Caput Mundi: I was in there too: the analyzes of the book "The Tales of Ensign Stål"

Albert Edelfelt's Illustration
for the poem "Sven Dufva"
(Picture I)

     

http://kirjabloggaus.blogspot.fi/p/caput-mundi-i-was-in-there-too-analyzes.html

Kimmo Huosionmaa

Our national writer Johan Ludvig Runeberg used that term in the book named  "The Tales of Ensign Stål". Sometimes I have thought that is this book written in the same purpose, as the "Protocol of the eldest of Zion", what is the most well-known propaganda book, what was written by the political police of Russian Empire. Maybe the "The Tales of Ensign Stål" was also written by the same institution for supporting the emperor's policy in Finland. The "Protocol of the eldest of Zion was written for making the confiscating the property of Jews justified.


Maybe the book of Runeberg had the mission to justify the confiscation of the property of Swedish noblemen in Finland.  And maybe he wanted to mention that he was in the same war, as this 1st. Lieutenant, who told tales of that war, what separated Finland from Sweden. I sometimes think that this writer wanted to remember, that there were many men, who saw that war in a different way than this 1st. Lieutenant, who was lead his men in the war, what was quite short, and that man, who was claimed, that his name was Stål told many interesting things, about his men, and heroes of the war in 1808 to 1809, where Russians won the badly prepared Swedish army in one year, and then connected Finland to Russian empire as an autonomic area. Because Runeberg mentioned, that "I was there too", was that he maybe saw the things in the point of view of the regular soldier, whose mission was to follow orders, and march to the fire, when the superiority officers to go.


Sometimes I have thought, that maybe Runeberg was invented those stories by his own head, and maybe some of them were mentioned for calumniating the Swedish officers, and claim that being together with Russian empire was more comfortable than joining back to Sweden. Why I suspect that this book is at least partially written for propaganda purposes, is that the writer of the book uses Finnish name. And the man called "Stål" was of course Swedish. Maybe the purpose of this layout was to show Finnish, that Swedish officers didn't care at all their fate in the battle. When we are thinking about the most well-known hero of that book, Sven Dufva, who was left to defend bridge alone, and he managed to take his position until bullet took his life by hitting the heart.


The situation is quite interesting because Runeberg suggests that the position could be kept if somebody didn't leave Dufva alone. That man claimed to be somehow stupid, but here I'm thinking about this situation, where "Stål" tells this story. Maybe he had the very bad conscience about that action, and he tried to confess himself, that he made the right thing for Dufva. And maybe some of those stories have written in some beer houses, where everybody could claim, that he could be some "Ensign Stål" from the Northern war. And guess what: this man, who claims that his name was Johan Ludvig Runeberg ever claimed to written historical fact. He wanted to sell his book to readers, who paid the workers. And all writers were under the observation of political police of Russian empire, and if their writings were not pleased the censorship officials, would that kind of artist's end be sent to Siberia or the execution in some cellar.


Maybe some of those writers were well known, and they had many friends. That's why the political police used syphilis injection to make those artists maniac, and then the execution was easier to make. And this might be the fate of Alexis Kivi, one of our national writers. Syphilis is normally quite harmless bacteria if the medical team uses antibiotics for giving the cure for the infection. But if there would be no medicine for that infection, would the syphilis bacteria transfer to human brains, and cause the brain syphilis, what causes mental illness and death. Runeberg was the right man for making the book named "The Tales of Ensign Stål". This book was used in the key element in very large scale propaganda operations, and of course, some propagandists used the character of Stål and changed the identity of this man as some general of the Swedish army. This made the propaganda so effective.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tales_of_Ensign_St%C3%A5l

Picture I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tales_of_Ensign_St%C3%A5l#/media/File:Albert_Edelfelt_-_Sven_Duva.jpg

http://kirjabloggaus.blogspot.fi/p/caput-mundi-i-was-in-there-too-analyzes.html