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They build the city too close to Finland and then complain Finland is too close to their city.

by blarg1 8y ago

mikeash 8y ago
Not defending the Soviets in any way here, but St. Petersburg was founded in 1703, and Finland became an independent country in 1917.
- stevekemp 8y ago
  True it became independent there, but the country had been settled for a long time before that. Of course Finnish history is complex, when you consider how it was initially Swedish-owned, then became an autonomous (remarkably so) part of the Russian empire between 1809-1917. The brief outline here is presents a good summary: https://finland.fi/life-society/main-outlines-of-finnish-history/ https://finland.fi/life-society/main-outlines-of-finnish-his... For more details I enjoyed reading "A Concise history of Finland" : https://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Finland-Cambridge-Histories/dp/0521539897 https://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Finland-Cambridge-His... (I moved to Finland a couple of years ago, and have spent a fair bit of time learning of local-history.)
- ptaipale 8y ago
  Finland was there, however, already long before that, as an eastern province of Sweden. It should be noted, though, that if Finland had stayed as a part of Sweden, it might not exist as a country today; Sweden has had a policy of forced assimilation which is shown in how the traditionally Finnish (and Sami) culture in contemporary northern Sweden has been largely replaced. Tsar Alexander I ended war against Sweden (1808-1809) with a pact with the local nobility, if we may call it so, where Finland would be "lifted to be a nation among nations", and as a result, Finland indeed did become an autonomous nation. This is why the "faithful Tsars" have statues in Finland. Finland did not see itself as a part of Russia, but as a separate nation which just has Russian emperor as the ruler (Grand Duke). Swedish legislation was preserved (some laws in law book still date from 1734). Weaker, pan-Slavic Tsars (Alexander III and Nicholas II) then tried to reverse this development, and suppress Finnish nationalism, and as a result of this, Nicholas II was called "the oathbreaker", and due to this and many other similar bad policies elsewhere in his empire he lost his crown and his life.
java-man 8y ago
That was in 1703. and yes, the intent was to fight the dominance of Swedes in the Baltic. If Peter only knew about IKEA... [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg

They build the city too close to Finland and then complain Finland is too close to their city.

by blarg1 8y ago

They build the city too close to Finland and then complain Finland is too close to their city.

Not defending the Soviets in any way here, but St. Petersburg was founded in 1703, and Finland became an independent country in 1917.

stevekemp 8y ago
True it became independent there, but the country had been settled for a long time before that. Of course Finnish history is complex, when you consider how it was initially Swedish-owned, then became an autonomous (remarkably so) part of the Russian empire between 1809-1917. The brief outline here is presents a good summary: https://finland.fi/life-society/main-outlines-of-finnish-history/ https://finland.fi/life-society/main-outlines-of-finnish-his... For more details I enjoyed reading "A Concise history of Finland" : https://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Finland-Cambridge-Histories/dp/0521539897 https://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Finland-Cambridge-His... (I moved to Finland a couple of years ago, and have spent a fair bit of time learning of local-history.)
ptaipale 8y ago
Finland was there, however, already long before that, as an eastern province of Sweden. It should be noted, though, that if Finland had stayed as a part of Sweden, it might not exist as a country today; Sweden has had a policy of forced assimilation which is shown in how the traditionally Finnish (and Sami) culture in contemporary northern Sweden has been largely replaced. Tsar Alexander I ended war against Sweden (1808-1809) with a pact with the local nobility, if we may call it so, where Finland would be "lifted to be a nation among nations", and as a result, Finland indeed did become an autonomous nation. This is why the "faithful Tsars" have statues in Finland. Finland did not see itself as a part of Russia, but as a separate nation which just has Russian emperor as the ruler (Grand Duke). Swedish legislation was preserved (some laws in law book still date from 1734). Weaker, pan-Slavic Tsars (Alexander III and Nicholas II) then tried to reverse this development, and suppress Finnish nationalism, and as a result of this, Nicholas II was called "the oathbreaker", and due to this and many other similar bad policies elsewhere in his empire he lost his crown and his life.

java-man 8y ago

That was in 1703. and yes, the intent was to fight the dominance of Swedes in the Baltic. If Peter only knew about IKEA... [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg