Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern
European Russia
European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...
. It lies along the southeastern shore of the
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...
, bordered by
Lake Ladoga on the
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...
in the north and by the
River Narva
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...
on the border with
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
in the west. The earliest known
indigenous European peoples of the region are the now mostly
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
Izhorians
The Izhorians (russian: Ижо́ра; ижо́рцы; fi, inkerikot; et, isurid; sg. ''ižoralain'', ''inkeroin'', ''ižora'', ''ingermans'', ''ingers'', ''ingrian'', pl. ''ižoralaizet''), along with the Votes, are a Finnic indigenous peopl ...
and
Votians
Votians, also referred to as Votes, Vots and Vods ( vot, Vađđalaizõd, et, vadjalased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to historical Ingria, the part of modern-day northwestern Russia that is roughly southwest of Saint Petersburg and east ...
, as well as the
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
who descend from the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
immigrants who settled in the area in the 17th century, when
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 B ...
proper and Ingria were both parts 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 ...
.
Ingria as a whole never formed a separate state, however
North Ingria
The Republic of North Ingria ( fi, Pohjois-Inkerin tasavalta), Ingrian: ''Pohja-inkeriläin respublikka)'' or Republic of Kirjasalo ( fi, Kirjasalon tasavalta, Ingrian: ''Kirjsalon respublikka'') was a short-lived, small state for the Ingrian Fi ...
was an independent state for just under two years in 1919–1920. The Ingrians, understood as the inhabitants of Ingria regardless of ethnicity, can hardly be said to have been a nation, although the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
recognized their "nationality"; as an
ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, the Ingrians proper,
Izhorians
The Izhorians (russian: Ижо́ра; ижо́рцы; fi, inkerikot; et, isurid; sg. ''ižoralain'', ''inkeroin'', ''ižora'', ''ingermans'', ''ingers'', ''ingrian'', pl. ''ižoralaizet''), along with the Votes, are a Finnic indigenous peopl ...
, are close to extinction together with their
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
. This notwithstanding, many people still recognize their Ingrian
heritage
Heritage may refer to:
History and society
* A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today
** Cultural heritage is created by humans
** Natural heritage is not
* Heritage language
Biology
* Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...
.
[
Kurs, Ott (1994)]
Ingria: The broken landbridge between Estonia and Finland
''GeoJournal
''GeoJournal'' is a peer-reviewed international academic journal on all aspects of geography founded in 1977. Twelve issues (three volumes) a year were published by Springer Netherlands (formerly Kluwer) until December 2009 and can be accessed via ...
'' 33.1, 107–113.
Historic Ingria covers approximately the same area as the
Gatchinsky,
Kingiseppsky,
Kirovsky,
Lomonosovsky,
Tosnensky,
Volosovsky and
Vsevolozhsky districts of modern
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, a ...
as well as the city of
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
The names of the region are: izh, Ingermaa, fi, Inkeri or '; russian: link=no, Ингрия, ''Ingriya'', , ''Izhora'', or , ''Ingermanlandiya''; sv, Ingermanland; et, Ingeri or '.
History
![Carta Marina](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Carta_Marina.jpeg)
In the
Viking era
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
(late
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
), from the 750s onwards,
Ladoga served as a bridgehead on the
Varangian
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
trade route to Eastern Europe. A Varangian
aristocracy
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At t ...
developed that would ultimately rule over
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
and
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
. In the 860s, the warring
Finnic and
Slavic tribes rebelled under
Vadim the Bold, but later asked the Varangians under
Rurik to return and to put an end to the recurring conflicts between them.
The Swedes referred to the ancient
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
ian land of Vod as "Ingermanland", Latinized to "Ingria".
Folk etymology
Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...
traces its name to
Ingegerd Olofsdotter, the daughter of the Swedish king
Olof Skötkonung
Olof Skötkonung, (Old Norse: ''Óláfr skautkonungr'') sometimes stylized as ''Olaf the Swede'' (c. 980–1022), was King of Sweden, son of Eric the Victorious and, according to Icelandic sources, Sigrid the Haughty. He succeeded his father in ...
(995–1022). Upon her marriage to
Yaroslav I the Wise
Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was al ...
, Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev, in 1019, she received the lands around Ladoga as a marriage gift. They were administered by Swedish
jarls, such as
Ragnvald Ulfsson
Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old (beginning 11th century) was a jarl of Västergötland or Östergötland and was married to a sister of King Olav Tryggvason.Winroth 1995–1997:616
Biography
According to Snorri, Ragnvald was the son of jarl Ulf T ...
, under the sovereignty of the
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of m ...
.
