The memory of wars and national construction of the Russian Empire in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland at the beginning of the 20th century

The present study discusses the problem of using the memory of wars in the national construction of the Russian Empire in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the early 20th century. The source base consisted of both published and unpublished materials. Of particular importance was the appeal to the office documentation of the General Staff. By analysing reports, memoranda and petitions from military officials and the Governor-General of Finland, the study reconstructs the unique approaches to the implementation of commemorative projects in the Grand Duchy and highlights the difficulties and controversial issues in the relationship between imperial and local authorities. Additional information was obtained from Nicholas Il's diaries, P.A. Stolypin's correspondence and periodicals. The methodological tools are based on the achievements of the interdisciplinary paradigm of memory studies. Of great importance was the use of the historical-comparative method, which made it possible to compare the forms and extent of the participation of the local population in Finland and other territories in the celebrations dedicated to the victories of the Russian army. The use of the historical-genetic method allowed tracing the escalation of the land dispute in Vyborg, as well as characterizing the ways of resolving conflict situations in commemoration between representatives of the imperial and local authorities. The author concluded that in the early 20th century the state authorities actively used military-historical stories as one of the instruments for legitimizing their political course on the outskirts and the cultural integration of the peoples of the Russian Empire. At the same time, the imperial policy of memory, aimed at perpetuating military victories, faced the need to consider regional peculiarities. Using the example of the analysis of the 100th anniversary of Finland's annexation and the 200th anniversary of the capture of Vyborg, it was established that the infrastructure of Russian memorial sites was not created in the Grand Duchy of Finland. The country's leadership also did not fully use the symbolic potential of the anniversaries to bring the outskirts and the centre closer together. The narrative of the military annexation of the territory of Finland acted as a destabilizing factor and allowed only the Russian-speaking population to unite. A distinctive feature was the local nature of the festive events, which was explained by the insignificant role of the Russo-Swedish wars in the national myth-making of the Russian Empire. On the eve of the First World War, attempts were made to improve the policy of remembrance in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland, but the conflict that began in 1914 and the Revolution of 1917 did not allow the plans to be realised. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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