Pre-history
Archeological evidence for the first settelers, mostly from the south and east, can be traced back to the 8000 BC. After 6500 BC the so called "Suomusjärvi culture", a hunter-gatherer society, spread over most of the country. Around 4200 BC the "Comb ceramic culture", known for their pottery, took over. This marks the beginning of the neolithic for Finland.
It is believed that the proto-Finnish language spread to Finland at this time. Finnish and Sámi (Saami) — the language of Lapland's small indigenous minority — are both Finno-Ugric languages and are in the Uralic rather than the Indo-European family. The closest related language still widely in use is Estonian.

After 2500 BC immigrants from south of the gulf of Finland settled in southern Finland. Their culture differed from the older as they used agriculture and animal husbandry. The neolithic cultures survived for some time. Further inland the societies were less advanced. The Finnish language got an influx from the Indo-European Baltic languages (and vice versa) approximately in the period 3500-1000 BC[1], and the Saami languages diverged from standard Finnish.

The Bronze Age began some time after 1500 BC, this time speading from the west. After 300 BC the Iron Age began. Findings of imported iron swords and local iron working appears at about the same time.

From 100 BC onwards trade with central Europe increased and many Roman artifacts from this period have been found. The Viking Age began in the 8th century and increased the trade on the Baltic Sea. A number of fortifications were constructed during this time which shows of a more centralised society. Archeologist have found a pre-historic town from the 9th century near current day Hämeenlinna.

During this time the population in Finland can be discerned into different groups: (proper-)Finns, Tavastians, Karelians and Saami. Åland is Swedified during this time.

The origins of the Finnish people are a matter of reinvigorated controversy, some established scholars contend that "their original home" was in what is now west-central Siberia. New approaches from specialities previously considered ancillary to the question, have produced divergent viewpoints to challenge this accepted view. The ancestors of the Finns arrived at their present territory thousands of years ago, in numerous successive waves of immigration coming from east, south and west, establishing a hunting-farming culture and pushing the indigenous hunting-gathering Sámis (Lapps) into the more remote northern regions. Finns were still in late Medieval times known for their slash and burn farming.

A part of Sweden
Contact between Sweden and Finland was remarkable even during pre-Christian times -- the Vikings were known to Finns both due to their participation in commerce and plundering.
Finland's nearly 700-year association with the Kingdom of Sweden is usually said to began in 1154 with the introduction of Christianity by Sweden's King Erik the holy who came escorted by a group of armed men and Bishop Henry to Finland-proper. Even though Henry was famously martyred by Lalli in 1156, Christianity came to stay.

This traditional account is usually criticised by modern historians. Archeological evidence indicates that Christianity had already spread to Finland before the Swedish crusade and that Finland-Proper was Christianised at the beginning of the 11th century. The Orthodox faith had also spread to Karelia by this time from Novgorod.

Christianity spread to Tavastia at the beginning of the 13th century and Birger Jarl conducted a crusade in 1249, maybe to crush a rebellion and stop the Tavastians from reverting back to paganism. This expansion by Sweden was seen as alarming by Novgorod which controlled Karelia.

Savonia and Karelia adopted Christianity at the end of the 13th century which coincides with the crusade conducted by Torkel Knutsson in 1293. During this time the Swedes built a fortification that would become the castle of Vyborg. A Novgorodian army tried to attack Vyborg without success in the spring of 1294. A new Swedish offensive in the summer conquered the Novgorodian castle in Kexholm, but was retaken by Novgorod the next spring.

An inconclusive war between Sweden and Novgorod in 1321 and 1322 led to negotiations in Nöteborg, located on the inlet of the Neva river in the Ladoga. In the treaty of Nöteborg the borders between Sweden and Novgorod were defined for the first time. Sweden got West Karelia and Novgorod got Ingria and Ladoga Karelia or East Karelia. The treaty defined the border in the south in some detail, splitting the Karelian isthmus in half and then continuing up to current day Savonlinna. From there the border continued to the Gulf of Bothnia.

A revolt in Kexholm in eastern Karelia against the Novgorodian rule broke out in 1337. The next year Sweden sent out raids into Ladoga Karelia. A Swedish army was defeated in Ingria and the war ended with an peace that confirmed the treaty from 1323.

