When Finland was lost. Background, Course of Events and Reactions.

Since 1809 the loss of Finland has been discussed in different ways in Swedish history research. In the early 20th century the burst of the state was seen in a nationalistic perspective. It was said that the people in Sweden, or the “public opinion”, with despair and in a “nationalistic trauma” received the news bulletins from the peace agreement in Fredrikshamn 1809, which was interpreted the worst defeat ever in Swedish history. Nowadays researchers argue whether the loss of Finland really was seen as a nationalistic trauma in the early 19th century. The article first summarises the background of the war and the most important war episodes and then discusses the apprehension of a Sweden in national chock after the burst of the state.