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Kaleva Hall News 1 “THE 21” - Finnish Hall News April 2017 Lodge #21 & Finlandia Foundation Berkeley Chapter 1970 Chestnut Street -- Berkeley, CA 94702 Phone: 510-845-5352 + Email: [email protected] - Website: finnishhall.org Facebook: facebook.com/finnishbhall + Yelp: yelp.com/biz/finnish-brotherhood-hall-berkeley Editor: Kaj Rekola, [email protected] This year, 2017 is the Centennial of Finland's Independence. The Finnish Government declared independence on December 6, 1917. To celebrate this important event there will be several events during the year, culminating in the Independence Gala at the Hall on December 3. Most events are in the planning stage. Meanwhile, our Traditional Vappu Spring Festival is scheduled for Saturday, April 29! Details inside. Kalevan Kalenteri 2017 Monthly Trustees and member meetings @Finnish Hall Helsinki Cafe Wednesday, May 10 Trustees @5pm, members @7pm; refreshments Wednesday, June 15 Trustees @5pm, members @7pm; refreshments Saturday April 29 Vappu celebration and concert, 3pm @ Finnish Hall (details inside) Friday, June 9 Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki conducting SF Symphony: Stravinsky's Sunday June 11 The Rite of Spring @Davies Symphony Hall Selected Fall events Saturday, September 3 Viipurin Lauluveikot matinee concert and reception 3pm @Finnish Hall Sunday Oct 22 Calperfomances: Olli Mustonen, piano Sunday Oct 229 Calperfomances: Anssi Karttunen, cello & Nicolas Hodges , piano Saturday, November 11 Finnish Genealogy workshop (genealogist Greg Isola, MN) Sunday, December 3 Finnish Independence Centennial Gala @ Finnish Hall Antinpojan Blogi Our Blogger, Harry Siitonen is still at SHIELDS NURSING CENTER, 3230 Carlson Blvd, El Cerrito, Ca 94530, (510) 525-3212.. He would certainly appreciate visitors to cheer him up. However, please check with the Center before visiting. The 21, April 2017 2 The Path to Finland's Declaration of Independence on December 6, 1917 Part 2. Passive and active resistance during the first Russification attempt The first Russification attempt by Russia triggered both passive and active resistance movements in Finland. Governor General Bobrikoff, whom Tsar Nicholas II had given dictatorial powers in Finland, was assassinated in June 1904. Eliel Soisalon- Soininen, the Procurator (Minister of Justice) in the Finnish Senate, was assassinated in February 1905. The policy of the constitutionalists, comprising mostly civil leaders from the educated class, was to hold on to the Finnish constitution, recognized by oaths by each successive Grand Duke of Finland since Alexander I in 1809. (i.e. the tsars of Russia) until 1890. This would be done by non- violent resistance of the Russian policy to integrate Finland more closely to Russia. Another faction was the one advocating Bobrikoff's assasination acquiescence towards the Russians, hoping that it would prevent the total destruction of the Finnish identity. Their motto was "Bend but do not break". However, over time when their policy did not seem to go anywhere, and the faction lost support. The third faction, supporting active, even armed resistance, gained support especially with the younger generation. Expatriates conspired with the enemies of Russia, especially the Japanese, who funded purchases of arms. In 1901 Russia tried to alter the nature of the Finnish army with the new conscription law, which demanded that Finns not only defend Finland but fight for Russia on any front. Finnish resistance grew into a mass movement, an only half of eligible men reported for duty. This triggered a sharp peak in draft-age male immigration to the United States to avoid being drafted to the Russian Army to fight in the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905). A The Russo-Japanese war 1904-1905 The Russo-Japanese war (Feb 1904 - Sep 1905) which was fought in the Far East, Manchuria had profound consequences for Russia and Finland as well. From the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, Russia had demonstrated an expansionist policy in the Siberian Far East towards the Pacific. To thwart the threat of Russian expansion, Japan offered to recognize Russian dominance in Manchuria in exchange for recognition of Korea as being within the Japanese sphere of influence. Russia refused and demanded that Korea north of the 39th parallel be a neutral buffer zone between Russia and Japan. After negotiations broke down in 1904, the Japanese Navy opened hostilities by attacking the Russian Eastern Fleet at Port Arthur, China, in a surprise attack. Russia suffered numerous defeats, including the total destruction of its Baltic fleet at Tsusima by Japan. Tsar Nicholas II was convinced that Russia would win and chose to remain engaged in the war; at first, to await the outcomes of certain naval battles, and later to preserve the dignity of Russia by averting a "humiliating peace." The war concluded with the Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt. The