Matti Klinge The Finnish Tradition Societas Historica Finlandiae Suomen Historiallinen Seura Finska Historiska Samfundet Matti Klinge The Finnish Tradition Essays on structures and identities in the North of Europe SHS / Helsinki / 1993 ISBN 951-8915-62-8 Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy Jyväskylä 1993 Contents Finland and Russia 7 The Nordic countries (Norden) and Europe 13 Continuity in Finnish representation 37 Helsinki and St. Petersburg — the cities of an historical route 63 Finland and Europe before 1809 69 The University of Helsinki 81 The frontier 91 Finland: from Napoleonic legacy to Nordic co-operation 99 Runeberg's two homelands 119 The opera and the spirit of the times 138 The evolution of the linguistic situation in Finland 149 A patriotic enterprise 175 Mannerheim's ride to China 183 The germanophile university 201 St. Petersburg — a cultural city 215 The north, nature, and poverty: some background to the Nordic identity 225 Finnish russophobia in the twenties: character and historical roots 237 To the reader 263 5 Finland and Russia The millenium of history shared by Finland and Russia, which later became the Soviet Union, and Russia again, is intimately linked to a waterway: the route which leads from the Skagerrak and the Kattegat through the Baltic Sea to the Gulf of Finland, along it to the Neva and from there through Lake Lagoda to the isthmuses which provide access to the river systems of Russia. The Russian state came into being during the ninth century along the shores of the waterways between the Baltic Sea and Constantinople. Novgorod was in the north and Kiev at the midway point. Constantinople, the new Rome, was then one of the world's leading centres of education and commerce, as well as the capital of a world power. Its religion and culture, Eastern Örthodox Christianity, and the Greek-based Cyrillic alphabet, are some of the many things which Russia inherited. In distant Novgorod Greek monks were painting icons and spreading Christian culture to the city's endless northern hinterlands. Around the year 1000 these included much of what is now Finland. Among the users of the eastern passage the Scandinavian Vikings, also known as Varangians, played an important role, and Finns were probably among those who made trips to the distant imperial city. The Varangians played a significant role in the establishment of Novgorod. Commerce and industry grew, as did Novgorod, and when the Scandinavian states began to take shape, strife arose with respect to the ownership of the shores or the Gulf of Finland. The thirteenth century was decisive. This century saw the Germans, Danes and Swedes attempt to extend their power eastwards while, at the same time, the Mongols were pressing Russia from the east, 7 eventually conquering the entire country with the exception of Novgorod. The southern shore of the Gulf of Finland as well as the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea wound up belonging to the Germans and the Danes, while the northern shore fell into the hands of the Swedish state which was beginning to emerge at the time and to which part of western Finland belonged. The Swedish state expanded into the interior of Finland, and during the third and fourth decades of the 13th century the area of the Tavastians, now the province of Häme, was incorporated into it. After securing this flank Sweden renewed her efforts to expand up to the Neva, but Novgorod halted this expansion in 1240. After renewed attacks and "eternal peace" was signed in 1323 on the island of Pähkinäsaari, Swedish Nöteborg, German and Russian Schlüsselburg at the mouth of the Neva. The treaty affirmed that the entire northern shore of the Gulf of Finland belonged to Sweden. The Swedes had already secured this previously uninhabited area, the present province of Uusimaa, by colonizing it with people drawn from the isthmus of Karelia through vast uninhabited tracts all the way to the Bay of Bothnia. This resulted in Finland becoming part of and developing within the culture of western Christendom. During the 15th and 16th centuries Sweden expanded its actual power by colonizing the areas at the northern end of the Bay of Bothnia and in the interior of Finland. Olavinlinna castle at Savonlinna served as its point of support, and the cultivation by clearing and burning over woodland typical of the eastern Finnish province of Savo was its method. The liberation of Russia from the power of the mongolians strengthened this state, which was now governed from Moscow, and during the latter half of the 16th century it waged a long war with varying success in Estonia and Karelia. The internal disorder and confusion which characterized Russia at the beginning of the 17th century served as another favorable factor for the armies of Sweden and of Poland as well. The border which was drawn in the year 1617 remained valid for almost a century, and it shut Russia off completely from contact with the Baltic Sea. Sweden had become a great power including not only Karelia and Ingermanland but also Estonia and Livonia in addition to its posessions on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. 