Slavery in Finland

Routes through Slavic territories used for the slave trade: Volga trade route from the Vikings (Varangians) to the Muslim Middle East (red), trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (Byzantines) (blue) – and other trade routes of the 8th–11th centuries (orange)

Michail Golitsyn, Finlands Russian Governor during the slave trade under the Great Wrath.

Memorial stone for the Great Wrath in Muhos, Finland

Slavery in Finland is little known in history. While chattel slavery likely existed in Finland, as it did in most cultures of the world at some point, there are little documentation of any slavery having existed in Finland.

However, Finland did play a considerable role in the history of slavery in the capacity of a slave supply source. In the case of Finland, the history of slavery have therefore been focused on Finland as a source of enslavement, and of Finnish people being trafficked as slaves to other parts of the world.

For many centuries Finland was a religious border zone. First as one of few remaining Pagan areas of the European continent, between Christian Sweden and Russia. After Christianization, it became a border zone between Roman Catholic Europe (later Protestant) Europe and Russian Orthodox Russia. In addition, Finland, being a part of Sweden, was for many centuries a border zone between Sweden and Russia, who often became a war zone in the many military conflicts between Sweden and Russia.

Finland's status as a religious and political border zone made it a victim of slave raids for centuries. Finland was typically subjected to slave raids from Russia, who captured Finnish people who were then either enslaved in Russia, or trafficked further down South to the Black Sea or Central Asia and the Middle East. This trade is known to have continued until the 18th-century, when it was at its most intense stage during the Russian occupation of Finland during the Great Northern War, a period known as the Great Wrath.

Slavery

Slavery is likely to have occurred in Finland as it did in most societies during the antiquity, when chattel slavery were seen as a normal institution of society in most cultures. There are however little documentation of Finnish society prior to Finland becoming a part of Sweden in the 12th and 13th centuries, and there are no direct mention of slavery in Finland. Intepretations of the Saga stories of Finnish folklore does however indicate that the Finnish elite owned slaves in the Viking age (800-1050).

During the period of 1150-1250, Finland progressively became a part of Sweden, in parallell to becoming Christian. The Swedish period of Finland was also the start of its documented history. No slavery is mentioned in Finland during the Swedish period. In the middle ages, chattel slavery was phased out in Europe due to the Christian doctrin that Christians should not keep other Christians as slaves, in parallell to Europe becaming Christian and no Pagan slaves could longer be aquired. Finland was subject of Swedish rule and influenced by Swedish policy, and in Sweden, slavery was phased out during the 13th century and banned in 1335. While it is theoretically possible that slavery existed in Finland before this date, law made it impossible for slavery to exist legally in Finland after 1335.

Slave trade

Finland did not conduct any known slave trade itself. However, for centuries, Finland was subjected to slave raids from foremost the East in later Russia. As a vulnerable border zone between Sweden and Russia, Finland often became a border zone during the wars between Sweden and Russia.

As a religious border zone between first the Christian and Pagan world, and later between the Catholic and Protestant world and the Orthodox world, Finnish people were viewed as reliously legitimate to enslave. Since Finnish people were often blonde, their visual traits were seen as exotic for the slave market in the South.

Finnish people were trafficked for enslavement in Russia or further South along the river ways to the Black Sea slave trade and Central Asia and the Middle East.

Byzantine slave trade (5th–13th centuries)

Since both Christians and Muslims banned the enslavement of people of their own faith but viewed pagans as legitimate targets for slavery, the pagans of northeastern Europe became highly targeted by the slave traders when the rest of Europe had become Christian by the 12th century. The pagan Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Livonians, and Latgallians raided each other, Ingria and Novgorod during the 12th- and 13th-centuries, and sold war captives south to the Black Sea slave trade.

The Christian Russians also raided the pagan Estonians to sell them in the slave trade, since they were viewed as a legitimate target because they were pagans.

When the Norse Vikings became Christian and ended their piracy in the 11th century, they were succeeded by pagan pirates from the Baltics, who raided the coasts of the Baltic Sea, such as now Christian Sweden and Finland, for slaves. The island of Saaremaa was a base for the Baltic pirates, who were noted for selling women captives to the slave trade. In 1226, the pagan Baltic pirates from Saaremaa conducted a slave raid toward now Christian Sweden, where they captured many Swedish women and girls with the purpose to sell as slaves.

When the Viking slave trade stopped in the mid-11th century, the old slave trade route between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea and Central Asia via the Russian rivers was upheld by Pagan Baltic slave traders, who sold slaves via Daugava to the Black Sea and East, which was now the only remaining slave trade in Europe after the slave market in Western Europe had died out in the 12th century.

Italian slave trade (13th–15th centuries)

In this time period, religious conviction was an important factor in who was considered legitimate to enslave. Christians could not be enslaved by Christians, and Muslims could not be enslaved by Muslims. However, since both Christians and Muslims regarded pagans to be legitimate targets of slavery, the remaining pagans of northeastern Europe became an economical choice for the slave traders.

