On March 29, 1809, having been taken over from Sweden by the armies of Alexander I of Russia in the Finnish War, Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire until the end of 1917. In 1811, Alexander I incorporated Russian Vyborg province into the Grand Duchy of Finland. During the Russian era, the Finnish language began to gain recognition. At that time, Finnish was chiefly a language for the peasantry, clergy and local courts in predominantly Finnish-speaking areas, while Swedish was the dominant language of the nobility, administration and education.