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Georg Magnus Sprengtporten

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Count
Georg Magnus Sprengtporten
Personal details
Born(1740-12-16)16 December 1740
Porvoo, Kingdom of Sweden
Died13 October 1819(1819-10-13) (aged 78)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
RelationsJacob Magnus Sprengtporten (brother)

Count Georg Magnus Sprengtporten[a] (16 December 1740 – 13 October 1819) was a Finland-Swedish politician, count, baron, and general of the infantry. Sprengtporten is a controversial figure in the histories of Sweden, Finland, and Russia. In Sweden, he is viewed as a traitor for defecting to the Russian court. In Finland, opinions about him are divided because he betrayed Sweden but also contributed to Finland's independence from Sweden as a patriot. In Russia, he is seen as a statesman who played a key role in establishing the Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire.[1][2][3][2][4][5]

Early life

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Sprengtporten was born in Porvoo (Borgå), Uusimaa (Nyland), Kingdom of Sweden (now Finland). His younger brother waa Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten. He entered the army and rose to the rank of captain during the Seven Years' War. He assisted his brother in the revolution of 1772, and in 1775 was made a colonel and brigadier of the Savolax brigade in east Finland. Here he distinguished himself greatly as an organizer and administrator. The military school which he founded at Haapaniemi (then Tuhkaniemi), Kuopio (1 August 1780 until 1 May 1781 when it was moved to Haapaniemi estate in Rantasalmi, where it operated until a transfer to Hamina in 1819) subsequently became a state institution (Hamina Cadet School).[6]

American Republican Ideals for Finland

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Sprengtporten was offended in 1788 because King of Sweden Gustav III did not invite him to the Riksdag of the Estates. Like his brother he also came to the conclusion that his services had not been adequately appreciated, and the flattering way in which he was welcomed by the Russian court during a visit to Saint Petersburg in 1779 still further incensed him against the perceived ingratitude of his own sovereign.[2]

For the next two years he was in the French service. He desired to join the American Revolutionary War to fight against the English rule, but due to French confusions, he was not dispatched to North America. He returned to Finland in 1781.[2]

Due in part to contacts with Benjamin Franklin who was there contemporaneously he conceived of the idea of separating the grand duchy from Sweden. Sprengtporten's concept of a separate state was not original, as Empress of Russia Elizabeth proposed a new Kingdom of Finland in 1742. Franklin did not see Sprengtporten's idea as a realistic plan.[6][3] This aim was first approached through the Walhalla-orden subversive secret society and scheming with the king's brother, Charles XIII of Sweden. This scheming was apparently stillborn, as Charles informed his brother of the schemers' approaches.[2]

Constitution for the Confederation of Finland

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Sprengtporten accused Sweden of exploiting Finland, comparing it to England's exploitation of its colonies. The chosen Plan B was to establish an independent state under the protection of Russia. He drafted a constitution for the Federation of Finland in 1786. During the Riksdag of 1786 he openly opposed Gustav III of Sweden, at the same time engaging in a secret and treasonable correspondence with the Russian ministers with the view of inducing them to assist his plans for an independent Finland by force of arms.[6][3][2]

Russian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Finland

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Count, General Georg Magnus Sprengtporten by Berndt Godenhjelm.

In the same year, at the invitation of Catherine the Great of Russia, he formally entered the Russian service.[1]

Sweden, as a former European superpower, sought revenge against Russia for losses in the Great Northern War and the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743, leading King Gustav III to initiate a surprise war. When the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 began, Sprengtporten received the command of a Russian army corps directed against Finland.[1]

He took no direct part in the Anjala conspiracy but urged Catherine the Great to support it more energetically. His own negotiations with his fellow countrymen, especially after Gustav III of Sweden had brought the treacherous army officers of the Anjala conspiracy back to their allegiance, failed utterly. Nor was he able to serve Russia very effectively in the field for he was seriously wounded at the battle of Porrassalmi 1789. At the end of the war, indeed, his position was somewhat precarious, as the High Court of Turku condemned him as a traitor, while Catherine the Great regarded him as an incompetent impostor who could not perform his promises.[1]

