Finland

FINLAND

Finland, a country of approximately five million people, located in northeastern Europe, was part of the Russian Empire from 1809 to 1917. It gained its independence in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, and had a complex, close, and occasionally troubled relationship with the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the USSR, Finland began to turn more toward the West, joining the European Union in 1995.

Finns are not Slavs. They speak a Finno-Ugric language, closely related to Estonian and more distantly to Hungarian. The territory of modern-day Finland was inhabited as early as 7000 B.C.E., but there is no written record of the earliest historical period. During the ninth century C.E., Finns accompanied the Varangians on expeditions that led to the founding of Kievan Rus. The Finnish peoples maintained close trading ties with several early Russian cities, especially Novgorod, while from the west they were influenced by the nascent Swedish state.

under swedish rule

Starting in the twelfth century, most of Finland was absorbed by the Swedish kingdom. Legend tells of a crusade led by King Erik in 1155 that established Christianity in Finland. The Swedes and Novgorod fought several conflicts in and around Finland during this time. The Peace of Noteborg in 1323 established a rough boundary between Swedish and Russian lands, with some Finns (Karelians) living on the eastern side of the border and adopting the Orthodox faith. Although the Swedes were Catholic at the time of the conquest, they broke with Rome under Gustavus Vasa (1523–1560), and Lutheranism was established as the official religion of Sweden and Finland in 1593. The Finnish lands enjoyed some local autonomy under the Swedes, and the Finnish nobility had certain political rights. Swedish was the language of the upper classes and remains an official language in Finland in the early twenty-first century.

During the mid-sixteenth century, Sweden became embroiled in several wars of religion and state expansion with Denmark, Poland, and Russia. Russia and Sweden fought over territory along the Arctic Ocean, and Sweden intervened during Russia's Time of Troubles (1598–1613). Later, under Gustavus Adolphus (1611–1632), the Treaty of Stolbova (1617) gave substantial territory on both sides of the Gulf of Finland to Sweden, thereby enabling it to control trade routes from the Baltic to Russia.

Under Charles XII (1697–1718) and Peter I (1682–1725), Sweden and Russia fought a major war for control of the Baltic. In 1714, Russia occupied Finland after the Battle of Storkro. However, in 1721, in the Treaty of Nystad (Uusikaupunki), the Russians withdrew from most of Finland (keeping the region of Karelia in the east) in return for control over Estonia and Livonia. More than 500,000 Finns, roughly half the population, died during this long conflict, and the national economy was ruined. Another war between Russia and Sweden from 1741 to 1743 again resulted in the Russian occupation of Finland. However, in accordance with the Peace of Turku (1743), Russia withdrew from most of Finland, although it did annex some additional lands in the eastern part of the country. There were no further border changes after the third war between the two states from 1788 to 1790.

under russian rule

In 1808, as a result of a Russian alliance with Napoleonic France, Russia attacked Sweden and again occupied Finland. This time, however, Finland was incorporated into the empire as an autonomous grand duchy, with Tsar Alexander I becoming its first grand duke. Under this arrangement, the Finns were to enjoy religious freedom, and Finland, in Alexander's words, would "take its place in the rank of nations, governed by its own laws." Russia returned land to the Finns, and most of them accepted Russian rule. During the nineteenth century Finland experienced a national awakening, spurred by developments in the arts, language, and culture, and political parties began to organize around national issues. By the end of the century, when Alexander III and Nicholas II tried to assert Russia's authority in Finland, there was resentment and resistance, culminating in the assassination of the Russian governor general in 1904.

independence

Before and during the fateful events of 1917, many Russian revolutionaries, including Vladimir Lenin, took refuge in Finland, where there were active socialist and communist parties. After the Bolsheviks seized power, the Finns, taking advantage of the breakdown in central authority, declared independence on December 6, 1917. Later that month, Lenin recognized Finnish independence. Nonetheless, there was fighting in Finland during the Russian Civil War between Reds, backed by Moscow, and anti-communist Whites, backed by Sweden and Germany. The Whites prevailed, exacting vengeance on those Reds who did not flee to Russia. Finland made peace with Russia in 1920 with the Treaty of Tartu and adopted a constitution creating a democratic republic that continues to remain in effect. During the 1920s and 1930s Finnish democracy came under assault by both left-wing and right-wing groups, the former allied with the communists in the USSR and the latter attracted to Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini.

Finland's democracy survived, but a more serious threat was posed by Soviet military action. After the Germans and Soviets carved up Poland and the Baltic states during the fall of 1939, Finland found itself the target of territorial demands of Joseph Stalin. The Soviets demanded border changes around Leningrad and in the far north, islands in the Gulf of Finland, and a naval base in southern Finland. Diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution failed, and Soviet forces invaded Finland on November 30, 1939. Finland received assistance from Western countries, and its forces fought ferociously against the Soviets, who according to some accounts suffered 100,000 dead.

Nonetheless, the Finns were outnumbered and outgunned. In March 1940 they agreed to the Soviet territorial demands, and more than 400,000 Finns left their homes rather than become citizens of the Soviet state. Continuing economic and military demands by the USSR eventually made Finland turn to Germany for assistance. Finnish troops advanced with the Germans in June 1941 when Germany attacked the USSR, precipitating, in effect, another war with the Soviets. In 1943 and 1944, as the tide of the war turned against Germany, Finland made

peace with the USSR and turned on the Germans, but it had to make additional territorial concessions to Moscow, most of which were incorporated into the USSR's Autonomous Republic of Karelia. Thus Finland enjoyed the dubious distinction of fighting both the Soviets and the Germans, and the country was devastated by years of war.

Although Finland was subjected to Russian influence during the war, the Finns avoided the fate of the East European states, which became communist satellites of the Soviet Union. Instead, in 1948, Finland signed an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance with the USSR that allowed it to keep its democratic constitution but prohibited it from joining in any anti-Soviet alliance. This agreement is sometimes derided as "Finlandization": Finland retained its constitutional freedoms but gave the USSR an effective veto over its foreign policy (e.g., it had close trade links with the USSR but did not join NATO or the European Community) and, on some questions, its domestic politics (e.g., anti-Soviet writers could not be published in Finland; Finnish politicians had to publicly affirm their confidence in Soviet policy). This was especially the case under President Urho Kekkonen (1956–1981), who had close ties with Moscow. Nonetheless, Finland was generally regarded as a nonaligned, neutral state. This culminated with the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe of 1975, which led, among other things, to the Helsinki Accords, an important human rights agreement that would later be used against the communist rulers of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. During the postwar period, Finland, like the other Scandinavian states, developed a social-democratic welfare state, and Finns enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, Finland and Russia signed a new treaty in 1992, which ended the "special relationship" between the two states. Trade ties have suffered because of Russia's economic collapse, and Finns increasingly have looked to the West for economic relationships. Finland joined the European Union in 1995, and enjoys close ties with the Baltic states, particularly Estonia.

See also: estonia and estonians; finns and karelians; nationalities policies, tsarist; nystadt, treaty of; soviet-finnish war

bibliography

Allison, Roy. (1985). Finland's Relations with the Soviet Union, 1944–1984. London: Macmillan.

Kirby, David G., ed. (1975). Finland and Russia, 1808–1920: From Independence to Autonomy. London: Macmillan.

Kirby, David G. (1979). Finland in the Twentieth Century. London: Hurst.

Singleton, Fred, and Upton, Anthony F. (1998). A Short History of Finland. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Tanner, Vaino. (1957). The Winter War: Finland Against Russia, 1939–1940. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Paul J. Kubicek