During the first millennium
BC, various peoples settled in Finland, including the nomadic Saami
who lived the north of the country and the Tavastians
from central Europe. A notable feature of this migration was that
the settlers spoke a language belonging to the Finno-Ugric
group which also includes Hungarian and Estonian, and is quite distinct
from the Indo-European languages spoken throughout most of the rest
of Europe.
In the Viking Age, between the eighth and 11th
centuries, Finland – an area larger than
the present country, extending as far east as the Karel
peninsula, now part of the Russian Federation
– provided the backdrop for expanding trade and occasional
wars between the Swedes, Russians and Germans. The Swedes predominated
until 1240, when they were defeated by a force from the Russian
province of Novgorod. The Swedes were not wholly
expelled from the region, however, and at the Treaty of
Pähkinäsaari in 1323, Finland was divided into
Russian and Swedish spheres of
influence.
The Swedish part, which roughly coincides with modern-day Finland,
was granted the full rights of a Swedish province during 1362. As
such, it became part of the Danish-led Kalmar Union
and, when Sweden broke away from the Union, remained under Swedish
control. The Russians continued to covet the territory and as Swedish
influence in Europe waned at the start of the 18th century, and
Finland was briefly occupied by the Russians. The tug-of-war between
Finland’s two powerful neighbours continued for the next 200
years.
In 1917, Finland was an autonomous region within the Russian Empire
and in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution,
Finland declared independence, which the new Soviet government accepted
after brief efforts to re-assert control. Fighting between the two
took place on the fringes of World War II, between
1939 and 1941. Under a formal peace treaty signed during 1947, the
Finns agreed to cede territory to the then USSR and pay reparation.
The existence of a Pact of Friendship, Co-operation and
Mutual Assistance between the countries has led to the
term ‘Finlandisation’. Bilateral relations
improved after the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev
at the Kremlin and the 2 countries signed a 10-year
treaty in 1992. Since joining the European Union in 1995, given
the Russian Federation’s preoccupation with its own situation
and reduced international clout, the focus in Helsinki
has not only principally switched to Europe but also towards the
development of relations with the newly independent Baltic states
of the former USSR, with whom there are cultural and linguistic
links.
Finland’s appreciation of Moscow’s sensitivity remains
acute, nonetheless, typified by its refusal to countenance future
membership of NATO, which also remains deeply unpopular
among many of the electorate. During the last few decades, domestic
politics have been dominated by the Social Democratic Party
(SDP) and the Centre Party (known as ‘Kesk’),
which have led a long series of coalition governments and presided
over the evolution of a centrist consensus in the Finnish political
life.
In recent years, the main change in the political landscape has
been caused by the emergence of the right-wing National
Coalition Party (Kokoomus, referred to as ‘Kok’).
Finland’s long-serving President, Mauno Koivisto,
the architect of its delicate balancing act between the East and
West, stood down in 1993, after 2 terms. He was replaced by the
SDP candidate, former senior UN official Martti Ahtisaari.
He was succeeded in turn by another Social Democrat,
Tarja Halonen, the first woman to hold the post,
at the beginning of 2000.
The SDP has dominated successive coalition governments.
Paavo Lipponen, the leader of the SDP, assumed
the post of Prime Minister following the general
election of March 1995. Lipponen survived the 1999
general election, and finally ceded office following the most recent
poll during March 2003. This was won by the Centre Party,
whose leader Anneli Jaatteenmaki took over as premier,
although the Social Democrats were brought into
the new coalition government along with the Swedish People’s
party, which represents Finland’s ethnic Swedish population.
Jaatteenmaki’s tenure was short-lived and brought down by
a political scandal, he was replaced in June 2003 by Martti
Vanhanen. |
