Viipuri Province Totally Explained

Everything about The Viipuri Province totally explained

The Viipuri province () was a province of Finland in Finnish Karelia. It included most of the territories of Old Finland, which had been ceded to Russia by Sweden in the Treaty of Nystad (Uusikaupunki) (1721) and Treaty of Åbo (Turku) (1743), organized into Vyborg Governorate in 1744 (named Finland Governorate in 1802-1812) and joined to the newly formed autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire by Alexander I of Russia on January 4 1812 (December 23 1811 O.S.). The area had a well-developed economy due to its proximity to Saint Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire. The center of the province was the city of Viipuri (also Viborg, now Vyborg), then second largest city of Finland. The province was subdivided into nine counties: Ranta, Äyräpää, Käkisalmi, Kurkijoki, Kymi, Lappee, Salmi, Sortavala and Jääski . In 1856 Saimaa Canal (Сайменский канал -- Saymensky kanal in Russian) was opened, linking Lake Saimaa and Finnish Lakeland to the Bay of Viborg. The development of the province was bolstered further by the construction of the Saint Petersburg–Riihimäki railroad (1870), Viborg–Joensuu railroad (1894) and Petrograd–Hiitola railroad (1917). Granite, marble (in Ruskeala) and bog iron mining as well as logging were important branches of industry. Starting from the beginning of the 20th century, a number of hydroelectric power plants were built by Enso in the higher reaches of the River Vuoksi to supply its pulp and paper mills. In 1906-1939 the province was divided between two electoral districts, Western and Eastern.
In 1917 the province became part of independent Finland, but in 1918, during the Finnish Civil War, its western part with Viipuri was held by the short-lived Finnish Socialist Republic. As of 1939 Viipuri province was the most populous in Finland with a population of 620,838 (438,060 as of 1903, 330,823 as of 1887) and land area of 32,134 km² (about 43 thousand km² with the surface of the Finnish part of Lake Ladoga). The Kymi River was its natural western border, Rajajoki was its natural southern border. Both the second President of Finland Lauri Kristian Relander and Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, grandfather of the sixth President, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, were governors of Viipuri province.
Most of the province, 22,973 km² (71.5%), namely the Karelian Isthmus with the city of Viipuri and Ladoga Karelia with the city of Sortavala, was ceded by Finland to the USSR in the Moscow Peace Treaty after the Winter War (1939-1940), and included into the Karelo-Finnish SSR of the Soviet Union. The entire population of the ceded territories of more than 400 thousand people was voluntarily evacuated to inner Finland. In 1941, during the Continuation War, Finland recaptured the territories, but in 1944 retreated and reconfirmed its territorial losses in the Moscow Armistice (September 19, 1944) and Paris Peace Treaty (1947). The returned Karelian population was evacuated again, and the territories were repopulated by people from other parts of the Soviet Union. This time Karelian Isthmus was included within Leningrad Oblast (Vyborgsky District and Priozersky District), and only Ladoga Karelia and Border Karelia became part of the Karelo-Finnish SSR. While Ladoga Karelia retained most of its original toponyms, the vast majority of toponyms in the Karelian Isthmus were renamed by the Soviet government around 1948. In 1945 the parts of the province which remained in Finnish hands were renamed Kymi province with its center at Kouvola. Kymi province was in turn merged with other regions into Southern Finland province on September 1 1997.

Cities, towns and municipalities as of 1939

Cities, towns and municipalities ceded to the Soviet Union during WWII are given in italics.

