Editing Svecoman movement (section)

== History ==
{{Main|Finland under Swedish rule}}
Finland had been a part of [[Sweden]] from the early Middle Ages until the [[Finnish War]] of 1808–1809, when it was ceded to Russia and made a [[Grand Duchy]] within the [[Russian Empire]]. Although Finnish was the language of the majority of the new Grand Duchy, a significant minority was Swedish-speaking. Swedish had been the language of administration and in educational institutions when Finland was part of the Swedish realm.

The Svecomans promoted the idea that [[Finland]] harbours two peoples, or [[nation]]s, speaking different languages, with different cultures, and originating from separate parts of the country. In accordance with [[scientific racism|contemporary science]], these two peoples were consequently denoted as members of different "[[Race (human categorization)|races]]". This idea was radically new. Until then, the Swedish-speaking rural population had been mostly ignored, but now this minority was considered important and directly associated with the [[elite]] of Finland.

The [[Finland's language strife|language strife]] between Fennomans and Svecomans in these decades also mirrored more general political divisions:
* The Fennomans were favoured by the Russian authorities, while the Svecomans channeled the remaining fear of the Russians and the cultural attachment to their old enemy [[Sweden]].
* After the [[Crimean War]], when the Swedish-speaking towns on Finland's south coast and the [[merchant fleet]] had been severely damaged, [[neutralist]] views received strong support among educated Eastern-Swedish.{{Clarify|date=October 2011}}
* The Fennomans were chiefly dominated by the [[clergy]], the Svecomans by [[industrialist]]s and academics from other faculties besides the theological one. The spiritual leader of the Svecomans was the linguist [[Axel Olof Freudenthal]], who also had claims of racial supremacy.

The feeling of unity between the Swedish-speaking rural population and the (remains of the) Swedish-speaking elite is the lasting legacy of the Svecoman movement, and this became the core idea of the [[Swedish People's Party in Finland|Swedish People's Party]], which was founded after the introduction of [[universal suffrage|equal and common suffrage]] [[Finnish general strike of 1905|in 1906]].