Finland - national flag
Flag of Finland was officially adopted by law 29.05.1918. Although the
country's heraldic colors are red and yellow, many wanted to find a flag with
other colors. The idea for the colors white and blue must have originated within
the freedom movements against Russia in the 1800's, and at the suggestion of the
poet Zacharias Topelius, who interpreted them as a symbol of Finland's
snow-covered plains and lakes, they were included in the design of the flag. The
cross must show the country's connection to the other Nordic countries. The
sketch for the blue and white flag was made by the artists Eero Snellman and
Bruno Tuukkanen.
- Countryaah:
What does the flag of Finland look like? Follow this link, then you will see
the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
During the Swedish era, the Swedish flag was the flag of Finland, just as in
the period during the Russian Empire, the Russian flag was the flag of Finland.
Midsummer is flag day and one of the official 6 flag days annually. The flag
goes glow evening (Fig. Juhannusaatto, sv. Midsommarafton),
i.e. Friday night at 18 and lowered again on Sankthansdag, Saturday at 21, which
varies in date from 20 to 26 June in Finland.
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AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in the world,
such as FIN which represents the official name of Finland.
Finland - prehistory
Finland's oldest settlement belongs to the Mesolithic Suomusjärvi culture
approximately 6500-4200 BC The tools were mainly made of quartz and quartzite, as
flint does not occur in Finland. In Neolithic times (4200-2000 BC), when Finland
was part of the chamber of ceramics, society was based partly on hunting seals,
moose and beavers, and partly on fishing. At the end of that period, the boat ax
culture occurs; on Åland the pottery culture. Agriculture was introduced in
southern Finland under the Senneolithic Kiukais culture. In the Bronze Age
(1500-500 BC) there were lively contacts with both Scandinavia and central and
eastern Russia. The grave form was stone mounds. The pre-Roman Iron Age (500
BC-birth) is characterized by iron production, and relations with the Baltics
were lively. In the Roman Iron Age (Birth of Christ-400), new tombs of a Baltic
character appeared next to the cairns. From the migration period (400-600) the
Germanic element in the find material grows, and in the Merovingian period
(600-800) several national forms of jewelery were created. The burial custom was
fire pits under flat ground. The Viking Age (800-1050) is characterized by a
stable development with wealthy peasant communities and extensive trade
relations. Finland's youngest prehistoric period, the Crusade, ends in Western
Finland in 1150, in Karelia in 1300. The Viking Age (800-1050) is characterized
by a stable development with wealthy peasant communities and extensive trade
relations. Finland's youngest prehistoric period, the Crusade, ends in Western
Finland in 1150, in Karelia in 1300. The Viking Age (800-1050) is characterized
by a stable development with wealthy peasant communities and extensive trade
relations. Finland's youngest prehistoric period, the Crusade, ends in Western
Finland in 1150, in Karelia in 1300.
- Songaah: See
song and lyrics about Finland

Finland - history
The germ of what was later called Finland, was created during the Crusades
approximately 1050-1300. The cultural connections between East and West, which took
place via the young neighboring states of Sweden and Novgorod, met in Southern
Finland among the peoples who lived along the important international trade
route that connected East and West.
Crusades and colonization
In continuation of the European crusade movement, Sweden directed crusades
towards the areas of the Gulf of Finland from the 1140's. The southwestern
part, Southwest Finland (Varsinais-Suomi), is traditionally considered to have
been conquered through Erik the Holy's crusade approximately 1155. During that period,
Danish expeditions to Finland also occurred. From 1200-t. the Swedes turned
towards Hämeenlinna (Häme) in the central interior of southern Finland, to
which Birger Jarl approximately 1238 directed the Second Crusade. At that time, Swedes
settled in the sparsely populated coastal areas of Uusimaa (Uusimaa)
and Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa). The Third Crusade in 1293 led to the construction
of the strategically important Viborg(Viipuri, Vyborg) in Karelia. The Swedish
government then sought to gain direct control of the trade routes to Novgorod,
but with the Peace of Nöteborg in 1323, it had to be abandoned for the time
being. An agreement was now reached on a Swedish-Russian border that divided the
Karelian Peninsula. West of the border, the Karelians became Catholics, while on
the eastern side they gradually became Russian Orthodox. Initially, there was
only an actual border in residential areas. To the north, the nomadic Sami
lived, while the population in the south in both the Swedish and the Russian
part used the lake system for fast transport, partly to conduct hunting and
fishing, partly to trade with and tax the Sami. During the 1400's and 1500's. took
place there from the Swedish side, especially from Savolax(Savo), a colonization
to the north and northeast that gradually displaced the Sami and Russian
Karelians. This led to confrontations with Novgorod and then with the Prince of
Moscow, but the result of the Peace of Teusina was that the vast areas in the
north in 1595 became Swedish.
