Finland became part of Russia 210 years ago. In the war of 1808 - 1809. with Sweden, the Russian army utterly defeated the enemy. As a result, Finland became entirely part of the Russian Empire with the rights of autonomy.
Swedish problem
The Russian-Swedish war was in many ways part of the titanic global confrontation between Napoleonic France and England. Paris and London fought for domination in Europe and the world, for leadership in the Western project. First, the Russian emperor Alexander Pavlovich got involved in a war with Napoleon that was unnecessary for Russia. The Russians shed blood in the strategic interests of London, Vienna and Berlin. Campaign 1805-1807 ended in defeat and Tilsit. However, Napoleon did not want to humiliate Russia, he needed an alliance. The "friendship" of St. Petersburg with Napoleon began. The French sovereign promised support to Alexander in solving the Swedish and Turkish issues.
In the north, Russia was able to use a favorable political moment to secure the north-western borders, St. Petersburg from the Swedish (and western) threat. Emperor Alexander offered the Swedish king Gustav IV his mediation in reconciliation with France. Sweden was part of the anti-French coalition and was previously an ally of Russia in the war with Napoleon. Russia could no longer be an ally of France and ignore the threat from Sweden, which remained in alliance with England. Stockholm ignored this proposal. The Swedes chose to remain in the British sphere of influence. From that moment on, Russian-Swedish relations began to deteriorate rapidly. They especially worsened after the open rupture of Russia with Britain in the fall of 1807. The reason for the rupture was a pirate attack by the British fleet on the capital of Denmark, which was a traditional ally of St. Petersburg.
Russia became part of the continental system of Napoleon, who wanted to strangle England, and an enemy of London. All this gave a pretext and a favorable political opportunity to open hostilities against the traditional enemy of Russia in the northwest - Sweden. The enemy, with whom the Russian princes from the Rurik dynasty, and the Novgorod heroes were still fighting. Russia got the opportunity to finally put an end to numerous wars with Sweden, take Finland from her and secure Petersburg. It was also an indirect blow to England, the Russians smashed her ally. That is, the Russian-Swedish war in some respects became a manifestation of the Anglo-Russian war of 1809-1812. On land, the Russians could not beat the British, but they were able to defeat the Swedes.
Defeat of Sweden
In January 1808, the Russian 25 thousand army under the command of General Bugsgevden (divisions of Tuchkov, Bagration and Gorchakov) was concentrated near the borders of Finland. In February 1808 England entered into an alliance treaty with Sweden, under which she pledged to pay the Swedes 1 million pounds sterling monthly during the war with Russia. Also, the British promised an auxiliary corps to protect the western borders of Sweden so that Stockholm could deploy the entire army for the war with Russia. In addition, London promised to send a large fleet to the Baltic Sea to help the Swedes.
In February, Russian troops crossed the Swedish border. The formal reason for the war was given by the Swedes themselves. On February 1 (13), 1808, the Swedish monarch Gustav III conveyed to the Russian ambassador in Stockholm that reconciliation between the countries was impossible as long as the Russians were holding Eastern Finland. War was officially declared only in March. Russian troops occupied Helsingfors and laid siege to Sveaborg, the strategic base of the Swedes in Finland. Here, about a third of the Swedish troops in Finland were blocked, the rest retreated to the north. At the same time, the divisions of Bagration and Tuchkov pushed the enemy detachments to the north. In March, Russian troops occupied the Aland Islands and the island of Gotland. In April Sveaborg surrendered, a huge arsenal of the Swedes in Finland, part of their fleet, was captured.
However, with the onset of spring, the position of the Russian army worsened. Conducting combat operations with small forces over a vast area, in a rocky, wooded area with an abundance of rivers, lakes and swamps was a very difficult task. It was necessary to send significant forces (which were not there) to protect roads, important points and the rear. Partisan war broke out in Finland. Petersburg did not allocate a large army for the war with Sweden, which could quickly resolve the issue. Russia at that time was waging wars with Persia and Turkey, and significant and best forces were still in the western direction (Alexander was so “friends” with Napoleon). In addition, the supply of the Russian army was extremely unsatisfactory. Abuse and theft in the rear reached large proportions. As a result, the soldiers were forced to pass to pasture, often ate berries, roots and mushrooms (fortunately, both summers were mushroom).