In the 12th century, Western Ingria was absorbed by the Republic. There followed centuries of
frequent wars, chiefly between Novgorod and Sweden, and occasionally involving
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
and
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
as well. The Teutonic Knights established a stronghold in the town of
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
, followed by the Russian castle
Ivangorod
Ivangorod ( rus, Иванго́род, p=ɪvɐnˈɡorət; et, Jaanilinn; vot, Jaanilidna) is a town in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Narva river which flows along the Estonia–Russia int ...
on the opposite side of the Narva River in 1492.
With the consolidation of the
Kievan Rus
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern Europe, Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Hist ...
and the expansion of the
Republic of Novgorod
The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mod ...
north, the indigenous Ingrians became
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
. Ingria became a province of Sweden in the
Treaty of Stolbovo
The Treaty of Stolbovo () was a peace treaty that ended the Ingrian War (), which had been fought between the Swedish Empire and the Russian Tsardom between 1610 and 1617.
History
After nearly two months of negotiations, representatives from Sw ...
in 1617 that ended the
Ingrian War
The Ingrian War ( sv, Ingermanländska kriget) between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia lasted between 1610 and 1617. It can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles and is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duke ...
, fought between Sweden and Russia. After the Swedish conquest of the area in 1617 the
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
, descendants of 17th-century
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
emigrants from present-day
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 B ...
, became the majority in Ingria.
In 1710, following a Russian conquest, Ingria was designated as the Province of St. Petersburg.
In 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 ...
in 1721, Sweden formally ceded Ingria to Russia.
In 1927 the Soviet authorities designated the area as Leningrad Province.
Deportations of the Ingrian Finns
Deportations of the Ingrian Finns were a series of mass deportations of the Ingrian Finnish population by Soviet authorities. Deportations took place from the late 1920s to the end of World War II. They were part of the Genocide of the Ingrian Fin ...
started in late 1920s, and
Russification
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
was nearly complete by the 1940s.
In the modern era, Ingria forms the northwestern anchor of Russia—its "window" on the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
—with
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
as its centre.
Swedish Ingria
Although Sweden and Novgorod had fought for the Ingrian lands more or less since
the Great Schism
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
of 1054, the first actual attempt to establish Swedish dominion in Ingria appears to date from the early 14th century, when Sweden first founded the settlement of
Viborg in
Karelia and then the fortress
Landskrona
Landskrona (old da, Landskrone) is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona t ...
(built in 1299 or 1300) at the confluence of the
Ohta
Ohta, Ōta, or Ota may refer to the following:
People
* Ota (wife of Arnulf of Carinthia), Queen of the East Franks 888-899, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire 896-899
* Ota (cartoonist), Brazilian cartoonist
* Atsuya Ota, Japanese basketball p ...
and
Neva
The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it ...
rivers. However, Novgorod re-conquered Landskrona in 1301 and destroyed it. Ingria eventually became a
Swedish dominion
The Dominions of Sweden or ''Svenska besittningar'' ("Swedish possessions") were territories that historically came under control of the Swedish Crown, but never became fully integrated with Sweden. This generally meant that they were ruled by ...
in the 1580s, but the
Treaty of Teusina
The Treaty of Teusina, Tyavzin or Tyavzino ( fi, Täyssinän rauha), also known as the Eternal Peace with Sweden in Russia, was concluded by Russian diplomats under the boyar Afanasiy Pushkin (an ancestor of the poet Aleksandr Pushkin) and ambas ...
(1595) returned it to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
in 1595. Russia in its turn ceded Ingria to Sweden in the
Treaty of Stolbova
The Treaty of Stolbovo () was a peace treaty that ended the Ingrian War (), which had been fought between the Swedish Empire and the Russian Tsardom between 1610 and 1617.
History
After nearly two months of negotiations, representatives from ...
(1617) after the
Ingrian War
The Ingrian War ( sv, Ingermanländska kriget) between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia lasted between 1610 and 1617. It can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles and is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duke ...
of 1610–1617. Sweden's interest in the territory was mainly strategic: the area served as a
buffer zone against Russian attacks on the
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...
and on present-day Finland, then the eastern half of the Swedish realm; and Russian Baltic trade had to pass through Swedish territory. The townships of
Ivangorod
Ivangorod ( rus, Иванго́род, p=ɪvɐnˈɡorət; et, Jaanilinn; vot, Jaanilidna) is a town in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Narva river which flows along the Estonia–Russia int ...
