Comments on: Finnish Voting Reforms in 1906, as Reported in Historic Newspapers

By: III-Companies in the Balkans(1902-1918) | ISSD

III-Companies in the Balkans(1902-1918) | ISSD — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:15:58 +0000

[…] Finland becomes the first European country to give women the right to vote. […]

By: A ascensão das mulheres na política finlandesa - BrasileirasPeloMundo.com

A ascensão das mulheres na política finlandesa - BrasileirasPeloMundo.com — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 08:00:29 +0000

[…] mulheres passaram a ter direitos políticos na Finlândia a partir de um decreto datado de 1906 em que o Parlamento da Finlândia, após uma reforma de sufrágio, dentre outros direitos a outras […]

By: Gustav Wickström

Gustav Wickström — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 11:18:33 +0000

I happened today, 13th of Jan 2018, to read the article as well as my comment once more and may be able to answer the question I put myself. Due to the Rujssian governements striving to undo the autonomy of Finland, officially launched by the tsar Nikolaj II in the beginning of 1898, it was considered important to rally all Finns behind the struggle to stop the Russification. After to Russian-Japanese war in 1904-05, which the Russians lost, there was launched a general strike, the first ever, first in Russia and after that also in Finland. The workers movement had shown it´s strength and it was important for the bourgoise (?) parties to have everybody aboard, when demanding reform of the voting system. The socialdemocrats demanded not only voting rights for both men and women, but also- as I understand – the abolition of the different chambers. To please the, Leo Mechelin and other leading right-wing politicians, agreed to demand a one-chamber “parliament”. As ut`s decision anyway had to be approved by the Russian goverment, Nicholaus II accepted this. When he was ousted in the beginning of 1917 the Finnish parliament happened for the first time to have a left-wing majority. Due to the many progressive laws it accepted, it was dissolved by the interim Russian government. In the new election that followed, the right wing won back the majority of seats.

By: Gustav Wickström

Gustav Wickström — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 13:12:47 +0000

The article is most interesting. How come the Finnish parliament got only one chamber? Where all the previous four estates/groups ready to accept a one chamber parliament solution, or was some of them against it? Was the decision to have only one chamber in the parliament made by officials/ bureaucrats, by politicians or by the media/the general opinion? The Russian Duma, launched in the same time,was divided into two chambers. Did the tsar have the same rights to regulate the decisions made by the Duma as he had in relation to the Finnish parliament?
Gustav Wickström
gustav.wickstrom@gmail.com