From Recognition to Repression: Finnish Language and Russian Imperial Policy in the Nineteenth Century

• In Event: Russification and Memory in the Baltics and Finland: Narratives and Memory Policies

Abstract

Following the publication of Elias Lönnrot’s Kalevala in 1835, Finnish nationalism began to emerge, and interest in developing the Finnish language grew. Simultaneously, Russia grappled with its imperial identity and the governance of its multiethnic borderlands amid the rise of pan-Slavism. After Tsar Alexander II declared Finnish as an official language in the Grand Duchy of Finland, the Finnish language gained more prominence within Finland's local administrative and societal structure. Finnish language study and use continued to flourish until the attempts of Russification by Alexander III and Nicholas II in the late nineteenth century.
Russian language policy in the late nineteenth century aimed to increase Russian influence on Finnish culture and society through education and administration. These policies brought about during Russification attempts became known as the “first period of oppression” in Finnish history. Russian and Finnish intellectuals clashed ideologically on the language issue, and eventually led to participation in active demonstrations against the Russian government leading up to the 1905 revolution. This analysis contributes to a deeper understanding of Russian imperial policy and the intersections of nationality, governance, and cultural identity in the nineteenth century.

Author

• Richard Byington, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign