Finnish Nationalism
By Jamie Bisher
The first modern biowarriors were Scandinavians fighting for Finland’s liberation from the Russian Empire in 1916. Four centuries of animosity, including two Russian occupations in the first half of the eighteenth century, preceded Russia’s conclusive invasion and defeat of a Swedish-Finnish army in 1809. Finland fell under Russian rule as an autonomous Grand Duchy that was allowed to keep its own constitution and Lutheran religious identity. Ironically, in the absence of Swedish influence, Finnish identity flourished during the nineteenth century. In an effort to rein in Finnish nationalism, Tsarist authorities implemented a Russification program in 1899, shutting down local newspapers, restricting use of the Finnish language, and drafting Finns into the Russian Army.
In 1903 and 1904, Finnish nationalists solicited support from Japanese military attaches in Europe. From the Japanese diplomatic mission in Stockholm, intelligence officer Akashi Motojiro funneled money for Finnish propaganda and used Finnish socialists as intermediaries with radical Russian revolutionaries. Historians Ian Nish and Friedrich E. Schuler wrote about Japanese intelligence operations involving Finnish nationalists.
In June 1904, Russia’s oppressive governor-general, Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, was gunned down on the main staircase of Helsinki’s Senate House by a young nationalist, Eugen Schauman, who promptly shot himself in the heart. Russia allowed parliamentary elections and stopped conscripting Finns for the time being, but continued other iron-fisted measures.
When the World War erupted, Tsar Nicholas II considered drafting Finns into the
Russian army again, thereby arousing Finnish nationalists to action. Baron von
Rosen joined the Finnish underground, and helped plan bombings and other violent
resistance. Meanwhile, nationalist groups asked the German War Ministry
to train a vanguard of young Finns to foment a rebellion against their mutual
enemy, the Russians. The Germans gladly obliged. Approximately 1,500
Finns eventually enlisted in the Ausbildungstruppe Lockstedt, a battalion-sized
training unit.
Russian army again, thereby arousing Finnish nationalists to action. Baron von
Rosen joined the Finnish underground, and helped plan bombings and other violent
resistance. Meanwhile, nationalist groups asked the German War Ministry
to train a vanguard of young Finns to foment a rebellion against their mutual
enemy, the Russians. The Germans gladly obliged. Approximately 1,500
Finns eventually enlisted in the Ausbildungstruppe Lockstedt, a battalion-sized
training unit.