At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, there was a conflict between the Russian Emperor and the Grand Duchy of Finland, as to what extent the Emperor has the right to apply the Russian legislation in Finland without the consent of the Finnish organs of government. When the Empire was tottering, Tsar Nicholas II was, however, forced to go back on his demands in autumn 1905. The diet which he then summoned began to deal with the reform of the diet in a democratic direction.
This Diet (1905-1906) was the last diet, in which the four estates were represented, and in which the franchise was not universal. Mannerheim participated in the Diet as the head of his family of barons in the estate of the nobility. The starting point of the reform proposal of the diet was that the parliament would be elected by the people in a general, universal and secret election. Mannerheim was somewhat doubtful of the rapidity of the reform, but he had already left for St Petersburg in official capacity, when the reform was approved in May 1906. All the estates approved the principle of the reform. The estate of nobility approved it by a hundred votes to ten.
COURSE OF LIFE | FAMILY | TIME OF GROWTH | MILITARY CAREER | WAR OF INDEPENDENCE | REGENT 1918-1919 | CIVILIAN | DEFENCE COUNCIL | COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 1939-1946 | PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC 1944-1946 | RETIREMENT | SPECIAL TOPICS | SEARCH