Note 1 — PREFACE
Alex Matson translation
The period which coincides with the life of Alexis Kivi, was for Finland a time of powerful national awakening. Having formed a part of Sweden for 600 years, Finland, after the war of 1809, was united to Russia, but nevertheless retained a unique position. She enjoyed her own form of constitutional government, which the Tsar of Russia, at the same time Grand Duke of Finland, confirmed by special oath on accession to the throne. During the liberal rule of Alexander II, these special rights were steadily enlarged and increased. In 1863, representatives of the four Estates of Finland—clergy, nobility, middle classes and peasants—were summoned to sit in the Diet, which thenceforth assembled regularly. Finland was granted her own financial administration, her own customs and postal services; in addition she possessed her own army, solely detailed for the protection of her frontiers.
Shortly after separation from Sweden, Finland awoke to consciousness of her individuality as a nation. The cry of these times was: ‘Swedes we are not, Russians we do not wish to become, Finns therefore let us be!’ Out of this national consciousness gradually arose a powerful national movement, the aim of which was to elevate the language of the great majority of the people to its rightful status. Hitherto all higher education had been given in Swedish, although the speakers of Swedish represented only eight per cent. of the entire population. A great factor in the awakening of this national feeling was the publication of the Kalevala, which Professor Elias Lönnrot had woven together out of a collection of the national folk-songs and combined into one great epic. The work thus created was a noble monument, testifying to the creative and poetic genius of the Finnish Nation as a whole.
An important section of Finland’s intelligentsia, whose mother tongue was Swedish, now voluntarily adopted Finnish as their language. They were joined by an ever-increasing tide of young enthusiasts, drawn from the lower classes, who had received higher education.
After long and stubborn efforts the Finnish language was finally accorded equal status with Swedish in the official, social and intellectual life of the country.