all Slav people into one, and which in internal policy led to the oppression of all minority nationalities. The attacks directed against Finland during the reign of Alexander III were not, then, isolated phenomena but a link in a major, general persecution directed against the empire's foreign members. In Finland, the postal system became the first victim: all Finnish aspects of it had to be erased, especially Finnish postage stamps. During the entire latter half of the reign, the attacks against Finland's special position continued. When Alexander III died in 1894, the atmosphere was tense. 12

Very little was known about the new sovereign, Nicholas II. In Finland, however, restlessness prevailed when he ascended the throne, because the customary oath to Finland took a week in coming, but as earlier rulers had done, so Nicholas II also guaranteed to uphold the country's religion and constitution, as well as the rights which the country's inhabitants had enjoyed up to this time. At the same time, however, forces inimical to Finland continued their attacks unremittingly, particularly in the press, and no attempts to prevent their attacks were made. During Nicholas II's reign, the tempest approached from two directions the military conscription question as well as the issue of enactment of laws both seemed inflammable matters.

The storm broke in 1898 with the appointment of N. I. Bobrikov as Governor-General of Finland. It was an appointment which indicated the victory of those circles which wanted the complete elimination of Finnish rights, for Bobrikov was known to be an ardent Panslavist. The first blow was an act which eliminated Finland's special status with one stroke. This so-called February Manifesto of 1899 was a coup-d'etat and signified a turning point in Finnish history: it destroyed what Alexander I and his successors had done to regulate relations between Finland and the Empire. The measures which now followed forced the Finns at last to seek their own road, by-passing the seat of power and the institutions representing this imperial power. The way was cleared for the eventual complete separation from Russia as the country started down the final stretch toward independence.

Just as a flash of lightning in the dark of night can suddenly show the wayfarer an abyss before him, so the February Manifesto brought into relief many social injustices in Finland. Opinion had been quite general in Finland that by virtue of the ancient heritage of the freedom of the peasants, social conditions were better there

12. op. cit. Erkki K. Osmonsalo, "Perustuslaillisen kehityksen kausi", II, pp. 164-288.

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