africa, subcarpathian Ruthenia and Slovakia within Czechoslovakia. Baltic Provinces of the Russian Empire, grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire. Magyar Autonomous Region of Socialist Republic of Romania Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain, weller and S. Wolff, Autonomy, Self-governance and Conflict Resolution, Innovative Approaches to Institutional Design in Divided Societies. Abingdon, Routledge,2005 From Conflict to Autonomy in Nicaragua, Lessons Learnt, olausson, Autonomy and Islands, A Global Study of the Factors that determine Island Autonomy
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Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt
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Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt was a Finnish, Swedish and Russian courtier and diplomat. In Finland, he is considered one of the great Finnish statesmen and his advice to Russias Tsar Alexander I was of utmost importance for securing the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Born in Tarvasjoki, Finland, he was the grandson of Charles XII of Swedens general. In 1774, Armfelt became an ensign in the guards, as a result, he thought it prudent to go abroad 1778. Subsequently, however, in 1780, Armfelt met the king again at Spa in Belgium and completely won over the previously disgruntled monarch with his natural amiability, intelligence and social gifts. At first, he was given the position of maitre des plaisirs in the Swedish court and he took part in negotiations with Catherine II of Russia in 1783, and, during the Russo-Swedish War, he was one of the kings most trusted and active counsellors. He displayed great valour in the field during this time, in 1788, when the Danes unexpectedly invaded Sweden and threatened Gothenburg, Armfelt organized the Dalecarlian levies under the kings direction and led them to victory. He remained absolutely faithful to King Gustav when nearly the whole of the Swedish nobility fell away from him, Armfelt distinguished himself in the later phases of the Russo-Swedish War, eventually becoming the Swedish plenipotentiary who negotiated the wars demise with the Treaty of Värälä in August 1790. Armfelt had been wounded in the battle of Savitaipale in June 1790. During the reign of Gustav III, his influence was paramount in Sweden, Armfelt was also appointed as the Over-Governor of Stockholm, but the new regent was staunchly anti-Gustavian and sent Armfelt to serve as the Swedish ambassador to Naples in order to get rid of him. The plot, though, was discovered by spies for the regent, with the assistance of the exiled British Queen Caroline, he was just barely able to escape. He fled to Russia, where he was interned at Kaluga 1794–1797, at home, he was condemned to death as a traitor and his property confiscated. His mistress, Magdalena Rudenschöld, was judged for complicity and pilloried on the Riddarhus Square before being imprisoned for two years in Stockholm. From 1805 to 1807, he was the commander-in-chief of the Swedish forces in Pomerania, on his return home, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Norwegian frontier, where he was stifled in his duties by the constant flow of ordres, contre-ordres et désordres from his master. Armfelt was firmly opposed to the revolutionaries who in 1809 overthrew Gustav IV and he was the most courageous of the deposed kings supporters and resolved afterwards to retire to Finland, which had been ceded to Russia. Appointed to high offices in the Swedish government, his departure was delayed on purpose until his enemies could gather, on 31 March, he visited Russias ambassador in Stockholm and gave him an oath of allegiance. The following day, he was deported from Sweden, armfelts position greatly improved in Russia. After deposing Speransky he exercised almost as much influence over Emperor Alexander I as Czartoryski and he contributed more than anyone else to Finnish independence with his plan to turn the Grand Duchy of Finland into an autonomous state within the Russian Empire
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"Finland, Grand Duchy of". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
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