page_title: Suomenlinna
section_title: Timeline
hierarchical_section_title: Suomenlinna / Timeline
caption_attribution_description: English: View from one of the Suomenlinna islands facing west and a bit north taken at about 1415 on 28 Feb 2009. Parts of Helsinki can be seen on the rightmost portion of the image. The Baltic right-of-center is frozen over, left-of-center is liquid water. This is one direction the Russian Empire would potentially expect enemy fleets to approach from; directly behind photographer is a bunker with two artillery pieces oriented accordingly.
context_page_description: Suomenlinna, or Sveaborg, is an inhabited sea fortress built on eight islands about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is popular with tourists and locals, who enjoy it as a picturesque picnic site. Originally named Sveaborg, or Viapori as referred to by Finnish-speaking Finns, it was renamed in Finnish to Suomenlinna in 1918 for patriotic and nationalistic reasons, though it is still known by its original name in Sweden and by Swedish-speaking Finns.
  The Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism. The general responsibility for the fortification work was given to Augustin Ehrensvärd. The original plan of the bastion fortress was strongly influenced by the ideas of Vauban, the foremost military engineer of the time, and the principles of the star fort style of fortification, albeit adapted to a group of rocky islands.
context_section_description: 1748: Building of Sveaborg (Fortress of Svea/Sweden - Swedish), later to be named Suomenlinna in 1918 (Fortress of Finland - Finnish),  begins under command of Augustin Ehrensvärd.
  1808: Sveaborg surrenders to Russia without any opposition during the Finnish War.
  1809: Treaty of Fredrikshamn: Finland becomes part of Russia.
  1855: Crimean War: Anglo-French navy bombards Suomenlinna and causes substantial damage.
  1906: Viapori Rebellion: Russian soldiers plan to depose the tsar.
  1914-1917: A ring of ground and sea fortifications, called Krepost Sveaborg, is built around Helsinki.
  1917: Finland becomes independent after the Russian Revolution.
  1918: Name Suomenlinna becomes the official name of the fortress in Finnish while retaining its Swedish name Sveaborg in Swedish. Prison camp of Red rebels is located in Suomenlinna after the Finnish Civil War.
  1921 Valtion lentokonetehdas (State Aircraft Factory) started building airplanes and powered ice sleighs in Suomenlinna for the Finnish Air Force. In 1936 the factory moved to Tampere.
  1973: Suomenlinna becomes civil administration area.
  1991: Suomenlinna becomes a UNESCO World Heritage site.
caption: View of the partially frozen Baltic Sea from one of the islands facing west. Part of Helsinki can be seen at the far right.
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