Poor food and the withdrawal of a special allowance had, however, sparked discontent amongst the pioneers and artillerymen of the garrison, most of whom were conscripts drawn from the industrial regions of Russia.

The infantry component of the garrison, drawn from rural areas and more amenable to army discipline than their radicalised counterparts in the technical branches, mostly remained loyal to their officers.

However, the naval unrest of the previous year had now subsided and the crews of the warships close to Sveaborg showed no inclination to join the mutiny.

Equally, the Cossack cavalry and the infantry units that made up the remainder of the Imperial Army forces in Finland continued to obey orders.

A few hundred members of the Finnish Labour Corps had joined with the Russian mutineers and Johan Kock had called for a general strike in support of them.

The reasons included the indifference of the bulk of the Finnish population to any dissatisfaction within the Russian occupying forces and the fact that by August 1906 discipline and morale had been largely restored within the Tsarist army and navy.