Finland
Historie
The area that is now Finland was settled in, at the latest, around 8.500 BC during the Stone Age towards the end of the last glacial period.
The earliest people were hunter-gatherers, using stone tools.
By 5300 BC, pottery was present in Finland. The earliest samples belong to the Comb Ceramic cultures (4200–2000 BC), known for their
distinctive decorating patterns. From 3200 BC onwards, either immigrants or a strong cultural influence from south of the Gulf of Finland
settled in southwestern Finland. This culture was a part of the European Battle Axe cultures (2800–2300 BC), which have often been
associated with the movement of the Indo-European speakers. The Battle Axe and Comb Ceramic cultures eventually merged, giving rise to the
Kiukainen culture that existed between 2300 BC and 1500 BC.
The Bronze Age began some time after 1500 BC. The coastal regions of Finland were a part of the Nordic Bronze Culture (1800–600 BC), whereas
in the inland regions the influences came from the bronze-using cultures of northern and eastern Russia.
The Roman period (1–400 AD) brought along an influx of imported iron (and other) artifacts like Roman wine glasses and dippers as
well as various coins of the Empire. During this period the (proto) Finnish culture stabilized on the coastal regions and larger graveyards
become commonplace. The prosperity of the Finns rose to the level that the vast majority of gold treasures found within Finland date back
to this period.
The Migration period (400–575 AD) saw the expansion of land cultivation inland, especially in Southern Bothnia, and the growing influence
of Germanic cultures, both in artifacts like swords and other weapons and in burial customs.
Contact between Sweden and what is now Finland was considerable even during pre-Christian times; the Vikings were known to the Finns due
to their participation in both commerce and plundering. Later medieval legends from late 13th century describe Swedish attempts to conquer
and Christianize Finland sometime in the mid-1150s. In the early 13th century, Bishop Thomas became the first known bishop of Finland
There were several secular powers who aimed to bring the Finnish tribes under their rule. These were Sweden, Denmark, the
Republic of Novgorod in northwestern Russia, and probably the German crusading orders as well. Finns had their own chiefs, but
most probably no central authority. At the time there can be seen three cultural areas or tribes in Finland: Finns, Tavastians
and Karelians. Russian chronicles indicate there were several conflicts between Novgorod and the Finnic tribes from the 11th or 12th
century to the early 13th century. The Treaty of Nöteborg (1323) was the first settlement between Sweden and the Novgorod Republic
regulating their border mostly in the area that is also known as Finland today.
During the 1380s, a civil war in the Scandinavian part of Sweden brought unrest to Finland as well. The victor of this struggle was Queen
Margaret I of Denmark, who brought the three Scandinavian kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark and, Norway under her rule (the Kalmar Union)
in 1389. The next 130 years or so were characterized by attempts of different Swedish factions to break out of the Union. Finland was
sometimes involved in these struggles, but in general the 15th century seems to have been a relatively prosperous time, characterized
by population growth and economic development. In 1521 the Kalmar Union collapsed and Gustav Vasa became the King of Sweden.
In 1611–1632 Sweden was ruled by King Gustavus Adolphus, whose military reforms transformed the Swedish army from a peasant militia
into an efficient fighting machine, possibly the best in Europe. In 1630, the Swedish (and Finnish) armies marched into Central Europe,
as Sweden had decided to take part in the great struggle between Protestant and Catholic forces in Germany, known as the Thirty Years' War
(1618 - 1648).
In the 18th century, wars between Sweden and Russia twice led to the occupation of Finland by Russian forces, times known to the Finns as the
Greater Wrath (1714–1721) and the Lesser Wrath (1742–1743).
The Swedish era ended in the Finnish War in 1809. On 29 March 1809, having been taken over by the armies of Alexander I of Russia,
Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire with the recognition given at the Diet held in Porvoo. This situation
lasted until the end of 1917.
After the October Revolution of 1917 Finland was bitterly divided along social lines. The Whites consisted of the
Swedish-speaking middle and upper classes and the farmers and peasantry who dominated the northern two-thirds of the land. They had a
conservative outlook and rejected socialism. The Socialist-Communist Reds comprised the Finnish-speaking urban workers and the
landless rural cottagers. They had a radical outlook and rejected capitalism.
From January to May 1918, Finland experienced the brief but bitter Finnish Civil War. World War I was still underway and the
defeat of the Red Guards was achieved with support from Imperial Germany, while Sweden remained neutral and Russia withdrew its forces.
The Reds lost the war and the White peasantry rose to political leadership in the 1920s–1930s.
In August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, where Finland and the Baltic states were
allocated to the Soviet "sphere of influence". The Soviet Union invaded Finland on 30 November 1939, launching the Winter War,
with the aim of annexing Finland into the Soviet Union. The Finnish Democratic Republic was established by Joseph Stalin
at the beginning of the war with the purpose of governing Finland after Soviet conquest. The Red Army was defeated in numerous battles,
notably at the Battle of Suomussalmi. After two months of negligible progress on the battlefield, as well as severe losses of men
and materiel, the Soviets put an end to the Finnish Democratic Republic in late January 1940 and recognized the legal Finnish government
as the legitimate government of Finland.
Hostilities resumed in June 1941 with the start of the Continuation War, when Finland aligned with Germany following Germany's invasion
of the Soviet Union. Finland was involved with the Siege of Leningrad and occupied East Karelia from 1941 to 1944. This
irredentist sentiment of a Greater Finland, whose inhabitants were culturally related to the Finnish people, although Eastern
Orthodox by religion, resulted in other countries being considerably less sympathetic to the Finnish cause.
The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and Britain on the other side on 19 Sep-tember 1944,
ending the Continuation War. The armistice compelled Finland to drive German troops from its territory, leading to the Lapland War
1944–1945.
The Paris Peace Treaty (1947) classified Finland as an ally of Nazi Germany, bearing its responsibility for the war. The treaty
imposed heavy war reparations on Finland and stipulated the lease of the Porkkala area near the Finnish capital Helsinki as a
military base for fifty years. The reparations were initially thought to be crippling for the economy, but a determined effort was made to
pay them. The reparations were reduced by 25% in 1948 by the Soviet Union and were paid off in 1952. Porkkala was returned to Finnish
control in 1956.
In subsequent years the position of Finland was unique in the Cold War. The country was heavily influenced by the Soviet Union, but
was the only country on the Soviet pre-World War II border to retain democracy and a market economy.
Despite the passport union with Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, Finland could not join the Nordic Council until 1955 because
of Soviet fears that Finland might become too close to the West. At that time the Soviet Union saw the Nordic Council as part of NATO
of which Denmark, Norway and Iceland were members. Finland's support for NATO rose enormously after the 2022 Russian invasion of
Ukraine and Finland became a member of NATO on 4 April 2023.