Grand Duke of Finland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grand Duke of Finland, more correctly Grand Prince of Finland, (Finnish: Suomen suuriruhtinas, Swedish: Storfurste av Finland) was a title in use, sometimes sporadically, between 1584 and 1808 by the King of Sweden. In 1809–1917 it was the official title of the head of the autonomous Grand Principality of Finland, the Tsar of Russia.
[edit] History of the title
In 1581, King John III of Sweden, who had previously (1556–63) been Duke of Finland (a royal duke), assumed the subsidiary title Grand Prince of Finland (in Swedish Storfurste till Finland) to the Kings of Sweden. This is to be seen as a marking of the Swedish sovereign's power in Finland, as well as the import of Finland as a part of the Sweden Proper. It did not result in any increase of Finnish autonomy.
- King of Sweden, the Goths, the Wends;
- Grand Prince of Finland;
- Duke of Karelia, Wätski Pethin, Ingria, and the Estonians in Livonia[1]
In those years, John was and had been in quarrel with his eastern neighbor, Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, who had a litany of subsidiary titles as Grand Prince of several ancient Russian principalities and provinces. The use of Grand Prince on John's behalf was a countermeasure to signify his mighty position as sovereign of Sweden, also a multinational or multi-country realm, and equal to a Tsardom. Not only was Finland added, but Karelia, Ingria, and Livonia that all were along the Swedish-Russian border. It is said that the first use of the new title was in an occasion to contact Tsar Ivan.
During the next two centuries, the title was used by some of John's successors on the throne, but not all (e.g. his brother Charles IX listed Finns as one of the many nations over which he was the king during 1607-1611). Usually it was just a subsidiary title of the King, and so it was used only at very formal occasions. However, in 1802, King Gustav IV Adolf gave the title to his new-born son, Prince Carl Gustaf, who died three years later.
During the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia, the four Estates of occupied Finland were assembled at the Diet of Porvoo on March 29, 1809 to pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia. Following the Swedish defeat in the war and the signing of the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, Finland became a true autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland as a part of the Russian Empire.
The Tsar ruled Finland, as Grand Duke of Finland, through his governor and a native Senate appointed by him. The country nevertheless enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, until its independence in 1917. Finland was declared an independent republic, but after the Civil War there was a brief period of monarchy. The newly elected monarch (Frederick Charles of Hesse) was to be king but he refused the thrown immediately when Germany capitulated.
