Finland was supposed to be a kingdom after its independence in 1918, going as far as choosing a monarch and designing a crown, but a few months later the parliament changed in the 1919 elections and opted for a republic.
Finland was supposed to be a kingdom after its independence in 1918, going as far as choosing a monarch and designing a crown, but a few months later the parliament changed in the 1919 elections and opted for a republic.
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Finland had declared independence from what was the Russian Empire, at that time embroiled in the Russian Civil War, on 6 December 1917. At the time of the declaration of independence, monarchists were a minority in the Finnish Parliament, and Finland was declared a republic. A civil war followed, and afterwards, while the pro-republican Social Democratic Party was excluded from the Parliament and before a new constitution was adopted, [Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Frederick_Charles_of_Hesse) was elected to the throne of Finland on 9 October 1918.
The king-elect Frederick Charles renounced the throne on 14 December 1918. Mannerheim, the leader of the Whites during the Finnish Civil War, was appointed as Regent. Republican parties won three-quarters of the parliament’s seats in the election of 1919 and Finland adopted a republican constitution.
Pictured is a replica of the crown designed for the Finnish Monarch.
– [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Finland_(1918))
Väinö I
It was a neat piece of history and I’m sure there’s plenty of Alt History theories if the Monarchy survived. As an American, Republics are cool, but as a hobby Monarchist one can only imagine what a Kingdom of Finland would have been like.