Governorate of Åbo-Björneborg

Infobox Former Subdivision
conventional_long_name = Governorate of Åbo-Björneborg
native_name = Або-Бьернеборгская губерния
"Åbo och Björneborgs län"
"Turun ja Porin lääni"
common_name = Vyborg
subdivision = Governorate
nation = the Grand Duchy of Finland
event_start = Established
year_start = 1811
date_start =
event_end = Disestablished
year_end = 1917
date_end = December 6
event_pre = Treaty of Fredrikshamn
date_pre = September 17, 1809
event1 = Åland demilitarized
date_event1 = March 30, 1856
p1 = County of Åbo and Björneborg
flag_p1 = Naval Ensign of Sweden.svg
s1 = Province of Turku and Pori
flag_s1 = Flag of Finland.svg

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image_map_caption = The Grand Duchy of Finland, about 1900.
capital = Åbo¹
leader1 = Knut von Troil
year_leader1 = 1811-1816
leader2 = Eliel Ilmari Wuorinen
year_leader2 = 1911-1917
title_leader = Governor
stat_year1 = 1905
stat_area1 = 22900
stat_pop1 = 470000
footnotes = ¹ _fi. Turku, _ru. Або

The Governorate of Åbo-Björneborg ( _ru. Або-Бьернеборгская губерния, _sv. Åbo och Björneborgs län, _fi. Turun ja Porin lääni) was a governorate of the Grand Duchy of Finland, in the Russian Empire, from 1811 to 1917.

History

As a consequence of the tumultous conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden had allied itself with the Russian Empire, United Kingdom and the other parties of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleonic France. However, following the treaty of Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Russia made peace with France and left the coalition. This enabled Russia in 1808 to challenge Sweden in the Finnish War, over the control of Finland. 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 Grand Duke. The Governorate of Åbo-Björneborg was established in 1811 from the County of Åbo and Björneborg, which had been the administrative division as a part of Sweden.

The governorate was named after the cities of Åbo ( _ru. Або, _fi. Turku) and Björneborg ( _ru. Бьернеборг, _fi. Pori). Åbo had served not only as a provincial capital but was the "de facto" capital of Finland, while it was a part of the Kingdom of Sweden. It would continue to serve as the provincial capital of the governorate, but the main institutions of government were moved to Helsingfors ( _ru. Хельсингфорс, _fi. Helsinki). The Royal Academy of Åbo ( _la. Regia Academia Aboensis, _sv. Åbo Kungliga Akademi, _fi. Turun akatemia) had been founded in 1640 and was one of the oldest universities in Sweden, but in 1829 it was moved to the new capital and renamed Imperial Alexander University of Finland after Tsar Alexander I.

The Åland Islands were part of the governorate and in 1854 the fortress at Bomarsund was beseiged and destoryed by British forces as part of the Crimean War. By the Treaty of Paris in 1856 the Åland Islands were demilitarized, a state of affairs that remains up to this day.

Following Finland's declaration of independence on December 6, 1917 the governorate became the Province of Turku and Pori ( _fi. Turun ja Porin lääni, _sv. Åbo och Björneborgs län) of the Republic of Finland. In 1918 the Åland Islands were split into a separate province.

Governors

*Knut von Troil (1811-1816)
**Otto Herman Lode (acting 1811-1813)
*Carl Erik Mannerheim (1816-1822)
**Lars Gabriel von Haartman (acting 1820-1822)
*Erik Wallenius (1822-1828)
*Adolf Broberg (1828-1831)
*Lars Gabriel von Haartman (1831-1840)
*Gabriel Anton Cronstedt (1840-1856, acting until 1842)
*Carl Fabian Langenskiöld (1856-1857)
**Samuel Werner von Troil (acting 1856)
**Selim Mohamed Ekbom (acting 1857)
**Johan Axel Cedercreutz (acting 1858-1863)
*Carl Magnus Creutz (1864-1889, acting 1866)
*Gustaf Axel Samuel von Troil (1889-1891)
*Wilhelm Theodor von Kraemer (1891-1903)
*Theodor Hjalmar Lang (1903-1905)
*Knut Gustaf Nikolai Borgenström (1905-1911)
*Eliel Ilmari Wuorinen (1911-1917)
**Albert Alexander von Hellens (acting 1917)