VI.

History

The earliest traces of human habitation in Finland date from about 8000 bc, when the most recent of the Ice Ages was retreating. These ancient hunters and gatherers probably arrived from the east. Pottery making characterized another type of Stone Age culture (starting 3000? bc) known as the Comb-Ceramic; its practitioners were of a different origin. The succeeding Battle-Ax culture (1800-1600 bc) may have been brought to Finland by an Indo-European people from a more southerly Baltic region. These people were able navigators and also introduced agriculture. A merger of the Battle-Ax people and the previous dwellers resulted in the so-called Kiukainen culture (1600-1200 bc).

The Bronze Age began in Finland about 1300 bc. During the first part of the pre-Christian era and the following centuries, people speaking one of the Finno-Ugric languages migrated in from the east and from Estonia in the south. This period marks the introduction of the Iron Age in Finland.

A.

The Viking Age

During the age of the Vikings the Finns became exposed to both eastern and western influences. Vikings from Sweden colonized the Åland Islands (Ahvenanmaa in Finnish) in the 6th century ad as a base for their journeys of pillage and trade into Russia as far south as the Black Sea. Although they did not actually participate in these Viking expeditions, the Finns benefited by the growing contact and the establishment of trading colonies in their country by merchants from Sweden and the island of Gotland. At the end of the 11th century three Finnish tribes had spread as far north as the 62nd parallel: the Finns proper in the southwest, the Tavastians in the interior lake district, and the Karelians to the east. The Saami were also living in the wilderness to the north. No unified government or state existed.

B.

The Swedish Conquest

The conversion of the Finnish tribes to Christianity was initiated by both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches of Sweden. It proceeded for more than two centuries, from 1050 to about 1300. The Saami became Christians at an even later date.

According to tradition, Nicholas Breakspear, an English cardinal who became Pope Adrian IV, encouraged the Swedish king Eric to cross the Baltic with a strong force in 1155. His goal was not only to convert the heathen but also to gain economic and political ends. King Eric defeated the Finnish tribes but was not able to make his conquest permanent. An English clergyman, Henry, who had been bishop of Uppsala in Sweden, remained in Finland. He was slain within the year and subsequently became the patron saint of the city of Åbo (Turku in Finnish) and of all the Finns.

A papal bull of 1172 (or 1171) proposed that the Swedes hold Finland in subjection by building fortresses with permanent garrisons; in time, the Swedes subdued the Finns and the Tavastians, achieved control of Finland’s foreign trade, and established the Christian religion. The church was placed on a firm foundation when an episcopal see was established at Åbo in 1209 (a monastery of the Dominicans was founded there in 1249). In 1216 the pope confirmed Swedish title to those parts of Finland that were already conquered and also to mission territories in the east and north. A solid basis for Swedish rule was laid by the Earl Birger, who dispatched a “crusade” in 1249 and built a fortress in Tavastia in central Finland as a protection against Russian incursions. When the ruler of Novgorod in Russia invaded Tavastia again in 1292, the Swedes sent a force into Karelia as far as the Neva River. A treaty of 1323 divided Karelia between Sweden and Novgorod.

In 1362 the Finnish people were given the same rights within the monarchy as the people of Sweden. When Queen Margaret I established the Kalmar Union in 1397, Finland was drawn into the dynastic politics of the Scandinavian countries. All during the 15th and 16th centuries most of Finland was administered as fiefs by Swedish noblemen, who levied heavy taxes on the people. Numerous Swedish farmers, fishers, and merchants settled in Finland at this time.

C.

A Swedish Duchy

King Gustav I Vasa attempted to institute economic and administrative reforms. At the Diet of Västerås in 1527 the Swedes essentially broke with Rome, although they did not formally accept the doctrines of Martin Luther until several years later. During this time much land and property in Finland was taken over by the Crown. During a war (1555-1557) against Ivan of Russia, Finland was made a Swedish duchy and given as a fief to the future John III. In the 25 years between 1570 and 1595 Finland was involved in constant warfare between Sweden and Russia.

Under Charles IX the entire administration of Finland was concentrated in Stockholm, and a basis was laid for further material progress. Under Charles’s successor, Gustav II Adolph, protracted wars were fought against Denmark, Poland, and Russia. War with Russia ended with the Peace of Stolbova (1617), which pushed Finnish boundaries farther east into Ingria.

Great numbers of Finnish soldiers fought for the Swedes in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), which also resulted in heavy taxation on the populace. Another war with Russia (1656-1661) exacted great suffering but ended with a territorial status quo. The “reduction” (reversion to the Crown of lands that had been given to nobles as compensation for services rendered) of Charles XI benefited Finnish farmers to some extent, but crop failures in 1695 through 1697 caused the death of one-fourth of the population. This was followed by the tragic years of the Great Northern War (1700-1721), during which the Russians occupied Finland; at the Peace of Nystadt (1721) it lost large areas in the east. During another war with Russia (1741-1743) more territory was ceded; yet one more conflict in 1788 to 1790 left the situation unchanged. The idea of Finnish independence from Sweden, however, began to take hold.

