By Douglas V. Gibbs
Finland has a history of battling the Russians. The Scandinavian country closest to Russia knows the history, and knows that Vladimir Putin believes it was a mistake, and even treasonous, for the Bolsheviks and Communists to allow in 1917 for Finland's independence. According to Andrej Illiaronov, Putin's economic adviser between 2000 and 2005 and now senior member of the Cato Institute think tank, said that "parts of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Finland are states where Putin claims to have ownership." And as far as Putin is concerned, "he protects what belongs to him and his predecessors."
The Finnish have a history of being pulled back and forth by its neighbors. Both Sweden and Russia have historically claimed Finland to be their own.
After centuries of a geographical tug of war, a peace treaty in 1323 between Sweden and Novgorod (Russia) assigned only eastern Finland to Novgorod. The western and southern parts of Finland were tied to Sweden and the Western European cultural sphere, while eastern Finland, became part of the Russo-Byzantine world.
Under Swedish domination, the Finnish enjoyed an individual-centric system that promoted freedom, and a free market. Swedish legal and social systems took root in Finland, which means feudalism never became ingrained in the system. The people of Finland were never serfs.
The Reformation moved Finland from Catholicism to Protestantism, and with the dominance of the Lutheran faith taking hold in Finland, a rise in the Finnish-language culture took place. The New Testament was translated into Finnish in 1548 by the Bishop of Turku, Mikael Agricola (1510–1557), who brought the Reformation to Finland and created written Finnish. The entire Bible appeared in Finnish in 1642.
While under the protection of the Swedish government during the height of Sweden as a world power (1617–1721), Sweden extended its realm around the Baltic and managed, due to the weakness of Russia, to push the Finnish border further east. As the statists in Sweden gained more power, their lust to grow governmental control, led to an expansion of uniform Swedish rule into their satellites. The increase of Swedish control 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.
After the dawn of the 18th century, Sweden began to lose grip as a great power. The statists lost power because their lust for power encouraged unsustainable policies, and increasing Russian pressure on Finland led to Russia conquering Finland in the 1808–1809 war with Sweden.
Under Swedish rule, Finland had been a group of independent provinces under a loose union. Under Russian rule, Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy. The Grand Duke was the Russian Emperor, whose representative in Finland was the Governor General.
Finland's legislative branch was called a "Senate," and the members of that governing body were Finns. Matters pertaining to Finland were presented to the Emperor in St. Petersburg by the Finnish Minister Secretary of State. This meant that the administration of Finland was handled directly by the Emperor and the Russian authorities were not allowed to interfere.
Russian Emperor Alexander I, who was Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to 1825, gave Finland extensive autonomy thereby creating the Finnish state. In 1812, Helsinki was made the capital of Finland, and the university, which had been founded in Turku in 1640, was moved to Helsinki in 1828. National pride grew under Russian rule, and when the Language Decree was issued in 1863 by Alexander II, it marked the beginning of the process through which Finnish became an official administrative language.
The Finnish Diet (legislature) convened in 1863 after a break of more than half a century. As the Finnish legislative body regained prominence, it led to active legislative work in Finland, and in 1878 the Conscription Act gave Finland an army of its own.
The Russian Revolution in 1905 offered Finland the opportunity to replace the old legislative bodies with a new one in 1906, moving Finland from a being a country governed by a four estate diet to a unicameral (one house) parliament.
On December 6, 1917, Parliament approved the declaration of independence drawn up by the Senate under the leadership of P.E. Svinhufvud (1861–1944).
At the same time, the breach between the parties of the left and the right had become irreconcilable. At the end of January 1918, the left-wing parties staged a coup, and the government was forced to flee Helsinki. The ensuing Civil War ended in May with victory for the government troops, led by General Gustaf Mannerheim (1867–1951). Finland became a republic in the summer of 1919, and K.J. Ståhlberg (1865–1952) was elected the first president.
The independent republic developed its sovereign identity during the 1920s, pursuing a foreign policy based on cooperation with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact, which included a secret protocol relegating Finland to the Soviet sphere of interest. When Finland refused to allow the Soviet Union to build military bases on its territory, the latter revoked the nonaggression pact of 1932 and attacked Finland on November 30, 1939.
Finland fought off Russia's attempt to reclaim Finland in the Winter War. Other countries offered no help, other than modest assistance. Finnish ski troops inflicted heavy casualties on the Russian army. Finland's survival against overwhelming Russian forces was unexpected.
The "Winter War" ended in a peace treaty drawn up in Moscow on March 13, 1940, giving southeastern Finland to the Soviet Union.
When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, Finland entered the war as a cobelligerent with Germany. The "Continuation War" ended in armistice in September 1944. In addition to the areas already lost to Russia, Finland also ceded Petsamo on the Arctic Ocean. The terms of the armistice were confirmed in the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947.
The Olympic Games were held in Helsinki in 1952, and in 1955 Finland joined both the United Nations and the Nordic Council. Among the major achievements of Nordic cooperation were the establishment of a joint Nordic labour market in 1954 and a passport union in 1957.
Finland submitted an application to join the European Community in March 1992. Finland was approved to be admitted to the organization in May of 1994, which was called the European Union at that point. Final approval by the Finnish Parliament came in November 1994, to be effective at the beginning of 1995.
Finland has taken a leftward lurch since joining the EU, but in 2006, a close presidential election kept leftwing President Tarja Halonen narrowly in office, by less than four percentage points.
In the elections of 2007, the Parliament shifted noticeably to the right when the National Coalition Party scored a big victory and the Social Democratic Party suffered a marked loss.
Now, Putin wants Finland back. He believes the country to the northwest corner of Russia belongs in his new Soviet Union. He views Finland not as a sovereign nation, but as a possession that must be brought back into the Russian collective. Since Finland is not a member of NATO, an invasion of Finland would not require, by treaty, the NATO allies to come to her aid. However, a number of European Union treaties assures that Finland will get assistance from the West through that channel.
As a massive force of over 100,000 Russian troops deploy along the Ukrainian border, following the recent annexation of Crimea into the new Russian empire, a Russian military air-force drill is occurring just 150 miles off the Finnish border. Finland is on heightened alert, wondering if they may be the next Crimea.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Vladimir wants to regain Finland says close adviser - International Business Times
Main Outlines of Finnish History - This Is Finland
Finland Unhappy About Russia Conducting Military Drills on Its Border - Mashable
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