Sunday, 20 June 2021
The Great Wrath in Finland 1714–1721
An account of the Russian occupation of Finland during the Great Northern War — the period known in Finnish history as the Great Wrath — and its consequences for the Finnish people.
The period from 1714 to 1721 is known in Finnish historiography as isoviha — the Great Wrath or Great Hatred. It refers to the Russian military occupation of Finland during the final phase of the Great Northern War (1700–1721).
After the catastrophic defeat at Poltava in 1709 and the subsequent fall of Viipuri and other fortress cities, Sweden’s forces in Finland were progressively pushed northward. The decisive battle on Finnish soil was fought at Napue (Isokyrö) in February 1714, where Russian forces under Apraksin crushed the reconstituted Swedish-Finnish army. After that engagement, the retreat became a rout and civilian evacuation northward began on a large scale.
The Occupation
Russian troops occupied Finland from 1714 onwards. The occupation forces were administered through a hierarchy of commissars and governors. Taxes were collected according to the old Swedish assessment rolls. The population was compelled to provide quarters, food and transport for the occupying forces.
The most notorious aspect of the occupation was the conscription of Finnish men into Russian service in 1720: one man per mantle of land. These men were shipped to Russia via Turku and many died quickly in the conditions around St Petersburg. The losses to the Finnish male population from the war, disease, flight and deportation were enormous.
The Peace and Recovery
The Great Wrath ended with the Peace of Uusikaupunki (Nystad) on 10 September 1721. Sweden ceded the Baltic provinces, Ingria, Karelia and part of Finland to Russia, but retained the bulk of Finland. Those who had fled to Sweden were allowed to return. The returning population found farms abandoned, church records incomplete and communities depleted.
Recovery was slow. The Great Wrath is one of the defining catastrophes of Finnish history — comparable in its demographic impact, relative to population, to the wars of later centuries.
Sources for Genealogical Research
For genealogists, the Great Wrath presents particular challenges. Church records from 1714 to 1721 are often sparse or missing; many parishes have communion records showing very few names for those years. Some parishes lost their records entirely. The poll tax rolls from the Russian administration do exist for some areas and can supplement missing church sources. Military muster rolls from this period are similarly fragmentary.
Despite the difficulties, it is usually possible to establish continuity of families across the occupation years by combining all available sources. The families who owned farms tended to return to the same properties; the farm names in post-1721 records are largely identical to those in pre-1714 records, which allows family lines to be traced even across the gap.