Finland history

7th century Finns as mercanaries in ScandinaviaFinnish warriors served in the courts of Denmark and Uppland.
9th century Kvens raid Sweden Story of Norna-Gest tells of raids done by Kvens to Sweden. Ohthere of Hålogaland tells
of skirmishes between Finns and Norwegians
9th century Mythological king Eric Anundsson makes campaigns to East Heimskringla written in c. 1230 describes Eric
Anundsson conquering for himself "Finland, Kirjalaland, Courland, Estonia, and the eastern countries".
11th century Viking raid to Finland Runestone Gs 13 in Gävle describes the death of a Viking named Egil on a
campaign to Tavastia lead by Freygeirr sometime in the early 11th century.
1008 Battle at Herdaler Olaf II of Norway is defeated by Finns somewhere in Uusimaa.
c.1030-1050 Viking raid to Finland Runestone U 582 describes Viking named Ótrygg killed in Finland.
According to historian Unto Salo the raid was done between 1030-1050.[20]
1042 Vladimir Yaroslavich makes expedition against Finns The prince of Novgorod Vladimir Yaroslavich makes a
campaign against Finns.
c.1060-1080 Lithuanians make campaign against Karelians. Birchbark manuscript 590 describes Lithuanians
making a campaign against Karelians.

Painting of the death of Olaf II in 1030 who was defeated in
Finland in 1008 in the Battle at Herdaler

1123 Vsevolod of Pskov makes campaign against Finns The prince of Novgorod Vsevolod of Pskov makes a
campaign in spring during the fasting against Finns
c.1155 First Swedish crusade Swedish king Eric IX and English clergyman Henry make possibly the first
Swedish crusade to Finland against Finns proper.
1191 Danish crusade to Finland Danes make a crusade to Finland
1202 Danish crusade to Finland Danes make a crusade to Finland which is led by the Archbishop of Lund Anders
Sunesen and his Brother.
1240 Battle of the Neva Swedes, Norwegians, Finns proper and Tavastians makes a campaign against Novgorod
1249-1250Second Swedish crusade Second Swedish crusade to Finland against Tavastians.
1293 Third Swedish crusade Third Swedish crusade to Finland against Karelians.
Finland becomes part of Sweden
Medieval times (c. 1150–1523)

Grand prince Yaroslav
who attacked Finland
in 1227 according to
Novgorod First
Chronicle.

1150 – 1809
Sweden
1809-1917
Russia
1150 1917-
Finland
Finland was Sweden

Paavo Ruotsalainen,
a layman,
led pietistic revivals.

Finland under Swedish rule
Contact between Sweden and what is now Finland was considerable
even during pre-Christian times; the Vikings were known to the Finns due
to their participation in both commerce and plundering. There is possible
evidence of Viking settlement in the Finnish mainland. The Åland Islands
probably had Swedish settlement during the Viking Period. However,
some scholars claim that the archipelago was deserted during the 11th
century. According to the archaeological finds, Christianity gained a
foothold in Finland during the 11th century. According to the very few
written documents that have survived, the church in Finland was still in its
early development in the 12th century. Later medieval legends from late
13th century describe Swedish attempts to conquer and Christianize
Finland sometime in the mid-1150s.

In the early 13th century
In the early 13th century, Bishop Thomas became the first known
bishop of Finland. There were several secular powers who aimed to
bring the Finnish tribes under their rule. These were Sweden, Denmark,
the Republic of Novgorod in northwestern Russia, and probably the
German crusading orders as well. Finns had their own chiefs, but most
probably no central authority. At the time there can be seen three cultural
areas or tribes in Finland: Finns, Tavastians and Karelians. Russian
chronicles indicate there were several conflicts between Novgorod and
the Finnic tribes from the 11th or 12th century to the early 13th century.

