Sveaborg and the Defence of Finland
In 1748 Sweden embarked on the construction of an elaborate island fortress. This was her last attempt, writes Anthony Wood, to check the Russian thrust westwards.
A traveller approaching Helsinki from the sea slips through the maze of tiny wooded islands that festoon the coast of Finland, and, as the white neo-classical buildings of the city come into sight, the ship passes under the blunt brown walls of an eighteenth-century fortress. This is Sveaborg,1 known today as Suomenlinna, “Finland’s Castle.”
Comprising now six fortified islands, it was originally the work of Count Augustin Ehrensvärd, who is buried there. “Here rests Ehrensvärd in the midst of his labours and his fleet,” runs the inscription on his tomb, and behind that simple statement lies a whole chapter in the history of the Baltic—the last attempt on the part of Sweden to check the Russian thrust westwards.
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