the common estates', and the public opinion's, critical assessment of the anjala-men were in many circles in finland seen as yet another sign of a rift between the two parts of sweden. it seemed as if the age of liberty had elevated people with a very narrow view of the world, a view that obviously did not reach to the realm's eastern periphery. in other words, which would be echoed also in connection with finland's 20th century wars, it seemed as if the majority of the swedes did no longer consider the finns' interests, nor appreciate the importance of the eastern provinces for sweden, nor the sacrifices of the finns.