, Jama (now
Kingisepp), Caporie (now
Koporye) and Nöteborg (now
Shlisselburg
Shlisselburg ( rus, Шлиссельбу́рг, p=ʂlʲɪsʲɪlʲˈburk; german: Schlüsselburg; fi, Pähkinälinna; sv, Nöteborg), formerly Oreshek (Орешек) (1323–1611) and Petrokrepost (Петрокрепость) (1944–1992), is ...
) became the centres of the four Ingrian counties (
slottslän), and consisted of citadels, in the vicinity of which were small boroughs called ''hakelverk'' – before the wars of the 1650s mainly inhabited by Russian townspeople. The degree to which Ingria became the destination for Swedish deportees has often been exaggerated.
Ingria remained sparsely populated. In 1664 the total population amounted to 15,000. Swedish attempts to introduce
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
, which accelerated after an initial period of relative religious tolerance,
met with repugnance on the part of the majority of the
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
peasantry, who were obliged to attend Lutheran services; converts were promised grants and tax reductions, but Lutheran gains were mostly due to voluntary resettlements by
Finns
Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland.
Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...
from
Savonia and
Finnish Karelia
Karelia ( fi, Karjala) is a historical province of Finland which Finland partly ceded to the Soviet Union after the Winter War of 1939–40. The Finnish Karelians include the present-day inhabitants of North and South Karelia and the still-sur ...
(mostly from
Äyräpää
Baryshevo (russian: Барышево; fi, Pölläkkälä, Äyräpää) is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast. It is situated on the southern shore of Vuoksi River. Until the Winter War and Contin ...
).
[
]
The proportion of Lutheran Finns in Ingria (
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
) comprised 41.1% in 1656, 53.2% in 1661, 55.2% in 1666, 56.9% in 1671 and 73.8% in 1695, the remainder being Russians,
Izhorians
The Izhorians (russian: Ижо́ра; ижо́рцы; fi, inkerikot; et, isurid; sg. ''ižoralain'', ''inkeroin'', ''ižora'', ''ingermans'', ''ingers'', ''ingrian'', pl. ''ižoralaizet''), along with the Votes, are a Finnic indigenous peopl ...
and
Votes. Ingermanland was to a considerable extent enfiefed to
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Gr ...
military and state officials, who brought their own Lutheran servants and workmen. However, a small number of Russian Orthodox churches remained in use until the very end of the Swedish dominion, and the forceful conversion of ethnic Russian Orthodox forbidden by law.
Nyen
Nyenschantz (russian: Ниенша́нц, ''Nienshants''; sv, Nyenskans; fi, Nevanlinna) was a Swedish fortress at the confluence of the Neva River and Okhta River, the site of present-day Saint Petersburg, Russia. Nyenschantz was built in 16 ...
became the main trading centre of Ingria, especially after Ivangorod dwindled, and in 1642 it was made the administrative centre of the province. In 1656 a Russian attack badly damaged the town, and the administrative centre moved to
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
.
Russian Ingria
In the early 18th century the area was reconquered by Russia in 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-Swedi ...
after having been in Swedish possession for about 100 years. Near the location of the Swedish town
Nyen
Nyenschantz (russian: Ниенша́нц, ''Nienshants''; sv, Nyenskans; fi, Nevanlinna) was a Swedish fortress at the confluence of the Neva River and Okhta River, the site of present-day Saint Petersburg, Russia. Nyenschantz was built in 16 ...
, close to the Neva river's estuary at the Gulf of Finland, the new Russian capital
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
was founded in 1703.
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
raised Ingria to the status of a duchy with
Prince Menshikov
Prince Aleksander Danilovich Menshikov (russian: Алекса́ндр Дани́лович Ме́ншиков, tr. ; – ) was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimo, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora ...
as its first (and last) duke. In 1708, Ingria was designated a governorate (Ingermanland Governorate in 1708–1710,
Saint Petersburg Governorate
Saint Petersburg Governorate (russian: Санкт-Петербу́ргская губе́рния, ''Sankt-Peterburgskaya guberniya''), or Government of Saint Petersburg, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia ...
in 1710–1914, Petrograd Governorate in 1914–1924, Leningrad Governorate in 1924–1927).
In 1870, printing started of the first Finnish-language newspaper in Ingria, ''Pietarin Sanomat''. Before that Ingria received newspapers mostly from Viborg. The first public library was opened in 1850 in Tyrö. The largest of the libraries, situated in Skuoritsa, had more than 2,000 volumes in the second half of the 19th century. In 1899 the first song festival in Ingria was held in Puutosti (Skuoritsa).
By 1897 (year of the
Russian Empire Census
The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...
) the number of
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
had grown to 130,413, and by 1917 it had exceeded 140,000 (45,000 in Northern Ingria, 52,000 in Central (Eastern) Ingria and 30,000 in Western Ingria, the rest in
Petrograd
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
).
