Kingdom of Finland (1918)

The Kingdom of Finland (Finnish: Suomen kuningaskunta; Swedish: Konungariket Finland) was a failed attempt to establish a monarchy in Finland in the aftermath of the Finnish Declaration of Independence from Russia in December 1917 and the Finnish Civil War from January–May 1918. The victorious Whites in the Parliament of Finland began the process of turning Finland into a kingdom and creating a monarchy. Although the country was legally a kingdom for over a year, that was headed by a regent; the king-elect Frederick Charles never reigned nor came to Finland following Germany's defeat in World War I, and republican victories in subsequent elections resulted in the country becoming a republic.

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Kingdom of Finland Suomen kuningaskunta (Finnish) Konungariket Finland (Swedish)
1918–1919
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:  Maamme (Finnish) Vårt land (Swedish) (English: "Our Land")
Map of the Grand Duchy of Finland, which had the same borders as independent Finland from 1917 until 1920
Capital	Helsinki
Common languages	Finnish · Swedish · Saami  · Karelian
Religion	Evangelical Lutheranism Finnish Orthodoxy
Demonym(s)	Finnish, Finn
Government	Constitutional Monarchy under a Regency
King-elect
• 1918	Frederick Charles
Regent
• 1918	P.E. Svinhufvud
• 1918–1919	C.G.E. Mannerheim
Prime Minister
• 1918	Juho Kusti Paasikivi
• 1918–1919	Lauri Ingman
• 1919	Kaarlo Castrén
Legislature	Parliament
Historical era	World War I / Interwar period
• Independence declared (as a republic)	6 December 1917
• Supreme authority given to regent	18 May 1918
• King elected	9 October 1918
• Parliamentary election	3 March 1919
• Republican constitution adopted	17 July 1919
Currency	Finnish markka
Preceded by Succeeded by Grand Duchy of Finland Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic Finland
a. Frederick Charles was elected King of Finland on 9 October 1918 and renounced the throne on 14 December 1918.

During the Finnish Civil War of 1918, Finnish Reds on friendly terms with Soviet Russia fought Finnish Whites who allied with the German Empire. Direct aid from the German Baltic Sea Division aided the Whites who won the war. The provisional government established after the Grand Duchy of Finland's declaration of independence leaned heavily toward the Finnish right and included a number of monarchists. The parliament drew up plans to create a Finnish monarchy on the legal theory that the Swedish Constitution of 1772 was still in effect, but there had been an extended interregnum with no monarch on the throne. Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse was elected to the throne of Finland on 9 October 1918 by the Finnish parliament, but he never took the position nor traveled to Finland. Soon after the election, Finnish leaders as well as the population belatedly came to understand the grave situation their German allies were in, and the wisdom of electing a German prince their new leader as Germany was about to lose World War I was called into question. Germany itself became a republic and deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II, and signed an armistice with the Allies in November. The victorious Western powers informed the Finnish government that the independence of Finland would only be recognized if it abandoned its alliance with Germany. As a result, in December 1918 Frederick Charles renounced the throne and the Baltic Sea Division withdrew from Finland. In the March 1919 election, with the Finnish left and socialists able to vote, republicans won a crushing victory. Finland's status as a republic was confirmed in the Finnish Constitution of 1919.