Swedish baron G.M. Sprengtporten in Russian service, 1786-1809
- Authors: Shaidurov V.N.1, Veremenko V.A.1
-
Affiliations:
- Pushkin Leningrad State University
- Issue: Vol 20, No 4 (2021): History of Peoples and Regions of Russia
- Pages: 480-492
- Section: HISTORY OF PEOPLES AND REGIONS OF RUSSIA
- URL: https://journal-vniispk.ru/2312-8674/article/view/321798
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8674-2021-20-4-480-492
- ID: 321798
Cite item
Abstract
General of the Infantry Count G.M. Sprengtporten (1740-1819) is one of the less known historical figures of the last quarter of the 18th and of the early 19th century. As a Swedish citizen, he hatched plans to turn Finland into an independent state. In the mid-1780s he saw in Catherine II a potential ally who could implement his ideas. After accepting the invitation to enter Russian service, Sprengtporten did not blend either in the Highest Court or in the Russian army. Not having shown any significant military feats during the wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, he distinguished himself in the diplomatic and lawmaking field. An important event was his mission to Europe (1800-1801), which resulted in the return of more than six thousand Russian prisoners to Russia. The draft “Regulations on the Establishment of the Main Administration in New Finland”, developed by Sprengtporten with some changes made by Emperor Aleksander I, became the cornerstone of Finnish autonomy within the Russian Empire over the next century. Occupying for a short time the post of Governor General, he became a link between Finland and Russia. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the comprehensive presentation of the Russian service of G.M. Sprengtporten. The article is written on the basis of published sources and unpublished documents from some central archives, which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.
About the authors
Vladimir N. Shaidurov
Pushkin Leningrad State University
Author for correspondence.
Email: s-w-n@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1431-1163
Dr. Habil. Hist., Head of the Scientific and Educational Center for Historical Research and Analysis
10, Peterburgskoe shosse, Pushkin, St. Petersburg, 196605, RussiaValentina A. Veremenko
Pushkin Leningrad State University
Email: v.a.veremenko@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5217-5609
Dr. Habil. Hist., Head of the Department of Russian History
10, Peterburgskoe shosse, Pushkin, St. Petersburg, 196605, RussiaReferences
- Benkendorf, A.H. “Moe puteshestvie na krai nochi i k granitsam Kitaia (1802-1803 gg.).” Nashe Nasledie, Accessed April 28, 2021, http://www.nasledie-rus.ru/podshivka/7106.php (in Russian).
- Fajbisovich, V. “Russkaia kar'era generala Sprengtportena.” Nashe Nasledie, Accessed April 28, 2021, http://www.nasledie-rus.ru/podshivka/7107.php (in Russian).
- Grot, I.K. “Sprengtporten, shvedskij immigrant pri Ekaterine II.” Vol. 4 of Trudy, 378-435. St. Petesburg: Kushnerev & Ko Publ., 1901 (in Russian).
- Kiaiviariainen, I.I. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniia na severe Evropy v nachale XIX veka i prisoedinenie Finliandii k Rossii v 1809 godu. Petrozavodsk: Karel’skoe knizhnoe izdatelstvo Publ., 1965 (in Russian).
- Lanko, D.A. Modernizatsiia v okruzhenii: sluchai Finliandii. Chast’ I: pervaia polovina XIX v. St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo Evropeiskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge Publ., 2019. S. 9 (in Russian).
- Mel'cin, M.O. “Sprengtporteny v Rossii: nedolgaja, no jarkajaistorija.” Izvestiia Russkogo genealogicheskogo obshhestva, no. 24 (2012): 107-115 (in Russian)
- Ordin, K.F. “Sprengtporten, geroi Finliandii.” Russkii arkhiv, 4 (1887): 469-502 (in Russian).
- Peksheva, L.A. Deiatel'nost' M.M. Speranskogo v sfere mestnogo upravlenija. PhD diss., Voronezh State Pedagogical university, 2007 (in Russian).
- Rechberg, Ch. de. Les peuples de la Russie ou description des moeurs, ...des diverses nations de l'empire de Russie. Paris: D. Colas, 1812-1813 (in French).
- Roginskii, V.V. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniia na Severe Evropy v kontse napoleonovskih voin, 1807-1815 gg.: PhD diss., Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2002 (in Russian).
- Sidorova, M.V. “Ekspeditsiia generala Sprengtporena po predelam Rossiiskoi imperii, kak ona opisana v memuarakh grafa A.H. Benkendorfa: Novoe otkrytye memuary grafa Benkendorfa kak istoricheskii istochnik.” Nashe nasledie, no. 71 (2004): 54-59 (in Russian)
- Stokratskaya, L., Heide, G., Heide, B., Benkert, T., Talowina, I., Schajdurow, Lorenz von Pansner, V. “Vom Schustersohn zum russischen kaiserischen Staatsrat.” Forscher- und Erfindergeist aus Arnstadt, 32-40. Erfurt: Sutton Verlag GmbH, 2017 (in Russian)
- Suni, L.V. Velikoe kniazhestvo Finliandskoe (pervaia polovina XIX v.). Stanovlenie avtonomii. Petrozavodsk: Izd-vo PetrGU Publ., 2013 (in Russian)
- Valishevskii, K. Syn Velikoi Ekateriny. Book 3. Moscow: RIPOL klassik Publ., 2005 (in Russian)
- Veremenko, V.A., Shaidurov, V.N., and Mel'nikova, D.A. “G.M. Sprengtporten na russkojsluzhbe: 1786-1809 gg.” Stolitsa i provintsii. Sbornik Materialov Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem, 183-188. St. Petesburg: LGU im. A.S. Pushkina, 2021 (in Russian)
Supplementary files
