• Hi Guest!

    The costs of running this forum are covered by Sea Lion Press. If you'd like to help support the company and the forum, visit patreon.com/sealionpress

WI Finland had remained a monarchy?

Hendryk

Taken back control yet?
Published by SLP
Location
France
For a brief while after becoming independent from Russia, Finland was a monarchy. But since the would-be king chosen by the Finnish Parliament was a Hessian prince, the defeat of the Central Powers led to the throne remaining vacant. After a few months during which Finland was officially a Regency, it eventually proclaimed itself a Republic in July 1919.

But what if, instead of Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, the chosen king had been, say, Prince Harald of Denmark? Would the Finns have proceeded with his crowning regardless of the Central Powers' defeat? What difference might it have made in the later history of the country?
 
Wasn't the entire reason for having a monarchy to try and tie the country to Germany as an ally when they looked like they were going to win?

Judging by the fact that a republic was initially declared, the monarchy required a civil war and the exclusion of the Social Democrats from parliament to implement, and republican parties won three quarters of the seats in the election of 1919, I can't see any monarch actually lasting without outside influence.
 
Wasn't the entire reason for having a monarchy to try and tie the country to Germany as an ally when they looked like they were going to win?

Judging by the fact that a republic was initially declared, the monarchy required a civil war and the exclusion of the Social Democrats from parliament to implement, and republican parties won three quarters of the seats in the election of 1919, I can't see any monarch actually lasting without outside influence.
Agreed that to have a permanent, lasting monarchy in Finland you might very well need to have the CPs win WWI and then subsequently exert strong influence on Finland--including in the post-war years and decades.
 
Wasn't the entire reason for having a monarchy to try and tie the country to Germany as an ally when they looked like they were going to win?

Judging by the fact that a republic was initially declared, the monarchy required a civil war and the exclusion of the Social Democrats from parliament to implement, and republican parties won three quarters of the seats in the election of 1919, I can't see any monarch actually lasting without outside influence.

Indeed, but I've wondered what would happen in Finland took the opposite tack. In other words, use a monarch from the Swedish Royal Family but remain independent (in this case, Prinssi Vilhelm <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Wilhelm,_Duke_of_Södermanland>) so that Finland wouldn't have to be forced to choose a side? Alternatively, it would be just as interesting if a hybrid arose between the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic and a Sweden-derived monarchy, either a personal union with the Swedish monarchy much like the current OTL relationship between the Comonweaslth realms and the British monarchy or the alternative I just mentioned earlier with Prinssi Vilhelm (although anyone else within the House of Bernadotte could work).
 
Indeed, but I've wondered what would happen in Finland took the opposite tack. In other words, use a monarch from the Swedish Royal Family but remain independent (in this case, Prinssi Vilhelm <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Wilhelm,_Duke_of_Södermanland>) so that Finland wouldn't have to be forced to choose a side? Alternatively, it would be just as interesting if a hybrid arose between the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic and a Sweden-derived monarchy, either a personal union with the Swedish monarchy much like the current OTL relationship between the Comonweaslth realms and the British monarchy or the alternative I just mentioned earlier with Prinssi Vilhelm (although anyone else within the House of Bernadotte could work).
That sounds like an interesting possibility.
 
Judging by the fact that a republic was initially declared, the monarchy required a civil war and the exclusion of the Social Democrats from parliament to implement, and republican parties won three quarters of the seats in the election of 1919, I can't see any monarch actually lasting without outside influence.
How about the fallback solution that was tried for a few months, leaving the throne vacant with Mannerheim as Regent? A Hungarian solution, in other words.
 
How about the fallback solution that was tried for a few months, leaving the throne vacant with Mannerheim as Regent? A Hungarian solution, in other words.
What about after Mannerheim's death? A new Regent from among Mannerheim's male family members?
 
What about after Mannerheim's death? A new Regent from among Mannerheim's male family members?
Well, I'm not aware of an OTL case of a regency lasting beyond the initial regent's lifetime, so all bets are off. Maybe the Spanish precedent prevails and the Finns decide that they prefer a figurehead king to another strongman, or maybe the pro-republic faction decides that it has waited long enough. I guess it would depend in large part on external factors such as where Finland stands in the post-WW2 equilibrium.
 
Back
Top