Finland became part of the Russian Empire. How the Russian Empire tried to Russify Finland

In this material we will tell you when and under what circumstances Finland became part of Russia. The Peace of Tilsit, signed in 1807 between France and Russia, radically changed the balance of opposing forces in Europe. It must be said that Napoleon’s policy of conquest included the use of Russia to fight England. As we know from history, it was at his insistence that Russia broke off all relations with Great Britain. But on her side was Sweden, which categorically refused to join the continental blockade and entered into an alliance with England. For Russia, the war with Sweden was caused by serious strategic considerations. It included Finland, and Russia needed to secure the capital of St. Petersburg from the north, which was located quite close to the border.

Winter of 1808 Russian army goes over Finnish border. Heavy fighting continued throughout the year, plus an uprising occurred local residents who began to unite into partisan detachments. But already in the last months of 1808, our troops occupied almost all of Finland. Emperor Alexander I was not fully pleased with the events taking place, since in general, the Swedish troops retained their combat effectiveness and strength, which means that the end of hostilities was still far away. Russian army began its new offensive against Stockholm in difficult winter conditions. In this battle, the detachment commanded by Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration distinguished itself.

His corps was tasked with occupying the Åland Islands and then reaching the Swedish coast along the frozen ice of the Gulf of Bothnia. As a result of a heroic campaign, in March 1809, troops captured Aland and entered the indicated square. In the midst of the attack on Sweden, Alexander I convened the Finnish Diet in the city of Borgo. Shortly before its convocation, an act recognizing Finnish autonomy was published, and it was declared a province of Russia. The Russian sovereign promised the local authorities to preserve in unbreakable force its traditions, religion and primordial laws. At the same time as the start of the Sejm meeting, peace negotiations between Russia and Sweden took place. They ended on September 5, 1809 in Friedrichsham, where a peace treaty was signed.

Photo: Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho / flickr.com

Under its terms, Sweden ceded to Russia previously conquered Finland, the Åland Islands, as well as the eastern part of Vestro-Bothnia. And the King of Sweden announced that he was joining other European states that were blockading England. After Finland was included in Russia, it was transformed into the Grand Duchy of Finland, and Tsar Alexander I added the title of Grand Duke of Finland to his other regalia. There was no strong relocation of the Russian-speaking population to new lands and the largest concentration was in the region and.

When the first Russian revolution happened in Russia in 1905, the Finns created their own liberation movement and joined the strikers. It must be said that there were quite difficult living conditions; the peasants did not have their own lands, which remained in the hands of Finnish and Swedish landowners. They rented out their plots for long periods. Tenants - “torpari”, as payment for the use of these plots, were required to work on the owners’ land for a certain amount of time. In even more difficult conditions were the peasants - Karelians, who carried out primitive shifting farming on small rocky patches of land, and also hunted and fished.

Double oppression - from Russia on the one hand, and Finnish and Swedish landowners, on the other - often caused unrest among the Finnish peasants, suppressed by the joint actions of tsarism and large local landowners. Local political parties began to put forward their reform programs and Nicholas II had to cancel the decrees that limited Finnish autonomy. Until 1917, the country harbored hopes of its Independence, and after the well-known events in Russia in 1917, the Council of People's Commissars, headed by V. Lenin, recognized the State Independence of the Republic of Finland, and today the country celebrates this holiday on December 6. In our next article we will tell you where you will learn about its borders, you will be able to see a map and their history of occurrence.

