Russification of Finland

It was a part of a larger policy of Russification pursued by late 19th–early 20th century Russian governments which tried to abolish cultural and administrative autonomy of non-Russian minorities within the empire.

In response, Imperial Russia invaded Swedish Finland in what later became known as the Finnish War (21 February 1808 – 17 September 1809), which ended favourably for Alexander.

For his part, Alexander confirmed the rights of the Finns, in particular, promising freedom to pursue their customs and religion and to maintain their identity: Providence having placed us in possession of the Grand Duchy of Finland, we have desired by the present act to confirm and ratify the religion and the fundamental laws of the land, as well as the privileges and rights which each class in the said Grand Duchy in particular, and all the inhabitants in general, be their position high or low, have hitherto enjoyed according to the constitution.

A separate petition called Pro Finlandia that contained the names of 1,050 prominent foreign people was also gathered few months later.

[citation needed] The program was reintroduced in 1908, costing Finland much of its autonomy and again causing further Finnish resistance, including the Jäger movement.

During 1909–1917 the Finnish politicians in the Senate of Finland were replaced by Finnish-born officers of the Russian army who were formally subjects of the grand duchy, creating the so-called admiral-senate or saber-senate.

[citation needed] During the Russo-Japanese War, with financial aid from Japan, Finnish rebels bought a shipment of thousands of rifles with the aim of creating an uprising and forming an independent state.