Finns in Russia

Russian Finns are the descendants of, firstly, Ingermanlanders , and secondly immigrants from Finland, who at different times immigrated to Russia ^[2] . The immigrants came mainly from the border regions: from Vyborg , Nyuland , Kuopio , Uleaborg provinces. The ethnic group of Ingermanlanders was formed as a result of the resettlement by the Swedish administration in Ingermanland lands, which went to Sweden along the Stolbovsky world , some of the Euremais from the northwestern part of the Karelian Isthmus and part of the Savakot from the eastern region of the Grand Duchy of Finland Savo . Finnization of Izhora land was largely facilitated by the heavy demographic losses suffered by it, especially its eastern part, during the Time of Troubles ^[3] .

Tsarist period

As a result of the Northern War of 1700-1721, Ingermanland was returned to Russia ^[2] . At the beginning of the 19th century, the okrug of Petersburg was almost exclusively Finnish-speaking ^{[4] [5]} . In 1804, Ingermanland peasants Baron von Ungern-Sternberg from the Izhora-Finnish villages of the lower reaches of the Luga River ( Ilkino , Malaya Arsiya, Bolshaya Arsiya, Volkovo , Dead, Fedorovskaya , Variva) in the number of 26 families (77 men and 73 women) founded the village of Ryzhkov (the village of Chukhonskaya, Chukhonskaya colony) in the Omsk district of the Tobolsk province , which gradually became the center of attraction for all exiled Lutherans - Ingermanlanders, Finns, Estonians and Latvians ^[6] .

In 1809, as a result of the Russian-Swedish war, the Grand Duchy of Finland was annexed to Russia ^[2] . The resettlement of Finns to other regions of the Russian Empire began in the second half of the 50s of the XIX century and was of a spontaneous nature ^[7] . The famine in Finland in 1866-1868 also significantly affected the relocation of Finns to other regions of the Russian Empire. The impetus for mass migration was signed in 1868 by Alexander II, "Regulation on the benefits of the Murman colonists" ^{[7] [8]} . In 1867, 114 people from Finland lived on the Murmansk coast. In 1888, already 823 Finns lived on the Kola Peninsula ^[2] . By 1895, the number of Finns was 810 people out of the total number of inhabitants of the Kola district, which amounted to 8690 of all residents (9%) ^[7] . In Kola County in 1897, there were 1,276 Finns, which amounted to 11.5% of all Russian citizens of the county ^[2] . 50% of them were first-generation migrants (83% came from the Uleaborg province ) ^[7] . In 1907 and 1910 Finnish schools were organized in Ura-Guba, Zemlyanoy and Tsyp-Navoloka .

In 1913, 1756 people were colonists in the Murmansk-Colonist volost, including 1,048 Finns and Norwegians; in Teriber volost - 1401, including 326 Finns and Norwegians (43.5% in the sum of Finns and Norwegians) ^[9] .

Soviet period

In 1917, about 160,000 Finns, both local and immigrants from Finland, lived in Ingermanland ^[10] . After the revolution, Lenin and his government declared full support to national minorities . A policy of indigenization was announced ^[11] .

After the defeat of the revolution in Finland in the spring of 1918, several thousand “red Finns” came to the city ^[2] . In 1926, there were 114,831 people in Ingermanlanders or the so-called “Leningrad Finns” ^[12] . Finnish Finns in Leningrad and the Leningrad province lived 11 053 people (3940 in Leningrad and 7113 in the region) ^{[13] [12]} . Ingermanlanders and Finns living in Ingermanland - Finnish citizens and their descendants who appeared on its territory in the 19th century, constituted population groups, the differences between which were pronounced and there was practically no communication between them ^[14] .

In the Soviet period, in the framework of the policy of “ indigenousization ” in the late 1920s - early 1930s, national administrative units of the lower level were created in areas of compact Finnish residence ^{[15] [11]} .

Repression

Since the beginning of the 1930s, the Finnish population was subjected to repression by the Soviet authorities , the result of which was its almost complete disappearance from areas of traditional residence by the second half of the 1940s ^[16] . Five “waves” of repression against the Finns and Ingermanlanders can be distinguished. Three "waves" passed before the war (in 1930-1931, 1935-1936 and 1937-1938), and two more during and after the war: in 1941-1942 and 1944-1947.

