Army Maintenance Shaping the Local Burgher Community in 18th-Century Helsinki

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the town of Helsinki during the construction of Fortress Sveaborg. Founded in 1747 to be the keystone of the Swedish Realm’s eastern defence, Sveaborg was the biggest construction project in the history of the old realm and turned the small Finnish town of Helsinki into a massive building site. The fortress needed massive amounts of construction materials, as well as food, drink and accommodation for its many thousands of soldiers and workers. The article traces the evolution of the Helsinki burgher community during the fortress construction years, arguing that the close and long-lasting interaction between the town and the fortress gave birth to a special ‘military town bourgeoisie’. Guided by the forces of supply and demand, through the process of trial and error, the local burgher community slowly evolved into a shape that was ideal in serving the military.