In 1347 the Swedish king Magnus III prepared for war against Novgorod, probably because of Novgorodian raids in the previous year. The war was backed up by the clergy and Saint Birgitta. The next year a Swedish army landed near the river Neva, fought a Novgorodian army and continued to Nöteborg which they besieged and occupied. After this the king returned to Sweden. A Novgorodian army with new Russian contingents arrived too late to relieve the besieged castle. In 1349 the Swedish garrison was starved out. In this year Magnus made another attempt at Nöteborg but was unsuccessful. In 1350 a Novgorodian army made an attack against Vyborg which they reached on March 21. The town was burned and the surrounding countryside was ravaged, but castle was not taken.

In 1388 Sweden elected Margaret I of Denmark as regent and in 1397 the Kalmar Union was formed. During this time a number of attacks were made from Swedish Karelia into Ingria and Ladoga Karelia.

When Bo Jonsson Grip, who was one of the richest men in Sweden and held Turku castle as a fief and had other possessions in Finland, died in 1386 he left everything to his son Knut. As a part of the treaty that formed the Union, these possessions were lost to the crown. When Knut came to age in 1395 he travelled to Finland and managed to get these back. As a result Margareta sent an army to Turku which fell in 1398.

In 1411 the hostilities with Novgorod resumed. Until then Sweden had been involved in other wars and Novgorod had concentrated agains the Teutonic order. A Swedish raid was made agains Tiurula near the border with an following attack from Novgorod against Vyborg. Smaller raids against Oulu in 1415 and northern Finland in 1431 are mentioned in the chronicles.

During the ensuing centuries, the eastern half of the Swedish realm (present-day Finland) played an important role in the political life realm, and Finnish soldiers often predominated in Sweden's armies. Finns also formed a major proportion of the first Swedish settlers in 17th-century America New Sweden. During the early centuries of Swedish rule, successful commerce with the member cities of famous Hanseatic League were established, resulting in closer contacts to Continental Europe both materially and spiritually.

During the Swedish rule the eastern border moved back and forth due to numerous wars. As a whole, however, it was a period of slow expansion which was ended by The Great Northern War. Thereafter, during the period 1700-1808, Finland was several times occupied by the Russians (partly or wholy), and the south-easternmost part came under Russian control in the early 18th century. In retrospect the possession and loss of the south-easternmost part of the country, containing the important commercial and cultural center of Karelia and the city of Viipuri/Wyborg, has been deemed most significant for the Finnish nation.

Russian Grand Duchy
In 1808, Finland was again conquered by the armies of Tsar Alexander I. Thereafter Finland remained an autonomous Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire until the end of 1917, with Karelia handed back to Finland in 1812. During the years of Russian rule the degree of autonomy varied. Also periods of censorship, political prosecution, etc. occurred, but the Finnish peasantry remained free unlike their Russian counterparts as the old Swedish law (including the relevant parts from Gustav III's Constitution of 1772) remained effective. The old four-chamber Diet was re-activated in the 1860s agreeing to supplementary new legislation concerning internal affairs. Industrialisation begun during the 19th century from forestry industry and machinery and laid the foundation of Finland's current day prosperity, even though agriculture employed a relatively large part of the population until the post-WWII era.

Nationalism
Following Finland's incorporation into Sweden in the 12th century, Swedish had been the dominant language in administration and education, although Finnish recovered its predominance after a 19th-century resurgence of Finnish Nationalism (also working to ensure Russia of the Finns' loyalty).

The publication in 1835 of the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala, a collection of traditional myths and legends, the folklore of the Karelian people (the Finnic Russian Orthodox people who inhabit the Lake Ladoga-region of eastern Finland and present-day NW Russia), first stirred the nationalism that later led to Finland's independence from Russia. The Finnish national awakening in the mid-nineteenth century was the result of members of the Swedish-speaking upper classes deliberatly choosing to promote Finnish culture and language as a means of nation building, i.e. to establish a feeling of unity between the people in Finland including, and not the least important, between the ruling elite and the ruled peasantry.

In 1892 Finnish became an official language and gained a status comparable to that of Swedish, and within a generation Finnish clearly dominated in government and society.