Swedish regent, Birger Jarl
It was the Swedish regent, Birger Jarl, who allegedly established Swedish rule in
Finland through the Second Swedish Crusade, most often dated to 1249. The Eric
Chronicle, the only source narrating the "crusade", describes that it was aimed at
Tavastians. Due to papal letter from 1237 Tavastians are known to stopped being
Christian and returned to their old ethnic faith earlier. Novgorod gained control in
Karelia in 1278, the region inhabited by speakers of Eastern Finnish dialects. Sweden
however gained the control of Western Karelia with the Third Swedish Crusade in
1293. Western Karelians were from then on viewed as part of the western cultural
sphere, while eastern Karelians turned culturally to Russia and Orthodoxy. While
eastern Karelians remain linguistically and ethnically closely related to the Finns, they
are considered a people of their own by most. Thus, the northern border between
Catholic and Orthodox Christendom came to lie at the eastern border of what would
become Finland with the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323.

During the 13th century
During the 13th century, Finland was integrated into medieval European civilization.
The Dominican order arrived in Finland around 1249 and came to exercise huge
influence there. In the early 14th century, the first documents of Finnish students at
Sorbonne appear. In the southwestern part of the country, an urban settlement evolved
in Turku. Turku was one of the biggest towns in the Kingdom of Sweden, and its
population included German merchants and craftsmen. Otherwise the degree of
urbanization was very low in medieval Finland. Southern Finland and the long coastal
zone of the Bothnian Gulf had a sparse farming settlements, organized as parishes
and castellanies. In the other parts of the country a small population of Sami hunters,
fishermen and small-scale farmers lived. These were exploited by the Finnish and
Karelian tax collectors.[citation needed] During the 12th and 13th centuries, great
numbers of Swedish settlers moved to the southern and northwestern coasts of
Finland, to the Åland Islands, and to the archipelago between Turku and the Åland
Islands. In these regions, the Swedish language is widely spoken even today. Swedish
came to be the language of the upper class in many other parts of Finland as well.

The name "Finland
The name "Finland" originally signified only the southwestern province that
has been known as "Finland Proper" since the 18th century. First known
mention of Finland is in runestone Gs 13 from 11th century. The original
Swedish name for the realm's eastern part was Österlands in plural,
meaning the area of Finland proper, Tavastia and Karelia, but it was later
transferred into singular form Österland (lit. Eastern Land) which was in
use between 1350–1470. In the 15th century Finland began to be used
synonymously with Österland. The concept of a Finnish "country" in the
modern sense developed slowly from the 15th to 18th centuries.

During the 13th century, the bishopric of Turku was established. The
cathedral of Turku was the center of the cult of Saint Henry, and naturally
the cultural center of the bishopric. The bishop had the ecclesiastical
authority over much of today's Finland and was usually the most powerful
man there. Bishops were often Finns, whereas the commanders in the
castles were more often Scandinavian or German noblemen. In 1362,
representatives from Finland were called to participate in the elections for
the king of Sweden. As such, that year is often considered when Finland
was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sweden. As in the Scandinavian
part of the kingdom, the gentry or (lower) nobility consisted of magnates
and yeomen who could afford armament for a man and a horse; these
were concentrated in the southern part of Finland.

The strong fortress of Viborg guarded the eastern border of Finland.
Sweden and Novgorod signed the Treaty of Nöteborg (Pähkinäsaari in
Finnish) in 1323, but that would not last long. In 1348 the Swedish king
Magnus Eriksson staged a failed crusade against the Orthodox "heretics",
managing only to alienate his supporters and ultimately lose his crown.
The bones of contention between Sweden and Novgorod were the
northern coastline of the Bothnian Gulf and the wilderness regions of
Savo in Eastern Finland. Novgorod considered these as hunting and
fishing grounds of its Karelian subjects, and protested against the slow
infiltration of Catholic settlers from the West. Occasional raids and clashes
between Swedes and Novgorodians occurred during the late 14th and
15th centuries, but for most of the time an uneasy peace prevailed.

During the 1380s
During the 1380s, a civil war in the Scandinavian part of Sweden brought unrest to
Finland as well. The victor of this struggle was Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who
brought the three Scandinavian kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark and Norway under her
rule (the "Kalmar Union") in 1389. The next 130 years or so were characterized by
attempts of different Swedish factions to break out of the Union. Finland was sometimes
involved in these struggles, but in general the 15th century seems to have been a
relatively prosperous time[citation needed], characterized by population growth and
economic development. Towards the end of the 15th century, however, the situation on
the eastern border became more tense. The Principality of Moscow conquered
Novgorod, preparing the way for a unified Russia, and from 1495–1497 a war was
fought between Sweden and Russia. The fortress-town of Viborg stood against a
Russian siege; according to a contemporary legend, it was saved by a miracle.