In the 13th century, all of Europe had become Christian with the exception of the Baltics, Eastern Finland and Karelia, which became supply zones for slaves to the Black Sea slave trade, from where they were trafficked by Italian slave traders to Southern Europe and the Islamic Middle East.

Crimean slave trade and Russia (16th–18th centuries)

Peter I of Russia pacifies his marauding troops after taking Narva in 1704 by Nikolay Sauerweid, 1859. Many Swedish citizens were captured by Russian soldiers during this occasion, who sold them to the Crimea.

The slave raids conducted by private Russian slave traders over the border into Eastern Finland, capturing Finns and trafficking them south to the Black Sea, had been conducted since the Middle Ages and are estimated to have continued throughout the 17th century.

During the Great Northern war between 1700 and 1721, Russia invaded the Eastern provinces of the Swedish Empire in Finland, Estonia and Livonia in the Baltics. Since the 15th century, the Russian Army had allowed private soldiers to capture and sell war captives, and during the Great Northern War many Russian soldiers captured Livonians, Finns, and Baltic civilians (particularly children) from the Swedish provinces and sold them, some of which ended up in the Black Sea slave trade and Persia.

One of these occasions was the fall of Narva, where Lovisa von Burghausen was a famous victim of those captured to Russian soldiers with intent to sell. Another case was that of Annika Svahn and Afrosinya. Lovisa, together with two other female slaves, one from Finland and one from Narva, were sold on the Russian slave market in Moscow; the Finnish woman was sold to an Armenian, the woman from Narva to a Russian clerk, and Lovisa to a Turkish-Ottoman merchant.

The Swedish province of Finland was subjected to severe oppression during the Russian invasion and occupation known as the Great Wrath (1714–1721). Among the atrocities were the abductions and enslavement of people by Russian military, some of whom were trafficked via Russia and the Crimean slave trade to Persia and the Middle East, where blonde people were exotic; between 20,000 and 30,000 people are estimated to have been abducted and about a quarter of the Finnish farm houses were reportedly empty at the end of the occupation. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people were taken to serve as slave laborers during the building of Saint Petersburg, about 2,000 men were forcibly enlisted to the Russian army, but many women and children were also abducted as serfs or sex slaves by Russian officers, who in some cases sold them on to the Crimean slave trade; about 4,600 people, the majority of whom were children, were abducted from Österbotten and Eastern Finland. Annika Svahn, Kustaa Lillbäck and (likely) Afrosinya are examples of Finnish people abducted by the Russians during the Great Wrath.

Between 10,000 and 20,000 people were taken to serve as slave labourers during the building of Saint Petersburg. Approximately 2,000 men were forcibly enlisted in the Russian army, but many women and children were also abducted as serfs or sex slaves by Russian officers, who in some cases sold them on to the Crimean slave trade; about 4,600 people, the majority of whom were children, were abducted from Ostrobothnia and Eastern Finland.

Many of the Finnish people abducted by the Russian military were trafficked via Russia and the Crimean slave trade to Persia and the Middle East, where blonde people were exotic; between 20,000 and 30,000 people are estimated to have been abducted and about a quarter of the Finnish farm houses were reportedly empty at the end of the occupation.

Many of the Swedish citizens captured and sold by Russian soldiers ended up via the Crimean slave trade in the slave market of Constantinople, where the Swedish ambassador to Constantinople managed to buy the freedom of some, many of whom were women. Many of the Swedish Empire citizens captured and sold by Russian soldiers ended up via the Crimean slave trade in the slave market in Constantiople, where the Swedish ambassador to Constantinople managed to buy some of them free, many of whom were women. From June 1710, the Swedish ambassador Thomas Funck made trips to the slave market in Constantiople to buy Swedish Empire citizens, tours which were noted by his legation priest Sven Agrell. Agrell noted, for example, the purchase of a "carpenter's daughter from Narva" for §82, a "Captain's wife" for §240, Catharina Pereswetoff-Morath, age 18, for §275, and an entire Livonian family, Anders Jonsson with his wife and children. Those bought free with Swedish funds were probably escorted to the war camp of King Charles XII of Sweden in Bender and returned to Sweden with him. It was noted however, that though many Swedish Empire citizens were bought free by the Swedish ambassador, it was impossible to buy everyone on sale for the limited financial funds during wartime, many young women and children being far too expensive, and that many were therefore purchased on market by actual buyers and left in the Ottoman Empire.

Legacy

On 3 September 2022 in Muhos in Northern Österbotten in Finland, a memorial designed by Antero Kassinen, called Orjaleiripatsas was inaugurated to the memory of the Finnish victims of the slave trade during the Russian occupation of the Great Wrath.