Russification Campaign Analysis

The policy of “Russification” (1899-1905 and 1908-1918) refers to the growing political oppression that the Grand Duchy of Finland experienced at the hands of the Russian empire, aimed at ending its political autonomy and dismantling its cultural identity. In the following, firstly I am going to examine the causes and the consequences that led to the first Russification campaign. Secondly, I will briefly analyze how Finland’s internal divisions contributed to the emergence of a second era of oppression. Finally I will draw some conclusions. As Jason Lavery (2006) explains in “The history of Finland”, the so called “age of oppression” was awfully determined by several factors. First of all, it was driven by the Russian necessity to renovate
On the contrary, significant efforts to demolish it started to be made by Alexander III’s successor, Nicholas II (1894-1917), who decided to appoint Nikolai Bobrikov as the Grand Duchy’s governor-general. The latter was a strong supporter of the Russian ambitions and, as Tuomo Polvinen (1995) wrote, he required that “[…] under the guidance of a firm hand, Finland be made to understand its position as a Russian borderland; the malevolence and resistance to which this process will necessarily give rise must be crushed at any cost”. The first Russification officially started when Nicholas II signed Bobrikov’s proposal, the so called February Manifesto, on the 15th of February 1899. This imperial decree aimed at threatening Finland’s national existence, compromising the autonomy of the Finnish Diet and Senate to make their own laws. Indeed, “according to the manifesto any proposed Finnish law that had an impact on the rest of the empire had to go through the Russian imperial legislative process” (Lavery 2006). Freedom of speech and association were banned and, in 1900, Emperor Nicholas published the Language Manifesto, making Russian the official language of Finland and the most important subject in the schools. Furthermore, in July 1901 the tsar promulgated a new conscription law, completely
Indeed, as Puntila (1975) wrote, “only the first two sessions of Parliament witnessed any great degree of optimism or fruitful work; the reaction in Russia soon began to make itself felt in the Finnish Parliament”. In addition, divisions within the Grand Duchy played a big role in determining its future. Disappointed by the outcome of the 1905 revolution, the Finnish SPD became radical, anticipating the civil war of 1917 and leading to the first clash between private workers (Red Guards) and the middle classes (White Guards). As a result, regaining confidence in 1908, Nicholas II decreed that any Finnish law which affected the interests’ empire had to be submitted to the Russian parliament for approval before it could be presented to the tsar. This measure was the first attempt to launch the second era of Russification. Few years later, the Tsar changed the composition of the Senate naming to it military officers who were born in Finland and in 1912 he signed the so called “Equality Law”, giving all Russian subjects in Finland rights equal to those of Finnish