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| Vyborg Governorate Выборгская губерния | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governorate of theRussian Empire | |||||||||
| 1744–1812 | |||||||||
_(1788).png) Coat of arms | |||||||||
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| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1744 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1812 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Finland Russia | ||||||||
Vyborg Governorate[a] was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of theRussian Empire. It was established in 1744 in newly ceded territories fromSweden following theTreaty of Åbo and parts ofSaint Petersburg Governorate which were previously ceded by Sweden in 1721 as a result of theGreat Northern War.
In theTreaty of Nystad of 1721, Sweden formally ceded control of parts of theViborg and Nyslott County and theKexholm County located on theKarelian Isthmus andLake Ladoga region to Russia. First these areas were part of theSaint Petersburg Governorate. Vyborg Governorate was established in 1744 when Sweden ceded control of parts ofKymmenegård and Nyslott County (which had been parts of Viborg and Nyslott County prior to the Treaty of Nystad) by theTreaty of Åbo. In Sweden (including Finland), the area of the governorate was also known asOld Finland (Swedish:Gamla Finland,Finnish:Vanha Suomi), and between 1802 and 1812 it was named the "Finland Governorate".
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Initially the governorate had subdivision into three provinces: Saimaa Province, Vyborg Province and Kexholm Province, which reflected the previous borders of the Swedish counties (part of Kymmenegård and Nyslott County ceded in 1743, part of Viborg and Nyslott County ceded in 1721 and part of Kexholm County ceded in 1721, respectively).Catherine the Great issued a decree in 1775 to change the previous administrative division from governorates toviceroyalties (namestnichestvo), and in 1783 the Vyborg Governorate was renamed into Vyborg Viceroyalty (Russian:Выборгское наместничество,romanized: Vyborgskoye namestnichestvo, however in Finnish the name did not change) within its previous borders. The subdivision was also changed, from provinces intouyezds (Russian:уе́зд,Finnish:kihlakunta), of which there were 6 in the viceroyalty: Wilmanstrand, Vyborg, Friedrichshaven, Nijschlott, Kexholm and Serdobol.[b]Paul I changed the name back to Vyborg Governorate in 1796, renaming the previous uyezds into districts (German:Lands Kommissariat,Russian:округ,romanized: okrug,Finnish:kihlakunta)[1] andAlexander I changed the name to Finland Governorate in 1802.
During theNapoleonic Wars, theKingdom of Sweden had allied itself with the Russian Empire,United Kingdom and the other parties againstNapoleonic France. However, following theTreaty of Tilsit in 1807, Russia made peace with France. In 1808, and supported byFrance, Russia successfully challenged Swedish control over Finland in theFinnish War. In theTreaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, Sweden was obliged to cede all its territory in Finland, east of theTorne River, to Russia. The ceded territories became a part of the Russian Empire and was reconstituted into theGrand Duchy of Finland, with the Russian tsar as the grand duke.
In 1812, the area of Vyborg Governorate was transferred from Russia proper to the grand duchy and established asViipuri Province. The transfer, announced by TsarAlexander I just before Christmas, on December 23, 1811O.S. (January 4, 1812N.S.), can be seen as a symbolic gesture and an attempt to appease the sentiment of the Finnish population, which had just experienced Russian conquest of their country by force in theFinnish War.
60°42′33″N28°44′39″E / 60.7092°N 28.7442°E /60.7092; 28.7442