In Russian society, sometimes you come across people who claim that Finland, located in the north of Europe, has never been part of Russia. The question arises: is the person who argues this way right?
As part of the Russian Empire from 1809 to 1917, there was the Grand Duchy of Finland, which occupied the territory of modern Finland and part of modern Karelia. This principality had broad autonomy.
In June 1808, Alexander the First issued a manifesto “On the annexation of Finland.” According to the Friedrichsham Peace Treaty of 1809, concluded between Russia and Sweden, Finland passed from Sweden to Russia. Finland became part of the Russian Empire as an autonomous principality. This agreement is the result of the Russian-Swedish war of 1808 - 1809, which is the last of all Russian-Swedish wars.
Under Alexander II, the Finnish language received the status of the state language on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland.
Supreme official Finland had a governor-general appointed by the head of state, that is, the Russian emperor. Who was not the Governor-General of Finland from 1809 to 1917? And Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (1761 - 1818), and Arseny Andreevich Zakrevsky (1783 - 1865), and Alexander Sergeevich Menshikov (1787 - 1869), and Platon Ivanovich Rokasovsky (1800 - 1869), and Stepan Osipovich Goncharov (1831 – 1912), and Nekrasov Nikolai Vissarionovich (1879 – 1940) and others.
It should be noted that the Friedrichsham Peace Treaty of 1809 regarding Finland was in force until 1920, since according to the Tartu Peace Treaty of October 14, 1920, concluded between the RSFSR and Finland, the state independence of Finland was recognized.
On December 6, 1917, Finland declared its independence. That is, a new country has appeared on the world map. In this regard, it should be noted that some experts believe that Finland was part of Russia from 1809 to 1920. But most historians and other experts claim that Finland was part of Russia from 1809 to 1917. I note that on December 18, 1917, by the Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, which was established on November 7, 1917 as the government of Soviet Russia, it was proposed to recognize the state independence of Finland.
Yes, Russia lost Finland. Yes, Russia sold Alaska to the United States of America. There is nothing to be done, this is the history of mankind. In the history of mankind there have been enough cases when a state loses something or, conversely, gains something.
From all that has been said, it follows that Finland was part of Russia from 1809 to 1917. That is, the Russians who claim that Finland has never been part of Russia are wrong.

At the beginning of the 19th century, an event occurred that influenced the fate of an entire people inhabiting the territory adjacent to the coast. Baltic Sea, and for many centuries was under the jurisdiction of the Swedish monarchs. This historical act was the annexation of Finland to Russia, the history of which formed the basis of this article.

The document that became the result of the Russian-Swedish war

On September 17, 1809, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland in the city of Friedrichsham, Emperor Alexander I and Gustav IV signed an agreement, which resulted in the annexation of Finland to Russia. This document was the result of the victory of Russian troops, supported by France and Denmark, in the last of a long series of Russian-Swedish wars.

The annexation of Finland to Russia under Alexander 1 was a response to the appeal of the Borgor Diet, the first class assembly of the peoples inhabiting Finland, to the Russian government with a request to accept their country into Russia as the Grand Duchy of Finland, and to conclude a personal union.

Most historians believe that it was the positive reaction of Emperor Alexander I to this popular expression of will that gave impetus to the formation of the Finnish nation state, whose population was previously completely under the control of the Swedish elite. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Finland owes the creation of its statehood to Russia.

Finland within the Kingdom of Sweden

It is known that until the beginning of the 19th century, the territory of Finland, where the Sumy and Em tribes lived, never constituted an independent state. In the period from the 10th to the beginning of the 14th century, it belonged to Novgorod, but in 1323 it was conquered by Sweden and came under its control for many centuries.

According to the Orekhov Treaty concluded in the same year, Finland became part of the Kingdom of Sweden on the basis of autonomy, and in 1581 received the formal status of the Grand Duchy of Finland. However, in reality, its population was subjected to severe discrimination in legal and administrative terms. Despite the fact that the Finns had the right to delegate their representatives to the Swedish parliament, their number was so insignificant that it did not allow them to have any significant influence on the resolution of current issues. This state of affairs persisted until another Russian-Swedish war broke out in 1700.

Finland's accession to Russia: the beginning of the process

During Northern War The most significant events took place on Finnish territory. In 1710, the troops of Peter I, after a successful siege, captured the well-fortified city of Vyborg and thus secured access to the Baltic Sea. The next victory of the Russian troops, won four years later at the Battle of Napusa, made it possible to liberate almost the entire Grand Duchy of Finland from the Swedes.

