Editing Finland's language strife

{{Short description|19th-century conflict over language rights in Finland}}

'''Finland's language strife''' ({{langx|sv|Finska språkstriden|lit=Finnish language dispute}}; {{langx|fi|Suomen kielitaistelu|lit=Finnish language struggle}}) was a major conflict in mid-19th century [[History of Finland|Finland]]. Both the [[Swedish language|Swedish]] and [[Finnish language|Finnish]] languages were commonly used in Finland at the time, associated with descendants of [[Swedish colonisation of Finland|Swedish colonisation]] and leading to class tensions among the speakers of the different languages. It became acute in the mid-19th century. 

== 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>

== Nationalism and the question of language ==
[[File:Kiianmies Kyander graves Tampere 20090818.JPG|thumb|right|A set of graves in Tampere, showing the Swedish surname 'Kyander' as well as the Fennicized 'Kiianmies']]

The rise of [[Fennoman]]ic Finnish [[nationalism]] in the 19th century eventually led to the revived predominance of Finnish use in the country. A significant contribution to the Finnish national awakening from the mid-19th century onward came from the members of the mostly [[Swedish-speaking Finns|Swedish-speaking]] upper classes deliberately choosing to promote Finnish culture and language. Snellman was himself an ethnic Swede and was later ennobled. These [[Finnish Swedes]], known as the [[Fennomans]], [[Fennicization|Fennicized]] their family names, learned Finnish, and made a point of using Finnish both in public and at home. However, another group of the Swedish-speaking population, the [[Svecomans]], did not wish to abandon Swedish and opposed the Fennoman ideology and Fennoman-inspired reforms.

In 1863 [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] (AsK 26/1863) ruled that Finnish had an [[official language]] status comparable to that of Swedish; it could thereafter be used in an official capacity in legal and state office matters.<ref name="kasf">{{cite web | url = http://suomifinland100.fi/project/1863-kieliasetus/ | title = 1863 kieliasetus | access-date = 2017-12-11}}</ref><ref name="ylevierailu" /><ref name=haar>{{cite book|author=Harald Haarmann |title=Modern Finland: Portrait of a Flourishing Society |date=4 October 2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476625652 |page=211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEA4DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 }}</ref> Within a generation, the Finnish language use gained predominance in the government and the society of Finland.

During the [[Russification of Finland]], Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] attempted to change the official language to Russian (''Language Manifesto of 1900''), but Russification was halted by the [[Finnish general strike of 1905|general strike of 1905]].

== After independence ==
[[File:Mielenosoitus Snellmanin patsaalla yliopiston suomenkielisyyden johdosta vuonna 1935.jpg|thumb|Demonstration for the position of Finnish language in the University at the statue of [[Johan Vilhelm Snellman|J. V. Snellman]] in [[Helsinki]] in 1935.]]
After [[Independence of Finland|Finland gained independence]] in 1917, its relations with Sweden unexpectedly became strained in connection with the [[Finnish Civil War]] and the [[Åland crisis]]. These events aggravated the language dispute, and the controversy over Swedish and Finnish became a prominent feature of domestic politics during the 1920s and 1930s.

In the newly independent [[Constitution of Finland|Finnish constitution]] of 1919, Finnish and Swedish were given equal status as national languages. The language strife thereafter centered on this and on the role of Swedish in universities, particularly regarding the number of professors who spoke and wrote in Swedish in their teaching. In the [[interwar period]], the [[University of Helsinki]] was the scene of conflict between those who wanted to advance the use of Finnish and those who wished to maintain the use of Swedish.<ref name=UppslagsFiUniv>{{cite web |url=http://uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-103684-Universitetsadresserna |title=Universitetsadresserna |author=Lasse Sundman |date=2011-04-24 |website=[[Uppslagsverket Finland]] |access-date=2017-11-30 |language=sv}}</ref> Geographer [[Väinö Tanner (geographer)|Väinö Tanner]] was one of the most vocal defenders of Swedish.<ref name=UppslagsverketFi>{{cite web |url=http://uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-103684-TannerVaeinoe |title=Tanner, Väinö |author=Johan Lindberg |date=2011-08-05 |website=[[Uppslagsverket Finland]] |access-date=2017-11-30 |language=sv}}</ref> A campaign initiated by the [[Swedish People's Party of Finland]] collected 153,914 signatures in defense of Swedish in a petition that was presented to the parliament and government in October 1934.<ref name=UppslagsFiUniv/> The conflict at the university generated an international reaction when academics from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland sent letters to the diplomatic representatives of Finland in their respective countries warning that diminishing the role of Swedish at the university would result in a weakening of Nordic unity.<ref name=UppslagsFiUniv/>

The government issued a language decree on 1 January 1923 making Finnish and Swedish equal in status.<ref name="ylevierailu">{{cite web | url = https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2013/06/11/keisarivierailu-vauhditti-yhteiskunnan-muutosta | title = Keisarivierailu vauhditti yhteiskunnan muutosta | author = Rita Trötschkes | publisher = Yle | date = 2013-12-09 | access-date = 2017-12-11}}</ref>

During the resettlement of more than 420,000 [[Karelia]]n refugees after the [[Winter War]] against the Soviet Union (1939–1940), the Swedish-speaking minority feared that the new Finnish-speaking settlers would change the linguistic balance of their neighborhoods. Since the late 20th century, there has been discussion of whether the policy of [[mandatory Swedish]] classes in schools should continue.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Finland}}
* [[Language revival]]
* [[Language policy]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal |first=Michael C. |last=Coleman |title='You Might All Be Speaking Swedish Today': Language Change in 19th-century Finland and Ireland |journal=Scandinavian Journal of History |date=March 2010 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=44–64 |doi=10.1080/03468750903315215}}
* Hult, F.M., & Pietikäinen, S. (2014). "Shaping discourses of multilingualism through a language ideological debate: The case of Swedish in Finland", ''Journal of Language and Politics'', 13, 1-20.

{{Finland topics}}

[[Category:Linguistic rights]]
[[Category:Finland Swedish]]
[[Category:Social history of Finland|Language strife]]
[[Category:Finnish nationalism]]
[[Category:Finnish language]]
[[Category:Linguistic controversies]]
[[Category:Language policy in Finland]]