History of Finland in 8 steps-2

8/14/2019 History of Finland in 8 steps-2

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History of Finland in Eight Steps

Petri Koikkalainen

[email protected]


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1. Finlandafter the Ice Age

2. Sweden, until 1809

3. Russia, 18091917: When Exactly WasFinland Born?

4. Independence and Civil War5. Early Independence: Democracy and

Nationalism

6. More Wars, 19391945

7. Reconstruction, Cold War and Welfare8. Finland NowIntegrated, Globalised?


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1. Finlandafter the Ice Age The Weichselian glacial period (Last Ice

Age) ended 11 500 years ago

The inhabitation of the area of current Finland

ca. 9 0007 500 years ago The inhabitation of Rovaniemi ca. 8 000

years ago

Stone Age until 1500 BC (cf. Near East,

South-Central Europe, 40002500 BC) Bronze Age until 500 BC (cf. 1200600 BC)

Iron Age until 1250 AD (cf. 600 BC400 AD)


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Who were the Finns? 19th century European anthropologists: They are

Mongols

20th century textbooks: They came after the ice

from where the Volga river turns The language spoken by the first settlers is notcertain

At some stage, Uralic, specifically Finno-Ugriclanguages started to dominate

Genetically, Central-European?

Genetic differences within Finland (eg. EastWest) may be bigger than between Europeannations (eg. BritainGermany)


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Finland in the Iron Age Hunters, fishers, farmers

Contacts with the Roman empire (iron artifactsetc.)

Trade & other influence from Novgorod (Russia),Vikings (8001050), Hansa (Germany, 12001400)

The Age of Crusades (real or imagined), 10251300

After the Age of Crusades, Christianity prevails,the area of Finland is part of Sweden => FinnishMiddle Age is (finally) considered to have begun.


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2. Sweden

For some 600 years, the area of Finland (or bigparts of it) was part of Sweden

1150>, earliest written sources 1249

The term Finland first referred to a South-Western region now known as Varsinais-Suomi,Finland proper.

There was no single administrative structure

called Finland, nor treaties between Swedenand Finland

Until 1809, Finland was the eastern part of theSwedish realm


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Treaty of Nteborg (with Novgorod), 1323


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Sweden consolidates its power The castles of Turku, Hme (Hmeenlinna),

Viipuri (Viborg), 1314th centuries

King Gustav I (Gustav Vasa), 152360

Lutheran reformation (the end ofCatholicism), 1520s>

Translation of the New Testament intoFinnish (1548) and ABC-Book (1543) by

Mikael Agricola The beginning of the early modern Swedish

state

The Academy (University) of Turku, 1640


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Rise and fall of Great Power During the latter half of the 17th century,

Sweden was the leading North Europeanpower

The Great Northern War (170021) againstRussia was the beginning of Swedensdecline

Conflicts between the King and the Estates /

Absolutism and Enlightenment Sweden loses the Finnish territory to Russia

after the Finnish War (180809, part of theNapoleonic wars)


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3. Russian Empire The Russian Emperor (in 1809, Alexander I)

became also the Grand Duke of Finland

In 1809, Alexander summoned the Estates (theDiet [parliament]) of Finland and kept most parts

of the Swedish laws in force

Swedish remains the language of administration,culture and social elite

Was Finland now declared to be a state under

Russia? The best answer seems to be no. Finland was a

land or region rather than a modern state,the Diet was not seen by Russians or Finns as a

sovereign parliament (yet!)


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Nationalism and state-building The idea of an independent Finland was born in the

1830s40s part of European national romanticism(Greece, Italy, Germany...)

Hegelianism and national philosopher J. V.

Snellman By the end of the 19th century, Finns develop their

own railroads, stamp, currency, education in theFinnish language, etc.

Kalevala (the national epic), 1835/49, the first Finnishnovels (Aleksis Kivi), 1860s70s

The golden era of Finnish art lasts until early 20thcentury (painters Albert Edelfelt, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, composer Jean Sibelius)


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Akseli Gallen-Kallela: The Defence of the Sampo(1896)


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Eetu Isto:

The Attack(1899)


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Was Russia good for us? In 18991905, and again in 190917, Russia

attempted to unify its empire (Russification)

=> threat to Finlands rights and privileges.

