The Grand Duchy of Finland became part of the Russian Empire in 1809. Finland enjoyed special status within the Russian Empire until its final independence in 1917. Throughout a large portion of the period of Russian rule there was a strong movement for independence in Finland.

by vnezemnoi

However, in order to finally take place, Finnish independence had to wait until Russia was in a weak spot with a war and severe political instability on its hands.

My questions are: Why did Finland not become independent until 1917? Was the movement for independence not strong enough? Is it possible that there was some pro-Russian sentiment as well at the time? How did the prospects of full independence at the time compare to the given special political constitution of Finland?

DeMaus39

The special status that the Russians gave to Finland was enough to keep most independence thoughts away. It was the russification attempts ( known in Finland as the "years of oppression") in 1899-1905 and 1908-1917 that shifted the finnish opinion of Russia from good to bad. During these years, nationalist thoughts that were inspired by the polish struggle against Russia spreaded like wildfire through Finland. There was even the " jaeger movement" in whitch 1800 finnish men secretly went to Germany to get jaeger training.