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{{Short description|Russian policy of suppressing Finnish autonomy (1899–1905, 1908–17)}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2024}}
[[File:Suomineito (Isto).jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Edvard Isto]]'s painting ''[[The Attack (painting)|The Attack]]'' (1899) symbolizes the beginning of Finland's Russification. The [[two-headed eagle]] of Russia is tearing away the law book from the [[Finnish Maiden]]'s arms.]]

The policy of '''Russification of Finland''' ({{langx|fi|sortokaudet / sortovuodet|lit=times/years of oppression}}; {{langx|sv|Förtrycksperioderna}}; {{langx|ru|Русификация Финляндии|translit=Rusifikatsiya Finlyandii}}) was a governmental policy of the [[Russian Empire]] aimed at limiting the special status of the [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] and possibly the termination of its political autonomy and cultural uniqueness in 1899–1905 and in 1908–1917, fully integrating Finland to the Russian Empire. It was a part of a larger policy of [[Russification]] pursued by late 19th–early 20th century Russian governments which tried to abolish cultural and administrative autonomy of non-Russian minorities within the empire.

The two Russification campaigns evoked widespread Finnish resistance, starting with [[Great Petition|petitions]] and escalating to [[Strike action|strikes]], passive resistance (including [[Conscription in the Russian Empire|draft]] resistance) and eventually active resistance. Finnish opposition to Russification was one of the main factors that ultimately led to [[Finland's declaration of independence]] in 1917.

== Background ==
After [[Napoleon]]'s victory over the [[Russian Empire]] in the June 1807 [[Battle of Friedland]], tsar [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] was forced to sue for peace with the [[First French Empire]] in the [[Treaties of Tilsit]] (7 July 1807). Alexander agreed to join the [[Continental System]] against the [[British Empire]], to launch the [[Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812)]], and to force [[Gustavian era|Sweden]] (which maintained extensive trade relations with the British) to join the Continental System as well. Swedish king [[Gustav IV Adolf]] delayed his response to Alexander's ultimatum until he brokered an alliance with Britain in February 1808, after which he rejected Alexander's demands. In response, Imperial Russia invaded Swedish Finland in what later became known as the [[Finnish War]] (21 February 1808 – 17 September 1809), which ended favourably for Alexander. 

In 1809, the lost territory of Sweden became the [[Grand Duchy of Finland]], an autonomous part of the [[Russian Empire]]. The [[Diet of Porvoo]] (later the [[Diet of Finland]]) recognized [[Alexander I of Russia]] as grand duke on 29 March 1809. For his part, Alexander confirmed the rights of the Finns, in particular, promising freedom to pursue their customs and religion and to maintain their identity:

{{quote|Providence having placed us in possession of the Grand Duchy of Finland, we have desired by the present act to confirm and ratify the religion and the fundamental laws of the land, as well as the privileges and rights which each class in the said Grand Duchy in particular, and all the inhabitants in general, be their position high or low, have hitherto enjoyed according to the constitution. We promise to maintain all these benefits and laws firm and unshaken in their full force.<ref name=Cyclopedic_JohnsonEtAl>Johnson, A.; Bickford, C., Hudson, W., Dole, N. ''Cyclopedic Review of Current History. Volume 9. Garretson, Cox & Co. 1899'' pp. 198ff.</ref>}}

This meant that the old Swedish [[Instrument of Government (1772)|instrument of government]] from 1772 and the [[Union and Security Act]] from 1789 continued to be used in regards to the Finnish form of government. It also meant that the Swedish [[Civil Code of 1734]] continued as the fundamental law of Finland.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

== Under Imperial Russia ==
=== 1809–1881 ===
{{Further|Grand Duchy of Finland#Early years|Grand Duchy of Finland#Alexander's death and the assimilation of Finland: 1820s–1850s}}
This promise was maintained; indeed, [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] amplified the powers of the Finnish diet in 1869. Finland enjoyed prosperity and control over their own affairs, and remained loyal subjects for nearly a century.<ref name=Cyclopedic_JohnsonEtAl />

=== First period of Russification ===
The manifesto which [[Nicholas II]] issued on 15 February 1899 was cause for Finnish despair.<ref name=Cyclopedic_JohnsonEtAl /><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.histdoc.net/history/keisarik.html | title = 1899. The Collection of Decrees of the Grand Duchy of Finland. No 3. | access-date = 2017-12-09}}</ref>{{efn|The controversy concerning the reductions of Finnish autonomy is considered to already have begun in the early 1890s; see [[Woldemar von Daehn]].<ref name=kansallisbiografia>{{cite web |last1=Tyynilä |first1=Markku |title=Daehn, Woldemar von (1838–1900) |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/3266 |website=Kansallisbiografia |access-date=16 May 2020 |date=16 September 1997}}</ref>}} The manifesto was forced through the [[Senate of Finland|Finnish senate]] by the deciding vote of the senate president, an appointee of the tsar—and after the [[Governor-General of Finland]], [[Nikolay Bobrikov]], had threatened a military invasion and siege.<ref name=Cyclopedic_JohnsonEtAl /> While ostensibly affirming the Finns' rights in purely local matters, the manifesto asserted the authority of the state in any and all matters which could be considered to "come within the scope of the general legislation of the empire".<ref name=Cyclopedic_JohnsonEtAl />

As a response to the manifesto, a petition with 523,000 names was gathered and a delegation of 500 people were sent to deliver it to the tsar. A separate petition called ''Pro Finlandia'' that contained the names of 1,050 prominent foreign people was also gathered few months later.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.histdoc.net/pro/valinta.html | title = ProFinlandia | access-date = 2017-12-09}}</ref>

