Finland's ability to defend itself had been…

1684 CE to 1827 CE

Finland's ability to defend itself had been impaired by the famine of 1696 in which about one-third of the Finnish people died of starvation, a toll greater than that caused by the Black Death in the fourteenth century.

The war's greatest impact on Finland, beyond the heavy taxes and conscription, is caused by Russian occupation from 1714 to 1722, a period of great difficulty, remembered by the Finns as the Great Wrath.

The hardships of being conquered by a foreign invader are compounded by Charles XII's insistence that the Finns carry on partisan warfare against the Russians.

Much of the countryside is devastated by the Russians in order to deny Finland's resources to Sweden.

Of the nearly sixty thousand Finns who serve in the Swedish army, only about ten thousand survive the Great Northern War.

Finland's prewar population of four hundred thousand is reduced by the end of the war to about three hundred and thirty thousand.

People
Charles XII of Sweden View →

Groups
Finns View → Sami people View → Karelians View → Tavastians View → Estonians View → Danes (Scandinavians) View → Poles (West Slavs) View → Swedes (Scandinavians) View → Russians (East Slavs) View → Sweden, (second) Kingdom of View → Denmark-Norway, Kingdom of View → Russia, Tsardom of View → Swedish Empire View → Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Commonwealth of the Two Nations) View → Finland, (Swedish) Grand Duchy of View →

Topics
Great Famine of Finland (1695-1697) View → Northern War, Great View →

Subjects
Labor and Service View → Conflict View → Government View →

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