After the war, Russia's geopolitical focus was elsewhere from the western border, and Sprengtporten's services were not required. Sprengtporten was badly wounded in the war, and he sought medical treatments in different parts of Europe. For the next five years, between 1793–1798, he thought it expedient to leave Russia and live at Teplice in Bohemia. Sprengtporten befriended Giacomo Casanova after meeting him at a spa.[1]

He was re-employed by the emperor Paul of Russia in 1798. Emperor Paul promoted Sprengtporten in the rank of General of the Infantry. Emperor Paul sent him to negotiate with Napoleon concerning the Maltese Order and the interchange of Russian war prisoners in Holland in 1800. Emperor Paul was assassinated in 1801. The new Emperor Alexander I was aware of the assassination plan beforehand, which made it difficult for Sprengtporten to approach Alexander I because he was an ally of the assassinated Emperor.[1]

Sprengtporten presented Emperor Alexander I with a comprehensive plan in 1805 to establish the Kingdom of Poland and an independent Finland.[1]

Sprengtportent was consulted in 1808 on the eve of the outbreak of the Finnish War. Sprengtporten devised a modern and proficient war plan to conquer Finland. Although Alexander I offered him a military role in the conquest of Finland, he refused the offer. Instead, Sprengtporten served as an advisor to Count Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Buxhoevden, who acted as the supreme commander. The Russian army conquered Finland within a few months.[1]

Sprengtporten argued with von Buxhoevden, who sought to make Finland a Russian province. Instead, Sprengtporten advocated for Finland's independence or at least autonomy, leading to his resignation from the advisory role.[1]

Sprengtporten lobbied the Russian Imperial Court vigorously, and Russia agreed to organise the Diet of Finland in Porvoo. Emperor Alexander I approved the plan, with support from Count Alexey Andreyevich Arakcheyev.[1]

On 1 December 1808 he was appointed the first Russian Governor-General of Finland with the title of Count.[6][2][1]

Retirement

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The last ten years of his life were lived in retirement. He supported important Finnish individuals who worked for the Russian court. Sprengtporten never gained the friendship of Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, who was the Chairman of the Committee for Finnish Affairs. Sprengtporten died in Saint Petersburg in 1819.[2][6]

Titles

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Honours

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Memorial stones

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Georg Magnus Sprengtporten's Memorial stones are located in Harbour park (Satamapuisto) of Kuopio, near the port of Kuopio and near the place where his military school was originally located. While staying in Teplice, Sprengtporten was in regular contact with the Count Waldstein's librarian, Giacomo Casanova. Their correspondence has been saved and is well known to scholars.

Notes

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  1. ^ ‹See Tfd›Russian: Егор Максимович Шпренгпортен, romanized: Egor Maksimovič Šprengporten, pronounced [jɪˈɡor məkˈsʲiməvʲɪtɕ ʂprʲɪnkˈportʲɪn]; Swedish: Göran Magnus Sprengtporten, pronounced [ˈjœːrɑn ˈmɑŋnʉs ˈspreŋːtˌpuːrten]; Finnish: Yrjö Maunu Sprengtporten, pronounced [ˈyrjø ˈmɑu̯nu ˈspreŋtpuːrt(ː)en].

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Sprengtporten, Georg Magnus (1740 - 1819)". National Biography of Finland. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ramel, Stig; Kuuranne, Iiro (2005). Yrjö Maunu Sprengtporten: maanpetturi ja patriootti. Otava, kustannusosakeyhtiö. Helsingissä: Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-19074-5.
  3. ^ a b c Seura (2021-12-06). "Suomesta tavoiteltiin tasavaltaa jo 1700-luvulla – Aatelinen upseeri Yrjö Sprengtporten oli asialla tukijoukkoineen". Seura.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  4. ^ Yrjö-Koskinen, Yrjö Sakari (1870). Yrjö Maunu Sprengtporten'ista ja Suomen itsenäisyydestä. Helsingissä: K. E. Holm.
  5. ^ Kuusi, Sakari (1928). Suuria suomalaisia. 3: Yrjö Maunu Sprengtporten, Kaarle Juhana Adlercreutz, Jaakko Tengström, Mattias Calonius, Robert Henrik Rehbinder. Jyväskylä: Gummerus.
  6. ^ a b c d e  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "Sprengtporten, Göran Magnus, Count". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 737–738.
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Political offices
Vacant Governor-General of Finland
1808-1809 		Succeeded by
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