From 1868
Estonians
Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language.
The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other ...
began to migrate to Ingria as well. In 1897 the number of
Estonians inhabiting the
Saint Petersburg Governorate
Saint Petersburg Governorate (russian: Санкт-Петербу́ргская губе́рния, ''Sankt-Peterburgskaya guberniya''), or Government of Saint Petersburg, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia ...
reached 64,116 (12,238 of them in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
itself); by 1926 it had increased to 66,333 (15,847 of them in Leningrad).
As to
Izhorians
The Izhorians (russian: Ижо́ра; ижо́рцы; fi, inkerikot; et, isurid; sg. ''ižoralain'', ''inkeroin'', ''ižora'', ''ingermans'', ''ingers'', ''ingrian'', pl. ''ižoralaizet''), along with the Votes, are a Finnic indigenous peopl ...
, in 1834 there were 17,800 of them, in 1897—21,000, in 1926—26,137. About 1000 Ingrians lived in the area ceded to Estonia under the
Peace Treaty of Tartu (1920).
Estonian Ingria
Under the Russian-Estonian
Peace Treaty of Tartu of 1920, a small part of West Ingria became part of the
Republic of Estonia. In contrast to other parts of Ingria, Finnish culture blossomed in this area. This was to a large extent due to the work of Leander Reijo (also Reijonen or Reiju) from
Kullankylä on the new border between Estonia and the Soviet Union, who was called "The King of Ingria" by the Finnish press. Finnish schools and a Finnish newspaper were started. A church was built in Kallivieri in 1920 and by 1928 the parish had 1,300 people.
In 1945, after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Estonian Ingria, then in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, became part of the
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
. Since Estonia reclaimed its independence in 1991, this territory has been disputed. As Russia does not recognize the Peace Treaty of Tartu, the area currently remains under Russian control.
Soviet Ingria
After the 1917
Bolshevik revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...
in Russia, the Republic of
North Ingria
The Republic of North Ingria ( fi, Pohjois-Inkerin tasavalta), Ingrian: ''Pohja-inkeriläin respublikka)'' or Republic of Kirjasalo ( fi, Kirjasalon tasavalta, Ingrian: ''Kirjsalon respublikka'') was a short-lived, small state for the Ingrian Fi ...
(''Pohjois-Inkeri'') declared its independence from Russia with the support of Finland and with the aim of incorporation into Finland. It ruled parts of Ingria from 1919 until 1920. With the Russian-Finnish
Peace Treaty of Tartu it was re-integrated into Russia, but enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy.
At its height in the 1920s, there were about 300 Finnish language schools and 10 Finnish language newspapers in Ingria.
"Inkerinsuomalaisten kronikka"
Tietoa Inkerinsuomalaisista (Information about Ingrian Finns)
at the Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
, 13 February 2008
The First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union
The 1926 Soviet Census took place in December 1926. It was an important tool in the state-building of the USSR, provided the government with important ethnographic information, and helped in the transformation from Imperial Russian society to Sov ...
in 1926 recorded 114,831 Leningrad Finns, as Ingrian Finns were called. The 1926 census also showed that the Russian population of central Ingria outnumbered the Finnic peoples
The Finnic or Fennic peoples, sometimes simply called Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finnic (now commonly '' Finno-Permic'') language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of ...
living there, but Ingrian Finns formed the majority in the districts along the Finnish border.
In the early 1930s the Izhorian language
The Izhorians (russian: Ижо́ра; ижо́рцы; fi, inkerikot; et, isurid; sg. ''ižoralain'', ''inkeroin'', ''ižora'', ''ingermans'', ''ingers'', ''ingrian'', pl. ''ižoralaizet''), along with the Votes, are a Finnic indigenous peopl ...
was taught in the schools of the and the area around the mouth of the Luga River
The Luga () is a river in Novgorodsky and Batetsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Luzhsky, Volosovsky, Slantsevsky, and Kingiseppsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast of Russia. The river flows into the Luga Bay of the Gulf of Finland. It free ...
.
In 1928 collectivization of agriculture
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
started in Ingria. To facilitate it, in 1929–1931, 18,000 people (4320 families), kulaks
Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ov ...
(independent peasants) from North Ingria, were deported to East Karelia, the Kola Peninsula
sjd, Куэлнэгк нёа̄ррк
, image_name= Kola peninsula.png
, image_caption= Kola Peninsula as a part of Murmansk Oblast
, image_size= 300px
, image_alt=
, map_image= Murmansk in Russia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Murmansk Oblas ...
as well as Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
and Central Asia.
