Vyborg Governorate

Vyborg Governorate^[a] was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. It was established in 1744 in newly ceded territories from Sweden following the Treaty of Åbo and parts of Saint Petersburg Governorate which were previously ceded by Sweden in 1721 as a result of the Great Northern War.

Vyborg Governorate Выборгская губерния
Governorate of the Russian Empire
1744–1812
Coat of arms
History
• Established	1744
• Disestablished	1812
Preceded by Succeeded by Saint Petersburg Governorate Viipuri Province
Today part of	Finland Russia

In the Treaty of Nystad of 1721, Sweden formally ceded control of parts of the Viborg and Nyslott County and the Kexholm County located on the Karelian Isthmus and Lake Ladoga region to Russia. First these areas were part of the Saint Petersburg Governorate. Vyborg Governorate was established in 1744 when Sweden ceded control of parts of Kymmenegård and Nyslott County (which had been parts of Viborg and Nyslott County prior to the Treaty of Nystad) by the Treaty of Åbo. In Sweden (including Finland), the area of the governorate was also known as Old Finland (Swedish: Gamla Finland, Finnish: Vanha Suomi), and between 1802 and 1812 it was named the "Finland Governorate".

Initially the governorate had subdivision into three provinces: Saimaa Province, Vyborg Province and Kexholm Province, which reflected the previous borders of the Swedish counties (part of Kymmenegård and Nyslott County ceded in 1743, part of Viborg and Nyslott County ceded in 1721 and part of Kexholm County ceded in 1721, respectively). Catherine the Great issued a decree in 1775 to change the previous administrative division from governorates to viceroyalties (namestnichestvo), and in 1783 the Vyborg Governorate was renamed into Vyborg Viceroyalty (Russian: Выборгское наместничество, romanized: Vyborgskoye namestnichestvo, however in Finnish the name did not change) within its previous borders. The subdivision was also changed, from provinces into uyezds (Russian: уе́зд, Finnish: kihlakunta), of which there were 6 in the viceroyalty: Wilmanstrand, Vyborg, Friedrichshafen, Neuschlott, Kexholm and Serdobol.^[b] Paul I changed the name back to Vyborg Governorate in 1796, renaming the previous uyezds into districts (German: Lands Kommissariat, Russian: округ, romanized: okrug, Finnish: kihlakunta)^[1] and Alexander I changed the name to Finland Governorate in 1802.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Sweden had allied itself with the Russian Empire, United Kingdom and the other parties against Napoleonic France. However, following the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Russia made peace with France. In 1808, and supported by France, Russia successfully challenged Swedish control over Finland in the Finnish War. In the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, Sweden was obliged to cede all its territory in Finland, east of the Torne River, to Russia. The ceded territories became a part of the Russian Empire and was reconstituted into the Grand Duchy of Finland, with the Russian tsar as the grand duke.

In 1812, the area of Vyborg Governorate was transferred from Russia proper to the grand duchy and established as Viipuri Province. The transfer, announced by Tsar Alexander I just before Christmas, on December 23, 1811 O.S. (January 4, 1812 N.S.), can be seen as a symbolic gesture and an attempt to appease the sentiment of the Finnish population, which had just experienced Russian conquest of their country by force in the Finnish War.