Historical overview |
ca. 6500-4200 BC |
The Suomusjärvi culture. Earliest settlement. |
4200-2000 |
Chamber ceramic culture. Hunting for beavers, moose and seals as
well as fishing. |
2300-2000 |
Boat ax culture. New grave forms and external influences. |
2000-1500 |
Kiukais culture. Introduction of agriculture. |
1500-500 |
Bronze Age. Extensive contact with the rest of Scandinavia and
Russia. |
500-Birth of Christ |
Pre-Roman Iron Age. Beginning iron production. |
Birth of Christ-400 |
Roman Iron Age. Baltic tombs. |
400-600 |
The time of migration. |
600-800 |
The Merovingian period. New jewelry shapes. |
800-1050 |
The Viking Age. Rich farming communities with extensive trade links. |
1050-1300 |
The Crusade. Christianity is introduced, Swedish settlement in the
coastal areas. |
1323 |
The peace in Nöteborg. The first border with Russia. |
1400-1500-t. |
Western colonization in the north and east; Sami and Russian
Karelians are displaced. |
1548 |
The New Testament is translated into Finnish. |
1595 |
The peace of Teusina confirms Swedish conquests in northern Finland. |
1640 |
Åbo Akademi University is founded. |
1713-21 |
Great riots; Finland is occupied by the Russians. |
1809 |
Porvoo Landdag and Freden in Fredrikshamn; Finland becomes an
autonomous Russian Grand Duchy. |
1812 |
Helsinki (Helsinki) will be the capital. |
1840- |
The Finnish movement is gaining ground. |
1855-81 |
Emperor Alexander 2. Political life is activated and the Landtag is
convened in 1863. |
1863 |
The language manifesto. The Finnish language is equated with
Swedish. |
1899 |
The February Manifesto marks the tentative climax of Russification
policy. |
1905-07 |
The democratic breakthrough; Finland gets a one-chamber parliament
with universal suffrage for women and men. |
1917 |
Finland declares independence. |
1918 |
Civil war between bourgeois and socialists. |
1919 |
Finland's Republican Constitution is signed. |
1921 |
The dispute over the Åland Islands between Sweden and Finland is
resolved in Finland's favor. |
1939-40 |
The Winter War against the Soviet Union; Finland cedes large tracts
of land. |
1941-44 |
The Continuation War. Finland at war with the Soviet Union by
Germany. |
1944-45 |
The Lapland War. Finland at war with Germany, and all German and
Hungarian citizens in the country must be detained and transferred to
the Soviet Union under the directive of the Control Commission. |
1947 |
The peace in Paris confirms further cession and imposes large war
damages on Finland, which are paid until 1952. |
1948 |
Finnish-Soviet Pact of Friendship, Cooperation and Aid. |
1955 |
The thaw; The Soviet Union renounces the Porkkala Peninsula. Finland
member of the Nordic Council. |
1961 |
The note crisis is averted by President Kekkonen. |
1986 |
Full membership of EFTA. |
1994 |
Finland joins NATO's Partnership for Peace program. |
1995 |
Finland joins the EU. |
Finland is leading the way
The conquered areas in Finland were administered in line with other Swedish
landscapes and were not perceived as a separate entity. The name Finland was
therefore for a long time reserved for the area in the southwest, where Turku
(Turku) was the center. Only in ecclesiastical terms was the whole of Finnish
territory a unit, the diocese of Turku, to which the name Finland was also
attached. This is probably the reason why Finland in the 1500's. eventually
applied to the entire eastern part of Sweden, which before that was called
Østerland. The political integration in the Swedish kingdom can be considered
complete in 1362, when Østerland was given the right to participate in the
election of king in line with other Swedish landscapes.
The Reformation did not lead to major upheavals in Finland, but it did
through Mikael Agricola's translations of ecclesiastical texts, e.g. The New
Testament in 1548, of great importance for the development of the Finnish
language.
The Swedish monarchy gained an important financial and political base in
Finland, where there was only a very small nobility. This, together with the
growing importance of relations with Russia, meant that Finland came to play an
important role in the Swedish empire. In connection with the diplomatic game
around the Russo-Swedish War of 1555-57, Finland became a duchy in 1556 under
Gustav Vasa's son Johan (3rd), and during the continued war it elevated Finland
to the Grand Duchy.
After the Peace of Stolbova in 1617, which ended Sweden's war in Russia,
Russia had to further cede Kexholm län with its Russian Orthodox population, who
in large numbers fled and were replaced by Finnish peasants. Demands for
streamlining the administration meant that the Finnish language was gradually
supplanted by Swedish, but to ensure that qualified people were trained for the
administration within Finland's borders, the Swedish Governor-General Per
Brahe founded a university, Åbo Akademi University, in 1640.
Emerging separatism
Great Nordic War 1700-21 began the process that in 1809 was to lead to the
end of Swedish rule in Finland. After inflicting a crushing defeat on the
Russians at Narva in 1700, Charles waged war in Poland in the 12th, leaving the
Baltic and Finnish provinces vulnerable. In 1702, Peter the Great began a
conquest of the area's fortresses and in 1703 founded his future capital, St.
Petersburg, on Swedish territory. With Sweden's defeat at the Battle of Poltava
in 1709, the Baltics and Finland were at the mercy of Russia. From 1713-14 until
the Peace of Nystad in 1721, the Russians occupied most of Finland, the
so-called Great Unrest. By peace, Sweden had to relinquish its Baltic
possessions as well as the southeastern parts of Finland, so that the border
became almost like the present one. During the 1700's. Sweden made two
unsuccessful attempts to win back what was lost. In 1741-43, when noble factions
during the Freedom Period 1718-72 fought for power, a poorly planned and poorly
waged war led to the Russians being able to keep the whole of Finland occupied
again during the so-called Purple riot. At the Peace of Turku in 1743,
Sweden had to cede further land up to the Kymmene Älv (Kymijoki). During the
war, the Russian Empress Elisabeth Petrovna had issued a manifesto in which the
idea of Finland as an independent state appeared for the first time.
In 1772, Gustav III reinstated in a coup a strong monarchical government,
which was laid down in the form of government of 1772 and the Association and
Security Act of 1789 was to become Finland's constitutional basis until 1919.
Gustav III made another attempt in 1788-90 to regain the lost areas. Despite a
defeat, Sweden emerged from the war without loss of territory, but the campaign
led to an officers' revolt in 1788 against the king, the Anjala Confederation,
which had clear Finnish separatist undertones.
