Finland was occupied by Russia from 1713 to 1721. Already during the war, Russian soldiers and Cossacks looted everything of value they could get their hands on from the local population.
In addition, officers and soldiers would capture women and children they encountered on the streets, use them for service in their homes, and send them to their estates in Inner Russia. The Cossacks transported women and children to St. Petersburg to be sold at very low prices.
During the occupation, the reign of terror continued. Even though, for example, Northern Ostrobothnia was not occupied, about a quarter of its population perished.
The single most horrific massacre took place on the island of Hailuoto on September 29, 1714, when 200 Cossacks killed around 800 people in one night using axes. This atrocity was driven by direct orders from Tsar Peter the Great himself, who twice commanded the total destruction of Northern Ostrobothnia, turning it into a wasteland where life could not be sustained.
Finns were treated with incredibly brutal methods elsewhere as well. One such method was to torture mothers and fathers in front of their small children — and vice versa. Victims were suspended painfully by the wrists with hands tied behind their backs, left to freeze in snowbanks, scorched with fire, or even roasted in ovens. The aim was to force them to reveal any hidden valuables—and if they did, the victims were usually killed anyway.
A large part of the population was also captured and sent into forced labor in Russia. Over 20,000 people were taken to help build the newly founded city of St. Petersburg, and almost none of them ever returned to Finland. At least five percent of all Finns were taken as slaves — a staggering number, given that Finland’s population in the early 1700s was under 400,000.
Not all of the enslaved ended up in Russia—some were also sold to places like the slave markets in Persia, where fair-skinned Finns were considered exotic. All in all, the destruction wrought by the Russians resulted in at least a quarter of Finnish peasant homes standing abandoned by the end of the war.
I wrote this text for two reasons. First, I wanted to support the Ukrainians’ will to defend their country against Russian brutality and to motivate Europeans to support them in every possible way. Second, I wanted to explain to you—my esteemed international readers—why Finns are more ready than most nations to fight for the independence of their homeland. Especially against the Russians.
Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Bless Ukrainian Soldiers With the Spirit That Once Defined the Celebrated Finnish Veterans
Finally, Finland Speaks the Truth Without Fear!
Finns Feel Sympathy for Ukrainians Because They Share a Similar Experience