Cities

Hamina - Fredrikshamn
Kotka
Käkisalmi - Kexholm
Lappeenranta - Villmanstrand (website)
Sortavala - Sordavala (website)
Viipuri - Viborg (website 1, website 2)

Towns

Kouvola

Koivisto - Björkö (website

)

Lahdenpohja (website

)

Lauritsala (merged into Lappeenranta in 1967)

Rural municipalities

Finnish/Swedish name. Main village with the same name unless otherwise noted

Antrea - S:t Andree (website

)

Haapasaari - Aspö

Harlu (website

)

Heinjoki (website

)

Hiitola (website

)

Impilahti - Impilax (website

)

Jaakkima (website

)

Johannes (website

) - S:t Johannes

Joutseno (website

)

Jääski- Jäskis (partially lost, the rest incorporated into Imatra, Joutseno and Ruokolahti in 1948)

Kanneljärvi (website

)

Kaukola (website

)

Kirvu - Kirvus (website

)

Kivennapa - Kivinebb (website

)

Koiviston maalaiskunta - Björkö landkommun (Koivisto rural commune) (website

)

Korpiselkä (partially lost, the rest incorporated into Tuupovaara in 1946)( website

)

Kuolemajärvi (website

)

Kurkijoki - Kronoborg (website

)

Kymi - Kymmene (became part of Kotka in 1977)

Käkisalmen maalaiskunta - Kexholms landkommun (Käkisalmi rural commune)

Lappee (became part of Lappeenranta in 1967) - Lappvesi

Lavansaari - Lövskär (website

)

Lemi - Klemis

Lumivaara (website

)

Luumäki

Metsäpirtti (website

)

Miehikkälä

Muolaa - Mohla (Kyyrölä merged into Muolaa in 1934) (website

)

Nuijamaa (became part of Lappeenranta in 1989)

Parikkala (website

)

Pyhtää - Pyttis

Pyhäjärvi (website

)

Rautjärvi (website

)

Rautu - Rautus (website

)

Ruokolahti - Ruokolax (website

)

Ruskeala

Räisälä (website

)

Saari (merged into Parikkala in 2005) (website

)

Sakkola (website

)

Salmi - Salmis (website

)

Savitaipale

Seiskari - Seitskär

Simpele (partially lost, the rest incorporated into Rautjärvi in 1973)

Sippola (merged with Anjala into Anjalankosken kauppala in 1975)

Soanlahti

Sortavalan maalaiskunta - Sordavala landkommun (Sortavala rural commune)

Suistamo (website

)

Suojärvi (website

)

Suomenniemi

Suursaari - Hogland

Säkkijärvi (partially lost, the rest incorporated into Miehikkälä and Ylämaa in 1946)

Taipalsaari

Terijoki (website

)

Tytärsaari - Tytärskär

Uukuniemi (merged into Parikkala in 2005) (website

)

Uusikirkko - Nykyrka (website

)

Vahviala

Valkeala

Valkjärvi (website

)

Vehkalahti - Veckelax (became part of Hamina in 2003)

Viipurin maalaiskunta - Viborgs landkommun (Viipuri rural commune)

Virolahti - Vederlax (website

)

Vuoksela (website

)

Vuoksenranta

Ylämaa (website

)

Äyräpää (main village - Pölläkkälä)

Western electoral district

Antrea, Haapasaari, Hamina, Johannes, Kanneljärvi, Koivisto, Koiviston maalaiskunta, Kotka, Kouvola, Kuolemajärvi, Kymi, Lappee, Lappeenranta, Lauritsala, Lavansaari, Lemi, Luumäki, Miehikkälä, Nuijamaa, Pyhtää (Pyttis), Savitaipale, Seiskari, Simpele, Sippola, Suomenniemi, Suursaari, Säkkijärvi, Taipalsaari, Tytärsaari, Uusikirkko, Vahviala, Valkeala, Vehkalahti, Viipuri, Viipurin maalaiskunta, Virolahti, Ylämaa

Eastern electoral district

Antrea, Harlu, Heinjoki, Hiitola, Impilahti, Jaakkima, Joutseno, Jääski, Kaukola, Kirvu, Kivennapa, Korpiselkä, Kurkijoki, Käkisalmen maalaiskunta, Käkisalmi, Lahdenpohja, Lumivaara, Metsäpirtti, Muolaa, Parikkala, Pyhäjärvi, Rautjärvi, Rautu, Ruokolahti, Ruskeala, Räisälä, Sakkola, Salmi, Simpele, Soanlahti, Sortavala, Sortavalan maalaiskunta, Suistamo, Suojärvi, Terijoki, Uukuniemi, Valkjärvi, Vuoksela, Vuoksenranta, Äyräpää

