|
Lord Sovereign Novgorod the Great - Lord Sovereign Turku - Principality of Turku – Principality of Finland and Karelia – Grand Principality of Finland, Karelia, Ingria, Estonia, Novgorod, Siberia and Far East
Finland between 850-1922
The history of Finland as a modern northern country begun to take form when the Scandinavian (though in Finnish historical writing they are often romanticize to have become from modern day Häme as part of Viking rulers set up to govern the locals around the city of Hämeenlinna) Varangians established the Rurikovich dynasty within Russia and the nation of Kievan Rus in 850. According to the legends, the finnic and Slavic tribes first united to abolish earlier varangian rulers, but then begun fighting each other’s and requested varangian named Rurik to rule upon them in the city of Holmengard, the predecessor to Novgorod/Uusilinna.
Rurik’s son Oleg, moved his capital to Kiev and established a Kievan Rus, a nation that united the Slavic tribes inhabiting the western Russian rivers and it expanded to the lands of other pagan nations and finally introduced Orthodox Christianity in 988 under the rule of Prince Vladimir. Kievan Rus entered its peak during the reign of Yaroslavl Wise, in 1019-1054 but after his reign, the nation begun to fall its integrity and several princedoms became more and less independent
And rivals over the Grand-Prince’s title.
The independence of Novgorod (or Uusilinna as called by the fins) begun in 1136 and contrary to the traditional princedoms, Novgorod was ruled by Veche (Käräjät in Finnish), an assembly of local population, and the actual “Prince” of Novgorod was usually just elected noble (often from other Kievan principalities) to lead the local army. Thus Novgorod was an early republic that prospered of its advanced position by controlling the trade from Russian lands via its long river routes down to Eastern Rome Empire and between the Baltic traders. Novgorod lies in the shores of Lake Ilmen, close to the upper runs of Volga and Western Dvina and connected via river Volkhov (Olhava) to Lake Ladoga (Laatokka) and to Gulf of Finland. This location ensured Novgorod’s position as the leading trade center in medieval Eastern Europe.
Culturally Novgorod enjoyed multi-ethnical background being inhabited by Slavic tribes of distinguished local culture as well as finnic Votian, Vepsiän and Karelian tribes, together with merchants from Germanic and Scandinavian origins. The republic ruled vast hinterlands east and north of the actual Novgorod city, mostly inhabited by Finnic people. The contest over Finland proper against Sweden has accounted to start as early as 1146 culminating in the Victory on the Battle of Neva River 1240 when the Prince Alexander later St. Alexander or Alexander of Neva “Nevsky” or “Nevalainen” defeated the Swedish invaders. Two years later in 1242 Alexander lead Novgorodian troops into another victory against the German knighthoods in the ice of Lake Peipus.
Alexander’s reign took place during the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus lands, and Novgorod, despite saved from full invasion of the Tartars, and had to pay tribute to the khanates. During the 14th century Novgorod prospered while its southern neighbors struggled under the Mongol yoke. In 1323 In the treaty of Nöteborg (Pähkinäsaari) marked the end of Swedish incursions into Finland and Established Novgorodian rule over the Finnish proper, marking the rise of the city of Turku (Torgi in Russian) as the main trading port of the Republic and its westernmost guard. It took still for almost centuries before the Orthodox Christianity was firmly established upon the Pagan finnic tribes.
When the Mongol Khanates declining begun, and the Principality of Moscow as well as Polish-Lithuania begun to rise in power absorbing the lands formerly held by the Tartars, Novgorod’s foreign policy begun to turn increasingly meddled with affairs of neighboring principalities. By 1456 Novgorod had weakened to suffer devastating defeat to Moscow that made the Republic de facto vassal of the Muscovites.
This lead into even more increasing intrigue establishments by the Novgorodians that lead first into a failed alliance with Polish-Lithuania and Followed by brutal Muscovite invasion, that cumulated into Battle of River Shelon in 1471 where Moscow’s forces defeated the Novgorodian army.