In 1906, as a means to improve the Russo-Finnish relations, the old four-chamber Diet was replaced by a unicameral Parliament (the "Eduskunta"), which was elected by universal suffrage, with Finnish women being the first in Europe to be given the vote.

Independence and Civil War
In the aftermath of the February Revolution in Russia, Finland received a new Senate, a coalition-Cabinet with the same power structure as the Finnish Parliament. Based on the general election in 1916, the Social Democrats had a small majority, and the Social Democrat Oskari Tokoi became Prime Minister. The new Senate was willing to cooperate with revolutionary government of Russia, but no agreement was reached. The Finns' view was, basically, that the personal union with Russia was finished after the Tsar was dethroned. They expected the Czar's authority to be transferred to Finland's Parliament, which the provisional government of Russia couldn't accept. For the Finnish Social Democrats it seemed as the Russian Bourgeoisie was an obstacle on Finland's road to independence as well as on the Proletariat's road to justice. The non-Socialists in Tokoi's Senate were however more confident. They, and most of the non-Socialists in the Parliament, rejected the Social Democrats' proposal on Parliamentarism (the so-called "Power Act") as being too far-reaching and provocative. The act restricted Russia's influence on domestic Finnish matters, but didn't touch the Russian government's power on matters of defence and foreign affairs. For the Russian Provisional government this was however far too radical. As the Parliament had exceeded its authority, it was dissolved.
The minority of the Parliament, and of the Senate, were content. New elections promised a chance to gain majority, which they were convinced would improve the chances to reach an understanding with Russia. The non-Socialists were inclined to cooperate with the Provisional government also because they feared the Socialists' power would grow, resulting in radical reforms, such as equal suffrage in municipal elections, or a land reform. The majority had, of course, the squarly opposite opinion. They didn't accept the provisional government's right to dissolve the Parliament.

The Social Democrats held on to the Power Act and opposed the publication of the decree of dissolution of the Parliament, whereas the non-Socialists voted for publishing it. The disagreement over the Power Act led to the Social Democrats leaving the Senate. When the Parliament met again after the summer recess in August 1917, only the groups supporting the Power Act were present. Russian troops took possession of the chamber, the Parliament was dissolved, and new elections were carried out. The result was a (small) bourgeois majority and a purely non-Socialist Senate. The abolishment of the Power Act, and the cooperation between Finnish bourgeois forces and the oppressive Russia, provoked great bitterness among the Socialists, and dozens of politically motivated terror assaults, including murders.

Successful independence
The Bolshevik Revolution turned Finnish politics upside down. Now the non-Socialist majority of the Parliament felt a great urge for total independence, and the Socialists came gradually to view Russia as an example to follow.
On December 6, 1917, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Finland declared its independence. The independence was acknoledged by Russia's Bolshevik government on January 4, 1918, followed by Germany and the Scandinavian countries.

In 1918, the country experienced the brief but bitter Civil War of Finland that colored domestic politics and the foreign relations of Finland for many years.

During the Civil War, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between the Central Powers and Bolshevist Russia, regarding Finland stating:

Germany and Austria-Hungary purpose to determine the future status of these territories in agreement with their population.

Finland and the Åland Islands will immediately be cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard, and the Finnish ports of the Russian fleet and of the Russian naval forces. So long as the ice prevents the transfer of warships into Russian ports, only limited forces will remain on board the warships. Russia is to put an end to all agitation or propaganda against the Government or the public institutions of Finland.

The fortresses built on the Åland Islands are to be removed as soon as possible. As regards the permanent non-fortification of these islands as well as their further treatment in respect to military technical navigation matters, a special agreement is to be concluded between Germany, Finland, Russia, and Sweden; there exists an understanding to the effect that, upon Germany's desire, still other countries bordering upon the Baltic Sea would be consulted in this matter.

