Thread by @petite_michelle

A vatnik from ruzzia is terrified that we know what

INGRIA

is and what russians did to Ingrians.

Let's spread this knowledge around the world.

St. Petersburg, that only russian city that tries to look European because it was built by Italians (and the debt for works for it is still outstanding) - you know it, right? It is built on Ingria land stolen from Ingrians. Killings and deportation followed (usual RU practice).

The region described lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland. It is bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with Estonia in the west.

The earliest known indigenous European peoples of the region include the Izhorians and Votians, who are predominantly Eastern Orthodox. The Ingrian Finns, who are Lutheran, also inhabit the area. So to say, it's a Finno-Ugric land that has nothing to do with russia ethnically.

The exact etymology of the name ‘Ingria’ is unclear – one proposal links it to Grand Princess Ingegerd (St. Anna, Grand Duchess of Novgorod), wife of Yaroslav I of Kyiv and Novgorod. Ingegard may have received the lands around Lake Lagoda as a wedding present in 1019.

Medieval Ingria, inhabited by Izhorians and Votes, saw invasions from foreign powers. In the early 17th century, during Russia's "time of troubles," Sweden successfully conquered Ingria, which fell under Swedish rule in 1617 through the Treaty of Stolbovo.

In 1703 Peter the Great connected Ingermanland with the Russian Empire. St. Petersburg, the new capital of Russia, was now founded at the place of earlier Nyen (Nevanlinna) amid the territories of the Baltic Finns.

In his poem The Bronze Horseman, Pushkin, as a true imperialist, is disdainful of locals, yet it confirms once again, this land was stolen from them and they were treated as subhumans. Not a surprise, as you understand.

The Bronze Horseman is considered to be the guardian of St Petersburg. According to a legend, enemy forces will never take Saint Petersburg while the Bronze Horseman stands here. They truly believe this in russia. FYI

The Russians arrived in St. Petersburg and its surroundings. In 1712 a decree was adopted that land should be provided for the new Russian settlers and so Russian villages appeared. Lutheran Ingrians were not so easy to assimilate with orthodox new settlers.

The early 20th century brought civil war to Russia and Finland, affecting Ingria, with a population of around 130,000. In 1919, an Ingrian Finnish breakaway movement emerged, aiming to establish an independent Northern Ingrian republic and unite with newly independent Finland.

Starting in 1928, violence erupted with compulsory collectivization in Ingria. Approximately 18,000 people were forcibly deported from Northern Ingria, while another 7,000 were sent to different regions, aiming to instill fear and enforce collective farming.

In subsequent years, more deportations took place, totaling 20,000 to Siberia and Central Asia. This expulsion of Finns from their ancestral lands contributed to the tensions leading to the Finnish-Russian war.

Churches, cultural activities, and social organizations were shut down by 1932, and by 1937, Ingrian cultural life came to a standstill. Вuring the blockade of Leningrad, 25,000--30,000 Finns were deported to Siberia.

In 1937, just preceding the total dispersion of the Ingrians, all Finnish schools were russified, most of the intellectuals killed and the Ingrian cultural life was completely extinguished.

By the year 1943, only 4,000 Ingrians remained in Ingermanland. All the others had either been resettled, deported, dispersed or fled. Only in 1956 were the Ingrians finally allowed to return to their native country. Some 25,000 Ingrians live in St. Petersburg (out of 5.6 mln).

The Soviet Union was silent about the Ingrians and they did not officially exist. It was not until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990 that Russia sought to improve their situation with new legislation.

By 1970, the Ingrian Finn population decreased by 50,000 people, a 43% decline from the 1928 population, which political scientist Rein Taagepera described as a "clear case of genocide".

As a result of the revival of national activities an information leaflet, Inkeri, published by the Ingrian Society, began to appear in Estonia in 1989. inkeri.ee

In the spring of 1990, the President of Finland, Mauno Koivisto, named Inger Finns for the first time foreign Finns who have the right to resettle in Finland, the land of their ancestors. In total, approximately 30 000 Inger settlers have moved to Finland.

In Estonia, the Ingrian Finns have enjoyed cultural autonomy since 2004, being the first minority to organize and use such a right after Estonia's restoration of independence. The 2011 census counted 369 Ingrian Finns in Estonia, a large majority of whom are also citizens of 🇪🇪.

The next Ingrian song and dance festival will take place in Padise, Estonia, 8-9.07.2023. https://t.co/hOFDQU1fA2facebook.com/events/7857365…

In Masyanya (a cartoon made by Oleg Kuvaev) the Main character from St Petersburg in 2050 is seen as a citizen of the Republic of Ingria.