Russian-Language Periodicals in Finland at the Beginning of the 20th Century: Finljandskaja Gazeta

Abstract

At the turn of the 19th–20th centuries internal political struggle in Russia is escalating, militaristic tendencies in Europe are intensifying. On the “western outskirts” of the empire, anti-Russian, nationalist and separatist sentiments are spreading more and more widely. Under these conditions, the idea of a “united and indivisible Russia” is being actualized as a fundamental principle of state policy. This idea became the core of the process of Russification of the “outskirts”. The government’s Finlyandskaya Gazeta (1900– 1917) became the brainchild of the incipient process of Russification. The newspaper’s ideological pathos, concept, and tasks formulated by its editor I.A. Bazhenov are discussed in this article.