Kingdom of Finland (1918)

For the earlier attempt at monarchy, see Kingdom of Finland (1742).

Kingdom of Finland Suomen kuningaskunta (Finnish) Konungariket Finland (Swedish)
1918–1919
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:  Maamme (Finnish) Vårt land (Swedish) (English: "Our Land")
Map of the Grand Duchy of Finland, which had the same borders as independent Finland from 1917 until 1920
Capital	Helsinki
Common languages	Finnish Swedish Saami Karelian
Religion	Evangelical Lutheranism Finnish Orthodoxy
Demonym(s)	Finnish, Finn
Government	Provisional unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under a regency
King-elect
• 1918	Friedrich Karl
Regent
• 1918	P.E. Svinhufvud
• 1918–1919	C.G.E. Mannerheim
Prime Minister
• 1918	Juho Kusti Paasikivi
• 1918–1919	Lauri Ingman
• 1919	Kaarlo Castrén
Legislature	Parliament
Historical era	World War I / Interwar period
• Independence declared (as a republic)	6 December 1917
• Supreme authority given to regent	18 May 1918
• King elected	9 October 1918
• Parliamentary election	3 March 1919
• Republican constitution adopted	17 July 1919
Currency	Finnish markka
Preceded by Succeeded by Grand Duchy of Finland Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic Whites (Finland) Finland
Today part of	Finland Russia
a. Friedrich Karl was elected King of Finland on 9 October 1918 and renounced the throne on 14 December 1918.

The Kingdom of Finland (Finnish: Suomen kuningaskunta; Swedish: Konungariket Finland; 1918–1919) was a failed attempt to establish a monarchy in Finland in the aftermath of the Finnish Declaration of Independence from Russia in December 1917 and the Finnish Civil War from January to May 1918. The victorious Whites in the Parliament of Finland began the process of turning Finland into a kingdom and creating a monarchy. Although the country was legally a kingdom headed by a regent for over a year, the king-elect Friedrich Karl never reigned nor came to Finland following Germany's defeat in World War I. Republican victories in subsequent elections resulted in the country becoming a republic.

During the Finnish Civil War of 1918, Finnish Reds on friendly terms with Soviet Russia fought Finnish Whites who allied with the German Empire. Direct aid from the German Baltic Sea Division aided the Whites who won the war. The provisional government established after the Grand 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 the Swedish Constitution of 1772 was still in effect, but there had been an extended interregnum 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 their new leader as Germany was about to lose World War I was called into question. Germany itself became a republic and deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II, and signed an armistice with the Allies in November. The victorious Western powers informed the Finnish government that the independence of Finland would only be recognized if it abandoned its alliance with Germany. As a result, in December 1918 Friedrich Karl renounced the throne and the Baltic Sea Division withdrew from Finland. In the March 1919 election, with the Finnish left and socialists able to vote, republicans won a crushing victory. Finland's status as a republic was confirmed in the Finnish Constitution of 1919.

History

See also: History of Finland

Finland had declared independence from what was the Russian Empire, at that time embroiled in the Russian Civil War, on 6 December 1917. At the time of the declaration of independence, monarchists were a minority in the Finnish Parliament, and Finland was declared a republic. A civil war followed, and afterwards, while the pro-republican Social Democratic Party was excluded from the Parliament and before a new constitution was adopted, Frederick was elected to the throne of Finland on 9 October 1918.

Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse, the king-elect of Finland

Replica of the Crown designed for the Finnish monarch. The actual crown was never crafted; however, this replica was made from original drawings in the 1980s.

Lithuania had already taken a similar step in July 1918, electing Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach and Count of Württemberg, as King Mindaugas II of Lithuania. In Latvia and Estonia, a "General Provincial Assembly" consisting of Baltic-German aristocrats had called upon the German Emperor, Wilhelm II, to recognize the Baltic provinces as a joint monarchy and a German protectorate. Adolf Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was nominated Duke of "the United Baltic Duchy" by the Germans.

At independence, Finland, like the Baltic provinces, had close ties with the German Empire. Germany was the only international power that had supported the preparations for independence, not least by training volunteers as Finnish Jäger troops. Germany had also intervened in the Finnish Civil War, despite its own precarious situation. Finland's position vis-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, while Pehr Evind Svinhufvud was declared Regent.

The adoption of a new monarchist constitution had been delayed because it did not get the required qualified majority. The legitimacy of the royal election was based upon the Instrument of Government of 1772, adopted under King Gustav III of Sweden, when Finland had been a part of the Kingdom of Sweden. The same constitutional document had also served as the basis for the rule of the Russian Emperors, as Grand Dukes of Finland, during the 19th century.

Member of parliament Gustaf Arokallio suggested the monarchical designation "Karl I, King of Finland and Karelia, Duke of Åland, Grand Duke of Lapland, Lord of Kaleva and the North" (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).

By 9 November 1918 the German Emperor Wilhelm II had abdicated and Germany was declared a republic. Two days later, on 11 November 1918, the armistice between the belligerents of World 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 Minister Lauri 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 General Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, the leader of the Whites during the Finnish Civil War, was appointed as Regent of Finland. Republican parties won three-quarters of the parliament's seats in the election of 1919 and Finland adopted a republican constitution. In July 1919, Finland's first president Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg replaced Mannerheim as the first President of the Republic.

See also

• Finnish Civil War
• Finnish crown jewels
• Grand Duchy of Finland
• House of Hesse
• Kingdom of Finland (1742)
• Monarchy of Finland
• Prince Wolfgang of Hesse
• United Baltic Duchy

References

• Nash, Michael L (2012) The last King of Finland. Royalty Digest Quarterly, 2012 : 1

External links

• Foreign Ministry maker of a King in 1918 Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine Foreign Ministry
• 1918: The First and Only Finnish King was German and Never Set Foot in Finland History Info