Finland in the inter-war era
Initially, Finland was to be a constitutional monarchy. A German prince, Frederik of Hesse was elected King, with the title Väinö I of Finland, with Pehr_Evind_Svinhufvud and General Carl Gustaf Mannerheim serving as Regents. However, Germany's defeat in World War I, meant that the idea was abandoned. Finland instead became a republic, with Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg elected as its first President, in 1919.
The new republic faced a dispute over the Åland Islands, which were overwelmingly Swedish-speaking and sought retrocession to Sweden. However, as Finland was not willing to cede the islands, they were offered an autonomous status. The residents did nevertheless not approve the offer, and the dispute over the islands was submitted to the League of Nations. The League decided that Finland should retain sovereignty over the Åland Islands, but they should be made an autonomous province. Thus Finland was under an obligation to ensure the residents of the Åland Islands a right to maintain the Swedish language, as well as their own culture and local traditions. At the same time, an international treaty was concluded on the neutral status of Åland, under which it was prohibited to place military headquarters or forces on the islands.

Lapua Movement
Lapua Movement (Lapuan liike) was a political movement in Finland, started in 1929, initially dominated by ardent anti-Communists, emphasizing the legacy of the White Guards and the Civil War in Finland, however soon turning into more of a Fascist movement. The Lapua Movement was banned after a failed coup-d'etat in 1932. The activities were then continued in IKL (Isänmaallinen Kansanliike).

The leaders of the Lapua Movement were Vihtori Kosola and general Kurt Martti Wallenius.

Many politicians, and also high military officers, were initially sympathetic with the Lapua Movement, as anti-communism was the norm in the educated classes after the Civil War. However, excessive use of violence made the movement less popular within a few months.

In the Civil War Ostrobothnia was one of the most important strong-holds and bases of the White army, and anti-Communist sentiments remained extremely strong in Ostrobothnia. Late in November 1929 the Communist Youth Movement arranged a happening in Ostrobothnian Lapua. This infuriated the locals, who violently made an end to the meeting. On December 1st an anticommunist meeting was held, attracting more than 1,000 people. A ban of all communist activities was demanded.

Marches and meetings were arranged throughout the country. On June 16th, 1930, more than 3,000 men arrived to Oulu in order to destroy the print and office of the Communist newspaper Pohjan Voima. However, the last issue of Pohjan Voima had appeared on June 14. The same day, a Communist print in Vaasa was destroyed. A so-called "Peasant March" to Helsinki was a major show of power. More than 12,000 men arrived in Helsinki on July 7th. The government yielded under the pressure, and communist newspapers were outlawed in a Protection of the Republic Act.

After this, the Lapua Movement became even more extreme. Their activities included harassing individual Communists, Social Democrats, Pacifists, Liberals and labor unionists. One common treatment was "muilutus", which started with kidnapping and beating. After that the subject was thrown into a car and driven to the border of the Soviet Union.

Meetings held by leftist and labour groups were also interrupted, often violently. More than 400 meeting locals owned by the labour movement were closed by Lapua activists.

On October 14th, 1930, the popular ex-president Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg and his wife were kidnapped, beaten and driven to Joensuu (i.e. not really to the Soviet Union this time). This was intended as a first stage of a coup d'etat, but it backfired and the general support of the movement collapsed. Moderate people left the movement, and extremists took the stage. Never-the-less, a few months later the Lapua Movement was capable of not only demanding "their man" appointed President of Finland by the Collegium of Electors, which only weeks before had been chosen in a nation-wide voting, but a sufficient number of the electors followed the Lapua Movement's request, disregarding the intentions they had declared during the election campaign. The Movement's man, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, was elected.

In February 1932 a Social Democrat meeting in Mäntsälä was violently interrupted by armed Lapua activists. The event escalated to an attempted coup d'etat known as the Mäntsälä Rebellion (Mäntsälän kapina), led by the former Chief of Staff of Finland's Army, general Wallenius. Despite the appeals of Wallenius, the army and the White Guards were largely loyal to the government. Many historians believe the main reason for the failure was poor planning. The rebellion ended after the President Svinhufvud had held a radio speech to the rebels. After a trial, the Lapua Movement was banned on November 21st, 1932. Wallenius and about 50 other leaders were sentenced to prison. The conviction was however very lenient, compared to the treatment of the defeated Reds after the Civil War.

Finland's foreign relations and reputation were without doubt damaged by the broad support the Lapua Movement initially was shown by Finland's elite, and by the ties between the Movement, the White Guards and Finland's army. Particularly the Scandinavian neighbours came to view Finland with even more suspicion, by and large neglecting that Lapua's chosen president actually had outlawed the Movement.

Ironically, the banning was done under the Protection of the Republic Act, which originally was dictated by the Lapua Movement.

