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TheDiet of Finland (FinnishSuomen maapäivät, latervaltiopäivät;SwedishFinlands Lantdagar), was thelegislative assembly of theGrand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 and the recipient of the powers of the SwedishRiksdag of the Estates. (The termvaltiopäivät today means an annual session of theParliament of Finland, while in SwedishRiksdagen is now the name for both the Parliament and its sessions.)
The firstStates of Finland were held inHelsinki in 1616.[1] Other assemblies(Åbolantdag) were held inTurku (Åbo), for example in 1676. The assembly was called together byAxel Julius De la Gardie. The estate of peasants was chaired byHeikki Heikinpoika Vaanila.
During theFinnish War betweenSweden andRussia, the fourEstates of occupiedFinland (Nobility, Clergy, Bourgeoisie and Peasants) were assembled atPorvoo (Borgå) byTsarAlexander I, the newGrand Duke of Finland, between 25 March and 19 July 1809. The central event at Porvoo was the taking of thesovereign pledge and the oaths of the Estates inPorvoo Cathedral on 29 March. Each of the Estates swore anoath of allegiance, committing themselves to accepting theEmperor asGrand Duke of Finland, and to keeping theconstitution and the form of government unchanged. Alexander I subsequently promised to govern Finland in accordance with its laws. This was thought to mean that the emperor confirmed the SwedishInstrument of Government of 1772 as the constitution of Finland, although it was also interpreted to mean that all existing codes and statutes were to be respected. The Diet required that it be convened again after the Finnish War, which separated Finland from Sweden, was concluded. On 17 September that year, the conflict was settled by theTreaty of Fredrikshamn, but it was another 54 years before the Finnish Estates were called to assemble again.
Not until June 1863, after theCrimean War had taken place, didAlexander II call the Estates again. The opening ceremony was held on 18 September and the Emperor made his declaration promising to introduce changes to the constitution, including having the Diet meet regularly. The Diet duly met again in January 1867, when it passed a law on its own procedures. The Diet was to meet at least every fifth year, but in practice it met every third year.
In the elections for the Diet of 1872, members of the twolanguage-based parties, theFennomans and theSvecomans, gained more ground at the expense of theliberals. After theassassination of Alexander II the special position of Finland in the Russian empire was put in danger.Alexander III announced that the Finnishmonetary, customs andpostal systems were to be incorporated into their imperial counterparts. At the Diet of 1882 theGovernor General announced that the Diet would have the right to submit bills, but only the Emperor would be able to initiate changes in the constitution or in theMilitary of the Grand Duchy of Finland.
In 1899Grand DukeNicholas II signed what came to be known as theFebruary Manifesto. The powers of the diet regarding Finland's internal affairs were weakened and transferred to the Russian ministers. The legal committee of the diet of 1899 adopted the opinion that the manifesto was not legally valid in Finland.
The unrest during theRusso-Japanese War resulted in ageneral strike in Finland in October 1905. The most immediate result was the emperor's manifesto that cancelled all illegal regulations. A parliament based on universal and equal suffrage was also promised. An extraordinary session of the diet in December 1905 was called to implement the parliamentary reforms. The proposal was presented to the emperor on 15 March 1906 and after his approval it was submitted to the estates on 9 May. The reforms came to force on 1 October 1906. The diet was reformed from a legislative assembly of four estates into a unicameral parliament of 200 members. At the same timeuniversal suffrage was introduced, which gave all men and women, 24 years or older, the right to vote and stand for election. Acts on the right of parliament to monitor members of the government, on thefreedom of speech,assembly andassociation, andfreedom of the press were also introduced. These reforms established the hallmarks of today'sParliament of Finland. The firstelection to the new parliament was arranged in 1907.
From 1869 to 1906, the Diet of Finland wastetracameral, being composed as follows:
Normally, all four chambers debated separately, and in the whole history of the Diet there were only two joint sessions, at which voting was not permitted. At least three of the four chambers had to pass a bill before it could be approved by theEmperor. Consensus was sought through joint committees. Any bill affecting the privileges of an estate could be passed only with the consent of that estate. All four chambers had to agree in order to modify constitutional laws.
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List of sessions of the Finnish diet.[2]
The Diet of Finland, and the four estates of which it was composed, met in a number of different locations during its existence. In the 1860s, all the estates met in theFinnish House of Nobility. TheNobility of Finland continued to meet there until 1906, but the three commoner estates later met in other locations, such as in 1888, when they met in the new building of the Ateneum Art Museum. From 1891 until the parliamentary reform of 1906 the three commoner estates of Clergy, Bourgeoisie and Peasants met in the newly builtHouse of the Estates (FinnishSäätytalo, SwedishStänderhuset). However, the meeting rooms of the house were too small for the 200-member unicameral parliament. The house has since seen sporadic use by the state, and regular use by scientific and scholarly organizations.
