Alternative History
Monarchy of The Kingdom of Finland
PS Grand Royal Coat of Arms of Finland
Greater Arms
Incumbent
Donatus of Hesse
Filippi II
since 2013
Details
Style His Majesty
Heir apparent Mauri, The Duke of Turku
Formation 1580
Residence Royal Palace of Helsinki

This is a list of monarchs of Finland; that is, the grand dukes of Finland, a title used by most Swedish monarchs, up to the present day monarchy established in 1918. During the interregnum from the fall of Nicholas II to the end of the Finnish Civil War in spring 1918, sovereignty in Finland was exercised by the Finnish Parliament and, until the October Revolution and the declaration of independence, the Russian interim government. After the civil war, regents (valtionhoitaja) were appointed by the parliament and a new king elected. the man chosen was Frederick Charles of Hesse who accepted the crown and became the first king of Finland, Estonia quickly decided to join a personal union with Finland as did the short lived Kingdom of Karelia and the duchy of Ingria, the last two were quickly retaken by the Russians, while Estonia was retaken by the Soviet Union during WWII. The union was restored after Estonian independence and the Great Russian War which saw Karelia and Ingria fully liberated.

Monarchs[]

Portrait Name Reign Succession Marriage(s) Life details
House of Vasa
John III of Sweden Juhana I 19 November 1556 – 17 November 1592
(35 years, 11 months and 29 days)
Son of Gustav I of Sweden Catherine Jagiellon
(3 children)
Gunilla Bielke
(1 child)
20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592
(aged 54)
Johan, 1589-1618, prins av Sverige hertig av Östergötland (Holger Hansson) - Nationalmuseum - 15319 (cropped).tif Juhana II 19 October 1590 – 22 March 1604
(13 years, 5 months and 3 days)
Son of Juhana I Princess Maria Elizabeth of Sweden
(childless)
18 April 1589 – 5 March 1618
(aged 28)
Sigismund III of Poland-Lithuania and Sweden (Martin Kober) Sigismund 17 November 1592 – 24 July 1599
(6 years, 8 months and 7 days)
Son of Juhana I Anne of Austria
(5 children)
Constance of Austria
(7 children)
20 June 1566 – 19 April 1632
(aged 65)
Deposed after the war against Sigismund. Also king of Poland 1587–1632.
Regency of Duke Charles (later King Charles IX; 24 July 1599 – 22 March 1604)
Karl IX of Sweden Kaarle I 22 March 1604 – 30 October 1611
(7 years, 7 months and 8 days)
Son of Gustav I, proclaimed king after serving as regent for five years Maria of the Palatinate
(6 children)
4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611
(aged 61)
Christina of Holstein-Gottorp
(4 children)
Attributed to Jacob Hoefnagel - Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden 1611-1632 - Google Art Project Kustaa I Adolf 30 October 1611 – 6 November 1632
(21 years and 7 days)
Son of Charles IX Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg
(2 children)
9 December 1594 – 6 November 1632
(aged 37)
Killed at the Battle of Lützen in 1632
Swedish queen Drottning Kristina portrait by Sébastien Bourdon stor Christina 6 November 1632 – 6 June 1654
(21 years and 7 months)
Daughter of Gustav II Adolf Unmarried and childless 7 December 1626 – 9 April 1689
(aged 62)
Abdicated and retired to Rome.
House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
Sébastien Bourdons-Karl X Gustav of Sweden Kaarle II 6 June 1654 – 13 February 1660
(5 years, 8 months and 7 days)
Son of Catherine of Sweden, a daughter of Charles IX Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp
(1 child)
8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660
(aged 37)
Portrait of Karl XI, King of Sweden Kaarle III 13 February 1660 – 5 April 1697
(37 years, 1 month and 23 days)
Son of Charles X Gustav Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark
(7 children)
24 November 1655 – 5 April 1697
(aged 41)
Karl XII 1697 Kaarle IV 5 April 1697 – 30 November 1718
(21 years, 7 months and 25 days)
Son of Charles XI Unmarried and childless 17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718
(aged 36)
Killed in battle against Denmark–Norway during the siege of Fredriksten in 1718.
Regency of Princess Ulrika Eleonora (later Queen Ulrika Eleonora; 30 November 1718 – 23 January 1719)
Queen Ulrika Eleonora Of Sweden Ulrika 23 January 1719 – 24 March 1720
(1 year, 2 months and 1 day)
Daughter of Charles XI, elected as successor of her childless brother Frederick of Hesse-Cassel
(king 1720–1751)
(childless)
23 January 1688 – 24 November 1741
(aged 53)
Abdicated in favor of her husband in 1720; thereafter consort until her death.
House of Hesse
Georg Engelhardt Schröder - Fredrik I, King of Sweden 1720-1751 - Google Art Project Fredrik 24 March 1720 – 25 March 1751
(31 years and 1 day)
Husband and designated successor of Ulrika Eleonora Luise Dorothea of Prussia
(childless)
18 April 1676 – 25 March 1751
(aged 74)
Ulrika Eleonora
(ruling queen 1719–1720)
(childless)
House of Holstein-Gottorp
Adolf Fredrik, 1710-1771, konung av Sverige hertig av Holstein-Gottorp (Lorens Pasch d.y.) - Nationalmuseum - 15309.tif Fredrik Adolf 25 March 1751 – 12 February 1771

