BACKGROUND: Great power conflict reaches Finnish shores
The residents of Helsinki got a feel of what it was like to be under attack by two great powers in the mid-19th century.
"On the hills stood a silent dense group of people - young and old, wives and husbands, maidens and boys, all looking from the sidelines at the fiery and bloody face of war; a deep sense of seriousness and thought had gripped everyone, and there were tears in the eyes of some, but nobody displayed anything like fear."
It was the 9th of August, 1855. Ships of the Anglo-French fleet had positioned themselves off Helsinki in waters between Harmaja and Pihlajasaari, unleashing an intense bombardment on the fortress of Viapori, or Suomenlinna.
The residents of Helsinki stood on the rocks of Kaivopuisto and Ullanlinna, watching the firestorm, which continued for nearly two days. Residents feared that the fleet of more than 70 vessels would aim their cannon at the city before too long. They carried their valuables out of their homes and set up camps in city parks and on the island of Korkeasaari.
In Kaisaniemi Park families would mark their territory with furniture and hang blankets and sheets between trees for privacy.
Many fled to the countryside. The roads were filled with lines of wagons of refugees, which journalist August Schauman, who came to Helsinki from the direction of Porvoo, compared to the funeral convoys of cholera epidemics.
In Suomenlinna the defenders felt that they were in an inferno.
"During the night the enemy started to throw burning rockets at us, which flew through the air like fiery meteors, which usually fell into parts of the fortress where a fire was just going out", one Russian eyewitness wrote about the events.
"This strange, fearsome, but at the same time wonderful night will certainly never be forgotten by those who happened to be in Viapori or Helsinki", he wrote.
The bombardment ended on the morning of August 11th. During 46 hours of barrages the British and French warships had fired about 200,000 cannonballs, bombs, and rockets into Suomenlinna, Lauttasaari, and Santahamina. The noise had been so great that it reportedly could be heard as far away as Hämeenlinna, 100 kilometres away - some say the din may have reached as far as Jyväskylä.
According to Governor General von Berg, more than half of the manor houses, harbour buildings, workshops, and tools had burned, and four munitions dumps had been blown up. The damage was estimated at more than half a million roubles. Casualties in Viapori numbered 55 dead and 204 injured.
The great-power fleet left the waters off Helsinki on August 13th. Now the embassies of France and Britain are located on the same hill where Helsinki residents stood watching the bombardment.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.8.2005
More on this subject:
 HMS Echo arrives in Helsinki to mark 150th anniversary of naval bombardment of island fortress
FACTFILE: The Crimean War extended to Finland
Helsingin Sanomat
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