16th century
In 1521 the Kalmar Union collapsed and Gustav Vasa became the King of Sweden.
During his rule, the Swedish church was reformed. The state administration
underwent extensive reforms and development too, giving it a much stronger grip on
the life of local communities—and ability to collect higher taxes. Following the
policies of the Reformation, in 1551 Mikael Agricola, bishop of Turku, published his
translation of the New Testament into the Finnish language.
In 1550 Helsinki was founded by Gustav Vasa under the name of Helsingfors, but
remained little more than a fishing village for more than two centuries.

King Gustav Vasa died in 1560
King Gustav Vasa died in 1560 and his crown was passed to his three sons in
separate turns. King Erik XIV started an era of expansion when the Swedish crown
took the city of Tallinn in Estonia under its protection in 1561. This action contributed
to the early stages of the Livonian War which was a warlike era which lasted for 160
years. In the first phase, Sweden fought for the lordship of Estonia and Latvia against
Denmark, Poland and Russia. The common people of Finland suffered because of
drafts, high taxes, and abuse by military personnel. This resulted in the Cudgel War
of 1596–1597, a desperate peasant rebellion, which was suppressed brutally and
bloodily. A peace treaty (the Treaty of Teusina) with Russia in 1595 moved the border
of Finland further to the east and north, very roughly where the modern border lies.

guerrilla warfare
An important part of the 16th-century history of Finland was growth of the
area settled by the farming population. The crown encouraged farmers
from the province of Savonia to settle the vast wilderness regions in
Middle Finland. This often forced the original Sami population to leave.
Some of the wilderness settled was traditional hunting and fishing
territory of Karelian hunters. During the 1580s, this resulted in a bloody
guerrilla warfare between the Finnish settlers and Karelians in some
regions, especially in Ostrobothnia.

17th century
In 1611–1632 Sweden was ruled by King Gustavus Adolphus, whose
military reforms transformed the Swedish army from a peasant militia
into an efficient fighting machine, possibly the best in Europe. The
conquest of Livonia was now completed, and some territories were
taken from internally divided Russia in the Treaty of Stolbova. In 1630,
the Swedish (and Finnish) armies marched into Central Europe, as
Sweden had decided to take part in the great struggle between
Protestant and Catholic forces in Germany, known as the Thirty Years'
War. The Finnish light cavalry was known as the Hakkapeliitat.

The Swedish empire at its
largest. Most of present-
day Finland was part of
Sweden proper, rike,
shown in dark green.

1648
After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Swedish Empire was one of
the most powerful countries in Europe. During the war, several important
reforms had been made in Finland:
1637–1640 and 1648–1654 Count Per Brahe functioned as general
governor of Finland. Many important reforms were made and many
towns were founded. His period of administration is generally considered
very beneficial to the development of Finland.
1640 Finland's first university, the Academy of Åbo, was founded in
Turku at the proposal of Count Per Brahe by Queen Christina of Sweden.
1642 The whole Bible was published in Finnish.

the high taxation
However, the high taxation, continuing wars and the cold climate (the Little Ice Age)
made the Imperial era of Sweden rather gloomy times for Finnish peasants. In 1655–
1660, the Northern Wars were fought, taking Finnish soldiers to the battle-fields of
Livonia, Poland and Denmark. In 1676, the political system of Sweden was
transformed into an absolute monarchy.
In Middle and Eastern Finland, great amounts of tar were produced for export.
European nations needed this material for the maintenance of their fleets. According to
some theories, the spirit of early capitalism in the tar-producing province of
Ostrobothnia may have been the reason for the witch-hunt wave that happened in this
region during the late 17th century. The people were developing more expectations
and plans for the future, and when these were not realized, they were quick to blame
witches—according to a belief system the Lutheran church had imported from
Germany.