The Swedish commander-in-chief, General Klingspor, regrouping his army, inflicted a series of defeats on our troops in northern Finland in small skirmishes. This led to the strengthening of partisanship in the Russian rear. The troops of Bagration and Tuchkov were forced to retreat. The Russian fleet was practically inactive in this campaign, since the enemy's fleet had an overwhelming superiority in forces. In May, the united Anglo-Swedish fleet took the Aland Islands and Gotland from us. In May, the British landed General Moore's auxiliary corps to help Sweden. However, the allies quarreled and the British took out their corps (they sent it to Spain). This circumstance and the inaction of Klingspor, who was afraid to go over to a decisive offensive, helped our army to recover.
By the summer, the size of the Russian army was increased to 34 thousand people. Buxgewden formed two detachments - Barclay de Tolly and Raevsky (then Kamensky). At the end of the summer, our troops began to smash the enemy again. Kamensky defeated the enemy in several battles: at Kuortan and Salmi on August 19-21 (August 31 - September 2) and at Oravais on September 2 (14). In September, the Anglo-Swedish fleet appeared in the Gulf of Finland and landed troops in southern Finland, in the rear of the Russian army. The Swedes have landed 9 thousand airborne corps in three detachments. Bagration defeated one of them, and the Swedes were evacuated. At the request of the Swedish command, an armistice was concluded, but Tsar Alexander did not approve it. The fighting resumed. By November, our troops reached Tornio and conquered most of Finland.
In December, General Knorring was appointed commander-in-chief instead of Buxgewden. Emperor Alexander was dissatisfied with the slowness of the Russian army. He instructed Knorring, during the 1809 campaign, to organize the passage of the army across the ice of the Baltic Sea in order to transfer the hostilities to Sweden and capture Stockholm in order to force the Swedes to surrender. The Anglo-Swedish fleet dominated the sea, but only in the summer. However, the operation was extremely dangerous. The ice cover was unstable, the entire army could die during the transition. The command delayed the operation. Then Alexander sent Arakcheev, who prompted the army to march.
Only on March 1, 1809, the Russian army marched in three columns on the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia (Russian Army Ice Campaign). The northern column under the command of Shuvalov marched along the coast from Uleaborg to Tornio and Umeo; the middle column of Barclay de Tolly from Vasa to Umeå; the southern column of Bagration - from Abo to Aland and further to Stockholm. Shuvalov and Barclay had to unite and go further to strengthen Bagration. The ice campaign was a success and became one of the most glorious pages in the history of the Russian army. Shuvalov's troops took Tornio, and began to pursue the Swedish corps of Grippenberg. Barclay de Tolly, although with great difficulties, successfully crossed the Gulf of Bothnia, took Umeå and crossed the path of withdrawal of the Swedish corps, which was retreating in front of Shuvalov. The enemy corps, which was caught between two fires, capitulated (more than 7 thousand people surrendered with 30 guns). Bagration's corps captured Aland on March 5 (17), destroyed the local Swedish garrison. Major Kulnev's vanguard went to the Swedish coast on March 7 (19) and occupied Grislehamn.
Panic broke out in Stockholm. Under the influence of the Ice Campaign of the Russian army, a coup d'etat took place in Sweden. King Gustav IV was deposed, the Duke of Südermanlad came to the throne under the name of Charles XIII. He sent a parliamentarian with a proposal for an armistice and peace negotiations. Fearing the imminent opening of the ice Knorring, which could cut off the Russian army from the rear bases and leave without reinforcements and supplies, on March 7 (19) concluded the Aland armistice. The troops of Bagration and Barclay were withdrawn. Tsar Alexander was very angry with this, in his opinion, a premature truce and canceled it. Knorring was replaced by Barclay de Tolly. The beginning of spring prevented the resumption of the offensive across the ice of the bay.
