Shortest Possible History of Finland

Prehistoric Times

The last Ice Age ended in Finland some 10 000 years ago. The oldest piece of evidence of human life dates back to 8900 b.C. The Mesolithic inhabitants (8300 - 5300 b.C.) had dogs as domestic animals and used nets for fishing and had created some artistic artifacts. If you visit the Finnish National Museum in Helsinki, please have a look at the world´s oldest fishing nets and the moose heads made of stone. Agriculture is supposed to have been practised already some 3000 years b.C. although hunting and fishing were the main means of livelihood.


Sweden and Novgorod (Russia)

The Bronze (1500 b.C. - 500 b.C.) and Iron (500 b.C. - 1300 a.D.) Ages were characterised by close contacts with the neighbouring countries. In the 1150s the British bishop Henry crusaded from Sweden in order to convert us from our pagan belief to Christianity - he was, however, killed by a Finnish peasant on the ice of a lake. Until these times, Finland was more or less a political vacuum, although both Sweden (Catholic) in the West and Novgorod (or Russia, Russian Orthodox) in the East were interested in it. The 1323 peace treaty between these two assigned the Eastern part of Finland to Novgorod and the Western and Southerns parts to Sweden and thus to the Western European cultural sphere.

As a result of close ties to Sweden the Western legal and social systems became rooted in Finland. Because Feudalism did not exist in these systems, the Finnish peasants never became serfs and they always retained their personal freedom.

The first town, Turku, was founded in the middle of the 13th century and some 100 years later, Finns were given the right to participate in the election of the king, and from the middle of the 16th century Finns were represented in the Swedish Diet. During the 16th century Catholicism was replaced by the Lutheran church. The New Testament was translated into Finnish in 1548 by the Bishop of Turku, Mikael Agricola, who had produced the first Finnish language book, a grammar five years earlier. He is called the father of the Finnish language. You can see his statue behind the Cathedral in Turku.


Sweden, the Superpower

During Sweden's most powerful time in Europe, the border against Russia was extended further east. The Swedish rule in Finland in the 17th and 18th centuries was rather intensive and, in fact, Finnish soldiers were necessary to Sweden to gain the superpower status in Europe. By the early 18th century Sweden had lost its position and in the war in 1808 - 1809 Finland became part of Russia.
Under the Swedish rule Finland had been a group of separate provinces, but now we became an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia (1809 - 1917). We had our own senate and Finnish affairs were presented to the Emperor of Russia in St. Petersburg by the Finnish Minister Secretary of State.


Grand Duchy of Russia

Emperor Alexander I (1809 - 1825), who was an enlightened ruler, gave Finland extensive autonomy. This was a good and prosperous period of Finnish history and the National Movement with the first ideas of independence were born. The first university in Finland had been founded in Turku in 1640, and when Helsinki became the new capital in1812, the university was moved to Helsinki in 1828, after the great fire in Turku. We still remind, when needed, that the University of Helsinki was founded in Turku.

In 1863 Emperor Alexander II issued a Language Decree, which started the process which resulted in Finnish becoming also an official administrative language. After Alexander II Finland´s position weakened and the period of Russification began (the first period 1899 - 1905, the second period 1909 - 1917). During the Russian revolution in 1905 Finland carried out a parliamentary reform with a unicameral parliament and universal suffrage. Finnish women were the first in Europe to gain the right to vote and the first in the world to become eligible in parliamentary elections.


Independence

On the sixth of December, 1917, while Russia was in a state of great upheaval, Finland declared itself independent. The Civil War between the Whites and Reds left deep wounds in the collective consciousness. In late 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland and we lost the Southeast part of the country (Karelia) in the Winter War, which was over in early 1940. In 1941 Finland had to enter the war again, and the Continuation War went on until 1944. Finland was not directly involved in WW II, but the German army helped us against the Soviet Union. We lost the northeast part, or one "arm", of Finland and areas along the Eastern border. In addition, the Soviet Union required heavy indemnities which had to be paid in eight years. The whole country worked hard and the debt was paid in 1952.

Marshall Mannerheim was elected as the sixth President of the Republic of Finland already during the war. He is considered the national hero of Finland. He was succeeded by Juho Kusti Paasikivi, who created the "Paasikivi Line" to improve relations with our Eastern neighbour. He also made
our position internationally stronger and cooperation with the Nordic countries was strengthened. Urho Kekkonen was President for a quarter of a century (1956 - 1981) and was succeeded by Mauno Koivisto. When the new millenium started, Finland was ready for its first female President, Tarja Halonen, who was re-elected in 2006 for six more years.

Finland joined the European Union in 1995. We cooperate with NATO but membership of NATO is under discussion but will not take place during the present government.