The years of repression Yet, unicameral parliament and universal

suffrage in 1906

Easy access to the Russian empire and its

capital St. Petersburg was surely beneficial

for Finnish business and Finns careers


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4. Independence and Civil War

Finnish nationalists and activists on the movesince the turn of the century

The political murder of General Governor ofFinland Nikolay Bobrikov, 1904

Finns divided on their attitudes to Russia,independence-minded activists vs. cautiousrealists

The split between Reds and Whites begins to

emerge The Bolshevik revolution in Russia, November

1917

Declaration of independece, 6 December 1917


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Civil War

Hostilities break between Red Guards andWhite Guards on 27 Jan 1918

Russian involvement on the Red side,

German on the White side Helsinki and Tampere are Red strongholds,the victory of Whites in Tampere decisive

Hostilities cease on 16 May 1918 after

estimated 5 000 deaths on the White side,12 500 on the Red

Further 11 650 Reds die in post-war prisonercamps


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The Republic of Finland Recognised by Soviet Russia (Lenin) and

most European nations during the Civil War

After the Whites won, a conflict between

Monarchists and Republicans After several twists and turns, in 1919 there is

a parliamentarian democratic constitution witha strong president (semi-presidentialism, cf.

France) Suspicion between former Reds and Whites

remained strong


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Prince Friedrich Karl of Hessen,

elected to King of Finland

in October 1918


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5. Democracy and Nationalism

The newly independent Finland was apredominantly agrarian country

Extensive land reforms in 1920s => tenantfarmers (tens of thousands) receive ownership to

their land The Communist party outlawed, operated

underground and led from Moscow

Leading political parties are the Agrarian Party,

Conservatives and Liberals, the SocialDemocrats are admitted to Government from thelate 1920s on

An ideology of national unity and Finnishness


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Clashes of the First Republic The language wars between Finnish and

Swedish speakers

The Lapua movement and the rebellion ofMntsl, 1932, followed by PatrioticPeoples Movement 193244 (radical right,arguably fascist), remains in minority

A more Scandinavian approach in the late1930s, coalition cabinets between socialdemocrats and bourgeois parties

Political culture becomes moreparliamentarian, president on the background


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Greater Finland


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6. More Wars The MolotovRibbentrop Pact (8/1939)

divided Eastern Europe to Soviet andGerman spheres of influence => Finland tothe Soviet sphere

The Soviet Union invaded Finland inNovember 1939

The Winter War, 11/19393/1940

Finland fought alone with foreign volunteers,the British & French considered intervention

The peace of Moscow => Finland lost territory


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Continuation War June 1941September 1944

Finland a co-belligerent of Germany

Lost territory, and more, was conquered in

1941 German troops attacked in the northern front

(including Lapland)

Soviet offensive of 1944 pushed Finns back

Cause of historical speculation: Finlandsaims; the nature of its relationship withGermany, etc.


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Lapland War and Paris Treaty In the armistice with the Soviet Union, Finland

agreed to force the Germans out of Lapland=> Lapland War, 9/19444/1945

Paris Peace Treaty (1947) => Soviet Uniongained territory and big war reparations

Finlands constitution and political systemremained intact during war & aftermath

The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 forged aspecial relation with the Soviet Union (Finlandnot part of the Warsaw pact or Comecon, ie.the main Eastern Bloc organizations)


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EC, EFTA and COMECON, 1988


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A more Nordic orientation During the 1960s, Finland joined most

Western organizations (but not the EEC)while trying to maintain good relations withthe Soviet Union

A more active politics of neutrality, highvisibility in the UN, CSCE (OSCE) conferencein Helsinki 1975

The Soviet pressure in Finnish domesticpolitics and Finlandization

President Urho Kekkonens (195681)debated legacy


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After Kekkonen A more parliamentary political culture

(presidential term limited to 2 x 6 years)

During the 1980s, Finlands economicperformance and welfare services reached

the standards of Sweden (they had laggedbehind)

Trade with the Soviet Union very beneficial(bilateral clearing: eg. Finnish machines and

textiles for Russian oil) In 1992, a severe economic downturn due to

liberalisation of credits, strong Finnish markpolicy and the fall of the Soviet Union


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Finland in post-2008 crisis The crisis of traditional export industries: wood

processing (paper), machine-building, mostrecently electronics (Nokia)

Nonetheless, the economic indicators look quite

good. But what should the future strategy be? Internationalisation of business, education etc. has

gone together with populist reactions and critiqueof immigration

Finlands relationship towards the EU has becomemore cautious and even criticalor perhaps it isjust experiencing what the old member countrieswent through before?


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Vinminen comes

Are you ready?

Finnish Finland ina European Europe

Sticker printed by a

radical nationalist groupSuomen sisu, (2007?)

Documents

History of Finland in 8 steps-2