The Finnish War of 1808-1809 arose because of the Napoleonic Wars that raged on the European continent at the time. By June 1807, Napoleon had defeated nearly all France’s enemies, including Russia. Only Portugal, Great Britain and Sweden remained.

Russia had lost the bloody battle at Friedland on 14 June and had been forced to negotiate. Tsar Alexander I met Napoleon aboard a raft moored in the Neman River near the East Prussian town of Tilsit to sign a peace treaty. It was here that the two emperors divided up Europe between themselves. Alexander I was given the task of forcing Sweden to join the trade embargo Napoleon was running against Great Britain. Napoleon believed he could starve out his British enemy by forcing all European countries to break off trade with them.

Tsar Alexander I tried to make Sweden join the trade embargo, but Sweden sold tar, timber and ore to Great Britain and refused to comply. The Russians replied by launching an attack over the Kymi River on 21 February 1808. By the spring of 1808, the Russians occupied nearly all of Finland, while the Swedish-Finnish army retreated back to Uleåborg (Oulu). The Swedes’ greatest hope lay to the south, however: the fortified harbour of Sveaborg (Suomenlinna), considered too strong to be captured.

However, when Sveaborg’s commandant Carl Olof Cronstedt surrendered inexplicably in May, the Swedish war plan fell apart. The intention had been to land new troops at Sveaborg who would then join the army at Uleåborg and drive the Russians out of Finland. Now the army corps at Uleåborg was left to fight the battle on its own. The Swedish offensive began well and large parts of Finland, all the way to Vaasa, were recaptured. But then the war turned: the Russians received reinforcements and the Swedes ran into supply problems.

This was the age of the great armies. To the south, forces 100,000-men strong waged war on Europe’s battlefields. War in Finland and Sweden was very different, however. The sparsely populated districts were unable to provide food, warmth and accommodation for so many soldiers. For this reason both the Swedish and Russian armies were kept relatively small – around 20,000 men.

Though the Swedish army had supply storehouses in all the more important areas across Finland and Sweden, supplies were lacking. In the summer of 1808 the Swedes were forced to halt their advance to wait for more supplies. They were even forced to lay down their weapons for a time in order to bake bread. The Russians used this time to call for reinforcements.

The last battle fought on the eastern side of the Swedish kingdom took place at Oravais (Oravainen) on 14 September and ended in a Swedish defeat. It was after this that the Swedish-Finnish army retreated to Uleåborg and in December, crossed the Torneälven River to the western side of the kingdom. A cease-fire agreement was drawn up and fighting stopped for the entire winter.

The winter camps in the far north of Sweden were hit hard by disease. Parts of the Swedish army were either sent home or to the south to try to relieve the pressure placed on the poor districts around Torneå. When spring came and the Russians renewed their attack, the weakened Swedish army was forced to surrender. The result was the Russian occupation of Västerbotten County as far south as the Öre River, and of Åland.

Meanwhile, a coup d’état was taking place in Stockholm. On 13 March, disgruntled Swedish noblemen deposed King Gustaf IV Adolf. The ensuing power struggle delayed peace negotiations until the summer of 1809. By this time the Russian army in Västerbotten County had eaten almost all the stockpiles of supplies available. So as not to starve to death, the Russians planned to attack the Swedes on the other side of the Öre River and secure fresh supplies.

While this was taking place, the Swedes decided on one last attempt to defeat the Russians so as to gain a stronger position from which to negotiate. They sent an expeditionary force of around 6,800 men up from southern Sweden by ship. These troops landed at Ratan on 17 August and two days later met the Russian forces at Sävar in the last battle of the war. The Swedes were defeated and returned to the south, while the Russians slowly withdrew to the north.

A peace treaty was signed at Fredrikshamn on 17 September and Finland was lost to the Russians. The Finnish troops in Umeå were thanked for their efforts before being sent home to an uncertain future under Russian rule. Though the war was over, some Russian troops remained in Sweden until as late as November.

The war cost approximately 20,000 Swedish and Finnish soldiers their lives, and surely as many, if not more, Russian lives, not to mention the large number of civilians who died as a result of the diseases the armies brought with them. This war was the last war fought on Swedish soil and will hopefully remain so. There is no guarantee, however, that the 200 years of peace that have passed since then will continue forever.