complete victory of the Japanese military surprised world observers. Treaty of Portsmouth Bloody Sunday in St Petersburg in January 1905 and the Russian revolution of 1905 The 21, April 2017 3 An Orthodox priest Georgy Gapon, led a huge workers' procession to the Winter Palace to deliver a petition[35] to the Tsar on Sunday, 22 January [O.S. 9 January] 1905. The troops guarding the Palace opened fire on the demonstrators, causing up to 1000 deaths. The event became known as Bloody Sunday, and is considered by many scholars as the start of the active phase of the revolution. The event resulted in grave consequences for the Tsarist autocracy governing Imperial Russia: the events in St. Petersburg provoked public outrage and a series of massive strikes that spread quickly throughout the industrial centers of the Russian Empire. The Bloody Sunday in St Petersburg massacre on Bloody Sunday is considered to be the start of the in 1905 active phase of the Revolution of 1905. The humiliating military defeat of Russia to Japan in 1905, caused extensive social unrest in Russia and a general strike in Finland. Finally the Tsar gave up dictatorship in favor of the Russian parliament (Duma) and the first parliament in Finland. Armed resistance plans in Finland and the S/S John Grafton affair during the Russo-Japanese war The SS John Grafton was a steamship that was used in an unsuccessful attempt to smuggle large quantities of arms for the Finnish resistance to the Imperial Russian regime. After the Russification in Finland increased, the resistance activist Konni Zilliacus organized the smuggling of weapons to the Finnish and the Russian resistance movements. With Japanese financing, S/S John Grafton was bought. The ship was loaded with 15,500 Swiss Vetterli rifles, 2.5 million bullets, 2,500 high-class English officer's revolvers, and 3 tons of explosives. According to the original plan, the S/S John Grafton weapons were to be transported to a meeting place in the Gulf of Finland, from where the journey would continue to St Petersburg. On arrival, a part of the cargo would be offloaded and given to Russian revolutionaries. However, due to some mishaps, the route was changed, and the ship set course towards the Gulf of Bothnia and the town of Kemi, where part of the cargo was offloaded. The journey continued to Jakobstad which, like Kemi, was a center of the Finnish resistance. The ship was piloted into the rocky archipelago north of Jakobstad and the offloading of the weapons was conducted without any serious problems. When the ship continued her journey south, she ran aground. The crew started to salvage what remained of the weapons. It quickly became clear that the whole cargo could not be salvaged. The captain, J.W. Nylander, made the decision to blow up the ship to avoid it ending up in the hands of the Russian authorities. On the afternoon of 8 September 1905 the ship was blown up with three powerful charges. The sound of the explosion was heard some 50 kilometers away. The Tsar’s October Manifesto in 1905 Issued on 17 October 1905, the Manifesto stated that the government would grant the population reforms such as the right to vote and to convene in assemblies. Its main provisions were: 1. The granting of the population "inviolable personal rights" Nicholas II The 21, April 2017 4 including freedom of conscience, speech, and assemblage. 2. Giving the population who were previously cut off from doing so participation in the newly formed Duma 3. Ensuring that no law would be passed without the consent of the Imperial Duma. However, the manifesto was written only to get the pressure off the monarch's back, that it was not a "voluntary act".[55] In fact, the writers hoped that the Manifesto would sow discord into "the camp of the autocracy’s enemies" and bring order back to Russia. Finland in the aftermath of the revolution of 1905 The unrest during the Russo-Japanese War resulted in a general strike in Finland in October 1905. The most immediate result was the Emperor's October manifesto that cancelled all illegal regulations. A parliament based on universal and equal suffrage was also promised. An extraordinary session of the diet in December 1905 was General strike in Tampere in 1905 called to implement the parliamentary reforms. The proposal was presented to Nicholas II on 15 March 15 1906 and after his approval it was submitted to the Finnish Diet on May 9. The reforms came to force on 1 October 1906. The Finnish Diet was reformed from a legislative assembly of four Estates into a unicameral parliament of 200 members. At the same time, universal suffrage was introduced, which gave all men and women 24 years or older the right to vote and stand for election. The electorate increased almost tenfold, from 120,000 during the Diet to 1.2 million. Acts on the right of parliament to monitor members of the government, on the Freedom of Speech, Assembly and Association, and Freedom of the Press were also introduced.
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