the New World
The Empire had a colony in the New World in the modern-day Delaware-Pennsylvania
area between 1638–1655. At least half of the immigrants were of Finnish origin.
The 17th century was an era of very strict Lutheran orthodoxy. In 1608, the law of
Moses was declared the law of the land, in addition to secular legislation. Every
subject of the realm was required to confess the Lutheran faith and church attendance
was mandatory. Ecclesiastical penalties were widely used. The rigorous requirements
of orthodoxy were revealed in the dismissal of the Bishop of Turku, Johan Terserus,
who wrote a catechism which was decreed heretical in 1664 by the theologians of the
Academy of Åbo. On the other hand, the Lutheran requirement of the individual study
of Bible prompted the first attempts at wide-scale education.

In 1696–1699
The church required from each person a degree of literacy sufficient to
read the basic texts of the Lutheran faith. Although the requirements
could be fulfilled by learning the texts by heart, also the skill of reading
became known among the population.
In 1696–1699, a famine caused by climate decimated Finland. A
combination of an early frost, the freezing temperatures preventing grain
from reaching Finnish ports, and a lackluster response from the Swedish
government saw about one-third of the population die. Soon afterwards,
another war determining Finland's fate began (the Great Northern War of
1700–21).

18th century
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was devastating, as Sweden
and Russia fought for control of the Baltic. Harsh conditions—
worsening poverty and repeated crop failures—among peasants
undermined support for the war, leading to Sweden's defeat. Finland
was a battleground as both armies ravaged the countryside, leading to
famine, epidemics, social disruption and the loss of nearly half the
population. By 1721 only 250,000 remained. Landowners had to pay
higher wages to keep their peasants. Russia was the winner, annexing
the south-eastern part, including the town of Viborg, after the Treaty of
Nystad. The border with Russia came to lie roughly where it returned to
after World War II.

Sweden's status as a European great power
Sweden's status as a European great power was forfeited, and Russia
was now the leading power in the North. The absolute monarchy ended
in Sweden. During this Age of Liberty, the Parliament ruled the country,
and the two parties of the Hats and Caps struggled for control leaving the
lesser Court party, i.e. parliamentarians with close connections to the
royal court, with little to no influence. The Caps wanted to have a
peaceful relationship with Russia and were supported by many Finns,
while other Finns longed for revenge and supported the Hats.

in 1749
Finland by this time was depopulated, with a population in 1749 of
427,000. However, with peace the population grew rapidly, and doubled
before 1800. 90% of the population were typically classified as
"peasants", most being free taxed yeomen. Society was divided into four
Estates: peasants (free taxed yeomen), the clergy, nobility and burghers.
A minority, mostly cottagers, were estateless, and had no political
representation. Forty-five percent of the male population were
enfranchised with full political representation in the legislature—although
clerics, nobles and townsfolk had their own chambers in the parliament,
boosting their political influence and excluding the peasantry on matters
of foreign policy.

The mid-18th century
The mid-18th century was a relatively good time, partly because life was now more
peaceful. However, during the Lesser Wrath (1741–1742), Finland was again
occupied by the Russians after the government, during a period of Hat party
dominance, had made a botched attempt to reconquer the lost provinces. Instead
the result of the Treaty of Åbo was that the Russian border was moved further to the
west. During this time, Russian propaganda hinted at the possibility of creating a
separate Finnish kingdom.
Both the ascending Russian Empire and pre-revolutionary France aspired to have
Sweden as a client state. Parliamentarians and others with influence were
susceptible to taking bribes which they did their best to increase. The integrity and
the credibility of the political system waned, and in 1771 the young and charismatic
king Gustav III staged a coup d'état, abolished parliamentarism and reinstated royal
power in Sweden—more or less with the support of the parliament. In 1788, he
started a new war against Russia.

