Effective family research requires some understanding of the historical events that may have affected your family and the records about them. Learning about wars, governments, laws, migrations, and religious trends may help you understand political boundaries, family movements, and settlement patterns. These events may have led to the creation of records, such as land and military documents that mention your family.

Your ancestors will become more interesting to you if you also use histories to learn about the events in which they may have participated. For example, by using a history you might learn about the events that occurred in the year your great-grandparents were married.

The area of Finland administered by Sweden spread from the southwest towards the east and north. The eastern boarder has fluctuated over time. The various county and parish divisions have also changed. Books about Finnish history frequently contain maps of these developments. One source that is especially useful for understanding the development of political, ecclesiastical, judicial, and military jurisdictions is:

Jutikkala, Eino. Suomen historian kartasto: Atlas of Finnish History. Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö (WSOY), 1949. (FHL book 948.97 E3j; film 157159; computer number 194142.)

An informative overview of the use and availability of historical and archival sources in Finland is:

Suomen historian asiakirjalähteet (Documentary Sources of Finland’s History). Helsinki: Kansallisarkisto WSOY, 1994. (FHL book 948.97 H2sha; computer number 827747.)

Some key dates and events in the history of Finland are:

1050 or 1150–1300	The Swedes engaged in Christian crusades to Finland.
1300	The Turku Cathedral was dedicated.
1350	The black plague occurred.
1397–1521	The Kalmar Union united Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under one ruler.
1523	Gustav Vasa was crowned king of Sweden.
1527	The Diet of Västerås proposed changing the official religion from Catholicism to Lutheranism.
1530s	The government began keeping continuous tax records.
1548	Mikael Agricola’s translation of the New Testament in Finnish was published.
1569	Titles of nobility were made hereditary in Sweden-Finland.
1570	The Älvsborg Ransom was issued, resulting in the silver tax (see the “Taxation” section of this outline for more information).
1570s	Finnish migration to central Sweden began.
1593	Meeting of clergy in Uppsala adopted Lutheranism over Catholicism.
1611–32	Gustav II Adolf reigned as king of Sweden.
1626	The government decreed that provincial military regiments were to be established. These regiments supported Swedish involvement in the Thirty Years’ War.
1640	Åbo Academy (university in Turku) was founded.
1642	The Bible was published in Finnish.
1686	A church law prescribed that parishes should begin keeping records.
1700–21	The Great Nordic War involved Sweden-Finland and Russia.
1734	A new common law was established to instigate estate inventories (probates).
1753	Sweden-Finland made the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
1808–09	The Finnish War. Sweden lost Finland to Russia.
1809	At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland was granted autonomy within the Russian Empire.
1812	“Old Finland” (Viipuri County) was joined to Finland. The capital moved from Turku to Helsinki.
1835	Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, was published. It contributed to the rise of Finnish nationalism.
1863	Finnish was proclaimed equal to Swedish as the official language.
1901	The Finnish army was abolished. Finns were to join the Russian army.
1906	Women were given right to vote.
1917	Finland declared its independence from Russia.
1918	Finnish socialists and nonsocialists fought a civil war.
1920	A law decreed that fixed surnames were mandatory.
1939–40	Finland fought the Winter War against the Soviet Union.
1941–44	Finland fought the Continuation War against the Soviet Union.
1944	Finland fought the Lapland War against Germany.
1995	Finland joined the European Union.