1700-t. became an economic and cultural flowering period for Finland. Thanks
to the liberal propaganda of the economist, pastor and politician Anders
Chydenius (1729-1803), which gained great importance in both Finland and Sweden,
the Finns were able to trade directly on the world market, and especially the
coastal coastal towns flourished. At the same time, with the pastor Daniel
Juslenius '(1676-1752) treatises on the history and language of Finland, a
Finnish sense of identity arose, which was further developed by his younger
relative Henrik Gabriel Porthan, who in a series of epoch-making treatises
asserted the Finns' historical and cultural identity.
The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars created the last conditions for the
rest of Finland to be separated from Sweden; this happened when Napoleon and
Alexander I in Tilsit in 1807 agreed that Russia should have free hands in
Finland if Sweden did not terminate the alliance with England. When that did not
happen, the Russians in the Russo-Swedish War of 1808-09 were able to conquer
Finland.
Russian Grand Duchy
After the Peace of Fredrikshamn in 1809, Finland became an autonomous Grand
Duchy with the Russian Emperor Alexander I as Grand Duke. The emperor then
nurtured the desire to reform the form of government in Russia, and that is
probably the reason why he accepted a position as constitutional monarch on the
basis of Gustav III's constitution. Therefore, already at Porvoo Landdag, where
he received the oath of the Finnish estates, he had guaranteed the continued
validity of Swedish laws and constitutions. Previously, Finland had only
differed from the rest of Sweden in that a larger proportion of the population
was Finnish-speaking, but now the country constituted a politically,
economically and administratively delimited area, which was even significantly
expanded, as Alexander I had the border shifted towards north toTorne
River (Tornionjoki).
A Finnish government body, the Senate, was created, and the connection
between Grand Duke and Grand Duchy was arranged so that a Governor-General,
usually a Russian, represented the Grand Duke, while a Secretary of State who
until Russification in the late 1800's. usually was Finnish, in St. Petersburg
they presented Finnish affairs to the Grand Duke.
Heads of state after 1809 |
grand princes Sort |
1809-25 |
Alexander 1. |
1825-55 |
Nicholas 1. |
1855-81 |
Alexander 2. |
1881-94 |
Alexander 3. |
1894-1917 |
Nicholas 2. |
head of state |
1918 |
PE Svinhufvud |
king |
1918 |
Frederik Karl |
head of state |
1918-19 |
Gustaf Mannerheim |
presidents |
1919-25 |
KJ Ståhlberg |
1925-31 |
LK Relander |
1931-37 |
PE Svinhufvud |
1937-40 |
Kyösti Kallio |
1940-44 |
Risto Ryti |
1944-46 |
Gustaf Mannerheim |
1946-56 |
JK Paasikivi |
1956-81 |
Urho Kekkonen |
1982-94 |
Mauno Koivisto |
1994-2000 |
Martti Ahtisaari |
2000-12 |
Tarja Halonen |
2012- |
Sauli Niinistö |
Helping to secure the country's special position was that the border between
the Finnish Grand Duchy and the Russian Empire was a customs border that catered
to Finland. Furthermore, until the policy of Russification changed, it was
significant that only Russians born in the Grand Duchy of Finland could obtain
rights as Finnish citizens. Therefore, only the Russians who had settled in Old
Finland in 1721-1812 (which Sweden had ceded in 1721 and 1743) could occupy
offices in Finland, as Old Finland in 1812 was incorporated into the Grand
Duchy. This later meant that the eastern border of Old Finland also became the
independent border of Finland in 1920.
After 1812, Alexander I abandoned his reform plans, and Stænderlanddagen was
not convened again until 1863, but otherwise the Finnish institutions could
function unhindered. What was first and foremost worrying was the prospect of
Swedish revanchism, and to prevent this, in 1812 the capital was moved from
Turku (Turku) to the strategically better located Helsinki (Helsinki). In 1828
the university was also moved, where the development was now closely followed by
the Russian Governor-General, for it was among the students that one might
expect to detect dangerous tendencies. In the time leading up to Nikolaj I's
death, therefore, all political activity was marked by caution.
The language battle
The Finnishness movement, which was an offshoot of the Romanticism
nationality movement, could, on the other hand, unfold unhindered, especially
driven by Johan Vilhelm Snellman. Although the aim was basically to preserve
Finland as a nation within the Russian Empire, one of the consequences was that
leading circles moved away from the Swedish heritage. Those who, influenced by
the movement, equated language with nation, and who had to choose a national
language, were all Swedish-speaking. But it was also part of the ideology of
Romanticism that it was the people's spirit that constituted the nation, and
therefore one had to seek the linguistic basis in the language of the majority
of the people. A large part of the Swedish-speaking cultural elite chose to be
refined. When there were others of the Swedish-speakers who did not want to
sacrifice their mother tongue, there were sharp confrontations, and the language
and nationality problem therefore came to dominate Finnish history for several
periods until World War II. The first political parties, the Finnish Party and
the Swedish Party,
Growing self-government
The takeover of the throne by the liberal-minded Alexander II in 1855 led, in
connection with the defeat in the Crimean War, to a period of reform and a
revival of political life. From 1863, the Landtag was convened again at regular
intervals, and a number of reforms could now be implemented. Finland got its own
military and its own currency, and in general they sought to expand the
country's position so that it came to appear as a separate state that was merely
in personnel union with Russia. In 1863, with the so-called language
manifesto, Snellman was persuaded that Finnish in the administration was
equated with Swedish.
Finland entered a period of economic growth, in which forestry in particular
and, over time, the wood processing industry became very important. Periods of
misgrowth, however, led to the suffering of the socially disadvantaged, who were
not represented in the Landtag, and the need for reforms for the large landless
rural population, the crofters, grew.