Gustav III crushed this opposition.
Despite a couple of victorious battles, the war was fruitless, managing
only to bring disturbance to the economic life of Finland. The popularity
of King Gustav III waned considerably. During the war, a group of
officers made the famous Anjala declaration demanding peace
negotiations and calling of Riksdag (Parliament). An interesting sideline
to this process was the conspiracy of some Finnish officers, who
attempted to create an independent Finnish state with Russian support.
After an initial shock, Gustav III crushed this opposition. In 1789, the new
constitution of Sweden strengthened the royal power further, as well as
improving the status of the peasantry. However, the continuing war had
to be finished without conquests—and many Swedes now considered
the king as a tyrant.

the Gustav III's war (1788–1790)
With the interruption of the Gustav III's war (1788–1790), the last decades of the 18th
century had been an era of development in Finland. New things were changing even
everyday life, such as starting of potato farming after the 1750s. New scientific and
technical inventions were seen. The first hot air balloon in Finland (and in the whole
Swedish kingdom) was made in Oulu (Uleåborg) in 1784, only a year after it was
invented in France. Trade increased and the peasantry was growing more affluent and
self-conscious. The Age of Enlightenment's climate of broadened debate in the society
on issues of politics, religion and morals would in due time highlight the problem that
the overwhelming majority of Finns spoke only Finnish, but the cascade of
newspapers, belles-lettres and political leaflets was almost exclusively in Swedish—
when not in French.

The two Russian occupations
The two Russian occupations had been harsh and were not easily
forgotten. These occupations were a seed of a feeling of separateness
and otherness, that in a narrow circle of scholars and intellectuals at the
university in Turku was forming a sense of a separate Finnish identity
representing the eastern part of the realm. The shining influence of the
Russian imperial capital Saint Petersburg was also much stronger in
southern Finland than in other parts of Sweden, and contacts across the
new border dispersed the worst fears for the fate of the educated and
trading classes under a Russian régime. At the turn of the 19th century,
the Swedish-speaking educated classes of officers, clerics and civil
servants were mentally well prepared for a shift of allegiance to the
strong Russian Empire.

Grand Duchy of
Finland, 75 kopek
assignat (1824)

King Gustav III was assassinated in 1792
King Gustav III was assassinated in 1792, and his son Gustav IV Adolf assumed
the crown after a period of regency. The new king was not a particularly talented
ruler; at least not talented enough to steer his kingdom through the dangerous
era of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars.
Meanwhile, the Finnish areas belonging to Russia after the peace treaties in 1721 and 1743 (not
including Ingria), called "Old Finland" were initially governed with the old Swedish laws (a not
uncommon practice in the expanding Russian Empire in the 18th century). However, gradually the rulers
of Russia granted large estates of land to their non-Finnish favorites, ignoring the traditional
landownership and peasant freedom laws of Old Finland. There were even cases where the noblemen
punished peasants corporally, for example by flogging. The overall situation caused decline in the
economy and morale in Old Finland, worsened since 1797 when the area was forced to send men to the
Imperial Army. The construction of military installations in the area brought thousands of non-Finnish
people to the region. In 1812, after the Russian conquest of Finland, "Old Finland" was rejoined to the
rest of the country but the landownership question remained a serious problem until the 1870s.

Peasants
While the king of Sweden sent in his governor to rule Finland, in day to
day reality the villagers ran their own affairs using traditional local
assemblies (called the ting) which selected a local "lagman", or lawman,
to enforce the norms. The Swedes used the parish system to collect
taxes. The socken (local parish) was at once a community religious
organization and a judicial district that administered the king's law. The
ting participated in the taxation process; taxes were collected by the bailiff,
a royal appointee

the peasants formed one of the four estates
In contrast to serfdom in Germany and Russia, the Finnish peasant was typically a
freeholder who owned and controlled his small plot of land. There was no serfdom in
which peasants were permanently attached to specific lands, and were ruled by the
owners of that land. In Finland (and Sweden) the peasants formed one of the four
estates and were represented in the parliament. Outside the political sphere,
however, the peasants were considered at the bottom of the social order—just above
vagabonds. The upper classes looked down on them as excessively prone to
drunkenness and laziness, as clannish and untrustworthy, and especially as lacking
honor and a sense of national spirit. This disdain dramatically changed in the 19th
century when everyone idealised the peasant as the true carrier of Finnishness and
the national ethos, as opposed to the Swedish-speaking elites.