Governors

Grand Duchy of Finland

1812-1815 Carl Johan Stjernvall (1764-1815)

1816-1820 Carl Johan Walleen (1781-1851)

1820-1821 Otto Vilhelm Klinckowström (1778-1850, acting)

1821-1825 Otto Vilhelm Klinckowström

1825-1827 Carl August Ramsay (1791-1855, acting)

1827-1834 Carl August Ramsay

1834-1839 Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (1797-1854)

1839-1844 Fredric Stewen (1798-1851)

1844-1946 Casimir von Kothen (1807-1880, acting)

1846-1853 Casimir von Kothen

1853-1856 Alexander Thesleff (1810-1856)

1856-1866 Bernhard Indrenius (1812-1884)

1866-1882 Christian Theodor Oker-Blom (1822-1900)

1882-1885 Woldemar Carl von Daehn (1838-1900)

1885-1888 Sten Carl Tudeer (acting) (1840-1905)

1888-1889 Sten Carl Tudeer

1889-1899 Johan Axel Gripenberg (1833-1918)

1900-1902 Nikolai von Rechenberg (1846-1908)

1902-1905 Nikolay Myasoyedov (b.1850)

1905 Konstantin Kazansky (b. 1867, acting)

1905 Konstantin Kazansky

1905-1906 Mikael von Medem (acting)

1906-1907 Nikolai von Rechenberg

1907-1910 Birger Gustaf Samuel von Troil (1868-1926)

1910-1917 Frans Carl Fredrik Josef von Pfaler (1865-1937)

Finland

1917 Vilho Sarkanen (1884-1940, acting)

1917-1918 Valfrid Suhonen (b. 1871, acting)

Finnish Socialist Republic

1918 Jalmari Kirjarinta (provincial commissar, 1881-1938)

Finland

1918-1920 Antti Verner Hackzell (1881-1946)

1920-1925 Lauri Kristian Relander (1883-1942)

1920-1944 Arvo Manner (1887-1962, until 1955 governor of Kymi province)

Notable people born in Viipuri province

Martti Ahtisaari (b. 1937 in Viipuri), 10th President of Finland

Erik Bruun (b. 1926, Viipuri), Finnish graphic designer

Laila Hietamies (b. 1938, Viipuri), Finnish writer

Gustav Hägglund (b. 1938 in Viipuri), Finnish general

Max Jakobson (b. 1923 in Viipuri), Finnish diplomat

Armas Järnefelt (1869, Viborg – 1958, Stockholm), Finnish composer and conductor

Gustaf Komppa (1867, Viipuri – 1949), Finnish chemist

Julius Krohn (1835, Viborg - 1888), Fennoman

Edwin Linkomies (1894, Viborg – 1963, Helsinki), Prime Minister of Finland

Veijo Meri (b. 1928, Viipuri), Finnish writer

Ernst Mielck (b. 1877, Viborg – 1899), Finnish composer

Masa Niemi (1914, Viborg – 1960, Tampere), Finnish comedian

Algoth Niska (1888, Viborg – 1954), Finnish adventurer

Juho Niukkanen (1888, Kirvu – 1954, Helsinki), Finnish minister

Karl Lennart Oesch (1892, Pyhäjärvi – 1978, Helsinki), Finnish general

Lauri Kristian Relander (1883, Kurkijoki – 1942, Helsinki), 2nd President of Finland

Usko Santavuori (1922, Viipuri – 2003, Espoo), Finnish radio reporter

Lauri Törni (1919, Viipuri – 1965, Vietnam), Finnish and American military officer

Uno Ullberg (1879, Viipuri –1944, Helsinki), Finnish architect

Johannes Virolainen (1914, near Viipuri - 2000), Prime Minister of FinlandFurther Information

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