Editing Finland's language strife (section)

== Background ==
{{Main|History of Finland}}
{{See also|Finland under Swedish rule}}
Finland had once been [[Finland under Swedish rule|under Swedish rule]]. [[Swedish language|Swedish]] (with some [[Latin]]) was the language of administration and education in the [[Swedish Realm]]. Swedish was therefore the most-used language of administration and higher education among the Finns. To gain higher education, one had to learn Swedish, and Finnish was considered by the upper classes to be a "language of peasants".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.aleksiskivi-kansalliskirjailija.fi/elama/elamakerta/ | title = Aleksis Kivi - Kansalliskirjailija | access-date = 2017-12-10 | archive-date = 2017-12-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171210123550/http://www.aleksiskivi-kansalliskirjailija.fi/elama/elamakerta/ | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://opinnot.internetix.fi/fi/muikku2materiaalit/lukio/hi/hi3/2_autonominen_suomi/12_kielen_asema | title = Suomen kielen asema | author = Minna Helminen | publisher = Otavan Opisto | access-date = 2017-12-10}}</ref> Immigration of Swedish peasants to Finland's coastal regions also boosted the status of Swedish by sheer number of speakers. Although [[Mikael Agricola]] had started written Finnish with ''[[Abckiria]]'' in the 1500s, and a Finnish translation of the [[Civil Code of 1734]] was published in 1759 (''Ruotzin waldacunnan laki''), it had no official status as a legal publication since the official language of administration was Swedish.<ref name="skvkkh" />

The rise to the ruling upper class usually required being Swedish-speaking, and therefore the language of some Finnish-speaking families changed completely to Swedish. In the Middle Ages, the majority in the Uusimaa region became Swedish-speaking. Only in the early decades of the 20th century did the Finnish language return to the majority language of [[Uusimaa]].

As a result of the [[Finnish War]], Sweden ceded Finland to [[Russia]] in 1809. Finland became the autonomous [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] within the [[Russian Empire]].<ref name="gmsprengtbio">{{cite web | url = https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/602 | title = Sprengtporten, Georg Magnus (1740 - 1819) | website = Biografiakeskus | access-date = 2017-12-07 }}</ref> Under Russian rule, the laws of the era when Finland was under Swedish rule remained largely unchanged, and Swedish continued to be used in administration.<ref name="skvkkh">{{cite web | url = https://journal.fi/tt/article/download/616/506/ | title = Suomen kieli vallan kielenä | author = Kaisa Häkkinen | format = PDF | access-date = 2017-12-10}}</ref>

The language strife became more acute in the second half of the 19th century. [[Johan Vilhelm Snellman]], a Swede who wished to increase education in Finland, became a chief initiator of conflict in the 1850s due to his concern about the changing language use among the educated classes, many of whom were using Russian or Finnish.<ref name="snellmanbiografia">{{cite web |url= https://kansallisbiografia.fi/english/person/3639 |title= Snellman, Johan Vilhelm (1806 - 1881) |author= Matti Klinge |website= The National Biography of Finland |access-date=2017-11-24 }}</ref> He wrote to Finnish author [[Zachris Topelius]] in 1860: "My view is this: Whether Russian or Finnish will win, only God knows. I dare not hope for anything. But that Swedish will lose - that I do know."<ref name="snellmanbiografia" /> [[Elias Lönnrot]] compiled the first Finnish-Swedish dictionary (''Finsk-Svenskt lexikon''), completing it in 1880.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/2836 | title = Lönnrot, Elias (1802 - 1884) | publisher = Biografiakeskus | access-date = 2017-12-10}}</ref>