This could not yet be considered as a complete annexation of Finland to Russia, since a significant part of it still remained part of Sweden, but the beginning of the process had been made. Even subsequent attempts to take revenge for the defeat, undertaken by the Swedes in 1741 and 1788, but both times were unsuccessful, could not stop him.

Nevertheless, under the terms of the Treaty of Nystadt, which ended the Northern War and concluded in 1721, the territories of Estland, Livonia, Ingria, as well as a number of islands of the Baltic Sea went to Russia. In addition, the empire included Southwestern Karelia and the second largest city in Finland - Vyborg.

It became the administrative center of the soon-created Vyborg province, which was included in the St. Petersburg province. According to this document, Russia assumed obligations in all Finnish territories ceded to it to preserve the previously existing rights of citizens and the privileges of individual social groups. It also provided for the preservation of all previous religious foundations, including the freedom of the population to profess the evangelical faith, perform divine services and study in religious educational institutions.

The next stage of expansion of the northern borders

During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in 1741, a new Russian-Swedish war broke out. It also became one of the stages of the process that, almost seven decades later, resulted in the annexation of Finland to Russia.

Briefly, its results can be reduced to two main points - the seizure of a significant territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was under Swedish control, which allowed Russian troops to advance all the way to Uleaborg, as well as the highest manifesto that followed. In it, on March 18, 1742, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna announced the introduction of independent rule throughout the territory conquered from Sweden.

Moreover, a year later in a major administrative center In Finland - the city of Abo - the Russian government concluded an agreement with representatives of the Swedish side, according to which all of South-Eastern Finland became part of Russia. It was a very significant territory, which included the cities of Vilmanstrand, Friedrichsgam, Neyshlot with its powerful fortress, as well as the Kymenegor and Savolaki provinces. As a result of this, the Russian border moved even further away from St. Petersburg, thereby reducing the danger of a Swedish attack on the Russian capital.

In 1744, all the territories included in the agreement signed in the city of Abo were annexed to the previously created Vyborg province, and together with it formed the newly formed Vyborg province. The following counties were established on its territory: Serdobolsky, Vilmanstrandsky, Friedrichsgamsky, Neyshlotsky, Kexholmsky and Vyborgsky. In this form, the province existed until the end of the 18th century, after which it was transformed into a governorate with a special form of government.

The accession of Finland to Russia: an alliance beneficial to both states

At the beginning of the 19th century, the territory of Finland, which was part of Sweden, was an underdeveloped agricultural region. Its population at that time did not exceed 800 thousand people, of which only 5.5% lived in cities. The peasants, who were tenants of land, were subject to double oppression both from the Swedish feudal lords and from their own. This largely slowed down the development of national culture and self-awareness.

The annexation of Finnish territory to Russia was undoubtedly beneficial to both states. Alexander I was thus able to move the border even further away from his capital, St. Petersburg, which greatly contributed to strengthening its security.

The Finns, being under the control of Russia, received quite a lot of freedom both in the field of legislation and executive power. However, this event was preceded by the next, 11th, and last in history, the Russian-Swedish War, which broke out in 1808 between the two states.

The last war between Russia and Sweden

As is known from archival documents, the war with the Kingdom of Sweden was not part of the plans of Alexander I and was only a forced act on his part, the consequence of which was the annexation of Finland to Russia. The fact is that, according to the Tilsit Peace Treaty, signed in 1807 between Russia and Napoleonic France, the sovereign took upon himself the responsibility to persuade Sweden and Denmark to a continental blockade created against the common enemy at that time - England.

If there were no problems with the Danes, then the Swedish king Gustav IV categorically rejected the proposal put forward to him. Having exhausted all possibilities to achieve the desired result diplomatically, Alexander I was forced to resort to military pressure.

