History of Finland IX: Enlightended dictator initiated economic growth

This is the ninth part of a blog series where I go through the significant stages of Finnish history. In the eighth post, I described how Finland's transition to a Grand Duchy of Russia led to the domination of bureaucrats who shared common interests with the Tsar, resulting in a halt in the country's economic development, a bleak future for young people from poor backgrounds, and an unprecedented increase in crime.

This changed during the Crimean War, in a pivotal moment, with the death of the old Tsar Nicholas I and the rise of the new enlightened autocrat, Emperor Alexander II. At the same time, Russia began to move towards a new economic system, namely a liberal market economy.

In Finland, this was reflected in the fact that the Senate was now dominated by individuals who were supportive of reforms, such as Johan Vilhelm Snellman, while the old mercantilists had to go. The new Tsar also appointed a liberal Baltic German as the Governor-General.

Under Snellman's influence, Finland began to build a railway network, which reduced the significance of waterways and brought increasingly larger areas into the sphere of economic progress. At the same time, the country's dependence on the old estates and their owners, who enjoyed various privileges and monopolies, diminished, which allowed for economic development to be furthered by a growing number of urban bourgeoisie and rural farmers. This also strengthened Finland's connection to Russia.

The convening of the Assembly of the Estates - after a long hiatus - in 1863 led to the creation of liberal legislation that allowed for free economic activity but bound the administration and the judiciary to the law. This led to the separation of political and economic power, and eventually in 1879, economic freedom was implemented, laying the foundation for the modern Finnish society.

As a result, large steam-powered sawmills were established in Finland's port cities and the value of sawn timber increased along the logging routes throughout Finland. The economic opportunities also attracted foreign entrepreneurs to Finland. Thus, Finland began its path towards becoming a forestry industry giant, and this was supported by the creation of a school reform.

At the same time, the use of child labor decreased, and gradually, rural-to-urban migration gained momentum because people had better opportunities to make a living in the cities. At the same time, the country's prosperity began its transition towards the southernmost parts of autonomous Finland - before that, the wealthiest region of the country had been Southern Ostrobothnia located in the western part of the country.

Finland also underwent a municipal reform, which was initiated because the central government wanted to transfer social, economic, and educational burdens to be organized by the rural population. The money saved from this was used to improve the prerequisites for industrialization in the country. As a result, in addition to the entrepreneurs getting richer, a new social group - the liberated industrial working class - emerged.

At the same time, the entire society was reformed. A police force was created, the Assembly of the Estates were institutionalized, private law was established, and criminal punishments were mitigated, based on the idea of turning prisoners into good citizens. All in all, Finland's future at this stage looked downright brilliant.

The original blog post in Finnish: 
Valistunut itsevaltias käynnisti talouskasvun 

All the blog posts in this series:
History of Finland I: How did Finland become culturally part of the West?
History of Finland II: From a hinterland of the Union into a modern state
History of Finland III: The legal and economic weakening of the position of the people
History of Finland IV: The bleakest time in Finnish history
History of Finland V: The pursuit of economic profit saved the country
History of Finland VI: Age of freedom and utility
History of Finland VII: The dictator of the era of Enlightenment promoted capitalist economy
History of Finland VIII: Joining of Finland to Russia led to an increase in crime
History of Finland IX: Enlightended dictator initiated economic growth
History of Finland X: The birth of Finnish identity
History of Finland XI: Finnish democracy and gender equality for women
History of Finland XII: Bloody civil war
History of Finland XIII: The far-right's rebellion
History of Finland XIV: The end of the first Finnish Republic
History of Finland XV: Paasikivi-Kekkonen doctrine
History of Finland XVI: Through rise and fall to a new kind of future

History of Finland VII: The dictator of the era of Enlightenment promoted capitalist economy

This is the seventh part of a blog post series where I go through the most significant periods in the history of Finland. In the sixth post, I described how the military state of the Swedish kingdom, which had fallen into a shortage of men and an economic crisis, led to liberal economic reforms that resulted in a long-term growth trend in the state's economy and the standard of living of its people.

During this period, the state was characterized by a democracy of Estates, where lower-class people had more power than ever since the Middle Ages. However, Sweden faced an unexpected turn when King Gustav III, who had adopted the ideas of the Enlightenment, seized power in 1772 with the support of the officer corps, France, and the high aristocracy.

However, the coup d'état did not stop the growth of wealth among the lower classes and the resulting increase in political influence. Therefore, the king faced difficulties with the lower nobility, clergy, and peasants.

To solve this, Gustav III resorted to an ancient method by initiating a war of aggression first against Russia and later against Denmark. The latter resulted in a clear victory, which gave Gustav the momentum to push a new constitution through.

As a result, the king's support base changed from the nobility to the bourgeoisie and the peasants. This was because although the king gained a lot of power, the imposition of new taxes was still subject to the approval of the Assembly of the Estates, and the lower two estates also had the opportunity to influence it.

At the same time, the people's, i.e. the peasants', ownership of their land was strengthened, and even the children of the Crown's tenant farmers were able to become legal inheritors of their farms, which increased the purchasing of inherited estates. This way, the people became even more committed to their land and, as their ownership rights were reinforced, also to promoting their own economy. The entire kingdom benefited from this economic activity.

The legal system also progressed with the establishment of the Supreme Court, the banning of torture, and the mitigation of sentences. The development of the justice system, along with the crucial economic reform of allowing factory privileges for ordinary people, promoted the capitalist economic system and created unprecedented prosperity in the kingdom.

On the other hand, the growth of new tax-exempt noble lands was completely prohibited. The abolishment of the Council of State, a symbol of the old rulers' defeat, was another change, although the highest positions were still reserved for the nobility. However, they too were required to have education for their duties.

At this stage, Sweden's rule in Finland also ended when Russia took control of the eastern part of the state as a side-show of the Napoleonic Wars. However, this did not change the fact that Finland was rapidly moving towards a society based on competence and economic activity, where the significance of birth and special privileges was disappearing.

The original blog post in Finnish: Valistusajan diktaattori edisti kapitalistista taloutta

All the blog posts in this series:
History of Finland I: How did Finland become culturally part of the West?
History of Finland II: From a hinterland of the Union into a modern state
History of Finland III: The legal and economic weakening of the position of the people
History of Finland IV: The bleakest time in Finnish history
History of Finland V: The pursuit of economic profit saved the country
History of Finland VI: Age of freedom and utility
History of Finland VII: The dictator of the era of Enlightenment promoted capitalist economy
History of Finland VIII: Joining of Finland to Russia led to an increase in crime
History of Finland IX: Enlightended dictator initiated economic growth
History of Finland X: The birth of Finnish identity
History of Finland XI: Finnish democracy and gender equality for women
History of Finland XII: Bloody civil war
History of Finland XIII: The far-right's rebellion
History of Finland XIV: The end of the first Finnish Republic
History of Finland XV: Paasikivi-Kekkonen doctrine
History of Finland XVI: Through rise and fall to a new kind of future