Suomen historiaa
Prehistory
Finland was first settled after the last ice age, around 10,000 years ago. The settlers came from the east, from what is now Russia, and from the south via the present Baltic States. The roots of the Finnish language, which belongs to the Finno-Ugric group of languages, originate from Central Russia, but elements from the Baltic and Germanic languages, amongst others, have also been thrown into the mix.
The Swedish Reign
Finland was part of Sweden for over 600 years – from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century. During this time, Sweden and Russia fought over Finland on several occasions, sometimes in armed conflict. In the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323, the countries decided that the areas currently known as Western and Southern Finland belonged to Sweden and that Eastern Finland was under Russian power.
Later, as a result of the wars fought in the 16th and 17th century, the Swedish occupation of Finland expanded considerably. The wars fought in the 18th century, however, saw Sweden surrendering territory, and eventually in 1809 the entirety of Finland to Russia.
Finland as a Grand Duchy of Russia
During Russian rule, Finland enjoyed the position of an autonomous Grand Duchy, whose administration was left in the hands of Finland’s own government, the Senate, but whose Grand Duke was the Emperor of Russia. During the Russian reign, Finland had its own currency and, for a long time, the Russian army included a separate Finnish unit.
The Finns used their autonomous position cleverly to their advantage, promoting their own interests. The Finnish language, Finnish culture and the Finnish economy strengthened considerably during this period. In the early 20th century, however, the relationship between the Finns and the Russian rulers soured, as Russia launched a policy of Russification which the Finns did not accept.
The Independent Republic
On 6 December 1917, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the Finnish Parliament passed a declaration of independence, which separated Finland from Russia.
In early 1918, Finland experienced a brief but bitter civil war between “the reds”, a force mostly made up of landless rural and industrial workers, and “the whites”, representing the interests of the bourgeoisie and wealthy peasantry. The war ended in May 1918, once the whites had overcome the reds.
The newly independent Finland became a republic, which instead of a king and an emperor has a president, elected on a six-yearly basis by the Finnish nation, and whose laws are made by a parliament elected by the nation.
Winter War and Continuation War
The Soviet Union launched an attack on Finland on 30 November 1939, marking the beginning of the Winter War. During the Second World War, Finland fought the Soviet Union twice: in the Winter War in 1939-1940 and again in the Continuation War in 1941-1944.
As a result of the wars, Finland had to concede Karelia and a few other territories to the Soviet Union. The 430,000 Finns who lived in these territories had to flee their homes and resettle in the remaining Finnish territory. Most importantly, however, Finland was not occupied at any point during the Second World War and the country retained its independence despite the territorial concessions.
Finland After the Wars
The wars left Finland in a state of uncertainty. At first, there were fears that the Soviet Union would try to turn Finland into a communist country as it had done with the other European neighbours of the Soviet Union after the war. Nevertheless, Finland managed to build up a good relationship with the Soviet Union, to retain its democratic social structure and to increase trading with the Western World. Regardless of all this, the country had to balance its foreign policy between the Soviet Union and the West for a long time.
After the wars, Finland’s economy developed extremely favourably. Finland was exporting paper and other forestry products, in particular, and earning money to increase the nation’s welfare. Public services were developed through the creation of public education, healthcare and social security systems, which turned Finland into a modern welfare state.
Finland in the New Europe
After the cold war ended in Europe at the end of the 1980s, Finland was able to revise its foreign policy as well. In 1995, Finland became a member of the European Union, the EU. In 2002, Finland was amongst the first EU member states to adopt the common European currency, the euro, and to give up its own currency, the Finnish mark.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1990s, the Finnish economy drifted into a state of severe depression following, amongst other things, the loss of trade with the Soviet Union. It also became apparent that, in addition to the traditional paper industry, the Finnish economy would need new, successful enterprises in other industries as well. The keys to success were eventually found in mobile telephones and other high-tech products, which have given the Finnish economy a new, modern look.
Links relating to Finnish history:
Vilma provides information on Finnish history and Finnish society for immigrants. The text on the website is written in simple Finnish. You can choose the level of difficulty of the language when you first enter the site.
Finnica provides detailed information on Finland and the country’s history in Finnish and
Virtual Finland provides information on Finnish history in English.