The situation for the Ingrian Finns deteriorated further when in the fall of 1934 the Forbidden Border Zone along the western border of the Soviet Union was established, where entrance was forbidden without special permission issued by the NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
. It was officially only 7.5 km deep initially, but along the Estonian border it extended to as much as 90 km. The zone was to be free of Finnic and some other peoples, who were considered politically unreliable. On 25 March 1935, Genrikh Yagoda
Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda ( rus, Ге́нрих Григо́рьевич Яго́да, Genrikh Grigor'yevich Yagoda, born Yenokh Gershevich Iyeguda; 7 November 1891 – 15 March 1938) was a Soviet secret police official who served as director ...
authorized a large-scale deportation targeting Estonian, Latvian and Finnish kulak
Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...
s and lishentsy A ''lishenets'' ( rus, лишенец, p=lʲɪˈʂenʲɪt͡s), wikt:лишение#Russian, лишение ''deprivation'' + wikt:-ец#Russian, -ец ''wikt:-ee#Etymology 1, -ee''; "disenfranchised"; plural ''lishentsy'', russian: лишенцы) ...
residing in the border regions near Leningrad. About 7,000 people (2,000 families) were deported from Ingria to Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Ural region
Ural (russian: Урал) is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It is considered a part of Eurasian Steppe, extending approximately from the North to the South; from the A ...
. In May and June 1936 the entire Finnish population of the parishes of Valkeasaari
Beloostrov (russian: Белоо́стров; fi, Valkeasaari; ), from 1922 to World War II Krasnoostrov (russian: Красноо́стров, lit=Red Island, link=no), is a municipal settlement in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. ...
, Lempaala, Vuole and Miikkulainen near the Finnish border, 20,000 people, were resettled to the areas around Cherepovets and Siberia in the next wave of deportations. In Ingria they were replaced with people from other parts of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, mostly Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
but also Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
and Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different .
In 1937 Lutheran churches and Finnish and Izhorian schools in Ingria were closed down and publications and radio broadcasting in Finnish and Izhorian were suspended.
Both Ingrian Finnish and Izhorian populations all but disappeared from Ingria during the Soviet period. 63,000 fled to Finland during World War II, and were required back by Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
after the war. Most became victims of Soviet population transfer
From 1930 to 1952, the government of the Soviet Union, on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin under the direction of the NKVD official Lavrentiy Beria, forcibly transferred populations of various groups. These actions may be classified ...
s and many were executed as "enemies of the people
The term enemy of the people or enemy of the nation, is a designation for the political or class opponents of the subgroup in power within a larger group. The term implies that by opposing the ruling subgroup, the "enemies" in question are ac ...
". The remainder, including some post-Stalin returnees (it was not until 1956 that some of the deported were allowed to return to their villages), were outnumbered by Russian immigration.
The 1959 census recorded 1,062 Izhorians; in 1979 that number had fallen to 748, only 315 of them around the mouth of the Luga River
The Luga () is a river in Novgorodsky and Batetsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Luzhsky, Volosovsky, Slantsevsky, and Kingiseppsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast of Russia. The river flows into the Luga Bay of the Gulf of Finland. It free ...
and on the . According to the Soviet census of 1989, there were 829 Izhorians, 449 of them in Russia (including other parts of the country) and 228 in Estonia.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in 1991, surviving Ingrian Finns and their Russified descendants have been allowed to emigrate to Finland. This has led to the birth of a sizable Russophone
This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derussi ...
minority in Finland.
See also
*Ingrian War
The Ingrian War ( sv, Ingermanländska kriget) between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia lasted between 1610 and 1617. It can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles and is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duke ...
*Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, a ...
*Saint Petersburg Governorate
Saint Petersburg Governorate (russian: Санкт-Петербу́ргская губе́рния, ''Sankt-Peterburgskaya guberniya''), or Government of Saint Petersburg, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia ...
* Tuutari (parish)
References
Further reading
*Kurs, Ott (1994)
Ingria: The broken landbridge between Estonia and Finland
''GeoJournal
''GeoJournal'' is a peer-reviewed international academic journal on all aspects of geography founded in 1977. Twelve issues (three volumes) a year were published by Springer Netherlands (formerly Kluwer) until December 2009 and can be accessed via ...
'' 33.1, 107–113.
Kepsu, Kasper. 2017. The Unruly Buffer Zone: The Swedish province of Ingria in the late 17th century. ''Scandinavian Journal of History''.
Ingermanland and St-Petersburg
*
*
{{Authority control
Historical provinces of Finland
Historical regions in Russia
Leningrad Oblast
Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
Swedish Empire