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The Grand Duke of Finland, alternatively the Grand Prince of Finland [lower-alpha 1] after 1802, was, from around 1580 to 1809, a title in use by most Swedish monarchs. Between 1809 and 1917, it was included in the title of the emperor of Russia, who was also the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Finland.
Around 1580, King Johan III of Sweden, who had previously (1556–63) been the duke of Finland (a royal duke), assumed the subsidiary title Grand Duke of Finland (Swedish : Storfurste , Finnish : Suomen suuriruhtinas) to the titles of the king of Sweden, first appearing in sources in 1581 (though first used by Johan III in 1577). [1] In those years, Johan was and had been in a quarrel with his eastern neighbour, Tsar Ivan IV of Russia ("the Terrible"), who had a long list of subsidiary titles as the grand duke of several ancient Russian principalities and provinces. The use of the title of grand duke on Johan's behalf was a countermeasure to signify his mighty position as sovereign of Sweden, also a multinational or multi-country realm, and equal to a tsardom. Not only was Finland added, but Karelia, Ingria, and Livonia, all of which were along the Swedish–Russian border. It is said that the first use of the new title was in an occasion to contact Tsar Ivan.
During the next 140 years, the title was used by Johan's successors on the Swedish throne, with the exception of Charles IX, who listed Finns as one of the many nations over which he was the king during 1607–1611. [2] As the title had only subsidiary nature without any concrete meaning, it was mainly used at formal occasions along with a long list of additional royal titles. The last Swedish monarch to use the title was Queen Ulrika Eleonora, who abdicated in 1720. In 1802, King Gustav IV Adolf gave the title to his new-born son, Prince Carl Gustaf, who died three years later.
During the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia, the four estates of occupied Finland were assembled at the Diet of Porvoo on 29 March 1809 to pledge allegiance to Emperor Alexander I of Russia, who had already earlier during the war adopted the title of grand duke (also translated as grand prince) of Finland to his long list of titles. Following the Swedish defeat in the war and the signing of the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on 17 September 1809, Finland became in some aspects an autonomous grand duchy, as in an informal real union with the Russian Empire.[ citation needed ]
The grand duke ruled Finland through his governor-general and a national senate appointed by him. Although no grand duke ever explicitly recognised Finland as a separate state in its own right, the country nevertheless enjoyed a high degree of autonomy even before its independence in 1917.
| Grand Duke (Birth–Death) | Reign | |
|---|---|---|
 | Alexander I (1777–1825) | 1809–1825 |
 | Nicholas I (1796–1855) | 1825–1855 |
 | Alexander II (1818–1881) | 1855–1881 |
 | Alexander III (1845–1894) | 1881–1894 |
 | Nicholas II (1868–1918) | 1894–1917 |
Finland was declared an independent nation state on 6 December 1917. After the Civil War in 1918, there was a brief attempt to make Finland a kingdom from 9 October to 14 December 1918.
In 1919, Finland was declared a republic. Since then, all titles of monarchs are obsolete in the country.
Livonia or in earlier records Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia.
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked below princes and grand dukes. The title comes from French duc, itself from the Latin dux, 'leader', a term used in republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank, and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word duchess is the female equivalent.
Grand duke is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, king, grand prince, archduke, or prince-archbishop, and above a sovereign prince or sovereign duke. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly:
Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland.
A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess.
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The Grand Duchy of Finland, officially and also translated as the Grand Principality of Finland, was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed between 1809 and 1917 as an autonomous state within the Russian Empire.
Grand prince or great prince is a title of nobility ranked in honour below Emperor, equal to Archduke, King, Grand duke and Prince-Archbishop; above a Sovereign Prince and Duke.
Finland declared its independence on 6 December 1917. The formal Declaration of Independence was only part of the long process leading to the independence of Finland.
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The Kingdom of Finland was a failed attempt to establish a monarchy in Finland in the aftermath of the Finnish Declaration of Independence from Russia in December 1917 and the Finnish Civil War from January to May 1918. The victorious Whites in the Parliament of Finland began the process of turning Finland into a kingdom and creating a monarchy. Although the country was legally a kingdom headed by a regent for over a year, the king-elect Friedrich Karl never reigned nor came to Finland following Germany's defeat in World War I. Republican victories in subsequent elections resulted in the country becoming a republic.
Duke of Finland was an occasional medieval title granted as a tertiogeniture to the relatives of the King of Sweden between the 13th and 16th centuries. It included a duchy along with feudal customs, and often represented a veritably independent principality. Grand Duke of Finland was a nominal royal title used by Swedish monarchs from the 1580s until 1720, which was revived again briefly from 1802 to 1805 and was also used by Russia's monarchs until 1917.
The nation of Finland has never been an independent sovereign monarchy: No attempt to establish a fully fledged Finnish monarchy has been successful. When it finally became established as a modern independent nation-state, it was – despite a very brief flirtation with monarchy – in the form of a republic.
The Aminofffamily is a Swedish-Finnish noble family of Holy Roman and Russian origin. The family has produced statesmen, officers, academics, merchants, industrialists, and landowners. The Aminoff family has been granted the titles of count and baron. The Aminoff family is known for its active participation in commerce and industry.
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Tsar is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word caesar, which was intended to mean emperor in the European medieval sense of the term—a ruler with the same rank as a Roman emperor, holding it by the approval of another emperor or a supreme ecclesiastical official—but was usually considered by Western Europeans to be equivalent to "king".