Turku 1000
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1808–1812

From Sweden to Russia: Turku loses the capital

In March 1808 Russian troops marched into Turku without a fight. A year and a half later Finland was no longer part of Sweden but a grand duchy of the Russian Empire. For three years Turku was its capital, and then Helsinki took over.

Empire · Grand Duchy
The big story

From Sweden to Russia: Turku loses the capital

For more than six hundred years Turku had been a Swedish town, the most important one on the eastern side of the Gulf of Bothnia. In 1808–1809 a short war changed that. Finland became a grand duchy ruled by the Russian emperor, Turku became its first capital, and then, within a few years, the capital moved to Helsinki.

A war decided far away

  • Napoleon’s plan. In 1807 Napoleon and the Russian emperor Alexander I made peace at Tilsit. Russia agreed to push Sweden into Napoleon’s blockade of British trade, and Sweden, an ally of Britain, refused Well documented.
  • Invasion. On 21 February 1808, without a declaration of war, about 24,000 Russian soldiers crossed the border at Ahvenkoski in south-eastern Finland Well documented.
  • Retreat. The Swedish army did not try to hold the south. It retreated north towards Ostrobothnia, and Helsinki fell on 2 March Well documented.
  • Turku taken. On 21 March 1808 the Russians marched into Turku without a fight. Nearly 50 gun sloops of the archipelago fleet lying at Turku were set on fire so that the Russians would not get them Well documented.
  • The fortress falls. On 6 May the great sea fortress of Sveaborg (Suomenlinna) off Helsinki surrendered with about 6,000 men and more than 700 guns Well documented.

War in the summer of 1808

  • A landing near Turku. On 19–20 June Swedish troops under Eberhard von Vegesack landed at Lemu, near Turku, to try to retake the town. They met more than 3,000 Russians and withdrew Well documented.
  • Jutas and Oravais. In September the Finnish army won at Jutas but lost the bloody battle of Oravais the next day, 14 September. Forty years later J. L. Runeberg made these battles famous in his poems The Tales of Ensign Stål Well documented.
  • Into Sweden. In March 1809 the Russians reached Tornio, and the fighting moved into Sweden itself. In Stockholm officers deposed King Gustav IV Adolf on 13 March 1809 Well documented.

A new country inside an empire

  • The Diet of Porvoo. Alexander I called the Finnish estates to Porvoo in 1809. Turku was thought too far from the Russian border, and Helsinki had been damaged by fire in 1808 Well documented.
  • The promise. On 29 March 1809, in Porvoo Cathedral, the emperor promised to keep Finland’s fundamental laws, its Lutheran religion and the privileges of the estates. The estates swore loyalty to him as their grand duke Well documented.
  • Turku men in charge. Bishop Jacob Tengström of Turku chaired the clergy, and Kristian Trapp of Turku chaired the burghers Well documented.
  • The peace. By the Peace of Fredrikshamn (Hamina) on 17 September 1809, Sweden gave up Finland east of the Tornio and Muonio rivers, and the Åland Islands Well documented.

Capital for three years

  • A government in Turku. On 18 August 1809 a Government Council was formed to run Finland. It met in Turku, and in 1816 it was renamed the Senate Well documented.
  • A man from near Turku. Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, a nobleman born in Tarvasjoki near Turku and once a favourite of Gustav III, became one of Alexander’s most important advisers on Finland Well documented.
  • Helsinki chosen. On 8 April 1812 Alexander made Helsinki the capital of the Grand Duchy. It was closer to St Petersburg, and Turku was seen as too close to Sweden and its culture Well documented.
  • Two rulers in Turku. Turku still had one great moment. At the end of August 1812 Alexander I met Sweden’s new crown prince, Charles John, the former French marshal Bernadotte, in Turku. Sweden gave up hope of winning Finland back, and in return Russia promised to help Sweden take Norway Well documented.
  • The slow move. The capital was Helsinki on paper from 1812, but the Senate only began work there on 1 October 1819. The university stayed in Turku until after the Great Fire of 1827 (stop 27) Well documented.
How do we know?

The war, the Diet of Porvoo and the peace treaty are very well documented: official letters, treaty texts, army reports and the minutes of the Diet all survive. What is harder to know is how ordinary people in Turku experienced the occupation of 1808. Few of them wrote about it, and most accounts come from officers and officials.

New border 1809ÅlandSwedenEstoniaGulf of BothniaGulf of FinlandOld FinlandTurkuHelsinkiAhvenkoskiLemuOravaisJutasPorvooTornioHaminaStockholmSt Petersburg
The Finnish War and its aftermath, 1808–1812. Step through the events or press Next.Coastlines, the 1809 border and Old Finland are drawn by hand and only approximate.
Why it matters

1809 is one of the turning points of Finnish history. For the first time Finland had its own government, its own laws and, soon, its own money, even though the emperor in St Petersburg was its ruler. That autonomy laid the ground for independence in 1917 (stop 35). For Turku, the price was high: within twenty years it lost the capital, the government, the bank and the university.

