History of Russia: “The Russian Empire and the rise of the Grand Duchy of Finland” exhibition opens in St. - Petersburg

The exhibition “The Russian Empire and the rise of the Grand Duchy of Finland” was opened on November, 11 in the Russian State Historical Archive in St. – Petersburg.

The exhibition displays unique archival documents, maps, museum’s exhibits which truly represent the events of the first half of XIX century, the reasons and the course of the Russo-Swedish and the Finnish-Swedish wars, the development of new lands, the agreement on peace treaty, the new status of Finland and its gaining statehood as a part of the Russian Empire.

The visitors will be able to see the personal and official documents of the first Finnish Governors-General - Georg Sprengtporten and Arseny Zakrevsky, and also Russian statesmen who played a significant role in the rise of the Grand Duchy of Finland - Mikhail Speransky, Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt and Robert Rehbinder. The exhibition also represents the documents of the Heads of Superior and Central State Institutions who interacted with the institutions of the Grand Duchy of Finland – Nikolay Saltykov, Alexander Rumyantsev et cetera.

All the documents, books, drawings, photos, medals and other exhibits have been provided by the Russian State Historical Archive, the National Archives of Finland, the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, the State Hermitage Museum, the Historical-Documentary department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and others.