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| Finland |
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| Economy and Society: Finland suffered horribly from war and famine during the Great Northern War. Russian occupation and Swedish policies of extracting grain and shipping it west exacerbated problems of declining population. However, after the Great Wrath, Finland experienced a gradual increase in population as well as economic improvements. Finnish culture and language developed during the 18th century, and Russian control proved relatively benign after the Great Wrath. | 1 |
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| 1648 |
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| Per Brahe returned to Finland as governor-general (he first served from 1637 to 1640). Brahe encouraged the use of the Finnish language, convincing Charles XI to learn Finnish and beginning the translation of the Bible into Finnish, and promoted the notion of a Greater Finland. He retired in 1654. | 2 |
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| 1696–97 |
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| Finland suffered a terrible famine and hard winter, worsened by Swedish policies. The Swedes shipped grain out of Finland and, in 1697, sent tax collectors into Finland to collect taxes and rents for the king. | 3 |
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| 1714, Feb |
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| The Finnish army, under General K. G. Armfelt, defeated by the Russian army at Napue (Isokyrö). The Russians crushed organized Finnish resistance and marked the beginning of | 4 |
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| 1714–21 |
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| The Great Wrath. Russian occupation of Finland. | 5 |
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| 1721, Aug. 30 |
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| The occupation was ended by the Treaty of Uusikaupunki (Nystadt) (See 1721, Aug. 30). However, the treaty also marked the beginning of Swedish military decline. | 6 |
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| 1742 |
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| Tsarina Elizabeth sent an envoy offering Finland measured autonomy as a duchy under Russian control. This offer sparked nationalist sentiment throughout Finland. | 7 |
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| 1743 |
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| Peace of Turku gave Russia control of all Finnish lands east of the Kymi River. | 8 |
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| 1766–78 |
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| Henrik Gabriel Porthan, a professor at the University of Turku after 1777, published his five-volume history of Finland, Dissertatio de poesi Fennica. Porthan cited Finnish folk culture and heritage as expressions of national character. | 9 |
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| 1770s |
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| First appearance of a Finnish-language newspaper. The diet also accepted Finnish for use in deliberations, and it appeared on bank notes. | 10 |
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| 1788–90 |
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| War with Russia. A group of officers near Anjala sent secret correspondence to Catherine the Great in an effort to end the war between Sweden and Russia. Gustavus heard of their actions and demanded an oath of loyalty. The officers responded with the Covenant of Anjala, accusing him of fighting an unwanted war of aggression and indicating that they would fight against him if Catherine refused their plea. | 11 |
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| 1807 |
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| Treaty of Tilset between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I gave Alexander a free hand in the Baltic. Alexander declared war on the British (Nov. 1807) and advanced through Finland, hoping to take the Baltic before the thaw would allow the British navy into the Baltic Sea. | 12 |
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