Russification
Finland. Suomi-Jomfruen is attacked; painting by Edvard Isto (1865-1906)
entitled Attack. Isto painted the picture when the first wave of Russification
policy was at its height with the February Manifesto in 1899. The Suomi-Virgo,
whose defensive position roughly corresponds to the contours of Finland at the
time, tries to prevent Russia in the form of the double-headed eagle from
wrecking the country's law. The picture became incredibly popular in Finland,
and reproductions were found in many homes, just as it was sold as a postcard.
From the 1890's, Russian nationalism began to seriously shape the Russian
emperor Nikolai II's view of Finland's position in the empire. Finnish special
rights were to be abolished and the country Russified, as were Poland and the
Baltics. This led to an alliance across the language divide, so that the Finnish
party split into old Finns who would pursue a policy of leniency
towards the Russians to preserve what had been gained in the language field, and
the young Finns who allied with the Swedes in opposition to
Russification. The policy of Russification reached a preliminary peak in 1899
with the February Manifesto and the dictatorial rule of Russian Governor
General NI Bobrikov.
The unrest of 1905 after Russia's defeat in the Russo - Japanese War led to
democratization, first in Russia, then in Finland. In 1906, Stænderlanddagen was
replaced by a one-chamber system with universal suffrage for men and women over
the age of 24. The universal suffrage meant that the social strata, which had
hitherto had no political influence, now gained great importance. In the first
election, Finland's Social Democratic Party, SDP, which had been founded in
1899, won 80 of 200 seats thanks to the Torps. The support for the party grew in
the subsequent elections, and in 1916 it gained an absolute majority of 103
seats.
As early as 1908, however, the emperor and the Russian nationalists had
regained control of Russia, and Russification set in with renewed vigor. The
Landtag was ignored and not convened during World War I, although elections
continued to be held.
Independent
The February Revolution in Russia in 1917 had great significance for
Finland. Together with the emperor, the link to Russia disappeared; the
provisional Russian government took over the prince's powers and allowed the
Finnish political institutions to function. The Landtag, in which the SDP
(Social Democrats) had a majority, was convened and a coalition government was
formed. In July 1917, the SDP passed a law, the Power Act, which, despite the
maintenance of a common foreign policy, effectively made Finland
independent. With bourgeois help, however, the Russian government dissolved the
Landtag, and in the ensuing election, the SDP lost the majority, which, together
with growing hunger in the cities, strengthened the revolutionary wing of the
party. After the October Revolutionin Russia in 1917, a general strike broke out
in Finland, during which armed Red Guards faced the bourgeois
"white" protection corps (protection corps). Although Pehr
Evind Svinhufvud succeeded in forming a bourgeois government, which on 6
December 1917 declared Finland an independent republic, the government found it
difficult to control the domestic political situation. To counter the threat of
the large Russian forces still in the country, the security forces were
transformed into government forces, and Svinhufvud ordered Commander-in-Chief
Gustaf Mannerheim to disarm the Russian garrisons in the white core area of
Ostrobothnia. Disarmament began on 27.1.1918; at the same time, a "red"
government seized power in Helsinki, triggering the Finnish Civil War.
Prime Ministers and Governments |
1917-18 |
PE Svinhufvud |
(Uf, Fp, Ag, Sfp) |
1918 |
JK Paasikivi |
(Fp, Uf, Ag, Sfp) |
1918-19 |
Lauri Ingman |
(Sam, Fr, Sfp) |
1919 |
Kaarlo Castrén |
(Fr, Ag, Sfp) |
1919-20 |
JH Vennola |
(Fr, Ag) |
1920-21 |
Rafael Erich |
(Sam, Fr, Ag, Sfp) |
1921-22 |
JH Vennola |
(Fr, Ag) |
1922 |
AK Cajander |
(Ministry of Civil Servants) |
1922-24 |
Kyösti Kallio |
(Ag, Fr, Sam) |
1924 |
AK Cajander |
(Ministry of Civil Servants) |
