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obligatory service for all, and where Sweden has now
decided to follow her example, at even greater expense.
In Finland the army under the military tenure
system has, as we have mentioned, hardly been in
existence since the union with Russia. The
re-formation of Finnish regiments during the Crimean War was
an exception. Real military service, on the same lines
as in the Russian Empire, was however later desired
and enforced by the Russian authorities, and was
conceded. Except for important political reasons, it would
be impossible to understand how the enlightened and
extremely liberal men who led the Diet in Finland in 1878
tolerated the introduction of ordinary obligatory service
in place of the old order, which was superior in its
general principles. As was natural, some of the best
men, as, for instance, the late Baron S. W. von Troil,
were opposed to a system which implied that free men
who were drawn for service could be forced to a barrack
life which, instead of educating them, is too often
destructive to young men. But even if we had known
nothing at the time about the pressure brought to bear
on the Finnish nation, recent events would have taught
us why the new military law was then passed.
The military organisation then adopted was largely
an imitation of Prussia. The period of active service
was to be three years. Exemption was (and is) granted
to clergymen, school-teachers, physicians, sailors, and
pilots; also to certain others, such as only sons.
Young men who had gained a higher educational
standard could serve for shorter periods. Unlike
Germany, however, it was only a small number of men
who were taken for service with the colours. The
young men were distributed by lot between this
service and the reserve, so that till recently one-fifth
served in the active army in time of peace, i.e. 5600
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