Source for article Lapua Movement: Wikipedia

Mäntsälä Rebellion
Mäntsälä rebellion (Finnish: Mäntsälän kapina) was the failed coup attempt by the Lapua Movement to ovethrow the Finnish government.

On February 27, 1932 some 400 armed members of the Suojeluskunta militia interrupted a meeting of Social Democrats in Mäntsälä with small arms fire. In the next few days, leading members of the Lapua Movement (Lapuanliike) and hundreds of armed members of Suojeluskunta arrived at Mäntsälä. The former Chief of Staff of Finland's Army, Lieutenant General Wallenius also joined the leadership of the rebellion. The men refused to disperse and demanded the cabinet's resignation and a change in political course.

Two days later the cabinet ordered the leaders of the Lapua movement arrested using the Proctection of the Republic Act which the movement itself had urged for a year before. Army units began preparing as the commander of the army, Lieutenant General Aarne Sihvo was prepared to use force to end the rebellion. Orders were given to reinforce the defence of Helsinki with tanks and artillery in case the situations would escalate. As the tensions grew, so did the consumption of alcohol among the instigators.

On March 2 president Svinhufvud gave a radio speech, where he urged the militiamen to return home and promised that only the leaders would be punished. The men dispersed and the leaders were arrested a few days later. During the spring the Lapua movement was disbanded.

The Mäntsälä rebellion can be considered the peak of the conflict between rightist and leftist factions, whose relations had been tense after the Civil War. In the coming years the economic situation in Finland would improve and the radical movements would lose support.

Source for article Mäntsälä Rebellion: Wikipedia

Finland in World War II
During World War II, Finland fought two wars against the Soviet Union: the Winter War of 1939-1940, resulting in the loss of Finnish Karelia, and the Continuation War of 1941-1944 (with considerable support from Nazi Germany resulting in a swift invasion of neighboring areas of the Soviet Union), eventually leading to the loss of Finland's only ice-free winter harbour Petsamo. The Continuation War was, in accordance with the armistice conditions, immediately followed by the Lapland War of 1944-1945, when Finland fought the Germans to force them to withdraw from northern Finland back into Norway (then under German occupation).

Finland's support from, and coordination with, Nazi Germany starting during the winter of 1940/41 made other countries considerably less sympathetic to the Finnish cause; particularly since the Continuation War led to a Finnish invasion of the Soviet Union designed not only to recover lost territory, but additionally to answer the irredentist sentiment of a Greater Finland by incorporating East Karelia, whose inhabitants were culturally related to the Finnish people, although religiously Russian Orthodox. This invasion had caused the United Kingdom to declare war on Finland on 4 December 1941.

Finland managed to maintain its independence, contrary to most other countries within the Soviet sphere of influence, and suffered comparably limited losses in terms of civilian lives and property, but was punished harsher than other German co-belligerents and allies, having to pay large reparations and resettle an eighth of its population after having lost an eighth of the territory including one of its industrial heartlands and the second-largest city of Viipuri. After the war, the Soviet government settled these gained territories with people from many different regions of the USSR, for instance from Ukraine.

The Finnish government did not participate in the systematic destruction of Jews, although the country remained a "cobelligrent", a de facto ally of Germany until 1944. In total, eight German Jewish refugees were handed over to the German authorities. During and in between the wars, approximately 80,000 children were evacuated abroad. 5% went to Norway, 10% to Denmark, and the rest to Sweden. Most of them were sent back by 1948, but 15-20% remained abroad.

Finland had to reject Marshall aid. Nevertheless, the United States shipped secret development aid and financial aid to the non-communist SDP. Establishing trade with the Western powers, such as the United Kingdom, and the reparations to the Soviet Union caused Finland to transform itself from a primarily agrarian economy to an industrialised one. After the reparations had been paid off, Finland continued to trade with the Soviet Union in the framework of bilateral trade.

Cold War
In 1950 half of the Finnish workers were occupied in agriculture and a third lived in urban towns.[20] The new jobs in manufacturing, services and trade quickly attracted people to the towns. The average number of births per woman declined from baby boom a peak of 3.5 in 1947 to 1.5 in 1973. When baby boomers entered the workforce, the economy did not generate jobs fast enough and hundreds of thousands emigrated to the more industrialized Sweden, migration peaking in 1969 and 1970 (today 4.7 percent of Swedes speak Finnish). 1952 Summer Olympics brought international visitors.