(19 years, 10 months and 7 days)
Great-great-great-grandson of Charles IX; elected as heir to the throne in 1743 Louisa Ulrika of Prussia
(4 children)
3 May 1710 – 12 February 1771
(aged 60)
Originally Prince-Bishop of Lübeck (1727–1750).
Gustav III by Alexander Roslin - no border (Nationalmuseum, 15330) Kustaa II 12 February 1771 – 29 March 1792
(21 years, 1 month and 17 days)
Son of Adolf Frederick Sophia Magdalena of Denmark
(2 children)
13 January 1746 – 29 March 1792
(aged 46)
Married to Sophia Magdalena of Denmark (2 children). Assassinated in 1792.
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Kustaa III Adolf 29 March 1792 – 29 March 1809
(17 years)
Son of Gustav III Frederica of Baden
(5 children)
1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837
(aged 58)
Deposed after defeat in the Finnish War; died in exile in Switzerland.
Grand Duchy of Finland
House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Alexander I of Russia by G.Dawe (1826, Peterhof) Aleksanteri I 29 March 1809 – 1 December 1825
(16 years, 8 months and 2 days)
Right of Conquest Louise of Baden
(childless)
23 December [O.S. 12 December] 1777 – 1 December [O.S. 19 November] 1825
(aged 47)
Finland's four estates pledged loyalty to Emperor Alexander I of Russia at the Diet of Porvoo on March 29, 1809, during the Finnish War. After Sweden's defeat and the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy in a union with Russia.
Nicholasbotman Nikolai I 1 December 1825 – 2 March 1855
(29 years, 3 months and 1 day)
Brother of Aleksanteri I Charlotte of Prussia
(7 children)
6 July [O.S. 25 June] 1796 – 2 March [O.S. 18 February] 1855
(aged 58)
Nicholas's reign began with the failed Decembrist revolt. He is mainly remembered in history as a reactionary whose controversial reign was marked by geographical expansion, centralisation of administrative policies, and repression of dissent. Nicholas
Alexander II by E.Botman (1856, Russian museum) Aleksanteri II 2 March 1855 – 13 March 1881
(26 years and 11 days)
Son of Nikolai I Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
(8 children)
29 April 1818 – 13 March 1881
(aged 62)
Alexander II re-convened the Diet of Finland and initiated several reforms increasing Finland's autonomy within the Russian Empire, including establishment of its own currency, the Finnish markka. Liberation of business led to increased foreign investment and industrial development
Catherine Mikhailovna Dolgorukova (morganatic)
(3 children)
Portrait of Alexander III - Vassily Pavlovich Khudoyarov - Golestan Palace Aleksanteri III 13 March 1881 – 1 November 1894
(13 years, 7 months and 19 days)
Son of Aleksanteri II Dagmar of Denmark
(6 children)
10 March 1845 – 1 November 1894
(aged 49)
During his reign, Russia fought no major wars as well. He therefore came to be known as "The Peacemaker"
Портрет императора Николая II. Рис.Н.Я.Яш, 1896г hole2ZaNVaM Nikolai II 1 November 1894 – 15 March 1917
(22 years, 4 months and 14 days)
Son of Aleksanteri III Alix of Hesse and by Rhine
(5 children)
18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918
(aged 50)
Abdicated the throne during the February Revolution, Executed by the Bolsheviks
Kingdom of Finland
House of Hesse
Hessenin prnssi Friedrich Karl - Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse Fredrik Kaarle I 9 October 1918 – 28 May 1940
(21 years, 7 months and 19 days)
Elected Princess Margaret of Prussia
(6 children)
1 May 1868 – 28 May 1940
(aged 72)
Elected by the Finish Parliament; Estonia joined in a personal Union with Finland, as did the short-lived First Kingdom of Karelia and the Grand Duchy of Ingria
Portrait of Landgrave Philipp of Hesse Filippi I 28 May 1940 – 25 October 1980
(40 years, 4 months and 27 days)
Son of Fredrik Kaarle I Princess Mafalda of Savoy
(4 children)
6 November 1896 – 25 October 1980
(aged 83)
Son, restored to the throne of Hesse Kassel, became King of Hesse Darmstadt in 1968
Maurice-Moritz of Hesse 2010 (1) crop Mauri I 25 October 1980 – 23 May 2013
(32 years, 6 months and 28 days)
Son of Filippi I Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
(4 children)
6 August 1926 – 23 May 2013
(aged 86)
Son
Donatus of Hesse Filippi II 23 May 2013 – Present
(Reigning)
Son of Mauri I Countess Floria Franziska Marie-Luisa Erika von Faber-Castell
(3 children)
17 October 1966
His reign saw his restoration of the Kingdoms of Karelia and Ingria after the great Russian war.