The peasants were not passive
The peasants were not passive; they were proud of their traditions and would band
together and fight to uphold their traditional rights in the face of burdensome taxes
from the king or new demands by the landowning nobility. The great Cudgel War in
the south in 1596–1597 attacked the nobles and their new system of state feudalism;
this bloody revolt was similar to other contemporary peasant wars in Europe.[36] In
the north, there was less tension between nobles and peasants and more equality
among peasants, due to the practice of subdividing farms among heirs, to non farm
economic activities, and to the small numbers of nobility and gentry. Often the nobles
and landowners were paternalistic and helpful. The Crown usually sided with the
nobles, but after the "restitution" of the 1680s it ended the practice of the nobility
extracting labor from the peasants and instead began a new tax system whereby
royal bureaucrats collected taxes directly from the peasants, who disliked the efficient
new system. After 1800 growing population pressure resulted in larger numbers of
poor crofters and landless laborers and the impoverishment of small farmers.

Russian Grand Duchy
During the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia, Finland was
again conquered by the armies of Tsar Alexander I. The four Estates of
occupied Finland were assembled at the Diet of Porvoo on March 29,
1809 to pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia. Following the
Swedish defeat in the war and the signing of the Treaty of
Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, Finland remained a Grand
Duchy in the Russian Empire until the end of 1917, with the czar as
Grand Duke. Russia assigned Karelia ("Old Finland") to the Grand
Duchy in 1812.

the years of Russian rule
During the years of Russian rule the degree of autonomy varied. Periods
of censorship and political prosecution occurred, particularly in the two
last decades of Russian control, but the Finnish peasantry remained free
(unlike the Russian serfs) as the old Swedish law remained effective
(including the relevant parts from Gustav III's Constitution of 1772). The
old four-chamber Diet was re-activated in the 1860s agreeing to
supplementary new legislation concerning internal affairs. In addition,
Finns remained free of obligations connected to the empire, such as the
duty to serve in tsarist armies, and they enjoyed certain rights that
citizens from other parts of the empire did not hav

Eero Järnefelt,
Burning the
Brushwood, 1893

Economy
Before 1860 overseas merchant firms and the owners of landed estates
had accumulated wealth that became available for industrial
investments. After 1860 the government liberalized economic laws and
began to build a suitable physical infrastructure of ports, railroads and
telegraph lines. The domestic market was small but rapid growth took
place after 1860 in export industries drawing on forest resources and
mobile rural laborers. Industrialization began during the mid-19th
century from forestry to industry, mining and machinery and laid the
foundation of Finland's current day prosperity, even though agriculture
employed a relatively large part of the population until the post–World
War II era.

The beginnings of industrialism
The beginnings of industrialism took place in Helsinki. Alfred Kihlman (1825–1904)
began as a Lutheran priest and director of the elite Helsingfors boys' school, the
Swedish Normal Lyceum. He became a financier and member of the diet. There was
little precedent in Finland in the 1850s for raising venture capital. Kihlman was well
connected and enlisted businessmen and capitalists to invest in new enterprises. In
1869, he organized a limited partnership that supported two years of developmental
activities that led to the founding of the Nokia company in 1871.
After 1890 industrial productivity stagnated because entrepreneurs were unable to
keep up with technological innovations made by competitors in Germany, Britain and
the United States. However, Russification opened up a large Russian market
especially for machinery.

Politics
Despite certain freedoms granted to Finland, the Grand Duchy was not a democratic
state. The tsar retained supreme power and ruled through the highest official in the
land, the governor general, almost always a Russian officer. Alexander dissolved the
Diet of the Four Estates shortly after convening it in 1809, and it did not meet again
for half a century. The tsar's actions were in accordance with the royalist constitution
Finland had inherited from Sweden. The Finns had no guarantees of liberty, but
depended on the tsar's goodwill for any freedoms they enjoyed. When Alexander II,
the Tsar Liberator, convened the Diet again in 1863, he did so not to fulfill any
obligation but to meet growing pressures for reform within the empire as a whole. In
the remaining decades of the century, the Diet enacted numerous legislative
measures that modernized Finland's system of law, made its public administration
more efficient, removed obstacles to commerce, and prepared the ground for the
country's independence in the next century.