Finland retained a democratic constitution and free economy during the Cold War era. Treaties signed in 1947 and 1948 with the Soviet Union included obligations and restraints on Finland, as well as territorial concessions. Both treaties have been abrogated by Finland since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, while leaving the borders untouched. Even though being a neighbour to the mighty Soviet Union sometimes resulted in overly cautious concern in foreign policy ("Finlandization"), Finland developed closer co-operation with the other Nordic countries and declared itself neutral in superpower politics.

In 1952, Finland and the countries of the Nordic Council entered into a passport union, allowing their citizens to cross borders without passports and soon also to apply for jobs and claim social security benefits in the other countries. Many from Finland used this opportunity to secure better paying jobs in Sweden in the 1950s and 1960s, dominating Sweden's first wave of post-war labour immigrants. Although Finnish wages and standard of living could not compete with wealthy Sweden until the 1980s, the Finnish economy rose remarkably from the ashes of World War II, resulting in the buildup of another Nordic-style welfare state.

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. That same year Finland joined the United Nations, though it had already been associated with a number of UN specialized organisations. The first Finnish ambassador to the UN was G.A. Gripenberg (1956-1959), followed by Ralph Enckell (1959-1965), Max Jakobson (1965-1972), Aarno Karhilo (1972-1977), Ilkka Pastinen (1977-1983), Keijo Korhonen (1983-1988), Klaus Törnudd (1988-1991), Wilhelm Breitenstein (1991-1998) and Marjatta Rasi (since 1998). In 1972 Max Jakobson was a candidate for Secretary-General of the UN. In another remarkable event of 1955, the Soviet Union decided to return the Porkkala peninsula to Finland, which had been rented to the Soviet Union in 1948 for 50 years as a military base, a situation which somewhat endangered Finnish sovereignty and neutrality.

Finland became an associate member of the European Free Trade Association in 1961 and a full member in 1986. A trade agreement with the EEC was complemented by another with the Soviet Bloc. The first Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), which lead to the creation of the OSCE, was held in Finland in 1972-1973. The CSCE was widely considered in Finland as a possible means of reducing tensions of the Cold War, and a personal triumph for President Urho Kekkonen.

Officially claiming to be neutral, Finland lay in the grey zone between the Western countries and the Soviet Union. The "YYA Treaty" (Finno-Soviet Pact of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance) gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics. This was extensively exploited by President Urho Kekkonen against his opponents. He maintained an effective monopoly on Soviet relations, which gave him a status of "only choice for president" and 25 years regime from 1956 to 1981. There was also a tendency of self-censorship regarding Finno-Soviet relations. This phenomenon was given the name "Finlandisation" by the German press (fi. suomettuminen). When Finlandisation was not enough, direct censorship was used, including in 1700 books and many movies. Asylum-seeking defectors were returned to the Soviet Union for punishment or execution. The Soviet-financed, anti-Western, pro-Soviet youth movements peaked in the 1970s, when the communist-led Teen Union started to harass bourgeoisie-suspected teachers. Soviets succeed in agitating a majority of baby boomers to socialist ideologies, with the radical taistoists even demanding that Finland join the Soviet Union. The Stasi and KGB used their strengthened allies to cooperate installations of socialists in the administration, mass media (particularly by Tampere University journalism department, YLE, and Helsingin Sanomat), academia (particularly social sciences), political parties and trade unions (particularly the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions). Politicization, pursued as a way to socialist revolution, was widespread and public sector workers were often dependent on having the correct political party membership. Despite calls to silence Western ideas, the liberal opposition (mainly National Coalition Party) was allowed to operate and be publicly critical.[21] Agrarians (mainly Centre Party and Finnish Rural Party) and socialist (SDP, Finnish People's Democratic League, and the Communist Party) dominated the government.

