Editing Turanism (section)

==== Finland ====
Turanism has its roots in the Finnish nationalist Fennophile and [[Fennoman movement]], and in the works of Finnish nationalist and linguist [[Matthias Castrén|Matthias Alexander Castrén]]. Castrén conducted more than seven years of fieldwork in western and southern Siberia between 1841 and 1849. His extensive field materials focus on Ob-Ugric, Samoyedic, [[Yeniseian languages|Ketic]], and Turkic languages. He collected valuable ethnographic information, especially on shamanism. Based on his research, he claimed that the Finnic, Ugric, Samoyed, Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic languages were all of the same 'Altaic family'. He concluded that the [[Finns]] originated in [[Central Asia]] (in the [[Altai Mountains]]), and far from being a small, isolated people, they were part of a larger polity that included such peoples as the [[Hungarians|Magyars]], [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], [[Mongols]], and so on. Based on his research, he championed the ideology of Turanism, the belief in the ethnic unity and the future greatness of the Ural-Altaic peoples. As Castrén put it:

{{cquote|I am determined to show the Finnish nation that we are not a solitary people from the bog, living in isolation from the world and from universal history, but are in fact related to at least one-sixth of mankind. Writing grammars is not my main goal, but without the grammars that goal cannot be attained.<ref name="Łukasz Sommer">SOMMER, Łukasz: Historical Linguistics Applied: Finno-Ugric Narratives in Finland and Estonia. in: The Hungarian Historical Review. Vol. 3. Issue 2. 2014. http://hunghist.org/images/volumes/Volume3_Issue_2/Lukasz.pdf</ref>}}

Castrén was of the opinion that Russia was seeking systematically to prevent all development towards freer conditions in Finland, and concluded from this that the Finns must begin to prepare a revolt against Russia. According to him, it was to be linked with a favourable international crisis and would be realised as a general revolt against Russian rule, in which the non-Russian peoples from the Turks and Tatars to the Finns would take part. This political vision of his was shared by some other intellectuals.<ref>PAASVIRTA, Juhani: Finland and Europe: The Period of Autonomy and the International Crises, 1808–1914 1981. p. 68.</ref> Fennomans like [[Elias Lönnrot]] and [[Zachris Topelius]] shared this or an even bolder vision of coming greatness. As Topelius put it:

{{cquote|Two hundred years ago few would have believed that the Slavic tribe would attain the prominent (and constantly growing) position it enjoys nowadays in the history of culture. What if one day the Finnish tribe, which occupies a territory almost as vast, were to play a greater role on the world scene than one could expect nowadays? [...] Today people speak of Pan-Slavism; one day they may talk of Pan-Fennicism, or Pan-Suomism. Within such a Pan-Finnic community, the Finnish nation should hold the leading position because of its cultural seniority [...].<ref name="Łukasz Sommer"/>}}