From the Finn-Am Newsletter
The article on conscription in Finland published in a previous newsletter was quite well received. The interest shown, and the not uncommon comment that "my grandfather emigrated to avoid being drafted into the Russian Army", have prompted me to look into the history of conscription in Finland. This article will concentrate on the Swedish period and conscription under Russian rule will be described in a future newsletter. My source for much of the information contained herein is an article entitled Finnish Defense Forces found on the Military Wiki website. As part of the kingdom of Sweden, Finland supplied the Swedish armies not only with drafted foot soldiers and cavalrymen, but also with highly qualified officers. Contributing as much as one-third of the manpower of the Swedish armed forces, the Finnish infantry and cavalry distinguished themselves at a time when Sweden was playing a decisive role in European power politics. Beginning in the middle of the 16th century, the impressment of foot soldiers in the eastern parts of the Swedish realm was based on a grouping, called "ruotu" in Finnish, of ten men from an estate or a few farms, fit for military service and between the ages of 15 and 40. One randomly chosen man from each ruotu was forced to serve in the province's or county's regiment in case of war. There were several reasons for disliking this system. Any of the ten men in each ruotu could be picked in case of war, making it hard for military leaders to know the capabilities their soldiers would have. Additionally, the richest men in the ruotu could buy their way out, which sometimes led to the "10th man" being the poorest or weakest, which obviously was not good for the army. This system of forced conscription also often led to desertions. In response to the poor condition of the Swedish army, the military conscription system was reorganized in the late 17th century. The overall structure of the old system was retained, but
contracts were used instead of forced conscription. Contracts were written with counties and provinces, stating that they would have to raise and supply a regiment of 1,000 or 1,200 men to serve in both war and peacetime. Usually, four farms were to join forces and equip a single soldier. Those farms constituted the ruotu, which had the responsibility to recruit a soldier for the army, provide him with a cottage and patch of land, a cow, chickens and a few pigs or sheep so he could support a family, and supply him with necessities such as hay and seed. The ruotu also had to provide the soldier with his uniform and pay his salary. The cottage and land, located on the land of the ruotu, only belonged to the soldier as long as he was fit for service. If he died or had to retire, the croft would have to be returned to the ruotu, even if it made his family homeless; the ruotu in turn had to find a new recruit. The soldier lived at his croft for large parts of his life, mostly working at the farms that supported his household, and went away to a few training camps a year, honing his skills with his regiment. When at war, the soldier could be away for years at a time, leaving all of the chores to his wife and children, if he had a family. Otherwise, the ruotu farmers would take over the work themselves. Recruits had to be physically and mentally fit and between 18 and 36 years old. Many soldiers served in the army for more than 30 years, as there was no service time stated in the contract; instead, being discharged required a reason such as old age, injury, sickness, or the commission of a crime. All soldiers in a given company were required to have a unique name to make it easier to give specific orders. When a soldier first appeared before the military scribe, he was given a soldier's name which he kept during his service. Those surnames tended to become hereditary, as the soldier often retained it when he left the service and his children were also registered under it in census lists and church books. The name was usually short to make it easy and rapid to say. The names could be taken from a trait, such as the surnames Modig (courageous) and Rask (quick) or from military terms such as Svärd (sword) and Krut (gunpowder).
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