Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tsar Alexander I signed a treaty with Napoleon and then attacked Finland in 1808. Fol-
lowing a bloody war, Sweden ceded Finland to Russia in 1809. Alexander pledged to re-
spect Finnish customs and institutions; Finland kept its legal system and its Lutheran faith,
and became a semi-autonomous grand duchy. At first, Russia encouraged development,
and Finland benefited from the annexation. The capital was transferred from Turku to Hel-
sinki in 1812.
Finland was still very much an impoverished rural society in the 19th century, and travel
to the interior, especially in Lapland, could be an arduous journey of weeks by riverboat
and overland. The tar and paper industries produced revenue from the vast forests, but
were controlled by magnates in Baltic and Bothnian ports such as Oulu, which flourished
while the hinterland remained poor.
Tar, used to caulk sailing ships, was a major 19th-century Finnish export, produced by
burning pine trees in a tar pit; bark was removed from the trees four years earlier to stimu-
late resin production.
A Nation Born
Early stirrings of Finnish nationalism could be heard in the 19th century. Dissatisfaction
with the Swedish administration came to a head with a letter written from officers of the
Finnish army to the queen of Sweden questioning the legality of the war they were pursu-
ing against Russia. Meanwhile, academic studies of Finnish cultural traditions were creat-
ing a base on which future nationalistic feelings could be founded.
The famous phrase 'Swedes we are not, Russians we will not become, so let us be
Finns', though of uncertain origin, encapsulated the growing sense of Finnishness. Artistic
achievements like Elias Lönnrot's Kalevala and Johan Ludvig Runeberg's poem 'Our
Land', which became the national anthem, acted as standards to rally around. As Russia
tightened its grip with a policy of Russification, workers, and artists such as Jean Sibelius,
began to be inspired against the growing oppression, and the nation became emotionally
ripe for independence.
In 1906 the Eduskunta parliament was introduced in Finland with universal and equal
suffrage (Finland was the first country in Europe to grant women full political rights);
however, Russian political oppression continued and poverty was endemic. In search of
 
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