Suomenlinna

Suomenlinna (in Finnish), or Sveaborg (in Swedish), is a fortress built on six islands in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Its original name was Sveaborg (Swedish castle), the Finns changed it to Suomenlinna (Finnish castle) for patriotic reasons, although both the Swedes and the Swedish-speaking Finns follow it knowing by his original name.

The Swedish monarchy began construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism. Overall responsibility for the construction work fell on Augustin Ehrensvärd. The original plan of the fortress was heavily influenced by the ideas of Vauban, the favorite engineer of his day, and the principles of the Italian-style fortress adapted to a group of islands. During the Finnish War, Sweden surrendered the fortress to Russia on May 3, 1808, and after the war a year later, Sweden ceded Finland to the Russians, who held it until Finnish independence in 1917.

The Finnish Department of Defense managed Suomenlinna until it was transferred to civilian control in 1973. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999 and is a popular tourist spot.

History

Swedish sovereignty

Context

At the beginning of the Great Northern War, Russia took advantage of Sweden's weakness in Ingria and captured the area near the Neva River, as well as the Swedish fortresses of Nyen and Nöteborg, built to protect the area. In 1703, Peter the Great founded his new capital, Saint Petersburg, in the eastern corner of the Gulf of Finland, and built the Kronstadt naval base. Russia soon became a maritime power in the Baltic Sea, a threat to Sweden, which had been the dominant force in the Baltics. This fact was demonstrated by the conquest of Viborg by naval forces in 1710, as the Swedish naval base at Karlskrona was far away.

After the Great Northern War and the Russo-Swedish War (1741-1743), Sweden wanted to end the absence of naval bases in the area and the Swedish Parliament decided in 1747 to fortify the Russian border and establish a naval base in Helsinki as a counterweight to Kronstadt. Augustin Ehrensvärd (1710–1772), a young colonel, was commissioned to design the fortresses and direct the construction operations.

Construction

Map of the Suomenlinna.

Sweden began construction of the fortresses in January 1748. Ehrensvärd's plans were to build two fortifications: a sea fortress at Svartholm, near Loviisa, and a larger fortress and naval ship (Sveaborg) at Helsinki. The architect's plans included a series of interconnected island fortifications and, at the center of the complex, a naval dockyard. In addition to the island-fortress, fortifications facing the sea from the mainland ensured that an enemy could not land on a beach. The defense plan included ammunition storage for the Finnish contingent of the Swedish Army and Navy. Construction began in early 1748 and continued to expand, and by September there were close to 2,500 men building the fortresses. Initially the soldiers were located in the vaults of the fortifications, while the officers were built rooms integrated into the baroque composition of the city. The most ambitious plan was left half complete: the baroque square at Iso Mustasaari partially modeled on the Place Vendôme in Paris. Ehrensvärd himself and other officials made oil paintings of daily life during construction.

Due to repeated Russian threats in 1749 and 1750, more efforts were made on island fortifications at the expense of those on the mainland, so more than 6,000 men were working in the area by 1750. Gustavssvärd's fortifications were they were completed in 1751 and the main fortification of Vargö was completed in 1754. These achievements did not slow the pace of work, and by 1755 there were 7,000 men building on the outskirts of Helsinki when the population was 2,000. Swedish involvement in the Seven Years' War interrupted construction in 1757.

Tomb of Augustin Ehrensvärd, director of the construction.

The architect Ehrensvärd died in 1772, so improvements continued under the direction of Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten, although his disagreements with King Gustaf III of Sweden soon led to his dismissal. The garrisons continued to be reduced, and even during the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790, Sveaborg remained in an incomplete state.

Following a pact between Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon Bonaparte, Russia launched a campaign against Sweden and invaded Finland in 1808. The Russians began shelling the fortress and its commander, Carl Olof Cronstedt, negotiated a ceasefire; however, after the absence of reinforcements, 7,000 men surrendered in May of that year. Under the 1809 Treaty of Fredrikshamn, Finland was ceded to Sweden as an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire.

Russian sovereignty

After the capture of the fortress, the Russians planned an extensive construction program, especially barracks, expanded the naval shipyard and reinforced the fortification lines. This long peaceful period was interrupted by the Crimean War of 1853-1856, when the alliance between the Second French Empire, the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire attacked Russia on two fronts and sent an Anglo-French fleet into the Baltic Sea. Sveaborg was bombarded by the forces of Richard Saunders Dundas and Charles Pénaud on 9 and 10 August 1855 for 47 hours, and the fortress was badly damaged, although they did not land, instead marching on Kronstadt.

After the Crimean War, extensive restoration work was carried out at Sveaborg. During World War I, the fortress and its surroundings were built up as part of the "Peter the Great's naval fortification" designed to safeguard the capital, Saint Petersburg.

View of the fortress from a ferry in 2005.

Finnish independence

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the fortress became a possession of independent Finland. Following the Finnish Civil War, a prisoner of war camp was set up on the island by the Red Guards and the fortress was renamed Suomenlinna (Finnish Castle) as part of a new wave of nationalism. No longer practical as a military base, Suomenlinna was handed over to civilian administration in 1973, creating a separate government department to manage the complex.

The military presence on the islands has decreased significantly in recent decades, yet it is still home to the Naval Academy of the Finnish Navy. Currently Suomenlinna is also a Helsinki neighborhood of exceptional character, with about 850 inhabitants and 350 jobs, which increase in summer, due to its tourist attraction.