The Finland question and the regional policy of the Russian empire in the beginning of the 20th century
(according to the materials of the periodic press) 

Natalia G. Karnishina, Doctor of historical sciences, professor, professor of the sub-department of the history of Russia, state and law, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: karnishins@mail.ru
Valery Yu. Karnishin, Doctor of historical sciences, professor, head of the sub-department of the history of Russia, state and law, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: valerykarnishin@mail.ru 

94(47) 

DOI

10.21685/2072-3024-2021-4-2 

Background. The crisis of Russia’s borderland politics at the beginning of the 20th century, associated with the further unification and centralization of state administration, was most clearly manifested in the approaches to solving the Finnish question, in general, and in the political, legal, linguistic and confessional component, in particular. The purpose of the study is to analyze the public’s attitude to the position of the Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire based on the analysis of the opinions of contemporaries on the Finnish issue, reflected in publications in scientific works, in articles on the pages of perio-dicals, in speeches delivered within the walls of the State Duma. Materials and methods. The research was carried out on literature, materials of periodicals, first of all, the magazine “Finland”, published in 1908–1910. Comparative historical and social methods of historical research are used. Results. In the course of writing the article, the main task was solved – based on materials from periodicals, to study the reaction of the Finnish and Russian public to the change in the political course towards the Finnish principality at the beginning of the 20th century. Conclusions. In late imperial Russia, the policy of the tsarist government to unify the management of national outskirts, the final rejection of the model of a union state was aimed, first of all, at limiting the autonomy of Poland and Finland. Discussions in legal circles and in the press soon turned into political polemics within the walls of the State Duma, in particular, the leaders of the Swedish People’s Party and the Octobrist Party radically disagreed in the interpretation of the Finnish question. 

Key words

the Grand Duchy of Finland, periodicals, border politics, octobrists, union state 

 Download PDF

1. Agureev S.A. The national development of Finland as part of the Russian Empire in 1905–1917: from modernization to the collapse of 1917. Vestnik Moskovskogo gorodskogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya «Istoricheskie nauki» = Bulletin of Moscow State Pedagogical University. Series “Historical sciences”. 2019;(1):93–99. (In Russ.)
2. Bakhturina A.Yu. P.A. Stolypin i finlyandskiy vopros = Stolypin and the Finnish question. (In Russ.). Available at: http://www.tsaarinikolai.com/tekstit/Stolypin_i_finljandski_ vopros.htm
3. Bulatov Yu.A. Finland and the imperial politics of the House of Romanov. Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn' = International life. 2016;(1):30–59. (In Russ.)
4. Vitukhnovskaya-Kauppala M.A. The Finnish question in the State Duma and the Provisional Government, 1914–1917 From a large “Russification program” to projects of complete self-government. Pervaya mirovaya voyna i Gosudarstvennaya Duma: materialy Mezhdunar. nauch. konf. (g. Kazan', 17–18 oktyabrya 2014 g.) = The World War I and the State Duma: proceedings of the International scientific conference (Kazan, October 17–18, 2014). Moscow: Izd-vo Gosudarstvennoy Dumy, 2015:59–67. (In Russ.)
5. Zhaboedov-Gospodarets V.P. Characteristics of the legal status of the Grand Duchy of Finland based on materials from periodicals of the early 20th century. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Gumanitarnye nauki = University proceedings. Volga region. Humanities. 2013;(1):17–31. (In Russ.)
6. Karnishina N.G. Reforms of the enlightened bureaucracy in Russia on the example of the work of the Editorial Commissions of the 1850s. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Gumanitarnye nauki = University proceedings. Volga region. Humanities. 2016;(3):15–25. (In Russ.)
7. Kodan S.V., Fevralev S.A. Mestnoe pravo Velikogo knyazhestva Finlyandskogo v pravovoy sisteme Rossiyskoy imperii: integratsiya, istochniki, transformatsii (1808–1917 g.) = Local law of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the legal system of the Russian Empire: integration, sources, transformations (1808–1917). (In Russ.). Available at: http:// printed.e-notabene.ru/lr/article_498.html
8. Shelokhaev V.V. Konstitutsionno-demokraticheskaya partiya v Rossii i emigratsii = Constitutional Democratic Party in Russia and emigration. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2015: 393–395. (In Russ.)
9. Yussila O. Velikoe knyazhestvo Finlyandskoe 1809–1917: per. s fin. = The Grand Duchy of Finland 1809–1917: translated from Finnish. Khelsinki: Ruslania Books Oy, 2009:842. (In Russ.)
10. Borodkin M.M. Kratkaya istoriya Finlyandii = A brief history of Finland. Saint Peters-burg, 1911:200. (In Russ.)
11. Borodkin M.M. Iz noveyshey istorii Finlyandii: Vremya upravleniya N.I. Bobrikova = From the modern history of Finland: The time of N.I. Bobrikov’s management. Saint Petersburg: Tovarishchestvo R. Golike i A. Vil'borg, 1905:482. (In Russ.)
12. Avinov N. Finland question in the State Duma. Moskovskiy ezhenedel'nik = Moscow weekly. 1908;(7):8–17. (In Russ.)
13. Pilenko A. Octobrists and Finland. Moskovskiy ezhenedel'nik = Moscow weekly. 1910; (22):5–11. (In Russ.)
14. Stolypin P.A. Speech on Finland delivered to the State Duma on May 5, 1908. Polnoe sobranie rechey v Gosudarstvennoy dume i Gosudarstvennom sovete 1906–1911 = Complete collection of speeches in the State Duma and State Council 1906–1911. Mos-cow: Molodaya gvardiya, 1991:373. (In Russ.)
15. Kokoshkin F.F. Results of the dispute. Finlyandiya = Finland. 1910;(10):377–382. (In Russ.)
16. Kokoshkin F.F. Rules of May 20, 1908 “On the procedure for sending Finnish affairs”. Finlyandiya = Finland. 1909;(5):21–29. (In Russ.)
17. Pogodin A.L. Finland and Poland. Finlyandiya = Finland. 1909;(5):13–16. (In Russ.)
18. Korf S. History of one legal theory of the Council of Ministers. Finlyandiya = Finland. 1909;(8):139–141. (In Russ.)
19. Kotlyarevskiy S.A. Finland cases. Moskovskiy ezhenedel'nik = Moscow weekly. 1909; (25):1–3. (In Russ.)
20. Kokoshkin F. Measures to prevent the forgetting of laws. Russkie vedomosti = Russkiye vedomosti. 1912;(10):2. (In Russ.)