Already at the beginning of hostilities, it became obvious that, with all his arrogance, the Swedish monarch was not able to field enough troops against the Russians. powerful army, capable of holding the territory of Finland, where the main military operations took place. As a result of a three-pronged offensive, the Russians reached the Kaliksjoki River in less than a month and forced Gustav IV to begin negotiations for peace on terms dictated by Russia.

New title of the Russian Emperor

As a result of the Friedricham Peace Treaty - under this name the agreement signed in September 1809 went down in history, Alexander I began to be called the Grand Duke of Finland. According to this document, the Russian monarch took upon himself the obligation to assist in every possible way in the implementation of the laws adopted by the Finnish Sejm and received its approval.

This clause of the agreement was very important, since it gave the emperor control over the activities of the Diet, and made him essentially the head legislative branch. After Finland was annexed to Russia (1808), only with the consent of St. Petersburg was it allowed to convene the Sejm and introduce changes to the legislation that existed at that time.

From constitutional monarchy to absolutism

The annexation of Finland to Russia, the date of which coincides with the day of the announcement of the Tsar's manifesto of March 20, 1808, was accompanied by a number of very specific circumstances. Considering that Russia, according to the treaty, was obliged to provide the Finns with much of what they unsuccessfully sought from the Swedish government (the right to self-determination, as well as political and social freedoms), significant difficulties arose along this path.

It should be taken into account that previously the Grand Duchy of Finland was part of Sweden, that is, a state that had a constitutional structure, elements of separation of powers, class representation in parliament and, most importantly, the absence of serfdom among the rural population. Now the annexation of Finland to Russia made it part of a country dominated by absolute monarchy, where the very word “constitution” aroused rage among the conservative elite of society, and any progressive reforms met inevitable resistance.

Creation of a commission for Finnish affairs

We should pay tribute to Alexander I, who was able to take a rather sober look at this issue, and put his liberal protégé, Count M. M. Speransky, who became famous for his reform activities, at the head of the commission he established to solve the existing problems.

Having studied in detail all the features of life in Finland, the count recommended that the sovereign base it on government structure the principle of autonomy with the preservation of all local traditions. He also developed instructions intended for the work of this commission, the main provisions of which formed the basis of the future constitution of Finland.

The annexation of Finland to Russia (1808) and the further structure of its internal political life were largely the result of decisions made by the Borgori Diet, with the participation of representatives of all social strata of society. After drawing up and signing the relevant document, the members of the Seimas took an oath of allegiance to the Russian emperor and the state, under the jurisdiction of which they voluntarily entered.

It is interesting to note that, upon ascending the throne, all subsequent representatives of the House of Romanov also issued manifestos certifying the annexation of Finland to Russia. A photo of the first of them, which belonged to Alexander I, is included in our article.

After joining Russia in 1808, the territory of Finland expanded somewhat due to the transfer of the Vyborg (formerly Finnish) province under its jurisdiction. State languages at that time there were Swedish, which became widespread due to the historical characteristics of the country’s development, and Finnish, which was spoken by all of its indigenous population.

The consequences of Finland's annexation to Russia turned out to be very favorable for its development and the formation of statehood. Thanks to this, for more than a hundred years, no significant contradictions arose between the two states. It should be noted that during the entire period of Russian rule, the Finns, unlike the Poles, never rebelled or tried to break away from the control of their stronger neighbor.

The picture changed radically in 1917, after the Bolsheviks, led by V.I. Lenin, granted independence to Finland. Responding to this act of goodwill with black ingratitude and taking advantage of the difficult situation inside Russia, the Finns started a war in 1918 and, having occupied the western part of Karelia up to the Sestra River, advanced to the Pechenga region, partially capturing the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas.

Such a successful start pushed the Finnish government to a new military campaign, and in 1921 they invaded Russian borders, hatching plans to create a “Greater Finland.” However, this time their successes were much less modest. The last armed confrontation between two northern neighbors - the Soviet Union and Finland - was the war that broke out in the winter of 1939-1940.