Novgorod was to fall under total Moscowian annexation, if it wasn’t for the Roman emperor Andrei X being too worried of the rise of Ivan III’s Moscow as rivaling power to its own ambitions over Russian land. Under the Roman influence, the Treaty of Starskaya Rusa in 1478 leads annexation of the city of Novgorod and its southernmost provinces to the bourgeoning principality of Moscow, while leaving the northern lands, around Lake Ladoga and Finland to form a rump state under Constantinopolitan influence and rather questionable protection.
Most important in this decision was the creation of independent Orthodox metropolitan as an autocephalous Church, headed in the city of Turku that now became the capital and location of the Veche (in the Cathedral of St. Alexandra that served as this purpose). This diversion was sort of counter action against the Declaration of the Russian metropolitan in Moscow as Patriarchate without Constantinopolitan consent. Prince Thomas Balegov (Tuomas Roomalainen by finnic tradition) from lesser house of the Imperial dynasty was selected as first Prince by the Turku’s veche, strengthening the image of Roman hospitality and friendship among Finnish nobility and traders whom would have great deal of importance in the future history of the nation.
The later 15th century was time of troubles for the Republic of Turku as it now generally known (or as Herra yliherra Turku; Lord Sovereign Turku, analog to the old name of Lord Sovereign Novgorod Great, with the distinguish distinction of lacking the “great” suffix.) The new republic continued its trade with Hansa while still prosperous with Nordic goods of fur and beeswax, salt and fishes but the lost of access to the rich Russian trade seriously defected the prosperity of the new republic. There were numerous accounts of Moscowian and Pskovian clashes with Turku’s troops and the Castle of Nöteborg (Pähkinälinna) in Lake Ladoga was sieged three times in 1482-1490
The rivalry from Sweden that had endured in the previous centuries did not emerge in strength as Sweden was tangled with Scandinavian Power struggles within the Kalmar union. In 1495 however, the Moscowian Prince Ivan III allied with Hans of Denmark who was also contenting for the throne of Sweden. This led to an alliance whit Swedish Nobles of the house of Sture to ally with Thomas II a son of Thomas Balegov that was selected as a prince of Turku despite his young age and obvious mental illnesses which referred him as the “mad prince” by the chronicles. This lead to Moscowian invasion to Finland that was rebelled and lead into ceding of hostilities soon as Hans had been crowned as king of Sweden as well.
In 1503 after the death of Andrei X, the last Balegov Emperor in Constantinople, Ivan III’s son, Vasili III rose as emperor of Rome as well as Grand Duke of Moscow. In order to avoid the obviously mad prince Thomas II of Turku not contenting for the Imperial throne, he was assassinated while in bed in March of 1504 and the Veche begun policy of selecting new Princes from local nobility for the next two decades. In 1510 When Vasili III threatened the independency of Pskov Republic, Turku who was allied with Pskov as well as Livonian Order resulted Pskovians to elect the Prince of Turku, Matti as their prince as well for protection, This was not liked by the local boyarins and after series of incidents, Prince Matti collected large army to Iivananlinna (Ivanogorod) in Ingria and threatening to Siege the city of Pskov ended the rebellion and incorporating Pskov under Turku’s rule.
In 1521 Sweden elected Gustav Vasa as their new king and Ivan IV follows the throne as Emperor of Rome and Grand Prince of Muscow in 1533. In Turku under the rule of Prince Nicholas (Niklas) Wuori, the principality began its transition into Despotic Monarchy by first abolishing the Veche’s right to select Princes in 1537 when a new “secret veche” was formed including only loyal boyarins and the Metropolitan to select the Princes of Turku. In subsequent meeting in 1539, Aleksander (Aleksi) 4 year old son of Nicholas was selected as “heir apparent” thus establishing a dynasty as well as sealing Nicholas reign to last lifetime.
Under Nicholas’ reign, the Principality of Turku begun strengthen its position among the Baltic Trade by securing its eastern front with East-Rome who was absorbing the Moscow principality into its control, in a treaty of Novgorod in 1541 that resulted into a long truce and peace with in the two nations and Strengthened Turku’s position as independent Principality from the Imperial throne. During the reign of Nicholas, the title Prince of Finland and Karelia became to be used more, and not only did the principality strengthen its eastern Possessions by Establishing Monastery and fort in Solokka Island in White Sea and forming the city of Archangelsk in the mouth of Northern Dvina River, but also begun to look to the west and into the trembling Livonia.
