Everything about Finnish Karelia totally explained
Finnish Karelia, historically also
Swedish Karelia or
Carelia, is a
historical province divided today between eastern
Finland and northwestern
Russia. It refers to the western parts of
Karelia that during the
second millennium have been under
western dominance, religiously and politically. Western Karelia is separate from
East Karelia, or Russian Karelia, which was dominated by
Novgorod and its successor states from the 12th century onwards.
The name is
Karjala in
Finnish and
Karelen in
Swedish. The Finnish word "karja" means "cattle" in English. Karelia borders to
Uusimaa,
Savonia and
Ostrobothnia. It is also bounded by
Russia and the
Gulf of Finland. Most of Finnish Karelia was ceded by Finland to the
Soviet Union in 1940, after the
Winter War, and today is divided between the Russian autonomous
Republic of Karelia and the Russian
Leningrad Oblast.
Provinces
» For current affairs see: Eastern Finland, Southern Finland
Parts of the historical province of Karelia are divided between the
Provinces, of
Eastern Finland and
Southern Finland. Within the provinces there are also the
Regions of
North Karelia and
South Karelia. These border to the
Russian subdivisions of
Leningrad Oblast, which occupies the
Karelian Isthmus, and the Autonomous
Republic of Karelia which represents
East Karelia.
History
During the
13th century, Karelia was still undivided and fought over between
Novgorod Republic and
Sweden. Karelians are listed as Novgorodian allies already in the mid-12th century in Russian Chronicles. The "
Third Swedish crusade", led by the
marshal Torkel Knutsson, which took place 1293–1295, resulted in the western parts of Karelia coming under Swedish rule, and in the building of the
Castle of Viborg.
The hostilities continued in 1300 when a Swedish force attacked the mouth of
river Neva and built a fort near the current location of
Saint Petersburg. The fort was destroyed the following year by the Novgorodians. Indecisive fighting in 1321 and 1322 led to negotiations and peace by the
Treaty of Nöteborg which for the first time decided the border between Sweden and Novgorod. Sweden got western Karelia with the
Karelian Isthmus; and Novgorod got
Ingria,
Ladoga Karelia and
East Karelia.
In 1635
Savonia and the parts of Karelia around Vyborg were incorporated in the
Viborg and Nyslott County. After the
Treaty of Nystad in 1721 Vyborg and the
Kexholm County were ceded to Russia; and the rest was incorporated into the
Kymmenegårds and Nyslott County. Most of this was also ceded to Russia in the
Treaty of Åbo of 1743. After the conquest in 1808 of the rest of Finland, Russia's
18th century gains, called "
Old Finland", were in 1812 joined to the
Grand Duchy of Finland as a gesture of good will.
During the
Continuation War (
1941-
1944) Eastern Karelia was considered a Finnish
irredenta and was an integral part of Finland. After
World War II, when the new border was established close to that of 1721, the Finnish remains of the Province of Viipuri were made into the "Province of Kymi". In 1997 the Kymi province was incorporated with the province of
Southern Finland.
Western Karelia, as an historical
Province of Sweden, was religiously and politically distinct from the eastern parts that were under the
Russian Orthodox Church.
In
1990s long silenced debate over
returning Karelia from Russia to Finland has resurfaced in Finland.
Geography
Culture
The traditional culture of "Ladoga-Karelia", or Finnish Karelia according to the pre-
Winter War borders, was by and large similar to that of Eastern Karelia, or Russian Karelia. Karelians live, and did even more so before
Stalinism and the
Great Purges, also in vast areas east of Finland (in Eastern Karelia, not marked on the map to the right), where
folklore, language and
architecture during the
19th century was in the center of the Finns' interest (see
Karelianism), representing a "purer" Finnish
culture than that of Southern and Western Finland, which had been for thousands of years in more contact with (or "contaminated by")
Germanic and
Scandinavian culture. The
Kalevala and Finnish
Art Nouveau are expressions hereof.
The dialect spoken in the
South Karelian Region of Finland is part of the South Eastern dialects of the Finnish language. The dialect spoken in the
Karelian Isthmus before
World War II and the
Ingrian language are also part of this dialect group. The
Karelian language, spoken in East Karelia, is very closely related to the
Finnish language. The dialect that's spoken in
North Karelia is considered to be one of the
Savonian dialects.
Famous Karelians
Heraldry
The arms is crowned by a ducal coronet, though by Finnish tradition this more resembles a Swedish count's coronet. The symbolism of the coat of arms is supposed to represent how the region was fought over by Sweden and Russia for centuries. Blazon: "Gules, in center chief a crown or above two duelling arms, the dexter armored holding a sword and the sinister chain-mail armored with a scimitar, all argent except for hafts and gauntlet joint or."
Further Information
Get more info on 'Finnish Karelia'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://finnish_karelia.totallyexplained.com">Finnish Karelia Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
