User:MoRsE/Finnish War
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The Finnish War was fought between Russia and Sweden in 1808–1809. The cause of war was the peace treaty of between Russia and France, which was signed on 7 July 1807 at Tilsit. France gave Russia permission to attack Sweden, which made Russia an ally of France. The Russians mission was to force Sweden to joint the Continental system, and thus helping the French enforcing their naval power against Great Britain.
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Finnish War | |||||||||
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Part of Russo–Swedish Wars and Napoleonic Wars | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Russia | Sweden, Finnish guerrillas | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Fyodor Buxhoeveden Boris Knorring Barclay de Tolly |
Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor Carl Johan Adlercreutz Georg Carl von Döbeln | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
about 24,000 soldiers at the beginning of the war, more than 55,000 soldiers by the end of the war | about 19,650 Finnish and about 1,650 Swedish soldiers | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
At least 10,000 | At least 7,000 | ||||||||
These casualty figures are only the ones fallen in battle. Even larger numbers succumbed to disease and hunger. |
As a result of the war, Finland was ceded and became part of the Russian Empire, and at the same time, the foundation of Finland's eventual independence was set through the granting of autonomy. Initially, Russia had no intention of joining Finland to their empire, because the cause of war was to force Sweden join a naval embargo against Great Britain and after this, they intended to halt the operations in Finland. However, the future of Finland was set soon after the outbreak of the war, by March 1808. The Russian capital Saint Petersburg was dangerously close to the Swedish border. By conquering Finland, Saint Petersburg would be better protected and Russia would get better connections to the Baltic Sea.