On April 18 (30), Shuvalov's corps set out from Tornio. On May 3 (15), Shuvalov forced the Swedish corps of General Furumark (about 5 thousand people with 22 guns) to lay down their arms at Sheleft. The operation was unique: our troops bypassed the enemy on the already melting and opening ice of the Gulf of Bothnia. Spring was already in full swing, and we literally walked on ice floes, in some places knee-deep in water. Through the openings, they crossed the bridges and were ferried by boats. The ice could be carried away to the sea at any moment (after two days there was no ice on the sea anymore). On May 20 (June 1) the Russians captured Umeå again. In the summer, Kamensky took command of the northern corps. Swedish troops under the command of General Wrede tried to stop our army, and landed troops in the rear of our troops, but were completely defeated by Kamensky. After that, the Swedes surrendered. In August, negotiations began, which ended in peace in September.
How Finland became the "strong pillow of St. Petersburg"
On September 5 (17), 1809, a peace treaty was signed in Friedrichsgam. All of Finland, part of the Swedish province of Västerbotten to the Tornio River, all of Finnish Lapland and the Aland Islands went to the Russian Empire. Stockholm pledged to conclude peace with Paris and join the continental blockade of England.
Thus, the alliance with Napoleon proved to be extremely fruitful for Russia. Unfortunately, Emperor Alexander Pavlovich could not and did not want to save him (in alliance with Napoleon, Russia could well have also captured Constantinople and the straits). The Russian state defeated the old and stubborn enemy in the north (they fought with the Swedes since the days of the Old Russian state). The Swedes no longer dared to fight the Russians. All of Finland became Russian, Russia controlled the Gulf of Finland, we acquired a number of important strongholds, such as Sveaborg. The Russian capital, which was under the attack of Sweden (and its allies) throughout the 18th century, was defended. The new lands of the Russian Empire received broad autonomy as a grand duchy. Sovereign Alexander accepted the title of Grand Duke of Finland and included the title “Grand Duke of Finland” in the imperial title. Finland, which was the wild backwater of the Swedish kingdom, flourished under the Russian rule, received the foundations of the Finnish statehood.
The population of Finland received benefits that could not be dreamed of by the inhabitants of the Russian provinces. Tsar Alexander I established the Landtag (parliament). The local population did not pay taxes to the imperial treasury, did not serve in the Russian army. Customs controls have been loosened, leading to significant economic benefits. The Finnish Bank was established. There was no religious harassment. Emperor Alexander II made a royal gift to the Finns - he gave the Vyborg province to the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was annexed to Russia under Peter the Great. This generous gesture then had unfortunate consequences for Russia when the empire collapsed and Finland gained independence. The Russian tsars naively believed that the population of the new regions would be eternally grateful to them and would remain forever loyal to the throne. The deliberate rejection of active integration and Russification of the annexed lands had extremely negative consequences for Russia. Finland will become an enemy of Russia in the 20th century, replacing Sweden on this front. This will lead to three wars, when the Finnish elite tries to build "Greater Finland" at the expense of Russian lands.
Why did Russia need Finland? There were no economic benefits from it, on the contrary, only spending. It was an undeveloped outskirts of Sweden, which became quite a prosperous area only under the rule of the Russian tsars. The Finns did not pay taxes. Moreover, Russia has spent a lot of money for the development of the Grand Duchy. The answer is in military-strategic interests. Finland was necessary for the defense of the Russian capital and the northwestern borders of the empire. The Gulf of Finland is the gateway to St. Petersburg. The southern coast is flat and low-lying, inconvenient for the construction of fortresses. The Finnish coast is rugged, with many islands (skerries). It is convenient to build fortifications and coastal batteries there. There, nature created a unique skerry fairway, along which enemy ships of different classes could pass from Sweden and Kronstadt. Even the strong Russian fleet operating in the Gulf of Finland could not intercept enemy ships without entering the skerries. It is not surprising that in 1810 Emperor Alexander I declared that Finland should become "a strong pillow for St. Petersburg."
