When was finland invaded by russia

The western and southern parts of Finland were tied to Sweden and the Western European cultural sphere, while eastern Finland, i. Karelia, became part of the Russo-Byzantine world. As a consequence of Swedish domination, the Swedish legal and social systems took root in Finland. Feudalism was not part of this system and the Finnish peasants were never serfs; they always retained their personal freedom.

Construction began in the 13th century and was completed in the late 16th century. The Reformation started by Luther in the early 16th century also reached Sweden and Finland, and the Catholic Church consequently lost out to the Lutheran faith. The Reformation set in motion a great rise in Finnish-language culture. The entire Bible appeared in Finnish in During its period as a great power — , Sweden extended its realm around the Baltic and managed, due to the weakness of Russia, to push the Finnish border further east.

With consolidation of the administration in Stockholm, uniform Swedish rule was extended to Finland in the 17th century. Swedes were often appointed to high offices in Finland, which strengthened the position of the Swedish language there. When Sweden lost its position as a great power in the early 18th century, Russian pressure on Finland increased, and Russia conquered Finland in the — war with Sweden. During the Swedish period, Finland was merely a group of provinces and not a national entity.

It was governed from Stockholm, the capital of the Finnish provinces at that time. But when Finland was joined to Russia in it became an autonomous Grand Duchy. A view of Helsinki from the late 19th century, by Oscar Kleineh — This meant that the administration of Finland was handled directly by the Emperor and the Russian authorities were therefore unable to interfere. In , Helsinki was made the capital of Finland, and the university, which had been founded in Turku in , was moved to Helsinki in The Finnish national movement gained momentum during the Russian period.

The Language Decree issued in by Alexander II marked the beginning of the process through which Finnish became an official administrative language. Although only one-seventh of the Finnish population spoke Swedish as its first language, Swedish retained its dominant position until the beginning of the 20th century.

The Finnish Diet was convened in after a break of more than half a century. Share Information. Specialty Products. Catalogs, Flyers and Price Lists. Open Access. Open Access for Authors. Open Access and Research Funding. Open Access for Librarians. Open Access for Academic Societies. About us. Stay updated. Corporate Social Responsiblity. Investor Relations. Review a Brill Book. In September , after having included a secret protocol on spheres of influence in the so-called Molotov- Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland and divided it between themselves.

Finland, suspicious of Soviet motives, refused — the outcome was the Soviet war of aggression against Finland by the name of the Winter War in — Finnish forces did not stop at the old border but occupied Eastern Soviet Karelia with a desire eventually to annex it. In their strong reliance on Germany, the Finnish leaders made some very questionable decisions without listening to warnings from Western States about possible negative consequences.

Germany lost its war and so did Finland, which barely avoided entire occupation by the Soviet Army and succeeded in September in concluding an armistice with the Soviet Union. Finland lost some more territories and was subjected to many obligations and restrictions in the Paris Peace Treaty, dictated by the Allies.

After Adolf Hitler declared that Germany was fighting against the Soviet Union together with Finland and Romania, was the Soviet Union entitled — prior to the Finnish attack — to resort to armed force in self-defence against Finland?

And was Finland treated too harshly in the aftermath of World War ii? After all, its role as an ally of Germany had been rather limited. Reference Works. Primary source collections.

Open Access Content. Contact us. At the same time, however, there were also connections to eastern trade centres and the Orthodox Church.

Russia captured the region of Finland from Sweden in — Most of the laws from the time of the Swedish rule remained in force. During the Russian rule, Finland became a special region developed by order of the Emperor. For example, Helsinki city centre was built during Russian rule. Starting from , Russia tightened its grip on the Grand Duchy of Finland. Finland did not take part in World War I, but nationalism also had an influence on the region of Finland.

Finland was granted its own parliament in , and the first elections were held in Finland declared independence on 6 December , and the Bolshevik government that seized power in the October Revolution in Russia recognised Finnish independence on 31 December Soon after independence, a bloody civil war broke out in Finland. The war was fought between the Reds or labour movement and the Whites or government troops. The Whites received support from Germany and the Reds from Russia.

Finland was strongly in the German sphere of influence because the Soviet Union became the biggest threat to the security of the state. In the s, many right-wing and far-right movements were popular in Finland, as in other parts of Europe. Finland lost both wars, but the Soviet Union never occupied Finland. As a defeated party, Finland had to pay the Soviet Union heavy war reparations in the form of goods.

The war reparations included, for example, trains, ships and raw materials. Finland financed the building of the goods with loans and aid. The production of the war reparations helped Finland evolve from an agrarian country into an industrialised country.

The industrialisation started a migration from the countryside into the cities. In , Finland and the Soviet Union signed an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, where the countries promised to defend each other against external treats. The collapse of the Soviet Union and loan-based economic growth in the s caused a recession in Finland in the s. The worst time of the recession was in the early s; many Finnish people were unemployed, companies went bankrupt and the state had little money.

In about , the Finnish economy started to grow, the most important company being mobile phone company Nokia. Finland joined the EU in and was one of the first countries to adopt the euro as its currency. First, select an area. Once you have selected an area, you will get a link to the InfoFinland pages of the area you selected. When you browse various topics on the website, a link to a similar topic on the pages of the area you selected will appear in this menu.

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