On the lighter side

New rulers, new money

For most people in Turku, the change of ruler was quieter than you might think. The laws, the church and the language stayed the same. What changed, slowly and over fifty years, was the money in their pockets.

What stayed the same

  • Swedish law. Finland kept its Swedish legal system for most of the 1800s Well documented.
  • The church. The Lutheran church remained Finland’s official church Well documented.
  • The language. Swedish remained the language of government and education. Finnish only became an official language by a decree of 30 July 1863 Well documented.
  • The calendar. Finland kept using the Gregorian calendar, while Russia used the older Julian calendar, twelve days behind in the 1800s Well documented.

New rulers

  • The emperor as grand duke. The Russian emperor was now also Grand Duke of Finland: Alexander I until 1825, then Nicholas I until 1855, and then Alexander II Well documented.
  • No Diet for fifty years. After Porvoo the Diet was not called again until 1863. In between, the emperor ruled through the Senate and his governor-general Well documented.

New money

  • A bank in Turku. On 1 March 1812 Alexander I set up the Office of Exchange, Lending and Deposits in Turku. Its job was to end Finland’s dependence on Swedish money. It began work in August 1812 and issued banknotes in roubles and kopecks Well documented.
  • Two currencies. For thirty years Swedish riksdaler and Russian roubles were used side by side, which made everyday sums complicated. In 1840 the last riksdaler notes were withdrawn and replaced with roubles Well documented.
  • A new name. The bank moved to Helsinki in 1819 with the government, and in 1840 it took the name Bank of Finland Well documented.
  • The markka. On 4 April 1860 Alexander II approved a currency of Finland’s own, the markka. One markka was worth a quarter of a rouble and was divided into 100 penniä Well documented.
  • Real coins. The new Mint of Finland in Helsinki struck the first silver markka coins on 15 October 1864. In 1865 the markka was tied to silver and became independent of the rouble Well documented.

Who rules, and what is in your purse?

Pick a year and see who ruled Finland and which money you could pay with in Turku.

RulerMoneyGustav IVAlexander INicholas IAlexander IIRiksdalerRoubleMarkka18001810182018301840185018601870
Your purse in 1805
Riksdaler
Rouble
Kopeck
Markka
Who ruled Finland, and what was in your purse? Pick a year.The coins and notes are simplified drawings, not pictures of real ones.
How do we know?

The Bank of Finland’s founding documents, the imperial decrees on money and the coins and notes themselves survive. The dates of each change are well known. How confusing everyday shopping with two currencies really was is harder to measure.

Why it matters

A currency of its own is one of the signs of a country. The Bank of Finland, founded in Turku in 1812, still exists today, and the markka was Finland’s money for more than 140 years, until the euro arrived in 2002.

Sources and further reading

  1. Finnish War — the Russian invasion of February 1808, the fall of Turku and Sveaborg, the landing at Lemu, Jutas and Oravais, and Tornio in 1809.
  2. Diet of Porvoo — the oath of 29 March 1809, the emperor’s promises, the estates and their Turku speakers.
  3. Treaty of Fredrikshamn (17 September 1809) — the new border on the Tornio and Muonio rivers, and Åland.
  4. Grand Duchy of Finland — autonomy, Swedish law, the Lutheran church, official languages and currencies 1809–1917.
  5. Senate of Finland — the Government Council of 18 August 1809, its seat in Turku and the move to Helsinki in 1819.
  6. Helsinki — made capital of the Grand Duchy on 8 April 1812, and why.
  7. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911), “Sweden”: the conference of Alexander I and Charles John at Åbo, August 1812.
  8. Meinander, H. (2012). Buffertzonens jubileumsår. Hufvudstadsbladet, 25 August 2012 (in Swedish): the princes’ meeting in Turku in 1812.
  9. Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt — born near Turku, adviser to Alexander I on Finnish affairs.
  10. Bank of Finland — founded in Turku on 1 March 1812 as the Office of Exchange, Lending and Deposits, moved to Helsinki in 1819, renamed in 1840.
  11. Finnish markka — introduced in 1860 at four to the rouble, the first coins of 1864 and the silver standard of 1865.
  12. History of Turku — Turku as the first capital of the Grand Duchy and the move to Helsinki.

Spotted a mistake? Know more?

This site is open and free. Corrections and additions are welcome — every page lists its sources so you can check them.