v09_2013 - FINLANDE - GRAND-DUCHÉ - ALEXANDRE III 20 markaa 1891 Helsinki

FINLAND - GRAND-DUCHY - ALEXANDER III

(13/03/1881-1/11/1894)

Finland belonged to Sweden. After the interview at Tilsitt between Napoleon I and Alexander I, the Tsar conquered it, a cession confirmed by the Treaty of Frederikshamn in 1809. The Principality of Finland was erected into a Grand Duchy by the Act of Borgaa the same year and the capital transferred from Torku to Helsinki in 1812. Finland then experienced a century of tranquility until the Revolution of 1905. It regained its independence in 1917 and had to defend it with arms against the Bolsheviks (December 6, 1917). Alexander III (10/031845 - 1/11/1894) succeeded his father Alexander II after his assassination in 1881. He had married Mary of Denmark (1847-1928) and is the father of Nicolas II. He reigned as an autocrat.