The Great Wrath (, in contemporary sources: , 'Era of Russian domination/supremacy'; ) was a period of
Finnish history dominated by the
Russian invasion and subsequent military occupation of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, then part of the
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...
, from 1714 until the
treaty of Nystad
The Treaty of Nystad (russian: Ништадтский мир; fi, Uudenkaupungin rauha; sv, Freden i Nystad; et, Uusikaupunki rahu) was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of ...
(1721), which ended the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...
.
Background
Finland was left largely to fend for itself after the disaster of
Poltava
Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administrativel ...
in 1709. Russia
captured Viborg in 1710 and had by 1712 already started their first campaign to capture Finland, which ended in failure. A more organized campaign starting in 1713 managed to capture
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
/''Helsingfors'' and drive defending Swedes away from the coast. The Swedish army in Finland was defeated in
Storkyro (Isokyrö) in February 1714 with a decisive Russian victory. Swedish efforts to hinder the Russian advance by blockading the coastal sea route at
Hangö ended in failure in late July at the
battle of Gangut
The Battle of Gangut (russian: Гангутское сражение, fi, Riilahden taistelu, Finland Swedish: ''Slaget vid Rilax'', sv, Sjöslaget vid Hangöudd) took place on 27 July Jul./ 7 August 1714 Greg. during the Great Northern War ...
. The presence of a Russian galley fleet in the
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast ( We ...
forced, in the end, both the Swedish fleet and army to largely abandon Finland in late 1714. Even the Swedish areas on the western side of the
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast ( We ...
were ravaged by the Russians. The city of
Umeå
Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County.
Situated on the Ume River, Um ...
was burned to the ground by the Russians on 18 September 1714, and after struggling to rebuild was razed again in 1720, 1721, and 1722.
Russian occupation of Finland
After the victory of the
Battle of Storkyro
The Battle of Napue (, , ) was fought on 19 February 1714 ( O.S.) / 2 March 1714 ( N.S.) at the villages of Napue and Laurola in the Isokyrö parish of the Swedish Empire (modern Finland) between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia. I ...
,
Mikhail Golitsyn was appointed the governor of Finland. Finns began waging
partisan warfare against the Russians. As retaliation, the Finnish peasants were forced to pay large contributions to the occupying Russians (as was the custom at the time). Plundering and raping were widespread, especially in
Ostrobothnia and in communities near the major roads. Churches were looted and
Isokyrö was burned to the ground. A scorched-earth zone several hundred kilometers wide was created by the Russians to hinder Swedish counteroffensives. At least 5,000 Finns were killed and some 10,000 taken away as slaves, of whom only a few thousand would ever return; according to more recent research, the number of the casualties would have been closer to 20,000. Recent research also estimates the number of enslaved children and women to have been closer to 30,000. The worst of these massacres took place on September 29, 1714, when during one night, the
Cossacks
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
killed about 800 inhabitants of the
Hailuoto Island
Hailuoto (; sv, Karlö) is a Finnish island in the northern Baltic Sea and a municipality in Northern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Hailuoto is (), which make it the smallest municipality in Northern Ostrobothnia and the former Oulu Pr ...
with axes.
Thousands, especially officials, fled to the (relative) safety of Sweden. The poorer peasants hid in the woods to avoid the ravages of the occupiers and their
press-gangs.
[ Uppslagsverket Finland, 1985] Atrocities were at their worst between 1714 and 1717 when the Swedish Count
Gustaf Otto Douglas, who had defected to the Russian side during the war, was in charge of the occupation.
In addition to the predation of the Russian occupants, Finland was struck – as were most other Baltic countries at the time – by the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
. In
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, 1,185 people died: nearly two-thirds of the city's population. The plague had already struck Finland before the Russian invasion, sapping the strength of Sweden in Finland.
Consequences
It took several decades for the Finnish population and economy to recover after the peace in 1721, at which point Finland was scourged again during the
war of 1741–1743, although less devastatingly.
See also
*
Lesser Wrath Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician
* Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic
* Anton Lesser (born 1952), Bri ...
, Russian occupation of Finland during the 1741–1743 war
References
Bibliography
*
* ''Svenska slagfält'', 2003, (Wahlström & Widstrand, )
{{Finland topics
18th century in Finland
Great Northern War
1710s in Europe
Looting