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Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov Biography |
Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov (January 27, 1839 - June 17, 1904) was a Russian soldier and politician.
Bobrikov became an officer in the Russian army in 1858 after which he served in the Kazan military district and as divisional chief-of-staff in Novgorod. He became a colonel in 1869. A year later he was transferred to Saint Petersburg for special duties in the Imperial guard. This gave Bobrikov access to the Imperial court. In 1878 he became a Major General.
In 1898 Nicholas II appointed Bobrikov as the Governor-General of Finland. Bobrikov was both hated and feared by the Finnish population as he thought that Finland was still a foreign country that threatened Russia. In 1899 Nicholas II signed the "February Manifest" which marks the beginning of the first "Opression years". In this manifest the Tsar removed the right of the Diet of Finland to make laws. Half a million Finns signed a petition to Nicholas II requesting to revoke the manifest. The Tsar didn't even receive the legation bringing the petition.
In 1900 Bobrikov issued orders that all correspondence between government offices was to be conducted in Russian and that school education in Russian was to be increased. The Finnish army was abolished in 1901 and Finnish conscripts could now be forced to serve with Russian troops anywhere in the Russian empire. To the first call up in 1902, only 42% of the conscripts showed up. In 1905, conscription in Finland was abolished since Finns were seen as unreliable.
In 1903 Bobrikov was given dictatorial powers by the Tsar so that he could fire government officals and abolish newspapers. On June 16, 1904 Bobrikov was assassinated by Eugen Schauman. Schaumann shot Bobrikov three times and himself twice. Schaumann died instantly and Bobrikov died later that night in the hospital. |
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