1924-25 |
Lauri Ingman |
(Sam, Ag, Sfp, Fr) |
1925 |
Antti Tulenheimo |
(Sam, Ag, Fr) |
1925-26 |
Kyösti Kallio |
(Ag, Sam) |
1926-27 |
Väinö Tanner |
(SDP) |
1927-28 |
JE Sunila |
(Ag) |
1928-29 |
Oskari Mantere |
(Fr, Sam) |
1929-30 |
Kyösti Kallio |
(Ag, Fr) |
1930-31 |
PE Svinhufvud |
(Sam, Ag, Sfp, Fr) |
1931-32 |
JESunila |
(Ag, Sam, Fr, Sfp) |
1932-36 |
TM Kivimäki |
(Fr, Sam, Sfp, Ag) |
1936-37 |
Kyösti Kallio |
(Ag, Fr, Sam) |
1937-39 |
AK Cajander |
(Fr, SDP, Ag) |
1939-40 |
Risto Ryti |
(Fr, Ag, SDP, Sfp) |
1940-41 |
Risto Ryti |
(Fr, Ag, SDP, Sfp, Sam) |
1941-43 |
JW Rangell |
(Fr, Ag, SDP, Sam, Sfp, IKL) |
1943-44 |
Edwin Linkomies |
(Sam, SDP, Ag, Sfp, Fr) |
1944 |
Antti Hackzell |
(Sam, SDP, Ag, Sfp, Fr) |
1944 |
UJ Castrén |
(Sam, SDP, Ag, Fr, Sfp) |
1944-45 |
JK Paasikivi |
(unbound, SDP, Ag, Fr, Sfp, Df) |
1945-46 |
JK Paasikivi |
(unbound, Df, SDP, Ag, Fr, Sfp) |
1946-48 |
Mauno Pekkala |
(Df, Ag, SDP, Sfp) |
1948-50 |
KA. Fagerholm |
(SDP) |
1950-51 |
Urho Kekkonen |
(Ag, Sfp, Fr) |
1951 |
Urho Kekkonen |
(Ag, SDP, Sfp, Fr) |
1951-53 |
Urho Kekkonen |
(Ag, SDP, Sfp, Fr) |
1953 |
Urho Kekkonen |
(Ag, Sfp) |
1953-54 |
Sakari Tuomioja |
(Ff, Sam, Sfp) |
1954 |
Ralf Törngren |
(Sfp, Ag, SDP) |
1954-56 |
Urho Kekkonen |
(Ag, SDP) |
1956-57 |
KA.Fagerholm |
(SDP, Ag, Sfp, Ff) |
1957 |
VJ Sukselainen |
(Ag, Ff, Sfp) |
1957-58 |
Rainer von Fieandt |
(Ministry of Civil Servants) |
1958 |
Reino Kuuskoski |
(Ministry of Civil Servants) |
1958-59 |
KA.Fagerholm |
(SDP, Ag, Sam, Ff, Sfp, Fr) |
1959-61 |
VJ Sukselainen |
(Ag) |
1961-62 |
Martti Miettunen |
(Ag) |
1962-63 |
Ahti Karjalainen |
(Ag, Sam, Ff, Sfp and JRC) |
1963-64 |
Reino Lehto |
(Ministry of Civil Servants) |
1964-66 |
Johannes Virolainen |
(Ag, Sam, Ff, Sfp) |
1966-68 |
Rafael Paasio |
(SDP, Cp, Df, Soc.F) |
1968-70 |
Mauno Koivisto |
(SDP, Cp, Df, Soc.F, Sfp) |
1970 |
Teuvo Aura |
(Ministry of Civil Servants) |
1970-71 |
Ahti Karjalainen |
(Cp, SDP, Df, Sfp, Lf) |
1971-72 |
Teuvo Aura |
(Ministry of Civil Servants) |
1972 |
Rafael Paasio |
(SDP) |
1972-75 |
Kalevi Sorsa |
(SDP, Cp, Sfp, Lf) |
1975 |
Keijo Liinama |
(Ministry of Civil Servants) |
1975-76 |
Martti Miettunen |
(Cp, SDP, Df, Sfp, Lf) |
1976-77 |
Martti Miettunen |
(Cp, Sfp, Lf) |
1977-79 |
Kalevi Sorsa |
(SDP, Cp, Df, Lf, Sfp) |
1979-82 |
Mauno Koivisto |
(SDP, Cp, Df, Sfp) |
1982-83 |
Kalevi Sorsa |
(SDP, Cp, Df, Sfp) |
1983-87 |
Kalevi Sorsa |
(SDP, Cp, Sfp, Lp) |
1987-91 |
Harri Holkeri |
(Sam, SDP, Sfp, Lp) |
1991-95 |
Esko Aho |
(Cp, Sam, Sfp, Kr) |
1995-99 |
Paavo Lipponen |
(SDP, Sfp, Sam, V, G) |
1999-2003 |
Paavo Lipponen |
(SDP, Sfp, Sam, V, G (until 2002)) |
2003 |
Anneli Jäätteenmäki |
(C, SDP, Sfp) |
2003-07 |
Matti Vanhanen |
(C, SDP, Sfp) |
2007-10 |
Matti Vanhanen |
(C, Sam, Sfp, G) |
2010-11 |
Mari Kiviniemi |
(C, Sam, Sfp, G) |
2011-14 |
Jyrki Katainen |
(Sam, SDP, V, G, Sfp, KD) |
2014-15 |
Alexander Stubb |
(Sam, SDP, Sfp; G: 24.6.2014 - 26.9.2014) |
2015- |
Juha Sipilä |
(C, PS, Sam) |
(The Prime Minister's party is listed first) |
Ag: Agrarförbundet, Cp: Centerpartiet, Df: Demokratiska
förbundet för Finlands folk, Ff: Finska folkpartiet, FFC: Finsk LO, Fp:
Finska partiet, Fr: Framstegspartiet, G: De Gröna, IKL: Isänmaallinen
kansanliike (Fædrelandske folkebevægelse), Kr : Finnish Christian
League, Lf: Liberal People's Party, Lp: Finnish Rural Party, PS:
Perussuomalaiset/True Finns (De Gænse Finner), Sam: Samlingspartiet,
SDP: Socialdemokratiet, Sfp: Svenska folkpartiet, Soc.F:
Socialdemokratiska förbund, Uf: Ungfinska partiet, V:
Vänsterförbundet. KD: The Christian Democrats in Finland. |
Aided by German troops, the white forces conquered during the spring of 1918.
Several of the surviving red leaders, including Otto Ville Kuusinen, fled to
Russia and formed the Finnish Communist Party. The number of casualties in the
actual battles, approximately 6700, was not largely in relation to the victims of red
and white terror and the revenge of the victors. The war thus caused the deaths
of more than 30,000 people, and the hatred between losers and victors and
especially the victors' revenge came to cast a shadow over the interwar period.