Old wars that Livonia and the old Republic had waged were usually avoided by renewing the peace treaties periodically. In 1554 however, Nicholas begun demanding Bishopric of Dorpat to pay religious taxes, which the Bishopric refused thus leading the situation into series of prolonged negotiations. In 1557 after brief Livonian civil war, the Order and Polish kingdom made a anti-finnic defense treaty which Nicholas saw as a breaching the 1554 treaty. This led to a Finnish army invading the Livonia and after successful campaign, it occupied the eastern Livonia and the Bishopric of Dorpat, but under fear of Swedish and Denmark taking advantage of the situation, Prince Nicholas accepted Danish meditation which left the situation somewhat open, continuing the Finnish partial occupations without further concessions.
This truce lasted until 1559 during which Denmark and Poland had managed to gain considerable foothold in Livonia and aided by these nations, Livonian Order attacked against Finnish forces. Finnish forces defeated the Livonian troops, and instead of direct military aid, both Denmark and Poland begun to extort more gains from the weakened order for monetary support. After the truce of 1561, a partitioning of the rest of the Order followed by Denmark, Poland and Sweden. Nicholas died in 1562 and his son Alexander followed to the throne establishing his power as “divine” by conducting his coronation in Constantinople itself. Alexander continued his father’s policies in regards of gaining the Baltic land and in 1570 He initiated the 25 year war over the Baltic’s that would eventually end into Finnish defeat and Swedish triumph over the remaining of Livonia.
Although the war started with initial Finnish success and by 1577 all of the Baltic aside the city of Tallinn was under Finnish occupation. But under strong Swedish and Polish counterattacks that reached as far as Pskov, the war tide eventually turned against the Fins and the exhausted and mercenary build armies were vanquished and Alexander accepted peace in 1583, ceding all his father’s acquisitions to Sweden as well as loosing the province of Ingria, which cut out the Pskov from the Finnish proper. This lead into a series of interim peace that lasted until 1590
After the humiliating defeat in the west, Alexander turned to east, where the Finnish settlements in Ural Mountains had become odds with the Siberian Khanate, together suffering the same problems as did the expanding Roman Empire. Led by a Moscowian Cossack, Yermak, a small Finnish expedition fought against the Sibir-Khanate between 1582 and 1598. This marked the beginning of Finnish expansion to the east that was driving fundamental to the Princedom for the next century to come.
The peace in the west broke in 1590 when a Finnish regent Iivari Hämäläinen for Prince Nicholas II Decided to take revenge against the Swedish in the Baltic. After initial success in Capturing Ingria and Estonia, the war dragged on for almost 8 years culminating in various guerrilla raids in the Northern wilderness that connected Sweden and Finland. A peace treaty was signed in 1595 returning Ingria to Finnish possession.
In 1598 after Finnish Conquest of the city of Qashling, the capital of Sibir Khanate, the relationship between East Rome and Finland deteriorated from the dispute of diving the Khanate’s lands and lead for short war where Romans invaded the Qashling and burned the city down. In peace treaty Finland lost the city as well as all the Khanate holdings around river Irtysh to Rome. In counter move, Finland begun to build fort on the River Ob, in Kalakuoppa, that would became the dominant outpost for the Asian side of Finland in the following centuries.
As Rome entered into another set of succession crises, the newly ingratiated Prince Nicholas II saw his moment when Roman regent Boris Godunov died in 1605 and false pretenders to the imperial crown appeared from Polish-Lithuania. Finnish army invaded Novgorod and Belozero and advanced to siege city of Tver as well as Yaroslav and Vladimir. Together with Polish invasion, Rome was forced to cede back the lands Ivan III had conquered almost one and half century ago and Novgorod was once again under its rightful rule. Nicholas II was proclaimed as Saint by the Finnish metropolitan, but not canonized by the Constantinople. He also proclaim Finland now as “Grand Duchy of Finland, Karelia, Ingria and Novgorod” and himself as Grand Prince.
In 1610 Swedish King Gustav II Adolph launches a new attack against Finland who by the treaty was bound to assist the struggling Rome against its Polish invaders. The resulting war leads the greatly exhausted Principality into another defeat and the following peace treaty of Stolbovo in 1617 deprives Finland once again its Ingrian possessions, as well as the old principality of Pskov.