However, Finland maintained capitalism unlike most other countries bordering the Soviet Union. Property rights were strong. While nationalization committees were set up in France and UK, Finland avoided nationalizations. After failed experiments with protectionism in the 1950s, Finland eased restrictions and made a free trade agreement with the European Community in 1973, making its markets more competitive. Local education markets expanded and an increasing number of Finns also went abroad to study in the United States or Western Europe, bringing back advanced skills. There was a quite common, but pragmatic-minded, credit and investment cooperation by state and corporations, though it was considered with suspicion. Support for capitalism was widespread.[22] Savings rate hovered among the world's highest, at around 8% until the 80s. In the beginning of the 1970s, Finland's GDP per capita reached the level of Japan and the UK. Finland's economic development shared many aspects with export-led Asian countries.

Until 1970 Finland and other Nordic countries had relatively low taxes, low regulation, and some of the highest income levels in the world. Then Nordic countries saw a dramatic change. In Finland, the number of bureaucrats and overall taxation were doubled between 1970 and 1990.

In 1991 Finland fell into a Great Depression-magnitude depression caused by a combination of economic overheating, fixed currency, depressed Western, Soviet, and local markets. Stock market and housing prices declined by 50%. The growth in the 1980s was based on debt and defaults started rolling in. GDP declined by 15% and unemployment increased from a virtual full employment to one fifth of the workforce. The crisis was amplified by trade unions' initial opposition to any reforms. Politicians struggled to cut spending and the public debt doubled to around 60% of GDP. Some 7-8% of GDP was needed to bail out failing banks and force banking sector consolidation.[26] After devaluations the depression bottomed out in 1993.

SDP suffered from its role in the crisis, though only few of the involved politicians aside from the SDP chairman Ulf Sundqvist were convicted. For the first time SDP gave voluntarily room for pro-Western Prime Minister Esko Aho, Finance Minister Iiro Viinanen and other opposition heavyweights to take care of the Finland's rescue operation.

Mauno Koivisto and later Tarja Halonen classified documents about their and other politicians' involvement in the crisis. Similarly, information about Stasi and KGB operations in Finland was classified, though revelations by former Soviet commanders, foreign intelligence services, and self-revelations have consistently pointed to top names such as Paavo Lipponen, the Prime Minister between 1995-2003.

Recent history
The growth rate has since been one of the highest of OECD countries and Finland has topped many indicators of national performance.

Until 1991, President Mauno Koivisto and two of the three major parties, Center Party and the Social Democrats opposed the idea of European Union membership and preferred entering into the European Economic Area treaty. However, after Sweden had submitted its membership application in 1991 and the Soviet Union was dissolved at the end of the year, Finland submitted its own application to the EC in March 1992. The accession process was marked by heavy public debate, where the differences of opinion did not follow party lines. Officially, all three major parties were supporting the Union membership, but members of all parties participated in the campaign against the membership. Before the parliamentary decision to join the EU, a consultative referendum was held on April 16, 1994 in which 56.9% of the votes were in favour of joining. The process of accession was completed on January 1, 1995, when Finland joined the European Union along with Austria and Sweden. Leading Finland into the EU is held as the main achievement of the Centrist-Conservative government of Esko Aho then in power.

In the economic policy, the EU membership forced large changes. While politicians were previously involved in setting interest rates, the central bank was given an inflation-targeting mandate until Finland joined the eurozone. During Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen's two successive governments 1995–2003, several large state companies were privatized fully or partially. Matti Vanhanen's two cabinets followed suit until autumn 2008, when the state became a major shareholder in the Finnish telecom company Elisa with the intention to secure the Finnish ownership of a strategically important industry.

In addition to fast integration with the European Union, safety against Russian leverage has been increased by building fully NATO-compatible military. 1000 troops (a high per-capita amount) are simultaneously committed in NATO and UN operations. Finland has also opposed energy projects that increase dependency on Russian imports. At the same time, Finland remains one of the last non-NATO members in Europe and there seems to be not enough support for full membership unless Sweden joins first.

The population is aging with the birth rate at 10.42 births/1,000 population or fertility rate at 1.8.[20] With median age at 41.6 years Finland is one of the oldest countries [30] and half of voters are estimated to be over 50 years old. Like most European countries, without further reforms or much higher immigration Finland is expected to struggle with demographics, even though macroeconomic projections are healthier than in most other developed countries.

Source for article history (except articles Lapua Movement & Mäntsälä Rebellion: Wikipedia