Kingdom of Finland (1918)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Unrecognized state |
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| Capital | Helsinki | |||
| Language(s) | Finnish, Swedish | |||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | |||
| King | ||||
| - 1918 | Prince Frederick¹ (elect) | |||
| Regent | ||||
| - 1917-1918 | Pehr Evind Svinhufvud | |||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||
| - Monarch elected | October 9, 1918 | |||
| - German surrender | November 9, 1918 | |||
| - Throne renounced | December 14, 1918 | |||
| ¹ The style of the monarch was intended to be "Charles I, King of Finland and Karelia, Duke of Åland, Grand Prince of Lapland, Lord of Kaleva and the North" | ||||
The Kingdom of Finland was a constitutional monarchy whose creation was contemplated and briefly executed in the aftermath of Finnish independence from Russia. Prince Frederick of Hesse was elected King by the Parliament of Finland, on 9 October 1918 as King Väinö I. With the end of World War I, in light of his German birth, and the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm ending monarchies in Germany, the arrangement was considered untenable by influential Finns of the time, and by Frederick himself. Not much is known of the official stance of the victorious allies. Frederick Charles renounced the throne on 14 December 1918. Finland subsequently adopted a republican constitution.
Already in 1741, invading Russian troops had proclaimed the then Duke Peter of Holstein-Gottorp as King of Finland.