Frightened by the revolt of the Reds, the bourgeoisie for the time being
abandoned the idea of a republic. On the basis of the still valid monarchical
constitution, Svinhufvud was appointed governor until a king was found. The
significant German troop supplies during the Civil War had given Germany a
dominant position, prompting Mannerheim to leave his post as army
commander. Furthermore, the German influence meant that the future king had to
be German. In October 1918, Frederik Karl of Hesse, who was closely associated
with the Danish royal family, was elected king, which in effect made Finland a
German vassal state. However, Germany's collapse in World War I the following
month quickly put an end to this. Frederik Karl retired, and in order to regain
the trust of the Western powers, Mannerheim was appointed head of state. A new
election brought strong Social Democratic representation, and thus the
monarchy's time was over. A republican constitution was adopted, which gave the
president great power, and in 1919, a clear majority in the Reichstag elected
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg as the country's first president. During the Civil War,
the Swedish government had sought recognition from the great powers of the Åland
Islands' return to Sweden, but the issue was resolved in Finland's favor in 1921
byLeague of Nations. The border with Russia was established at the Peace of
Dorpat (Tartu) on 14.10.1920, giving Finland the Petsamo area and thus access to
the Arctic Ocean in return for giving up demands on the neighboring East Korean
parishes, which many would have liked to see incorporated into Greater
Finland. The East Karelian question was then together with authenticity,
ie. expulsion of the Swedish language from official Finland, key issues for
the Academic Karelia Society.
The interwar period
The bitterness in Finland over Sweden's appearance in the Åland conflict and
the resurgent language dispute made it impossible for Finland to orient itself
towards the Nordic countries. Instead, they turned to Poland and the Baltic
states, but gave up entering into a risky alliance that had turned against
both Soviet Russia and Germany. When the Soviet Union, under the impression of
the threat from Germany, approached the League of Nations, in 1932 Finland
concluded a non-aggression pact with its neighbor to the east. It was not until
the mid-1930's, after a preliminary solution to the language dispute, that
Finland began to orient itself towards the Nordic countries.
Finland underwent a quiet internal development after 1918, and until 1922 a
number of laws were enacted, whereby the large landless rural population got its
own land through confiscation and subdivision of large land holdings with
subsidies of state land. The laws made Finland a country of smallholders and
removed some of the social contradictions; a negative effect, however, was that
the country's industrial development was slowed down.
With the exception of a Social Democratic minority government 1926-27, most
governments during the period were bourgeois coalition governments. The
Communist Party was banned, but by running under various pseudonyms, the party
succeeded in being represented in the Riksdag in several elections. With the
world crisis in the late 1920's, economic prosperity ceased. At the same time, a
strike movement arose, which many bourgeois believed was organized by communists
on the orders of the Soviet Union, which allegedly sought to facilitate its own
timber industry's access to the world market. It provoked the semi-fascist Lapp
movement, which criticized the parliamentary system and demanded a ban on the
Socialists. A preliminary culmination came in 1930 with a military-organized
peasant train to Helsinki. Kallio's government resigned,communist laws
demanded by the Lappo people. A right-wing government was formed under the
leadership of the Lapp movement's favorite man, Svinhufvud. When he was elected
president the following year, Lappo considered it time to step in against the
Social Democrats. In February 1932, armed Lapps tried a coup, but when
Svinhufvud distanced himself from the coup attempt, the rebels gave up and the
movement languished. The remnants of the movement organized themselves in the
fascist party Fædrelandske Folkebevægelse, IKL. While the Lapp movementhad been
neutral in the language dispute and had had many Swedish speakers among its
supporters, IKL adopted the authentic Finnish slogans and turned especially
against the dominance of the Swedish speakers at the University of Helsinki. The
slogans also found widespread support among Finnish bourgeois politicians, and
the language dispute reached a final climax. This made the Swedish-speakers
dependent on the SDP's support in order to preserve their minority rights. On
the other hand, the vast majority of Swedish-speakers in the 1930's became a
stable supporter of democracy. By creating divisions across political currents,
the language dispute thus certainly contributed to Finnish democracy surviving
with few restrictions during the interwar period, while the Baltic fringe states
and Poland in the 1930's were transformed into semi-fascist dictatorships.
In the latter half of the 1930's, the economy revived, and a period of reform
was initiated, which was to transform the country into a welfare society similar
to the rest of the Nordic region. The political basis for this was created in
1937, when the SDP first entered into a coalition with a bourgeois party, the
Agrarförbundet; the alliance between the two parties came to form the basis of
many later governments.
WW2
Following Hitler's and Chamberlain's agreement in Munich in September 1938,
the Soviet Union suddenly saw itself in isolation and therefore sought, through
negotiations with Finland, to secure Leningrad through border adjustments, but
met no understanding on the part of Finland. However, as part of the
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in 1939, Finland joined the Baltic States in
the sphere of interest of the Soviet Union, and a new round of negotiations
began. Mannerheim, the military chief, and JK Paasikivi, who was leading the
negotiations, warned the Finnish government against
underestimating Stalin'sdetermination but was overheard. The government rejected
demands for border adjustments, after which the Soviet Union responded again on
November 30, 1939 with a military attack that triggered the Winter War. However,
the Finns' will to defend was greater than expected, and Stalin's puppet
government under Kuusinen had no influence. Despite several notable victories,
however, it was clear that Finland would suffer defeat without outside help. The
Western powers had plans to intervene via Narvik and Kiruna, but before it was
implemented, Finland concluded peace in Moscow with the Soviet Union on March
12, 1940 and ceded the Salla area in the north and the Karelian Peninsula to a
line near the border from 1721. Hanko Uddwas leased to a Soviet naval base for
a period of 30 years, but as early as December 2, 1941, Soviet forces during the
Continuation War were forced to withdraw from the area. Finland lost more than
1/3 of its hydropower- based electricity supply as a result of the cession of
land to the Soviet Union.
