history of finland in 8 steps-2
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History of Finland in Eight Steps
Petri Koikkalainen
petri.koikkalainen@ulapland.fi
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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?)
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