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In 1584, King John III of Sweden, who had previously been Duke of Finland, began using the subsidiary title Grand Duke of Finland (in Swedish Storfurste till Finland). This is to be seen as a marking of the Swedish sovereign's power in Finland, as well as the import of Finland as a part of the Swedish Realm. It did not result in any increase of Finnish independence.

During the next two centuries, the title was used by some of John's successors on the throne, but not all (e.g. his brother Charles IX used King of the Finns in stead). Usually it was just a subsidiary title of the King, and so it was used only at very formal occasions. However, in 1802, King Gustav IV Adolf gave the title to his new-born son, Prince Carl Gustaf, who died three years later.

Following the treaty of Fredrikshamn in 1809Events January 16 Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of Corunna. February 3 Illinois Territory was created. February 11 Robert Fulton patents the steamboat. February 20 A decision by the Supreme Court of the United States states t, after Sweden had been defeated in the Finnish WarThe Finnish War was fought between Sweden and Russia from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, according to the Finns in personal union with Imp, Finland became a true grand duchyA grand duchy is a form of principality which has a Grand Duke or a Grand Duchess as head of state. An early use of the title was in Grand Duchy of Lithuania (since 14th century), Grand Duchy of Moscow, and also in Tuscany, which became a grand duchy in 1 tied to the Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire ( Russian: also Imperial Russia covers the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great into the Russian Empire stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposition of Nicholas II of Russia, by means of personal unionA personal union consists of two or more entities that are internationally considered separate states, only sharing the same Head of State (and thence also sharing whatever political actions are vested in the Head of State, but no, or at least extremely f. The TsarTsar ( Bulgarian Russian often spelt Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires from 913 and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. It is derived from the Latin title Caesar. History of usage The title tsar ruled the country, which nevertheless enjoyed a degree of autonomyAutonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. In politics, a self-governing city or region, e. Kurdistan, Kosovo or Hong Kong SAR (not necessarily as a result of formal secession), is autonomous . True autonomy is usually a, as Grand Duke of Finland until its independence in 1917. Then the new elected monarch ( Väinö I) was to be king in stead, marking the new status of the nation, but he never reigned until republic was proclaimed.