After the Treaty of Stolbovo, the Finnish enthusiasm in Baltic is laid back for decades. By the 1640’s, Finnish expeditions have reached the Pacific ocean in the east, and net of small trading and hunting forts and outpost have been sprung among the vast Siberian lands and great rivers that reaches the Arctic Sea. The town of Ohotta becomes the first Finnish port in the Pacific Ocean in 1647.
In 1656 Finland joins in an inconclusive attack against Sweden during another Roman-Polish war, and despite some success, Finnish troops once again are overstretched across the Baltic States and defeated around Daugavpils and Riga. The subsequent peace treaty only allows the fort of Nöteborg in the Entrance of Lake Ladoga back in Finnish hands, greatly helping the magistration between Turku and Novgorod. During these times, the Cities of Äänislinna and Archangelsk begun to flourish as main routes to the lucrative eastern trade from Siberian holdings.
In 1689, Finland, East Rome and the Manchu empire down in the far reaches of Asia agreed a peace treaty of Nerchinsk to end the ongoing border skirmishes around the River Amur. During the same treaty the Finnish Principality (this time under regent for Peter I) and Rome agreed over their border in the Asia that has remained intact ever sense.
When Peter I rose into full sovereignty for the throne, he begun active campaign to end the Swedish hegemony in the Baltics and establish Finland as the dominant Baltic power. Together with Saxony and Denmark, Peter I attacked Sweden then under the reign of Charles XII in 1700. The resulting Great Northern War reigned over 20 years, seeing success switching first on Swedish favor, but eventually leading together With Roman incursion for a Finnish victory that ceded all of the Swedish Baltics into Finnish Possession in the treaty of Uusikaupunki in 1721. The war also saw the naval victory in the Battle of Hango in 1714 that marked as first success of the modernized Finnish navy under strongly naval minded Peter.
Finland was greatly modernized under the rule of Peter, it among other things introduced new military drafting system modeled after Swedish system, improved taxation, Latin lettering and proclaiming the Metropolis of Finland as the Patriarchy together with Roman Emperor Paul (Pavel) VII which included in the holy treaty of Samoyeds (in the small fort and monastery of Samojeds in the Far northern Nenetsnenia) that ratified the Finno-Roman alliance that has been basically intact for modern times as well as divided most of Eastern and Northern Eurasia into respective Spheres of Influence and confirmed the Finnish Grand Prince as a sovereign ruler over his land, tough nominally under the rule of the Emperor.
After Peter I The Great, the Grand Prince title was held as Peter II (1721-1729) and Alexander III (1729-1749).
In 1741 Sweden Invaded Finnish Baltics, as well As landing to Pohjanmaa across the Sea of Botnic in hopes to invade Turku. Finnish Forces under the leadership of Peter Lacy (Pietari Lassi) managed to rebel the Swedish invaders and the War ended up in retaining the Treaty of Uusikaupunki intact. During the war, the Royal family and the Principal government was located in Novgorod.
Under the alliance with Roman Empire, Finland participated in the War of Austrian succession 1740-1748 and the Seven year war 1756-1763 leading into no new acquisitions for Finnish domain.
In 1788 Sweden once again Tried to invade Finnish Baltic and in following war, a set of Naval battles, including the first and second battles of Ruotsinsalmi (Svenskuns) of wich the first was great Finnish success and later a humiliating defeat that eventually pursued the Finnish Grand Prince Nicholas V to sign peace with Sweden for no gains of land in 1790. In 1793 Finland aided Roma in its war against Poland that saw large areas of eastern Poland given to Rome.
In 1794 another partitioning of Poland took place after failed polish insurgency which saw the Kurland and Lithuania ceded to Finland according to an agreement with Rome. Finland participated in the Napoleonic wars generally following the Roman lead and in engaging Sweden in the 1808-1809 Åland war, that was to become last war between Finland and Scandinavian nations before 2nd World War. In the war, Finnish strategies were originally capturing all of Sweden and enforce Sweden to join the Continental Agreement. The war culminated in capture of Åland archipelago that had been part of Sweden since Viking days and during the winter of 1808 Finnish forces crossed the sea of Åland via the ice and pillaged Stockholm.