The pressure from the Soviet Union did not lessen; the Finnish government
therefore saw it as a life insurance policy when the Germans in the summer of
1940 requested the right of transit to Norway and soon made it clear that it
drew up to break with Stalin. When the rift came, the government chose to side
with the Germans in the Continuation War 1941-44. Finnish forces quickly
recaptured the lost territory and in the autumn of 1941 reached a line that ran
from the Karelian Peninsula to Onega; However, the Soviet Union was able to
keep a corridor open to both Leningrad and the Murmansk railway. Until the
spring of 1944, the front was largely fixed, but then the Red Armyembarked on a
major offensive, the Finns withdrew; it was clear that the country had to seek
out the war. It happened with the ceasefire in September 1944, after President
Risto Ryti, who had pledged to Germany not to conclude a separate peace, was
replaced by Mannerheim. As part of the ceasefire, Finland undertook to expel the
German troops who, during the withdrawal from Norway, systematically laid
Lapland in ruins. A Russian-dominated Allied control commission set up at the
Hotel Torni in inner Helsinki to monitor Finland's compliance with the
ceasefire. In the subsequent court settlement, Ryti and Tanner sentenced to
severe penalties, and at the final peace Finland, in addition to the surrenders
in 1940, had to give up the Petsamo area and also rent outThe Porkala
Peninsula as a military base area for 50 years to the Soviet Union. That same
year, however, Finland was allowed to allow long-distance trains to pass through
the Soviet rental area with shuttered windows. As early as January 26, 1956, an
agreement was signed at the Soviet embassy to return the area, after which the
first train passed through the area without shuttered windows on December 21,
1955, and the evacuated local residents were able to return to their properties
on February 4, 1956. Finland also had to agree to pay war damages in the form of
goods; something that lasted until 1952.
The peace agreement, signed on 10 February 1947 in Paris, was drawn up in
Russian, Finnish, French and English and signed by Finland, on the one hand, and
the USSR, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, as well
as Australia, Canada, the South African Union, Belarus's SSR, India, New
Zealand, Czechoslovakia and Ukraine's SSR on the other hand as allied
powers. The peace agreement can be read online (in Finnish) here.
The post-war period
Finland had received a total of approximately 425,000 Karelian refugees for whom
land was to be found; at the same time, the front fighters of the war had been
promised small plots of land as a reward for war participation. It cemented
Finland as a smallholder country, a problem that has haunted the country ever
since. On the other hand, the war damage compensation, which was reduced due to
an improved relationship with the Soviet Union, had a favorable effect on the
country's industrialization, and at the same time Finland acquired a stable
market in the eastern countries, from which it obtained cheap energy and raw
materials. This meant that Finland was not hit by the oil crisis, whereas the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 immediately triggered an economic crisis
with high unemployment and major devaluations as a result.
The defeat necessitated a political reorientation, and the time after 1944
has often been referred to as the Second Republic. Parties and
organizations on the far right were banned, while the Communists could once
again operate freely. At the same time, leading politicians, led by Paasikivi,
realized that the Finns' attitude towards their neighbor to the east had to be
changed. In the early years, however, suspicion was high, and in 1948 a
communist takeover was feared. In 1948, the Soviet Union proposed the conclusion
of a bilateral agreement, the Finnish-Soviet Pact of Friendship, Cooperation and
Aid., similar to the agreements that the Soviet Union entered into with the
Eastern European countries at that time. By swiftly proposing amendments to the
Soviet proposal, Paasikivi succeeded in giving the treaty such a form that
Finland's independence was not seriously threatened despite military assistance
clauses and consultations that the Soviet Union could invoke in crisis
situations. Stalin's acceptance of the changes and the lack of response to the
maneuvers of the Finnish Communists created confidence that the Soviet Union did
not intend to Sovietize Finland.
By the outbreak of the Cold War, the framework within which Finland could
develop its model of neutrality had been created. During the so-called thaw
after Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev returned the Porkkala Peninsula and
failed to protest Finland's membership of the Nordic Council in 1955. In the
same year, Finland became a member of the UN.. In 1958, however, the Soviet
suspicion of an increased Western orientation in Finnish foreign policy led to
the so-called Night Frost Crisis, which led to the SDP, which had opposed the
Communists, being kept out of government co-operation in 1958-66. Later, in
1961, Khrushchev triggered the note crisis in support of President Kekkonen's
re-election, with the Soviet Union, among others. referring to the tense
situation in Berlin, required military consultations. Kekkonen averted the
crisis through meetings with Khrushchev, and the coalition against him in the
1962 presidential election collapsed. His role in Finnish-Soviet relations
undoubtedly helped him to remain president for 25 years. Kekkonen's foreign
policy stabilized Finland's external position; in 1961 the country became an
associate member of EFTA, and in 1973 a trade agreement was concluded with the
EC.GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany on 21.12.1972. This was a step
towards the European Security and Cooperation Conference in
Helsinki, CSCE (since 1994 OSCE, Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe), which ended with the Helsinki Final Act.
These initiatives placed Finland stronger in international politics. In turn,
the Kekkonen's exercise of power provoked deep domestic political
contradictions, which led to demands for a weakening of the presidential
power; his successor, the Social Democrat Mauno Koivisto, himself chose to
curtail his interventions in daily politics.
While Finland in the first decades after the war was marked by many
government crises, since the late 1970's, a tradition has been created for broad
coalition governments that endure the election period. Until 1987, governments
were most often formed on the basis of alliances between the SDP and the Center
Party (until 1965 Agrarförbundet), but new patterns of cooperation now seem to
have been created. It may be related to the foreign policy freedom that the
country has enjoyed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, where an equal
treaty of cooperation with the Russian Federationreplaced the VSB Pact. In 1995,
following an indicative referendum, Finland joined the EU. In addition to the
economic benefits that one hopes to achieve, EU membership must of course also
be seen as a guarantee of Finland's continued independence from Russia. In 2008,
Finland held the presidency of the OSCE, while the Georgia crisis developed into
a short-lived war with Russia.