It also did not bring victory to the Finns. As a result of hostilities that lasted from late November to mid-March and the peace treaty that ended the conflict, Finland lost almost 12% of its territory, including the second largest city of Vyborg. In addition, more than 450 thousand Finns lost their housing and property and were forced to hastily evacuate from the front line into the interior of the country.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that the Soviet side placed full responsibility for the start of the conflict on the Finns, citing the artillery shelling they allegedly launched, the international community accused the Stalinist government of starting the war. As a result, in December 1939, the Soviet Union, as an aggressor state, was expelled from the League of Nations. This war made many forget all the good things that the annexation of Finland to Russia once brought with it.

Russia Day, unfortunately, is not celebrated in Finland. Instead, Finns celebrate Independence Day every year on December 6, remembering how in 1917 the Bolshevik government gave them the opportunity to separate from Russia and continue their own historical path.

Nevertheless, it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that with its current position among others European countries Finland owes a lot to the influence that Russia had in former times on its formation and acquisition of its own statehood.

April 1, 1808 Russian Tsar Alexander I issued a manifesto “On the conquest of Swedish Finland and its permanent annexation to Russia,” which extended his power to the lands inhabited by Finns, conquered from Sweden.

Unnecessary lands

The Middle Ages in North-Eastern Europe were marked by competition between the Swedes and Russians. Karelia, back in the 12th-13th centuries, came under the influence of Veliky Novgorod, and most of Finland at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. e. conquered by the Swedish Vikings.

The Swedes, using Finland as a springboard, tried to expand eastward for centuries, but for a long time suffered one defeat after another from the Novgorodians, including from Prince Alexander Nevsky.

Only in the Livonian (1558-1583) and Russian-Swedish (1614-1617) wars were the Swedes able to inflict severe defeats on our ancestors, which forced Russia to temporarily abandon the lands on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

• Painting by Mikhail Shankov “Charles XII near Narva”

However, during the Northern War of 1700-1721, Tsar Peter I defeated Sweden and took back Ingermanland (a historical region in the north-west modern Russia), part of Karelia and the Baltic states.

“After the Northern War, Russia solved its geopolitical problems in the Baltic, when they not only opened a window to Europe, but also opened the door. However, Peter I did not go further than the Vyborg region on the Karelian Isthmus,” said Vladimir Baryshnikov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the Department of History of Modern and Contemporary Times, professor at St. Petersburg State University, in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, Peter needed Vyborg in order to secure St. Petersburg. Finland itself did not represent any special value in his eyes. In the 18th century, Sweden initiated military conflicts with Russia twice more, trying to regain what was lost in the Northern War, but was unable to achieve anything. Russian troops both times entered the territory of Finland and then left it - the authorities of the Russian Empire did not see the need to annex the undeveloped northern region.

Russia's geopolitical aspirations at this time were aimed at the Black Sea region. And the fact that Alexander I nevertheless turned to the north, according to Vladimir Baryshnikov, is a great merit of the diplomatic talent of Napoleon Bonaparte, in Once again pitted Russia against Sweden.

During the hostilities of 1808 Russian troops On March 22, Abo (Turku) was taken without a fight, and on April 1, Emperor Alexander I officially announced the annexation of Finland to Russia as a separate Grand Duchy.

“Russia got Finland to a certain extent by accident, and this largely determined the attitude of official St. Petersburg towards the newly acquired territories,” noted Professor Baryshnikov.

Under the rule of Russian emperors

In 1809, the finally defeated Sweden officially transferred Finland to Russia. “Finland retained its parliament, was given a number of benefits, and did not change the rules established under the Swedes,” added Vladimir Baryshnikov.

According to Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Russian State University for the Humanities Alexandra Bakhturina, Swedish influence in Finland remained for several decades. However, from the middle of the 19th century, the Finns themselves began to increasingly participate in the political life of the Grand Duchy.

“Under Tsar Alexander II, the Finns became full participants political process in Finland, and therefore many of them still respect the emperor and consider him one of the creators of the Finnish state,” noted Alexandra Bakhturina in an interview with RT.

