Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0133/01339.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 13KB | 232 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01339}
$Pretitle{367}
$Title{Finland
History}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Riitta da Costa}
$Affiliation{Otava Publishing Co.}
$Subject{finland
finnish
sweden
war
russia
government
language
movement
soviet
union}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Table 19.*0133901.tab
}
Country:     Finland
Book:        Facts About Finland
Author:      Riitta da Costa
Affiliation: Otava Publishing Co.
Date:        1990

History

Under Sweden (c. 1200-1809)

     Up to the 12th century the present region of Finland formed a political
vacuum that interested both its western neighbour Sweden and the Roman
Catholic Church, and its eastern neighbour Novgorod (Russia) and the Greek
Orthodox Church. Sweden won the race. In the middle of the 12th century it
brought the Christian faith to south-west Finland - "Finland Proper" , and
brought this region under Swedish dominion. In the following century Sweden
extended this area eastward, subjugating the provinces of Hame and Uusimaa,
together with the western part of East Finland - Karelia. The Treaty of
Pahkinasaari signed in 1323 between Sweden and Novgorod ceded the
easternmost part of Karelia to Novgorod.. Thus western and southern Finland
were drawn into the cultural sphere of western Europe, eastern Finland into
that of the Russian-Byzantine world.

     Under Sweden the Scandinavian legal and social systems were established
in Finland. The most important centre was Turku, founded in the 13th century,
which was also a bishop's see. In 1362 Finland was granted the right to send
representatives to the election of the King, and when a diet with four estates
was established in the sixteenth century, Finland sent representatives there
also.

     During Sweden's era as a great power (1617-1721) she dominated the whole
Baltic region, and the Finnish eastern frontier stretched further and further
eastward. The heavy military burdens of this era fell especially on Finland,
whose share in the exertions of war was greater than that of other parts of
the kingdom. Her plight was worsened by a severe famine in 1696-97, during
which about one third of the Finnish population died of hunger and disease.
During this era the Swedish central government was tightened, as a result of
which Finnish administration and conditions were brought into conformity with
those of the mother country. Since Swedes were often appointed to high offices
in Finland, this period saw a considerable fortifying of the Swedish language
and "Swedishness", so that the slender fennophile movement suffered a real
setback. Finland's first university, Turku Academy (today Helsinki University)
was founded in 1640.

     The Great Northern War of 1700-1721, caused the collapse of Sweden as a
great power. While Swedish troops were deployed on the continent of Europe,
the Russians occupied Finland in 1714, and so began what is known as the
period of the Great Wrath. This ended in 1721 with Peace of Uusikaupunki,
whereby Sweden lost south-east Finland to Russia. In the Russian War
(1741-1743) the Swedish-Finnish army was again defeated and surrendered,
whereupon the Russians occupied Finland once more (the Little Wrath). At the
Peace of Turku in 1743 Russia undertook to withdraw her forces from Finland,
but at the price considerable territorial loss for Finland, with the eastern
frontier being moved further west.

     During the following decades the governmental authorities gave special
attention to the improving of Finland's defences. The building of a sea
fortress was begun on an island off Helsinki in 1747. Viapori (Sveaborg),
known as the "Gibraltar of the North", was the strongest fortress of its
kind in those parts. During the reign of Gustavus III (1771-1792) the
government of Finland was developed and her economic situation improved by
such means as the founding of several new cities.

Autonomous Grand Duchy (1809-1917)

     In 1807 at Tilsit Napoleon and the Russian Czar Alexander I agreed that
Alexander would force Sweden to join a continental blockade against England.
When diplomatic pressure on Sweden failed, Alexander launched an attack on
Finland in 1808. During the "Finnish War" of 1808-09, the Russians finally
defeated the Finnish army and occupied the country. The end result this time
was different from that in 1721 and 1743, when Russia had returned Finland to
Sweden after occupation. The peace was concluded in 1809, and Finland was
annexed by Russia. At the Diet held in Porvoo (1809), the Russian Czar
promised to uphold the Evangelical-Lutheran faith, constitutional laws and
rights of Finland, and the Finns swore an oath of allegiance to the new ruler.

     By joining Russia, Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy. The Czar was
represented in Finland by a Governor General. Finland's highest organ of
government was the Senate, whose members were Finns. The most important
decisions concerning Finland had to be submitted to the Czar, and were
presented to him by a Ministerial Secretary of State stationed in St
Petersburg. Thus the Finns were in direct contact with the Czar, and the
affairs of the Grand Duchy were not handled through the Russian authorities.

     During the period of autonomy the Finnish national movement flourished:
Lonnrot compiled the national epic Kalevala and Runeberg became the Finnish
national poet with his patriotic verses (see p. 114). Snellman, the greatest
Finnish statesman and political thinker of the period, advocated the elevation
of Finnish alongside Swedish both as an official language in schools and the
university. Snellman achieved his most significant work under the rule of
Alexander II (1855-1881), when he became a Senator and a Professor of Helsinki
University.

     The national movement resulted in a division of parties based on
language. In the 1860s the Fennoman movement gathered under the banner of the
Finnish, in the 1870s the Svecoman movement under that of the Swedish
language. The bitter language conflict began to turn slowly to the advantage
of the Finnish side at the very end of the 19th century. A guarantee that the
status of the Finnish language would continually strengthen was the fact that
only one seventh of the whole population spoke Swedish as their mother tongue.

     During the reign of Alexander III (1881-1894) fanatical Russian
Pan-Slavists began to turn their eyes to Finland's special status, and with
the accession of Nicholas II (1894-1917) the Russians began systematically to
diminish Finland's autonomy. The February Manifesto of 1899, which reduced the
power of the Finnish Diet and signified in fact a takeover, was the beginning
of the first period of oppression. During this period the watershod in Finnish
politics was no longer the language question but the attitude to Russia. The
key question was whether to give way to russification, or whether to launch
some kind of opposition. The Finnish or "Old Finnish" party inclined most
clearly to submission, while the Young Finns and Swedish Party, and to a large
extent the worker's movement, took a constitutional stand, holding that
unlawful commands should be opposed.

     The losses suffered by Russia in the war against Japan forced the Czar
into a temporary liberalizing of government, and Finland was granted a new act
regulating the Diet. It was the most radical parliamentary reform in Europe,
for the Diet of Four Estates was replaced in one go by a unicameral
Parliament, with universal, equal rights of voting. Finnish women were the
first in Europe to obtain the right to vote in national elections, and full
political rights in other respects. During the second period of oppression
(1908-1914) russification was extended to Finnish organs of government, which
fell into Russian hands within a few years.

Independent Finland (from 1917)

     During World War I separatist intentions strengthened in Finland, and
after the October Revolution in Russia the Senate, led by P.E. Svinhufvud,
declared Finland independent on 6 December 1917. The radical wing who had a
majority in the Finnish Social-Democra