Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov

Governor General Nikolai Bobrikov

Nikolay Bobrikov (also Bobrikoff , Russian Николай Иванович Бобриков ; born January 15, ^jul. / 27. January  1839 ^greg. In Strelna , today Saint Petersburg , † June 4 ^jul. / 17th June  1904 ^greg. In Helsinki ) was a Russian infantry general and governor general of Finland from 1898 until his assassination in 1904 .

biography

Early years

Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov became a soldier in 1858. He initially served in the Kazan Military District . He was then used in the division headquarters in Novgorod . In 1869 he was promoted to colonel . In 1870 Bobrikov was transferred to Saint Petersburg, where he took on special assignments in the Tsar's guard. There Bobrikov also got access to the tsarist court. He was distinguished by military skill and political loyalty. In 1878, during the Russo-Turkish War , he became major general . In 1883 Bobrikov was appointed head of the Saint Petersburg military area.

Governor General

In 1898 the Russian Tsar appointed Bobrikov Governor General of Finland . A year later, on February 15, 1899, Tsar Nicholas II signed the so-called February Manifesto . It marked the beginning of the so-called "years of oppression" ( Finnish sortovuodet ). The February manifesto severely curtailed Finnish self-government rights that Tsar Alexander I had promised in 1809. According to the February Manifesto, Russian laws should take precedence over Finnish legislation in Finland as well. Half a million Finns turned against the February manifesto in a signature campaign (Suuri adressi 1899) . However, Tsar Nicholas II refused to receive the delegation that was supposed to deliver the petition.

Russification of Finland

General Bobrikov's task was to counter the beginnings of Finnish separatism. He campaigned heavily for the curtailment of Finnish self-government rights and for a stronger Russification of Finland. In 1900 he decreed that all correspondence between the authorities was to be conducted in Russian. The teaching of the Russian language should be strengthened in Finnish schools. In 1901 the independent Finnish army was abolished. Finnish conscripts were now forced to serve in Russian units throughout the empire.

In 1903 Tsar Nicholas II gave General Bobrikov additional powers of attorney. In future he had the right to dismiss Finnish state officials directly. He also received extensive censorship rights against the Finnish newspapers and restricted freedom of assembly and association.

assassination

Funeral procession with Bobrikov's body in front of Uspensky Cathedral in Helsinki

Because of his administration, Bobrikov became more and more a target of hatred among the Finnish people. On June 16, 1904, the young Finnish nationalist Eugen Schauman (1875–1904) committed an attempt to murder Bobrikov in the Helsinki Senate . Schauman then shot himself. A day later, Bobrikov died of serious gunshot wounds.

Private life

Nikolai Bobrikow married Olga Petrovna Leontjewa in Kazan in 1867, with whom he had five children. After Olga's death in 1895, he married the general daughter Elisabeth (Jelisaweta Iwanowna) Stael von Holstein and had another daughter with her.

literature

• Gerhard von Pelet-Narbonne (ed.): V. Löbells' annual reports on changes and advances in the military. XXXI. Born: 1904, ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1905, p. 527.
• Tuomo Polvinen: Imperial Borderland. Bobrikov and the Attempted Russification of Finland. 1898-1904. Hurst & Company, London 1995, ISBN 1850652295 .

Web links

Commons : Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Päiviö Tommila : Suuri adressi 1899, Helsinki 1999