During Napoleons invasion of East Rome in 1812, some Finnish regiments fought together with the Romans in the Battle of Poltosk. But generally Finnish participation after the Finnish war was diminutive for the final campaigns.
The following decades brought peace to Finland in the West that was only disturbed by English naval operations in the Baltic during the Egyptian war in 1853-56. The war ended in the treaty of Paris, which included demilitarization of the Åland islands in the Baltic among one of it terms.
In the second opium war in 1856, the Finnish Governor of Far East, Niklas Muraja forced the Ming Empire to sign the treaty of Aigun that established the river Amur as the border between Finland and China. This treaty was source of great disparity between Chinese rulers thereafter, but it also reached the Finnish Grand Principality to reach its highest reach before the 1945. Niklas Muraja founded the city of Haaparanta and was give right to call himself “Amurilainen” and became a sort of sub-national hero of the Finnish Far East.
During this expansionist era, Finland also established its rule over the Island of Sakhalin and discovered Kurills. The Grand Prince Mathew (Matti) was determined to establish Finnish supremacy over the “Barbarians” of the east (Japan and Ming) and lot of effort was put on the Far eastern establishment during his and his successors reign.
Together with Finnish adventurists Eufemia Putjalainen and Niklas Ignatius, diplomats operating in Peking in 1858-60 during the western occupation made favorable deals for even more concessions to the Finnish realm from the trembling empire.
Mathew is followed by Mathew II (1869-1910) and Michael III (1910-1918) ending the Wuori dynasty that was one of the longest ruling dynasty with direct male line in Europe.
During Mathew II’s rule Finland begins its slow industrialization and conducts the 2nd Siberian railway, reaching trough the northern lands cross Ural from Archangelsk to Kalakuoppa and further over the great rivers of Ob, Tunguska and Lena to Yakutsk (Jakuutti) and finally down to the port of Idänlinna at the Amur bank in outer Manchuria. After the Sino-Japanese war 1895, Finland is the main culprit of the triple-alliance, a loose coalition of England, Finland and France to force Japan to cede its concessions back to China and giving the Port of Lünshun (Port Arthur) into Finnish control. This embarks Finland to seek first time status as major naval power, and series of small cruisers, gunboats and Coastal armored ship were build and send to far east to defend the newly acquired possessions. Finnish hopes lied in ultimately to cede control of whole Manchuria, which de-facto became Finnish sphere of interests and was occupied by Finnish forces after the boxer rebellion of 1900. Finland begun construct a railway from its own Siberian rail-way across Manchuria to Port Arthur and thousands of Finnish soldiers protected this railroad inside the Chinese borders.
This policy brought Finland terminate odds with the emerging Japanese empire, which was establishing its own colonial powers in China and Korea and had embarked a truly world class fleet to threaten Roman naval presence in China. As Finland was seen by the Japanese as inferior naval power and generally more backward nation without proper means to protect it possessions and as a Roman proxy, Japanese forces attacked Finnish Port of Port Arthur in China 1904 The resulting Naval siege and land attacks from Japanese Korea to Manchuria proved devastating and the Grand Prince Mathew II gathered all of the forces he could muster from Europe to Asia, including pledging help from Rome according to the “Holy alliance” dating of Peter the Great. The Eastern Roman fleet was send from Mediterranean to Asia, but it met the Japanese fleet in Tsushima straits and suffered devastating defeat.
After these defeats, Finland was forced to enter negotiations and the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 gave Port Arthur to Japanese as well as the Kuriles and half of the Island of Sakhalin. Further Finland was forced to move its troops away from Manchuria and acknowledge the Japanese hegemony over Korean peninsula.
After the war, many social unrests together with general dissatisfaction to the stagnate rule of Mathew II resulted in series of strikes and revolts that were crushed ruthlessly and igniting increased revolutionary movement across the nation. Also the “Veche” or Käräjät were established first time since the 15th century as popular assembly, but its powers were kept strictly in the hands of the monarch.
Mathew II’s only son Nicholas died in 1909 at age of 29 from hunting accident and the old Grand Prince who was severally depressed after the disastrous war fell into series of illness and died in 1910. Nicholas’ 5 year old son Michael followed to the throne while Minister J.K Paasikivi was made as prince-regent and de facto last ruler of the Grand Principality of Finland.