• Painting by Emanuel Telning “Alexander I opens the Diet of Borgo 1809”

In 1863, the Tsar recognized Finnish as the official language on the territory of the principality along with Swedish. The socio-economic situation in Finland also improved in the 19th century. “Sweden squeezed all the juice out of the territories inhabited by Finns, and Russia did not even try to collect taxes, leaving a significant part of local taxes for the development of the region itself. Something reminiscent of modern free economic zones", explained Baryshnikov.

From 1815 to 1870, the population of Finland increased from 1 to 1.75 million people. Industrial production in 1840-1905 it increased 300 times. In terms of the pace of industrialization, Finland was even ahead of St. Petersburg, Donbass and the Urals.

The Grand Duchy had its own postal service and its own justice system. Universal conscription was not in effect on its territory, but since 1855 Finland received the right to create its own armed forces for the purpose of “self-defense.” And in the 1860s, a monetary system separate from Russia, based on the Finnish mark, even appeared in the principality.

Although the Diet did not meet from 1809 to 1863, the Russian governors-general pursued a fairly careful policy and acted as a kind of “lawyer” for Finland in the face of the emperor. In the 1860-1880s, the Finnish parliament began to convene regularly, and a multi-party system began to form in the principality.

"Western Perimeter" of the Empire

However Alexander III and Nicholas II set a course for curtailing Finland’s autonomy. In 1890-1899 they adopted regulations, according to which a number of internal political issues were removed from the competence of the Sejm and transferred to the central authorities of the empire for consideration, liquidation was launched armed forces and the currency system of Finland, the scope of use of the Russian language expanded, gendarmes fighting separatism began to work on the territory of the principality.

“The actions of Nicholas II cannot be considered outside the international context. A crisis was beginning in Europe, everything was heading towards a big war, and the “western perimeter” of the empire - Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic states, Finland - was of great interest to the Germans. The tsar made attempts to strengthen state security,” Alexandra Bakhturina shared her opinion with RT.

The measures taken by the Russian authorities began to cause irritation in Finnish society. Terrorist attacks began, directed both against Russian administrators and representatives local government oriented towards St. Petersburg.

The Russo-Japanese War and the 1905 Revolution distracted the Tsar from the problems of Finland. The Finns acquiesced and were allowed to hold parliamentary elections, in which women were granted the right to vote for the first time in Europe. However, after the revolutionary events subsided, a new wave of Russification began.

Despite the fact that with the outbreak of the First World War, Finland found itself in a privileged position (there was no general mobilization, it was half provided with Russian bread), pro-German groups arose in the principality. Young people who became members of the so-called Jaeger movement traveled to Germany and fought as part of the German army against Russia.

At the next parliamentary elections, the Social Democrats won a landslide victory, immediately demanding greater autonomy for Finland, and the left-wing Diet was dissolved in 1917 by the Provisional Government. But the conservatives who came to power instead of the Social Democrats turned out to be even more radical, and against the backdrop of the acute socio-economic crisis that broke out in the fall of 1917, they raised the issue of Finnish independence head on.

From love to hate

At the end of 1917, Finnish deputies desperately tried to achieve recognition of Finnish sovereignty, but global community was silent - the future of the territory was considered internal issue Russia. However, the Soviet authorities, aware of how strong social democratic sentiments were among the Finns and hoping to gain an ally in the international arena, unexpectedly met the former principality halfway. On December 31, 1917, the Council of People's Commissars recognized Finland independent state.

At the end of January 1918, an uprising of Social Democrats began in Finland. Power in Helsinki and other southern cities passed to the Reds. The conservatives who won the 1917 elections fled to northern Finland. A civil war began in the country.

In combat on both sides of the front line important role played by former tsarist officers. Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Svechnikov, who joined the Social Democratic Party, fought in the ranks of the Reds, and one of the creators of the Finnish white movement became Tsarist General Karl Mannerheim.

