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History Of Finland Essay, Research Paper

Chapter 1

History

The History of Finland

Finland s traces of human settlements date back to the thaw of the last Ice Age some 10.000 years ago. The Finns ancestors seem to have dominated half of northern Russia before arriving on the north of the Baltic coast well before the Christian era. By the end of the Viking Age, Swedish traders and chieftains had extended their interests throughout the Baltic region.

Finland s position, sandwiched between East and West, has given the Finnish way of life and culture a distinctive flavour all of their own. For five years Finland was part of Sweden, then for a hundred years of Russia, there still are traces of this.

1.1 The Swedish period

Until the middle of the 12th century, the geographical area that is now Finland was a political vacuum. Both its neighbours, Sweden and the Catholic Church on one side, and its eastern neighbour Russia and its Greek Orthodox Church at the other side were interested. Sweden became the most of the country at the peace treat of 1323 was signed between Sweden and Russia. Russia became only the eastern part of Finland. The western and southern parts were tied to Sweden. The western and southern parts of Finland had become the Western European cultural sphere, but the eastern part and Karelia became part of the Russo-Byzantine world.

As a consequence of Swedish domination, the Swedish legal and social systems took root in Finland. The Finnish peasants were never serfs, they always retained their personal freedom.

The Reformation started by Luther in the early 16 century also reached Sweden and Finland, and the Catholic Church consequently lost out to the Lutheran faith.

The King of Sweden founded Helsinki, Gustavus Vasa, in 1550 to compete with Tallinn in Estonia for trade in the Baltic region. It moved to the present site in the 17 century, but although a new town centre was built, it was to remain a sleepy little town of wooden houses for many decades to come.

It did not really expand much until 1748, when the ruling Swedes decided to build a mighty fortress at the mouth of the harbour. The building of this fortress gave the town a great economic boost.

1.2 The Russian period

In 1809 Russia wrested Finland from Sweden, the made Helsinki the capital and Finland an autonomous grand dutchy subordinate to the Russian Emperor. During the Swedish period, Finland was subdivided in a group of provinces and not a national entity. Finland was governed from Stockholm, this was also the capital of the Finnish provinces, and now it became Helsinki. Grand dutchy, that is the way the Grand Duke was called. He was the Russian emperor, whose representative in Finland was the Governor General.

The Russian Emperor Alexander I, was Grand Duke of Finland in 1809-1825. He gave Finland extensive autonomy thereby creating the Finnish state. Alexander I died in 1825 and was succeeded by Nicholas I. It was under his rule, that the nationalist Finnish movement began to gain momentum. Alexander II, who became Tsar in 1855, issued the Language Manifesto in 1863. Finnish should be accorded equal status with Swedish Language of the civil service and courts of law within twenty years. But the Swedish retained its dominant position until the early years of the twentieth century.

During the reign of Alexander III, from 1881-1894 and particularly of Nicholas II, from 1894-1917, nationalist circles in Russia gained increased influence. The Russification of Finland began during the First Oppression , from 1899-1905, and continued during the Second Oppression , from 1909 till 1917.

The revolution of 1905 gave the Finns a brief respite, during which they managed to enact a new Constitution replacing the old Diet of Four Estates with a unicameral Parliament elected by universal suffrage applying to all men and women aged 24 or more. This was the most democratic national assembly in Europe at the time.

1.3 Finland as an independent republic

The First World War, which broke out in the summer of 1914, led to revolution in Russia in 1917. On the 6 of December 1917, parliament approved the declaration of independence drawn up by the Senate under the leadership of Svinhufvud, from 1861-1944.

At the end of January 1918, the leftwing parties staged a coup, and the government was forced to flee from Helsinki. The Civil Ware ended in May, and the government troops had their victory. Finland became a republic in the summer of 1919, K.J. Stahlberg was elected as the first president. From 1865-1952.

Construction of the new independent republic now got under way. A law on compulsory education was enacted in 1921, and compulsory military service the New Year.

The left-wing parties got a taste of power as the country had its first Social Democratic government, from 1926 to 1927. The ultra-rightist Lapua Movement, modelled on the Italian Fascist party, staged mass demonstrations in 1929, demanding a ban on all Communist activity. The enactment of the Communist laws of 1930 met this demand.

Independent Finland concluded a highly advantageous peace treaty with Soviet Russia in 1920.

1.4 The Second World War

In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, which included a secret protocol relegating Finland to the Soviet sphere if interest. After the Finns had rejected Soviet territorial demands, the Soviet Union rescinded the 1932 non-aggression pact between the countries, and invaded Finland on 30 November 1939. That was the beginning of the Winter War. This War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Moscow on 13 March 1940. That meant giving south-eastern Finland to the Soviet Union.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, Finland entered the War as a cobelligerent

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