Russification
The policy of Russification of Finland (1899–1905 and 1908–1917, called
sortokaudet/sortovuodet (times/years of oppression) in Finnish) was the
policy of the Russian czars designed to limit the special status of the
Grand Duchy of Finland and more fully integrate it politically, militarily, and
culturally into the empire. Finns were strongly opposed and fought back
by passive resistance and a strengthening of Finnish cultural identity. Key
provisions were, first, the "February Manifesto of 1899" which asserted
the imperial government's right to rule Finland without the consent of local
legislative bodies; second, the "Language Manifesto of 1900" which made
Russian the language of administration of Finland; and third, the
conscription law of 1901 which incorporated the Finnish army into the
imperial army and sent conscripts away to Russian training camps

Democratic change
In 1906, as a result of the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the
associated Finnish general strike of 1905, the old four-chamber Diet was
replaced by a unicameral Parliament of Finland (the "Eduskunta"). For
the first time in Europe, universal suffrage (right to vote) and eligibility
was implemented to include women: Finnish women were the first in
Europe to gain full eligibility to vote; and have membership in an estate;
land ownership or inherited titles were no longer required. However, on
the local level things were different, as in the municipal elections the
number of votes was tied to amount of tax paid. Thus, rich people could
cast a number of votes, while the poor perhaps none at all. The
municipal voting system was changed to universal suffrage in 1917
when a left-wing majority was elected to Parliament.

Independence
The October Revolution of 1917 turned Finnish politics upside down. Now, the
new non-Socialist majority of the Parliament desired total independence, and the
Socialists came gradually to view Soviet Russia as an example to follow. On
November 15, 1917, the Bolsheviks declared a general right of self-determination
"for the Peoples of Russia", including the right of complete secession. On the same
day the Finnish Parliament issued a declaration by which it temporarily took power in
Finland.
Worried by developments in Russia and Finland, the non-Socialist Senate proposed
that Parliament declare Finland's independence, which was voted by the Parliament
on December 6, 1917. On December 18 (December 31 N. S.) the Soviet
government issued a Decree, recognizing Finland's independence, and on
December 22 (January 4, 1918 N. S.) it was approved by the highest Soviet
executive body (VTsIK). Germany and the Scandinavian countries followed without
delay.

Civil war
Finland after 1917 was bitterly divided along social lines. The Whites consisted of the
Swedish-speaking middle and upper classes and the farmers and peasantry who
dominated the northern two-thirds of the land. They had a conservative outlook and
rejected socialism. The Socialist-Communist Reds comprised the Finnish-speaking
urban workers and the landless rural cottagers. They had a radical outlook and
rejected capitalism.
From January to May 1918, Finland experienced the brief but bitter Finnish Civil War.
On one side there were the "white" civil guards, who fought for the anti-Socialists. On
the other side were the Red Guards, which consisted of workers and tenant farmers.
The latter proclaimed a Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic. World War I was still
underway and the defeat of the Red Guards was achieved with support from Imperial
Germany, while Sweden remained neutral and Russia withdrew its forces. The Reds
lost the war and the White peasantry rose to political leadership in the 1920s–1930s.
About 37,000 men died, most of them in prisoner camps ravaged by influenza and
other diseases.

Finland in the inter-war era
After the civil war the parliament, controlled by the Whites, voted to
establish a constitutional monarchy to be called the Kingdom of Finland,
with a German prince as king. However, Germany's defeat in November
1918 made the plan impossible and Finland instead became a republic,
with Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg elected as its first President in 1919. Despite
the bitter civil war, and repeated threats from fascist movements, Finland
became and remained a capitalist democracy under the rule of law. By
contrast, nearby Estonia, in similar circumstances but without a civil war,
started as a democracy and was turned into a dictatorship in 1934.

The area controlled
by Finland at its
largest, in 1942

Finland history

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Finland history

Similar to Finland history (16)

More from ADVICEDERNBACK

More from ADVICEDERNBACK (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Finland history