According to Vladimir Baryshnikov, the forces of the parties were approximately equal, none of them had a decisive advantage. The outcome of the war was actually decided by the Germans who landed in Finland in April 1918 and struck the Reds in the rear. The Whites, who conquered power with German bayonets, carried out a massacre in Finland, during which, according to some sources, up to 30 thousand people died.

The Finnish government turned out to be irreconcilable enemies of the Soviets. In 1918, White Finnish troops invaded Russian territory.

The First Soviet-Finnish war, which ended with the signing of a peace treaty in 1920, according to which territories that had been part of Russia for centuries, in particular Western Karelia, were transferred under the control of Helsinki.

The conflict of 1921-1922, initiated by Finland, did not affect the configuration of the border in any way. However, in the 1930s, against the backdrop of an international crisis engulfing Europe, the USSR authorities tried to negotiate with the Finns on an exchange of territories and lease naval base in order to protect themselves from the possibility of the Germans striking Leningrad from the territory of a neighboring state. Finland rejected Soviet proposals, which ultimately led to a new war. During the fighting of 1939-1940, the troops of the Soviet Union reached the lines where Peter I stood two centuries earlier.

During the Second World War, Finland became one of the closest allies of the Third Reich, providing the Nazis with a springboard for attacking the Soviet Union, trying to break into Leningrad and destroying concentration camps Karelia has tens of thousands of Soviet citizens.

However, after the turning point in the Great Patriotic War Finland turned its back on the Third Reich and signed an armistice with Soviet Union.

Motto foreign policy Finland on long years became the words of its post-war president Urho Kekkonen: “Do not look for friends far, but enemies close.”

According to archaeological data, it is known that people settled in Finland back in the Paleolithic era. The first information about this country in historical documents dates back to 98, when the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus mentioned the Finns as an unusually wild and poor tribe.

In 800-1100, the lands of Finland became military and trading bases for the Swedish Vikings. And in 1155, King Eric IX of Sweden committed crusade against the pagan Finns, which marked the beginning of more than 650 years of the “Swedish period” in the history of Finland.

Finland is part of Russia

During the 18th-19th centuries, relations between Russia and Sweden were full of tension and dramatic moments, which could not but affect history of Finland.

The first Finnish lands became part of the Russian Empire in 1721, after the end of the Northern War. More large areas Russia received Finland, including South Karelia, as a result of the Russo-Swedish War in 1743.

Final annexation of Finland to Russia happened under Emperor Alexander I, after the end of the war of 1808-09. The country received the status of the Grand Duchy of Finland, its own Constitution and parliament, becoming one of the most autonomous parts of the Russian Empire.

Finland becomes an independent state

Independent history of Finland began on December 6, 1917, when at a meeting of parliament it was decided to change political system on republican and separation from Russia. Since then, Independence Day has been celebrated as one of the main public holidays in Finland.

Although the first state to officially recognize the independence of Finland was Soviet Russia, further relations between the two countries were not easy. In 1939-40, the USSR and Finland fought the so-called Winter War, during which a significant part of Finnish territory was annexed in favor of a more powerful neighbor.

The opportunity to restore historical justice presented itself to the Finns with the beginning of World War II. In 1941, when Germany attacked the USSR, Finland actively supported the Allies, occupying a large part of Karelia, and later taking part in the siege of Leningrad. The Russian-Finnish war continued until 1944, when Finland concluded a separate peace with the USSR, thus drawing itself into fighting with former ally Germany (Lapland War).

Modern history of Finland

After the end of World War II, Finland, like many of the USSR's European neighbors, did not become a socialist country. While remaining in line with capitalist development, Finland was able to build the warmest and most neighborly relations with the Soviet Union, receiving considerable benefits from the latter's intermediary services in trade with the West.

The rapid economic growth that began in the mid-80s brought Finland closer to the countries Western Europe. And at the national referendum held in 1994, the majority of Finns voted for this country to join the European Union. On January 1, 1995, Finland became a full member of the EU and the European Monetary Union.