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to the north, meanwhile, overtook the Finns in Ostrobothnia, along the Pyhäjoki (river). On April 16 a battle broke out in the vicinity of Yppäri: Colonel Löwenhjelm had received permission to engage in battle with all three available brigades, and although Klingspor had once more changed his mind and given the order to retreat, Löwenhjelm had gone on with the battle on his own authority and had been wounded and taken prisoner. Two days later an almost similar situation developed and the Siikajoki battle commenced. Finnish victory in that battle, however, did not alter the general situation, for after the battle was ordered another retreat, a day's march toward Oulu. However, the contact between the forces indicated it was not impossible to win over the Russians. When Klingspor learned, then, that a detachment of the enemy had reached Revonlahti, he was afraid of being encircled and gave the order for battle. The Finns won, and with that victory there began a brief period of counter-attack. But the series of victories was followed by another period of withdrawals, all the way to the Swedish border. All that remained for the Russians now was the capture of the Viapori fortress in the outer harbor of Helsinki. In their advance, the Russians had left Viapori behind their backs, for taking that bastion swiftly would have been impossible. It was considered wiser to trust to encirclement, to sporadic bombing to weaken its defenders, and to bribery. With this combination results were achieved, and the fortress surrendered on the first of May. 9

In spite of their successes, the Russian campaign in Finland did not come up to their expectations, for the war had dragged out too long. The world situation changed so radically that Russia seemed about to remain without those advantages in the Balkans, for the sake of which she had made her league with France. Therefore, in order to gain at least some profit, Alexander, at his meeting in Erfurt with Napoleon, wrung from him permission to keep Finland. And to this Sweden had to acquiese at the Peace

of Hamina in 1809.10

The Period of Russian Domination

Russian plans originally called for the four Estates of the Finnish Diet to meet together in February 1808, in order to have their help in organizing the country's affairs within a new framework, but since this had to be delayed, Alexander requested that representatives of all four Estates from areas already occupied

9. op. cit. T. V. Viljanen, "Suomen sota vv. 1808-1809", I, pp. 699-742.

10. op. cit. Erkki K. Osmonsalo, "Suomen valtion perustaminen," II, pp. 1-52.

10


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