8 V.Blomstedt. The mediaeval royal castles in Finland are few but impressive. Their role was to secure internal cohesion and the eastern frontier of the Swedish realm. The castle of Hämeenlinna (Tavastehus) and its predecessor were built to control the interior of Finland. The expansion of the realm eastwards along the Gulf of Finland demanded domination of the hinterland. The long period of Swedish expansion to the east — it may be said to have begun with the Viking raids of the 9th century and to have reached its peak in the 17th century — was followed by a period of Russian expansion to the west. Peter the Great wanted to make Russia into a maritime power on two seas — the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. In 1703 he established the fortification of St. Petersburg at the mouth of the Neva, and made it the capital of his vast empire nine years later. In 1714 he defeated the Swedish navy near Hanko, having already defeated King Charles XII's infantry at Poltava in 1709. The peace concluded in 1721 secured Karelia, Estonia and Livonia for Peter the Great, and twenty years later his daughter Elizabeth moved the border of Russia somewhat further west to the Kymi river. The clearest manifestations of Swedish defence were the construction of the 9 vast Sveaborg fortification complex immediately outside of Helsinki and the construction of a navy to defend the archipelago. The rearrangement of European borders as well as the power politics of the major countries allowed Russia to move its border even further westwards from the Kymi river to the Aland Islands as a consequence of the war of 1808-09. What had been the eastern part of Sweden was incorporated into Russia as a separate entity, the Grand Duchy of Finland, in 1809. A new administrative capital, Helsinki, was built for it in the style of St. Petersburg, but Finland retained its old Swedish form of government, laws, religion, and culture with respect to civil affairs. During the course of the century Finland constructed its own national culture. The country had the opportunity to develop its own political and economic system, and by the end of the 1860s it had acquired its own parliament and monetary unit (the markka). In 1906 the parliament was made uni- cameral, women were granted the right to vote, and universal suffrage was established. With respect to Russia proper, Finland seemed a pioneer in many respects. Russian interest in Finland was primarily of a military nature. The purpose was to prevent the Swedish and, in particular, the English navies from operating in the Gulf of Finland in the immediate vicinity of St. Petersburg. The rise of Germany to the status of a great power at the end of the 19th century meant a change in the balance of power in the Baltic area as well as in Russian policy towards Finland. Russia saw itself as compelled to take steps aimed at strengthening the bonds between the Grand Duchy and Russia proper. Throughout the First World War Russia expected Germany to mount an invasion in Finland and Estonia, and it maintained its Baltic Navy in positions of readiness in both Helsinki and Tallinn. During the final phases of the war, after the October Revolution, the Germans had established themselves both in Helsinki and Tallinn. Finland had declared its independence after the October Revolution on December 6, 1917, and Lenin's government had given its consent. At the end of January 1918 revolution broke out in Finland as well. Aided by the Germans, the Whites quelled it, expelling the Russian troops from Finland at the same time. The Germans made efforts to 10 lipillll!IIIH//q!IIUiI!I _. ~ .Svenskasme.s stabling vidsfri- densbörjan. ,vw~n Ryssames mtffålL, sista stitZlniieg. TIB~II]I Z—"~L -1 ---Svenskcnmcs-•- —•.— Slaget vid Virta bro. ~ 0' 1 8 s 4 S 6 '1 B 9 1000 .1671.r A plan of the Virta or Koljonvirta battlefield in Iisalmi in 1808. This was the northern route for the Russians advancing northwest towards the Gulf of Bothnia. The Swedish (Finnish) troops were commanded by the famous Colonel, later Field- Marshal Sandels. "Sandels beer" is nowadays brewed in Iisalmi. 11 associate Finland closely with the German Empire, but Germany's collapse and the weakness of the new Russia aided both Finland ant the Baltic countries in establishing true independence. The consolidation of Soviet power and the new threat it perceived from Hitler's Germany injected tension into the situation between Finland and the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Second World War.