The Policy of the Finnish Governor-General N. N. Gerard in the Newspaper “Novoye Vremya” and Official Documents

Abstract

The activity of the Russian administration in the Grand Duchy of Finland during the First Russian Revolution is of considerable interest. In 1905–1906, the tsarist government pursued a policy of concessions in Finland. It was implemented by the Finnish Governor-General N. N. Gerard, who held this post in 1905—1908. A special place in the activity of N. N. Gerard was occupied by personnel policy. Gerard also had to counteract the development of the revolutionary movement in Finland. Gerard carried out a massive change of officials in the Grand Duchy of Finland in the interests of the local constitutionalist party.During his governorship, Gerard pursued a policy of yielding to the demands of Finnish political leaders, which was criticized in the Russian press. Especially negative was the assessment of the activities of Gerard in the newspaper “Novoe vremya”. The Finnish administration and personally Gerard actively refuted the data given in the articles of "Novoye Vremya". The paper provides a comparative analysis of the texts of newspaper publications and the official documents in order to determine the reliability of data on the “anti-Russian” policy of the Finnish Governor-General in 1905—1908 and the reasons for critical publications in the press.