After 1995
In the period since 1995, Finland has been characterized by political
stability. After the election in 1995, the Social Democrat Paavo Lipponen formed
a government, the so-called rainbow coalition, consisting of the Social
Democrats, the National Coalition Party, the Swedish People's Party, the Left
Alliance and the Green Alliance. Despite its political scope and internal
contradictions, the government continued after the 1999 election. However, the
Green Alliance chose to leave the government when it decided in May 2002 to
expand its nuclear power. With the accession of the government, Finland
continued to suffer from the aftermath of the economic crisis, the country had
emerged in the early 1990's, when unemployment exceeded 20% and the deficit in
the state budget increased explosively. Both for this reason and to qualify
Finland for participation in Economic and Monetary Union, EMU, the government
pursued a restrictive economic policy and, with tax cuts, caused the unions to
show restraint in the collective bargaining negotiations. The result was a sharp
increase in competitiveness, which in the late 1990's led to annual growth rates
of up to 6%.
Finland has supported continued integration in the EU and is also in favor of
strengthening the EU Commission. The country was among the first to join EMU,
and like Denmark and Sweden, has eagerly supported the enlargement of the EU to
the east. The prospect of several of the new EU countries also joining NATO has
led to a debate in Finland on whether to join the defense organization as
well. The Samlingspartiet and Svenska Folkpartiet in particular have been in
favor of this, while the Social Democrats, who in 1995-2004 held all the foreign
policy key positions in the state apparatus, have wanted to postpone the issue
and rather see the EU develop into a security and foreign policy superpower by
cooperating with the Western European Unionin peacekeeping engagements. This
line has been conditioned by Finland's desire not to see Russia in
isolation; therefore, Finland has warmly supported the Partnership for Peace
initiative. However, in the light of the rapprochement that has taken place
between NATO and Russia since 9/11/2001, it is to be expected that Finland will
reassess its relationship with NATO. Something that, however, has only been
actualized in 2016 after the Ukraine crisis.
At the end of the presidency, Martti Ahtisaari did not seek re-election, and
in the February 2000 election, his party colleague Tarja Halonen, who had been
Foreign Minister since 1995, was elected president; she thus became Finland's
first female head of state.
Tarja Halonen became the first president to take office under a new
constitution that deprived the office of many of its powers in government
formation and in foreign policy. On the other hand, she has - often in conflict
with the government - made the most of the powers she has left. Also in other
ways, she has managed to put a personal touch on the office, and in 2006 she was
re-elected for a new six-year term. In the 2003 election, the Center Party
became the country's largest party by a narrow margin and gained the post of
prime minister in a new majority coalition with the Social Democrats and the
Swedish People's Party. The first months of the new government were marked by
the scandal surrounding the new Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäkismaneuvers
during the election campaign. After two months, she had to resign. However, the
governing coalition could continue under the Center Party's deputy chairman,
Matti Vanhanen. Since then, the new government has continued the predecessor's
social liberal stabilization policy, which has created constant economic
growth. Nevertheless, the still high level of unemployment has not been
completely eliminated, as many unemployed people have not been able to meet the
demands of the high-tech growth industries. The concentration of these
industries in the southern and partly western parts of Finland has created an
increased emigration from the sparsely populated areas in the north and
east. With the prospect of EU agricultural support for Finnish agriculture
declining, this trend will increase in the future, although the government is
trying to compensate for this. In order to meet future demands for labor, a
pension reform was adopted in 2003,
In the 2007 election, both the major governing parties, the Center Party and
the Social Democrats declined. However, the Center Party retained its position
as the largest party. It therefore became the party's leader, Prime
Minister Matti Vanhanen, which was given the task of forming a new
government. Vanhanen chose to replace the Social Democrats as a government
partner due to their great decline. Although the Center Party and the Coalition
Party together have an absolute majority, Vanhanen chose to keep the Swedish
People's Party in the government and also involve the Green Alliance, so that
the new government in the Riksdag has 126 out of 200 seats behind it. It is the
first time since 1995 that the Social Democrats have not been in government,
while the Swedish People's Party, as the only one, has been in all governments
since 1979. According to the government basis, the new government will take
initiatives to maintain the country's competitiveness by a general tax cut on
income; it will pursue an ecological climate and energy policy with increased
environmental taxes and a possible expansion of nuclear and
hydropower; initiatives are also important,
In the 2011 election, the Center Party and the Social Democrats regressed,
while the nationalist and populist party Sannfinländerna (The True Finns) made
significant progress. The party went from 5 to 39 seats and thus became
Finland's third largest party. Jyrki Katainen from the Samlingspartiet formed a
government together with six smaller parties; True Finns had no influence in
government formation.
The following year, in 2012, presidential elections were held; here Sauli
Niinistö from the National Coalition Party won. Finland thus became the first
conservative president since 1956.
In foreign policy, Finland continues to attach great importance to the
development of the EU, and the government chose in the autumn of 2006, when the
country held the EU presidency, to let Parliament adopt the EU Treaty, although
President Halonen opposes it and population dissatisfaction with the EU is
growing. Finland's desire to participate in broader international and security
policy co-operation has also contributed to the constant discussion of a
possible accession to NATO, with which the country must work ever
closer. Another theme that has aroused debate in the country and criticism from
outside is the fact that the country, due to the long border with Russia, has
still not signed the Ottawa Treatyfrom 1997 to refrain from using
landmines. However, the treaty was ratified in 2011 with effect from 2012, and
the mines must be removed in 2016.
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