| |
| 3. Finland |
| |
(See 1842)| Finland remained under the control of the Russians, but nationalism continued to be strong. The Finnish struggled over the allegiance of the intellectual and professional elites to Swedish and the popular interest in Finnish. The Censorship Act of 1850 favored the Swedish language for bureaucratic purposes because of the fear of insurrection and confusion as the Finnish language was encouraged. | 1 |
| |
| 1855 |
| |
| Alexander II became tsar of Russia (See 1860). Alexander appointed Count F. W. Berg as governor-general, and Berg became sympathetic to those who advocated the use of the Finnish language. | 2 |
| |
| 1858 |
| |
| Finnish was decreed the language of local self-government in communes where it was spoken by a majority of the inhabitants. | 3 |
| |
| 1860s |
| |
| A. O. Freudenthal helped create a Swedish language movement among Finnish intellectuals. | 4 |
| |
| 1861 |
| |
| The April Manifesto seemed to counter the tsar's friendly posture toward Finland. It postponed calling the Finnish Diet indefinitely and called for the formation of a 48-man committee that would enact laws to be ratified by the tsar. The manifesto sparked demonstrations in Helsinki, which led to the statement that the committee could not make laws but merely provide reports for the future Diet. | 5 |
| |
| 1863 |
| |
| Alexander II called the Finnish Diet. The Diet established limits to the power of the sovereign by forcing him to call the Diet every five years (Diet Act of 1869). | 6 |
| |
| 1865 |
| |
| The silver mark was designated as the monetary unit of Finland. This began the process of separating the Russian and the Finnish currencies, which was completed in 1878. | 7 |
| |
| 1869 |
| |
| The Church Act, drafted by Bishop Schauman, allowed the laity to participate in ecclesiastical affairs and established the principle of freedom of worship. The latter was not implemented for some time, and only in 1899 did it become legal for a congregation to leave the state church. | 8 |
| |
| 1878 |
| |
| The Conscription Act was signed by the tsar. This act established an independent Finnish army. | 9 |
| |
| 1880 |
| |
| Liberal Party organized under Leo Mechelin. Prior to that, the Liberals had vied for control in the government with those who supported the use of Swedish, the Svecomen, and those who supported the use of Finnish, the Fennomen. The Liberals attempted to support the rights of both but spoke Swedish. Language conflict permeated politics, and, in 1884, the administration of justice in anything other than Swedish was challenged by the attorney general. | 10 |
| |
| 1898 |
| |
| Nicholas Bobrikov was appointed governor-general. He pursued a policy of Russification of Finland. | 11 |
| |
| 1899 |
| |
| Dr. N. R. af Ursin founded an independent Finnish labor party, which helped to provide the working classes with a voice in government. Ursin was a socialist, but the party did not adopt socialism immediately. | 12 |
| |
| Feb. 15 |
| |
| The tsar issued a manifesto that placed the Finnish military under the control of the Russian military. In doing so, he called for a reconsideration of Finnish autonomy. The manifesto was published, but the Finnish estates declared it invalid. Students skied all across Finland, collecting signatures as a protest, and Ursin demanded active defense. The tsar refused to accept the delegation that delivered the petition. | 13 |
| |
| |