Russification policies enacted included:
* The above-mentioned [[February Manifesto]] of 1899, the decree by Emperor Nicholas II which asserted the imperial government's right to rule Finland without the consent of local legislative bodies, under which:<ref name=Cyclopedic_JohnsonEtAl />
** the Orthodox Russian Church's status was strengthened; including, for example, criminalizing the act of subjecting a follower of the Orthodox church to a [[Divine Service (Lutheran)|Lutheran church service]];
** the press was subjected to tighter Russian censorship than before;
** the [[Military of the Grand Duchy of Finland]] was made subject to Russian rules of [[military service]].
* The Language Manifesto of 1900, a [[ukase|decree]] by Nicholas II which made [[Russian language|Russian]] the language of administration of Finland (in 1900, there were an estimated 8,000 Russians in all of Finland, of a population of 2,700,000)—the Finns saw this as placing the Russian minority in charge.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lavery |first1=Jason Edward |title=The history of Finland |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=0313328374 |page=73}}</ref>
* The [[conscription]] law, signed by Nicholas II in July 1901 incorporating the Finnish army into the [[Imperial Russian Army]] and forcing Finns to serve in Russian units.<ref>{{cite web |title=Finland – The Era of Russification |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-4575.html |website=www.country-data.com |publisher=Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress |access-date=12 January 2022 |date=December 1988}}</ref>
* Finnish stamps were abolished and Russian stamps became the only ones allowed in January 1901.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}
* Some Finnish government offices, such as the [[History of rail transport in Finland|Railway]] and Lighthouse Boards got new, Russian, staff.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}

From April 1903 until the [[Russian Revolution of 1905]], the governor-general was granted dictatorial powers. Bobrikov used these powers to personally abolish several newspapers and to deport notable Finnish political leaders. In June 1904 [[Eugen Schauman]] assassinated Bobrikov. The imperial government responded with a purge of opponents of Russification within the Finnish administration and more stringent [[censorship]]. However the passive resistance campaign also had some successes, notably a ''de facto'' reversal of the new [[conscription]] law.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

The Russification campaign was suspended and partially reversed in 1905&ndash;1907 during [[Russian Revolution of 1905|a period of civil unrest]] throughout the Russian Empire following Russian defeats in the [[Russo-Japanese War]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}

=== Second period of Russification ===
The program was reintroduced in 1908, costing Finland much of its autonomy and again causing further Finnish resistance, including the [[Finnish Jäger troops|Jäger movement]]. During 1909&ndash;1917 the Finnish politicians in the [[Senate of Finland]] were replaced by Finnish-born officers of the Russian army who were formally subjects of the grand duchy, creating the so-called ''admiral-senate'' or ''saber-senate''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Markku Tyynilä |title=Historiaa: Amiraalisenaatin oikeusosasto |url=http://www.haaste.om.fi/fi/index/lehtiarkisto/haaste20084/historiaaamiraalisenaatinoikeusosasto.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2017-12-08 |archive-date=2018-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612211035/http://www.haaste.om.fi/fi/index/lehtiarkisto/haaste20084/historiaaamiraalisenaatinoikeusosasto.html }}</ref> Russia demanded higher payments for not conscripting Finns (issue of {{lang|fi|sotilasmiljoonat}}, "military millions"). The 1910 "Law of all-Empire legislation procedures" removed most Finnish legislative powers from the newly established [[Finnish Parliament]] to the Russian [[State Duma (Russian Empire)|Duma]] and [[State Council (Russian Empire)|State Council]]. In 1912 they passed the "Law of equality" which opened all Finnish government and civil service offices to Russians.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Many measures were again suspended in 1914&ndash;1917 during the [[First World War]], but secret government documents published in the Finnish press in November 1914 suggested that the imperial government still harbored plans for [[great Russification program|the complete Russification of Finland]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}

The second wave halted due to the [[February Revolution]] in Russia.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

===Japanese involvement===
During the [[Russo-Japanese War]], with financial aid from [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], Finnish rebels bought a shipment of thousands of rifles with the aim of creating an uprising and forming an independent state. However, [[SS John Grafton|the ship]] was wrecked off the coast of Finland and the plan failed. During the First World War, when Russia and Japan were allies fighting against Germany, the Japanese handed the Russian government a list of the leading men in the freedom movement (now in World War I working with [[German Empire|Germany]]).{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

==See also==
* [[Russification]]
* [[February Manifesto]]
* [[Kagal (Finnish society)]]
* [[Great Wrath]]
* [[Finlandization]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==
* [[Nikolai Sergeevsky|Sergeevskii, N. D.]] [https://archive.org/details/finlandthequesti00sergrich Finland : the question of autonomy and fundamental laws] (1911)
* Alenius, Kari. "Russification in Estonia and Finland Before 1917," ''Faravid,'' 2004, Vol. 28, pp 181–194
* Huxley, Steven. ''Constitutionalist insurgency in Finland: Finnish "passive resistance" against Russification as a case of nonmilitary struggle in the European resistance tradition'' (1990)
* Polvinen, Tuomo. ''Imperial Borderland: Bobrikov and the Attempted Russification of Finland, 1898–1904'' (1995)
* Thaden, Edward C. ''Russification in the Baltic Provinces and Finland'' (1981).

==External links==
* [http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-4575.html The Era of Russification]
* [http://www.histdoc.net/history/keisarik.html "The Gracious Manifesto of the Imperial Majesty"], text of the [[February Manifesto of 1899]] ''(in English)''
* [https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/RussianHeritage/10.EMP/10.L/XVI.21.html Nicholas's Decree Limiting Finnish Autonomy, March 20, 1903] ''(in English)''

{{Russification}}
{{Finland topics}}
{{Cultural assimilation}}

[[Category:Anti-Finnish sentiment]]
[[Category:Grand Duchy of Finland]]
[[Category:Russification]]