Magnus Sprengtportens revolt
Part of Revolution of 1772

Magnus Sprengtporten, the leader of the uprising.
Date1772
Location
Finland, Helsinki, Sveaborg, Borgå
Result Revolution successful
Territorial
changes		 Helsinki, Borgå, and Sveaborg captured by the rebels
Belligerents
Supporters of Gustav III Opposition to Gustav III
Commanders and leaders
Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten
Göran Magnus		 Unknown
Strength
Unknown Unknown

Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten's revolt was an armed rebellion that took place in Finland in 1772, it was commanded by Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten who aimed to secure it for Gustav III's coup d'état.[1]

Prelude

In 1718, after the death of Charles XII in Norway, the Age of Liberty in Sweden had officially begun, bringing in an era of freedom of speech and other rights. However, in 1772, the Swedish king, Gustav III, organized a coup which would allow him to become an absolute monarch, the original plans were actually mostly composed by the Finnish Colonel, Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten.[2] The coup officially ended the Age of Liberty and instead the Gustavian Era began.[3]

The uprising

Several different coup plans were presented by Sprengtporten, one where during the coronation of Gustav III the king would place himself at the head of the Uppland garrison who were summoned to the festivities to force a regime change, however Gustav III hesitated to this plan.

In May, Sprengtporten presented his coup plan to Gustav III. According to the plan, the rebellion would instead begin in Finland, where Sprengtporten had a lot of influence and preparations would not be as noticed.[4] He would force the Sveaborg garrison to support the king and only after then take power in Stockholm.[4][5] He promised to the king that he would personally lead the revolt in Sveaborg.[5] The king liked the plan and Sprengtporten departed to FInland on July 29.

Sprengtporten arrived at Borgå on the 12–13 August 1772, and from there began executing his plan. While he was going towards Sveaborg, his brother arrived a few days later and led an armed capture of Borgå. The citizens of Borgå swore allegiance to Gustav III but the clergy did not.[5] Sprengtporten landed at Sveaborg 4 days later with 60 dragoons undetected despite strong headwinds. The commander of the garrison, Carl Björnberg, was quickly arrested and the officers and soldiers were persuaded to join the revolt after the kings will was communicated to them.[4][5] Sprengtporten then went to Helsinki and after capturing the city convinced the military and population to swear allegiance to the King.[4][5]

The revolt later spread to more parts of Finland, Councillor of the Realm Reuterholm was arrested on his property in Nyland, security forces were sent to the border with Russia and postal services going from Åland to Sweden were cut off. Only at Turku did Sprengtporten face some resistance. After his capture of Helsinki, he quickly began to sail to Stockholm with 780[4]-800 men[5] intending to support the king in his seizure of the city. However, strong headwinds made the journey difficult and once he arrived on the 7th September, the king had already seized power on the 19th of August.[5][4][1]

Aftermath

Sprengtporten was princely rewarded for his actions in the coup. He received a promotion to Lieutenant General and was appointed head of the bodyguard, simultaneously he was also awarded the Commander's Badge of the Order of the Sword with the large cross. After August Ehrensvärd's death he was appointed leader of the fortification works in Finland. When he was proposed as the commander-in-chief of the troops in Finland in 1773, he declined the proposal since he did not have the full support of the war council for his plans.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Singleton, Fred (October 1998). A Short History of Finland. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64701-4.
  2. ↑ Oakley, Stewart P. “GUSTAVUS III AND FINLAND IN 1775.” Scandinavian Studies, vol. 51, no. 1, 1979, pp. 1–12. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40917850. Accessed 2 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Kamenskiĭ, Aleksandr (2020). Catherine the Great: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-3028-5.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten (Sprengtport)". sok.riksarkivet.se. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "BLF". www.blf.fi. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
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