Of the 1,602,000 people arrested under political articles of the criminal code in 1937-1939, 346,000 were representatives of national minorities, of which 247,000 were executed as foreign spies. Of the arrested "nationalities", the Greeks (81%) and Finns (80%) were executed more often than others ^{[17] [18]} . By the end of the 1930s, as a result of the repressive policies of the Soviet authorities, the activities of the Lutheran church in the Soviet Union were completely paralyzed. All Lutheran churches and parishes, including Finnish ones, were closed, clergy and active parishioners were repressed, the governing bodies of the Lutheran church were dispersed ^[19] .

Finns and Ingermanlanders were forcibly taken to other regions of the USSR, in particular, to Siberia, to the territory of the Kola Peninsula , to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, they were allowed to take some clothes and food with them, while preparing for sending one family member was taken hostage ^[20] . On December 29, 1944, the NKVD of the USSR issued Order No. 274, according to which all evacuated Finns were registered by the Special Department of the NKVD of the USSR and the UNKD, after which 9104 Finnish citizens received special settler status.

Rehabilitation

Unlike a number of other autonomies, the Finnish national region was not restored after 1953 . After rehabilitation, some Finns returned to their homes. In 1990, Finnish Ingermanlanders received the right to repatriation from Finland. The initiator of this decision was President Mauno Koivisto , who said that he was prompted by the "sympathy experienced by the long-suffering people of the Ingermanland Finns" ^[21] . The only condition for repatriation was to indicate Finnish nationality in the passport or birth certificate of the applicant or one of his parents. Over the next 20 years, about 30 thousand emigrated to Finland under this program. In 1993, a resolution was issued by the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation on the rehabilitation of Russian Finns ^[22] . All repressed, even children born in evicted families, received certificates of rehabilitation and “dismissal of the case” ^{[23] [24]} .

The acceptance of applications for repatriation was closed on July 1, 2011, a residence permit in Finland could be requested before July 1, 2016 ^[25] . For persons living in Finland in 1943-1945 (migrants) or serving in the Finnish army in 1939-1945, this restriction does not apply ^[26] .

Current situation

The number of Finns in Russia continues to decline. According to the 2002 census, there were 34,050 Finns in Russia ^[27] , and according to the 2010 census there were already 20,267 ^[1] .

According to the 2010 census, 20,267 Finns live in Russia. The most numerous Finnish communities were in such regions: Karelia - 8 577, Leningrad region - 4 366, St. Petersburg - 2 559, Moscow - 388, Murmansk region - 273, Pskov region - 212, Omsk region - 202, Novgorod region - 194 , Kemerovo region - 166 people ^[1] .

By faith, Finns traditionally belong to the Lutheran church, but some of them adhere to Orthodoxy ^[28] . In 1991, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria was established. Officially registered in 1992 ^[29] . The Karelian Evangelical Lutheran Church separated from it in 1997 ^[30] .

• Aleksandrova E. L., Braudze M. M., Vysotskaya V. A., Petrova E. A. History of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingermanland / Braudze M. M. - St. Petersburg: Gyol, 2012 .-- 400 p. - ISBN 978-5-904790-08-0 .
• Ingrian Finns in the claws of the GPU. - (Porvoo-Helsinki: 1943), St. Petersburg: Gyol, 2010 .-- 125 p. - ISBN 978-5-904790-05-9 .
• Musaev V.I. Political History of Ingermanland at the End of the 19th — 20th Centuries . - SPb: II RAS “Nestor-History”, 2004. - 450 p. - ISBN 5-98187-031-1 .
• Musaev V.I. The Ingrian Question as a Historical and Political Phenomenon (Russian) . - Prague, 2000 .-- S. 153 . Archived March 4, 2012.
• Nevalenen Pekka. Outcasts. Russian refugees in Finland (1917-1939) . - St. Petersburg: Science RAS, 2003 .-- 396 p. - ISBN 5-87516-020-9 .
• Nevalenen Pekka. Exodus. Finnish emigration from Russia 1917-1939 . - St. Petersburg: Kolo, 2005 .-- 448 p. - ISBN 5-901841-24-7 .
• Filimonov A. V. “Ingermanlanders” in the Pskov region (late 1940s - early 1950s) // Metamorphoses of history. - 2015. - No. 6 .
• Gildi L.A. People an outcast in Russia // List of urban and rural settlements of which were in 1937-1938. Finns were taken to be shot for nationality, St. Petersburg. 2006.
• Fenno-Lapponica Petropolitana. Proceedings of the Institute of Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences / Acad. Kazan N. N. .. - St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2012 .-- T. VIII , No. 1 . - ISBN 978-5-02-038302-9 .