D.

Russian Rule, 1809 to 1917

A year after his agreement with French emperor Napoleon I at Tilsit (see Tilsit, Treaty of) in 1807, Tsar Alexander I attacked and occupied Finland. In March 1809 he proclaimed it a grand duchy of the Russian Empire but granted his new subjects all their old rights and privileges. In the Peace of Hamina (Swedish Fredrikshamn) in September, Sweden formally ceded all Finland and the Åland Islands to Russia; at the same time, however, the Karelian areas ceded to Russia before 1809 were returned to Finland.

The country was henceforth ruled by a Russian governor-general, with a so-called senate, which sat in the new capital of Helsinki, acting as a cabinet. In spite of despotic rule by some governors-general, much economic and cultural progress was made during the middle decades of the century. After 1820 a nationalist awakening took place among the population, centered mainly on a resurgence of the Finnish language. In 1863 the Lantdag (parliament), which had not met since 1809, was reconstituted, and in the same year the Finnish language was granted equal status with Swedish.

Toward the end of the century a shift in Russian policy was manifest. In 1894 the use of the Russian language was introduced in some aspects of government administration, and five years later all legislation was placed in Russian hands. During the following years the citizens of Finland lost many of their constitutional rights. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 slowed the process of Russification somewhat. In 1906 a new parliamentary system was adopted, a one-chamber Eduskunta (parliament) created, and the right to vote given to all men and women over the age of 25. Another wave of Russification swept Finland in 1908, culminating in the Equal Rights Law of 1912, which gave Russians the same rights in Finland as the country’s own population.

Finland was not directly involved in World War I (1914-1918), although Russian troops were garrisoned in the country. During the turmoil of the Russian Revolution in 1917, a newly elected Finnish parliament took advantage of the situation and on November 15 assumed “all powers formerly held by the Tsar-Grand Duke.” Three weeks later, on December 6, it voted in favor of an independent republic. The nascent Soviet government had no choice but to recognize Finnish sovereignty.

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.

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.

H.

European Relations

After the collapse of the USSR, Finland restructured its economic policies to build relationships with the former Soviet republics and a stronger orientation toward Europe. In March 1992 Finland formally applied for membership in the European Community (now called the European Union, or EU). In February 1994 Martti Ahtisaari of the SDP was elected president. In May the European Parliament endorsed Finland for EU membership and in November Finnish voters approved their country’s inclusion in the EU. Also in May, Finland joined the Partnership for Peace program as a first step toward full membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), abandoning a longtime policy of strict neutrality. In January 1995 Finland, along with Austria and Sweden, officially joined the EU.

In elections in March 1995 the SDP emerged as the strongest party in the Eduskunta, winning 63 seats. The SDP then formed a coalition with four other parties, and SDP chairman Paavo Lipponen was named premier. Finland took another step toward integration with Europe in May 1998, when it officially agreed to replace its national currency, the markka, with a new single European currency, the euro. The euro was introduced in 1999 and entirely replaced the Finnish currency in January 2002.

I.

Recent Events

In national elections in March 1999 the ruling coalition headed by Lipponen and the SDP was returned to power, despite a poor showing by the SDP that substantially reduced the coalition’s majority in parliament. In February 2000 Social Democrat Tarja Halonen was elected Finland’s first female president. In a close election that was decided in a runoff, Halonen defeated former prime minister Esko Aho of the Center Party. Halonen replaced Martti Ahtisaari, who did not seek reelection.

In the March 2003 national elections the Center Party emerged as the largest party in the Eduskunta with 55 seats. The following month the Center Party reached an agreement with the SDP, which won 53 seats, and the small Swedish People’s Party, to form a coalition government. Center Party leader Anneli Jäätteenmäki succeeded Lipponen as prime minister and in so doing became Finland’s first female to hold the post. The new coalition government was dubbed the “red-earth” alliance to reflect the SDP’s labor background and the Center Party’s agrarian roots.

In June 2003, within months of coming to power, Jäätteenmäki resigned following allegations that she had used classified documents—purported to reveal her predecessor’s sympathy for the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq—during the election campaign. Matti Vanhanen, defense minister and the Center Party’s deputy leader, replaced Jäätteenmäki as prime minister. In early 2006 Halonen narrowly won reelection as president. Parliamentary elections in March 2007 gave the Center Party 51 seats, only 1 more than its rival, the conservative National Coalition Party. The SDP was reduced to 45 seats. Vanhanen faced difficult talks on forming a new coalition government.