Finland

E

Independence, Civil War, and the Interwar Period

Many problems faced the new republic, among them famine, widespread unemployment, and a stagnant economy. Moreover, the population was now sharply polarized between the radical socialists and the liberals and other groups. Meanwhile, two armies—the Red Guards and the White Guards—were forming in the country.

The mounting friction soon erupted in violence. On January 28, 1918, the Red Guards, reacting to a government order to expel all Russian troops, spread a “Red revolution” across Finland, plundering and killing civilians. The government fled to Vaasa, and resistance to the Reds was organized by General Carl G. Mannerheim. He headed the White Guards, who, assisted by German troops, captured Helsinki and, in turn, instituted a wave of terror against the Red revolutionaries. After the country had been pacified, the parliament in July 1919 adopted a new republican constitution. Kaarlo J. Ståhlberg, a liberal, was elected first president of Finland.

Various coalition cabinets made up of nonsocialist parties ruled during the 1920s and 1930s. The Communist Party was declared illegal, but Social Democrats made some progress. A nonaggression treaty was concluded with the Soviet Union in 1932, and after 1935 the Scandinavian orientation of Finnish foreign policy was apparent.

F

The Winter and Continuation Wars

At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Finland declared its neutrality. The Soviet Union, however, anxious to secure the approaches to Leningrad, demanded that Finland cede certain territory in return for parts of Soviet-controlled Karelia. When the Finns refused, Soviet armies invaded Finland on November 30, 1939, initiating the Winter War. The Finns, under Mannerheim, fiercely resisted and won some astonishing victories. But superior Soviet power was decisive, and the Finns were forced to concede. See Russo-Finnish War. The peace terms imposed on Finland gave 10 percent of Finnish territory, including the Karelian Isthmus, to the Soviets.

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When Germany attacked the USSR in June 1941, the Finns again proclaimed their neutrality, although 75,000 German troops were based in northern Finland. German use of Finnish territory led the Russians to bomb Finnish cities. Finland then declared war against the USSR, emphasizing that the Finns were not allies of Germany but merely co-belligerents. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom declared war on Finland in December 1941, and the United States broke relations. After a prolonged standstill, Marshal Mannerheim was installed as president in August 1944, with a mandate to secure peace. An armistice was signed on September 19, 1944. Finland ceded the Petsamo area in the north and was forced to lease its Porkkala Peninsula in the Gulf of Finland to the USSR. Reparations were set at $300 million.

G

Postwar Period

Finland signed its final peace treaty with the USSR in 1947. Reparations, in the form of goods and raw materials, were fully paid by 1952. In 1956 gave up its lease on the Porkkala Peninsula and returned it to Finland. The new relationship with the USSR led Finland to legalize the Communist Party and enter a Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance (1948; voided in January 1992).

Finland experienced serious hardship in the immediate aftermath of the war. It had lost productive territories, its economy was in shambles, and it had to resettle about 450,000 refugees from the lands ceded to the USSR. However, within a short time, Finland’s government reorganized the industrial sector to meet the heavy burden of war reparations. Housing was built for the refugees, many of whom went to work in factories. Wetlands were drained to make available new farmland, and many existing farms were subdivided.

G

1

Foreign Policy

The main thrust of Finnish foreign policy until the collapse of Soviet domination in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s was strict international neutrality and friendly relations with the USSR. At the same time, Finland maintained its independent status. This policy, the so-called Paasikivi-Kekkonen Line, was named for the postwar president Juho K. Paasikivi, who initiated it, and his successor, Urho Kekkonen, who broadened it.

Perhaps more than any other person, Urho Kekkonen put his stamp on Finnish postwar politics. As prime minister from 1950 to 1956 (with two brief intervals) and president from 1956 to 1981, he eased Soviet fears of an unfriendly Finland and displayed a finely tuned sensitivity to Soviet wishes that Finns refrain from activities deemed detrimental to Soviet interests. At the same time, Finland remained firmly oriented toward Scandinavia and the West. Still, many Western observers remained uneasy with Finland’s friendliness toward the USSR, using the derogatory term “Finlandization” to describe it.

In 1961 Finland became an associate member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and in 1967 it joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Additional trade agreements continued to strengthen Finland’s economic relations with the West.

G

2

Internal Politics

None of Finland’s political parties enjoys majority support, and coalition governments are therefore the rule. Most postwar cabinets have been headed by Social Democratic Party (SDP) or Center Party leaders. In January 1982 Mauno Koivisto, a Social Democrat, was elected to succeed Urho Kekkonen as president. The SDP scored gains in 1983 parliamentary voting, but the elections of March 1987 brought to power a coalition government made up of Conservatives and the SDP. It was the first time Conservatives found themselves in government in more than 20 years. Conservative leader Harry Holkeri became prime minister. President Koivisto easily won reelection in February 1988 to a second six-year term.

Holkeri’s coalition suffered losses at the polls in the March 1991 elections, when the Center Party edged out the SDP as the single largest party in the 200-seat Eduskunta. The SDP chose to go into opposition, and Center Party leader Esko Aho formed a majority nonsocialist coalition government.