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TheKingdom of Finland (Finnish:Suomen kuningaskunta;Swedish:Konungariket Finland; 1918–1919) was a failed attempt to establish amonarchy inFinland in the aftermath of theFinnish Declaration of Independence fromRussia in December 1917 and theFinnish Civil War from January to May 1918. The victoriousWhites in theParliament of Finland began the process of turning Finland into a kingdom and creating a monarchy. Although the country was legally a kingdom headed by aregent for over a year, the king-electFriedrich Karl never reigned nor came to Finland followingGermany's defeat inWorld War I. Republican victories insubsequent elections resulted in the country becoming a republic.
During the Finnish Civil War of 1918,Finnish Reds on friendly terms with Soviet Russia foughtFinnish Whites who allied with theGerman Empire. Direct aid from the GermanBaltic Sea Division helped the Whites win the war. The provisional government established after theGrand Duchy of Finland's declaration of independence leaned heavily toward the Finnish right and included a number of monarchists. The parliament drew up plans to create a Finnish monarchy on the legal theory that theSwedish Constitution of 1772 was still in effect, but there had been an extendedinterregnum with no monarch on the throne.Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse was elected to the throne of Finland on 9 October 1918 by the Finnish parliament, but he never took the position nor traveled to Finland. Soon after the election, Finnish leaders as well as the population belatedly came to understand the grave situation their German allies were in, and the wisdom of electing a German prince as monarch as Germany was about to lose World War I was called into question.Germany itself became a republic, deposedKaiser Wilhelm II and signedan armistice with the Allies in November. The victorious powers informed the Finnish government that the independence of Finland would only be recognized if it abandoned its alliance with Germany. As a result, Friedrich Karl renounced the throne in December and the Baltic Sea Division withdrew from Finland. In theMarch 1919 election, with the Finnish left and socialists able to vote, republicans won a crushing victory. Finland's status as arepublic was confirmed in theFinnish Constitution of 1919.
Finland declared independence from theRussian Empire on 6 December 1917, during theRussian Civil War. While a minority of Members of Parliament (MPs) were inclined towards monarchy, this issue was deferred in favor of achieving national sovereignty as quickly as possible, and theParliament unanimously declared Finland a republic.[1]
The declaration of independence was followed by theFinnish Civil War (January–May 1918). The war was a brutal conflict between the socialistReds and the conservative, non-socialistWhites. The victorious Whites subsequently excluded theSocial Democratic Party from the Parliament, with the exception of a single representative,Matti Paasivuori. Before the Civil War, the social democrats had held 92 out of 200 seats in the Parliament, and this exclusion radically altered the political balance. The monarchists now began to question the initial declaration of Finland as a republic, arguing that the Civil War had demonstrated the inherent instability of an unconstrained, democratically elected Parliament. They contended that the new nation needed a king who would stand above factional disputes and guarantee the continuity and order of the state.[1]
Lithuania had already taken a similar step in July 1918, electing Wilhelm Karl,Duke of Urach andCount ofWürttemberg, asKing Mindaugas II of Lithuania. InLatvia andEstonia, a "General Provincial Assembly" consisting ofBaltic-German aristocrats had called upon the German Emperor,Wilhelm II, to recognize the Baltic provinces as a joint monarchy and a Germanprotectorate.Adolf Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was nominated Duke of "theUnited Baltic Duchy" by the Germans.
At independence, Finland, like the Baltic provinces, had close ties with theGerman Empire. Germany was the onlyinternational power that had supported the preparations for independence, not least by training volunteers asFinnish Jäger troops. Germany had also intervened in theFinnish Civil War, despite its own precarious situation. Finland's positionvis-a-vis Germany was already evolving towards that of a protectorate by spring 1918, and the election of Prince Frederick, brother-in-law of Wilhelm II, was viewed as a confirmation of the close relations between the two nations. The strongly pro-German prime minister,Juho Kusti Paasikivi, and his government offered the crown to Prince Frederick in October 1918, whilePehr Evind Svinhufvud was declared Regent.[3]
The adoption of a new monarchist constitution had been delayed because it did not get the requiredqualified majority. The legitimacy of the royal election was based upon theInstrument of Government of 1772, adopted underKing Gustav III of Sweden, when Finland had been a part of theKingdom of Sweden. The same constitutional document had also served as the basis for the rule of theRussian Emperors, asGrand Dukes of Finland, during the 19th century.
Member of parliamentGustaf Arokallio suggested the monarchical designation "Karl I, King of Finland andKarelia, Duke ofÅland, Grand Duke ofLapland, Lord ofKaleva and theNorth" (Finnish:Kaarle I, Suomen ja Karjalan kuningas, Ahvenanmaan herttua, Lapinmaan suuriruhtinas, Kalevan ja Pohjolan isäntä;Swedish:Karl I, Kung av Finland och Karelen, hertig av Åland, storhertig av Lappland, herre över Kaleva och Pohjola).[4]
By 9 November 1918 the German EmperorWilhelm IIhad abdicated andGermany was declared a republic. Two days later, on 11 November 1918, the armistice between the belligerents ofWorld War I was signed. Little is known of the Allied powers' view regarding the possibility of a German-born prince as the King of Finland. However, warnings received from the West convinced the Finnish government of Prime MinisterLauri Ingman – a monarchist himself – to ask Prince Friedrich Karl to give up the crown, which he had not yet come to wear in Finland.
The king-elect Friedrich Karl renounced the throne on 14 December 1918. Svinhufvud resigned and Lieutenant GeneralCarl Gustaf Mannerheim, the leader of the Whites during theFinnish Civil War, was appointed as Regent of Finland.[5] Republican parties won three-quarters of the parliament's seats in theelection of 1919 and Finland adopteda republican constitution. In July 1919, Finland's first presidentKaarlo Juho Ståhlberg replaced Mannerheim as the first President of the Republic.[6]
