The debt of 1872-1880

The donated lands were estates and villages of Old Finland that were donated by the Emperor of all the Russia to subjects who distinguished themselves in the Great Northern War and the Russo-Swedish war. When Old Finland was joined to the Grand Duchy of Finland at the beginning of the period of autonomy, roughly 100,000 were essentially left outside the protection of the law, ending up as subjects of the landowning nobles under the Tsar. In 1867, the Diet of Finland decided that the government would procure all of the donated lands so that peasants could redeem them from it with long-term sovereign debt.

Seven domestic bond loans were issued in 1872–1880, which the government used to purchase most of the donated lands, which were largely located in the Viipuri Province. The last redemptions took place in 1890, for which a separate sovereign debt was taken out in the same year. The land deals were conducted in accordance with the trade agreements made with the landowners.