A Concise History of FinlandFew countries in Europe have undergone such rapid social, political and economic changes as Finland has during the last fifty years. David Kirby here sets out the fascinating history of this northern country, for centuries on the east-west divide of Europe, a country not blessed by nature, most of whose inhabitants still earned a living from farming fifty years ago, but which today is one of the most prosperous members of the European Union. He shows how this small country was able not only to survive in peace and war but also to preserve and develop its own highly distinctive identity, neither Scandinavian nor Eastern European. He traces the evolution of the idea of a Finnish national state, from the long centuries as part of the Swedish realm, through self-government within the Russian Empire, and into the stormy and tragic birth of the independent state in the twentieth century. |
Contents
Section 1 | 7 |
Section 2 | 30 |
Section 3 | 68 |
Section 4 | 81 |
Section 5 | 105 |
Section 6 | 111 |
Section 7 | 114 |
Section 8 | 116 |
Section 11 | 201 |
Section 12 | 212 |
Section 13 | 241 |
Section 14 | 245 |
Section 15 | 259 |
Section 16 | 273 |
Section 17 | 276 |
Section 18 | 287 |
Section 9 | 132 |
Section 10 | 197 |
Section 19 | 297 |
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able accept active administration affairs agreement Alexander allowed amongst areas army assistance association attack attempts authority become began bring cause century church claim communists constitutional continued culture decades demands early eastern economic elections emperor empire established estates Europe fact farmers farms final Finland Finnish Finns forces foreign frontier further German Helsinki idea imperial important independence interests issued Kalevala Karelia Karelian isthmus Kekkonen king land language later leaders leadership leading less living major March marked military minister Moscow movement nationalist northern party peace peasant period persuade plans political population position president proposals reform region remained Russian schools seemed Senate signed social Social Democratic society Soviet Union status Sweden Swedish territory thousand tion town trade treaty Turku Viipuri western