New Year’s Eve at Smolna, St. Petersburg – Recognition of Finland’s independence on 31 December 1917

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs marks the 90th anniversary year of its establishment in 2008. The first Minister for Foreign Affairs – Foreign Affairs Senator Otto Stenroth – was appointed on 27 May 1918. A Decree enacted on 28 June of the same year established a ‘foreign affairs bureau’ with three departments and 17 civil servants.

During its anniversary year the Ministry will present its history and treasures from its archives, among others at exhibitions and in a series of articles on the Ministry’s website.

Jyrki Paloposki, Head of Information Service at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, describes the events and the feelings experienced at Smolna of St. Petersburg on New Year’s Eve 1917, when the delegation headed by P.E.Svinhufvud was awaiting an answer to the request for recognition of Finland’s independence.

Head of Information Service, Mr. Jyrki Palokoski:

New Year’s Eve at Smolna, St Petersburg – Recognition of Finland’s independence on 31 December 1917

Three weeks after Finland had declared its independence, not a single country had recognised Finland. Other countries waited for Russia to take the lead. A three-member delegation, led by Chairman of the Senate P. E. Svinhufvud, had travelled to St Petersburg in late December to submit an official request for recognition of Finland's independence. On the New Year's Eve night, the delegation was waiting for the Russians' reply in Smolna, the headquarters of the Council of People's Commissars, led by Lenin in St Petersburg.

K.G.Idman, Secretary of State (1918) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (1925) at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Envoy Extraordinaire and Minister Plenipotentiary of Finland in several cities, such as Copenhagen, Riga, Warsaw and Tokyo.

The other members of the delegation were K. G. Idman and Carl Enckell. In his memoirs, Idman has described life in Smolna, formerly the Smolna Institute for girls from noble families. The front yard of the large building was full of soldiers. Also apprentice seamen, members of the Red Guards and their wives and children were seen in the hallways inside the building. It was late but public servants were still working and citizens were running various errands at the heart of the central government. The delegation was ushered to the waiting room, and a long period of waiting started. Carl Enckell tried to hurry up the proceedings but with no avail. To keep themselves warm in the cold rooms, the Finns kept walking to and fro with their winter coats on. The door to the smoke-filled room where the People's Commissars were considering matters of importance to their country was opened from time to time.

According to Law Commissar Steinberg, there was a large, heavy document on the table, which was stamped and signed. The Commissars were astounded, wondering what it was. "It was a decree about Finland's liberation…We were asked if we would recognise Finland's independence. What a question! Of course we would! Right away! ... We rose one after the other and with special satisfaction signed the paper."

It was close to midnight, the turn of the year, when Chief of Bureau Bonch-Bruevich brought a letter to the Finns where the People's Commissars proposed that the Central Executive Committee recognise Finland's independence. In practice, this document solved the matter. Enckell asked Bonch-Bruevich to arrange for a meeting with Lenin in which the Finns could thank Lenin.

Thanks without regret

The Chief of Bureau returned to the chamber of the People's Commissars. The request that he passed on to the Russians was received with embarrassment; it was common knowledge that Svinhufvud was not a friend of the Bolsheviks. Steinberg described the atmosphere as follows: Lenin shrugged his shoulders, gave a laugh and declined, wondering what he would have to say to the bourgeois. There was general astonishment and laughing, it was proposed that Trotski receive the guests but he declined too. In the end, Lenin left the room followed by laughing and witty remarks.

Carl Enckell served many terms as Minister for Foreign Affairs and also as the Finnish Envoy to Paris in 1919-26.

Two heads of state met in the lobby. Enckell introduced Svinhufvud to Lenin. Curious seamen and soldiers gathered around them. Lenin asked if the Finns are satisfied. Svinhufvud replied that the Finns are very satisfied. Hands were shaken. ”Russian was spoken and answers were given in Russian," Svinhufvud has told later, ”we only said our thanks without regret for the letter of separation for the Bolsheviks”.

Lenin returned to the chamber of his Government and said that he had by mistake addressed the Finns as comrades. This triggered new roars of laughter. ”Never mind,” said Trotski, ”in case we one day become attacked by them, they will consider the address as your merit.”

The Finns left Smolna and returned to the cold night. The delegation headed towards the Office of Minister State Secretary, where a copy of the letter of recognition was quickly typed. Svinhufvud returned to Helsinki by a night train with a copy of the document obtained from the Soviet People's Commissars, furnished with Enckell's and Idman's signatures.

Final recognition

Lenin had declared that every nation is entitled to obtain sovereignty. However, he imagined that the countries that withdrew from Russia would later return under its wing. The monarchists and other white Russians, for their part, opposed Finland's independence.

People's Commissars convened in Smolna. Picture from J.Sternberg's menoirs.

The Central Executive Committee confirmed Finland's independence and final separation from Russia officially on 4 January 1918. The Executive Committee was a body of 200 members, representing the local workers, soldiers and pheasants. People's Commissar of Nationalities Joseph Stalin presented the matter to the Central Executive Committee. Stalin admitted that the promise had been given to the Finnish bourgeois, but it was a sign of the People's Commissars' independent attitude towards the question of principle about states' sovereignty. The Council of People's Commissars was not a meeting of flowery speeches by People's Commissars who would not deliver on their promises.

After a brief discussion, the Central Executive Committee confirmed the proposal about Finland's independence. On the following day, Idman paid a visit to the Chairman of the Executive Committee, J. M. Sverdlov, who gave a written certificate of the decision. The historical document in his pocket, Idman returned to the Office of Minister State Secretary, from where a phone call was made to Finland to inform about the final recognition of Finland's independence.

Russia's recognition of Finland's independence. UM Archives (in Russian)