As per its alliance with Rome, Finland declared war upon Austria-Hungary in 1914 following the Roman lead. Finnish army, eager to erase the humiliation of the Far East engaged in invasion of East Prussia that only lead in another humiliating defeat in Tanneberg in August. The series of German attacks drove the frontline to Riga where Finnish troops managed to dug in and halt the invasion. The war proved that the Finnish army was severely inferior to the German troops both in numbers and quality, and the Regent government embarked strict conscription that mobilized almost all eligible male population of European Finland to resist the German advances. Also, Japanese entrance into Entente’s side allowed the large Far East Army to be moved to Europe.
These policies eventually made Finnish economy to collapse, and resulted small famine among the northern regions. The revolutionary movement was gaining stronger and stronger ground and in 1917, series of strikes equaling the 1905 movement in size halted the economy even more. The resulting parliamentary elections gave Finland first a socialist majority in summer of 1917, but subsequently the Regent Paasikivi disembarked the parliament and new, more conservative government was selected in what the later history writing describes as “fixed” elections. This lead into rapid radicalization among the ranks of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, similar in fashion of the Roman Bolsheviks.
In January the 1918 The Social democrat’s radicals initiated a revolution in Turku. The Grand Prince and his regent cabinet fled first to Vaasa in Gulf of Botnia and then to Novgorod, while pulling troops out from Baltic’s to suppress the rebellions. Unfortunately for the Regent, most of the army was already rebellious itself, siding effectively with the red guards back home and most of the Army disintegrated during the winter of 1917-1918 Pushing the Central Powers into their final offensive to force both Finland and the similarly revolted Rome out from the war. The Finnish People’s Deputy, the revolutionary government under leadership of Kullervo Manner signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that allowed Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia to gain independency (Germans guaranteeing these nations). The emerging civil war lasted in Finland until 1922.
The Grand Prince was captured in Novgorod in 1919, while England, USA, and France and Japan send intervention forces that Operated from Baltic States and landed in Murmansk/Archangelsk as well as capturing most of the Far-east by Japanese forces.
Most of the “White” Finnish forces are defeated in summer of 1919, and the incursion of foreign forces, together with the separatist movements in Baltic, Åland and full occupation of Far East contributes lot of the nationalist sentiment to side with the Reds and establishing the Finnish People’s army that managed to drive away the half-hearted interventionists and Occupy Baltic States. The Baltic campaign didn’t succeed however, beyond Estonia, as Polish and German volunteers allowed Lithuania retain its independency and in the Treaty of Dorpat (Tartu) hostilities ends between Finland and the new nations of Poland and Lithuania.
In Far East, the Reds declared the “Republic of Far East” as an interim government between the Japanese and Red Finland. This establishment was however dismantled in 1922 when Finnish troops regained the Far Eastern Provinces and erasing various separatists, interventionist and Chinese warlords that have entered the area. Last operation as to regain the Sovereignty of the old Principality took place in 1925 when Finnish Gunboat was dispatched to the Wrangell Islands to drive away 13 American merchants that were exploiting the island in hopes to claim to Canadian rule. The Grand Prince Michael III was allowed to have asylum first at Sweden in 1919 (from where he moved to London in 1921 where he lived rest of his life to his death at age of 84 in 1989 He had two sons and four grandsons, and the emigrates hold the Michael IV, born in 1927 as the rightful claimant to the Grand Prince’s throne, tough already in venerable age of 85 at 2012. Finnish Democratic Republic has over gone series of negotiations with the Royal Family to officially abdicate since 1995.)
|
Quick links
FAQ
Register
Login![[Post Reply]](./styles/legacy/theme/en/button_topic_reply.gif "Post a reply"){kind=small}
![[*]](./styles/legacy/theme/images/button_topic_tools.gif){kind=small}
![[Profile]](./styles/legacy/theme/en/icon_user_profile.gif "Profile: Karle94"){kind=icon}
![[Quote]](./styles/legacy/theme/en/icon_post_quote.gif "Reply with quote"){kind=icon}
![[ img ]](http://makeagif.com/media/4-04-2012/AGdikP.gif)
