The conflict caused disintegration within both socialist and non-socialist factions. The rightward shift of power caused a dispute between conservatives and liberals on the best system of government for Finland to adopt: the former demanded monarchy and restricted parliamentarianism; the latter demanded a democratic republic. Both sides justified their views on political and legal grounds. The monarchists leaned on the Swedish regime's 1772 monarchist constitution (accepted by Russia in 1809), belittled the Declaration of Independence of 1917, and proposed a modernised, monarchist constitution for Finland. The republicans argued that the 1772 law lost validity in the February Revolution, that the authority of the Russian tsar was assumed by the Finnish Parliament on 15 November 1917, and that the Republic of Finland had been adopted on 6 December that year. The republicans were able to halt the passage of the monarchists' proposal in Parliament. The royalists responded by applying the 1772 law to select a new monarch for the country without reference to Parliament.,
The conflict caused disintegration within both socialist and non-socialist factions The rightward shift of power caused a dispute between conservatives and liberals on the best system of government for Finland to adopt the former demanded monarchy and restricted parliamentarianism; the latter demanded a democratic republic Both sides justified their views on political and legal grounds The monarchists leaned on the Swedish regime's 1772 monarchist constitution (accepted by Russia in 1809) belittled the Declaration of Independence of 1917 and proposed a modernised monarchist constitution for Finland The republicans argued that the 1772 law lost validity in the February Revolution that the authority of the Russian tsar was assumed by the Finnish Parliament on 15 November 1917 and that the Republic of Finland had been adopted on 6 December that year The republicans were able to halt the passage of the monarchists' proposal in Parliament The royalists responded by applying the 1772 law to select a new monarch for the country without reference to Parliament