Finland: Nation Building While Manoeuvring Through Big Powers Conflicts

Abstract

Culturally, Finland is not purely Nordic. It is also a border community between East and West. Since medieval times, Finland belonged to the Swedish monarch, which however lost its eastern territories to Russia in 1809. Finally, Finland was able to manoeuver from under Russia during the October revolution in 1917. Surviving under constant threat, Finland aligned with Germany for a period during the Second World War, ultimately losing the Karelia region to Russia. The Finish national identity, including a sense of common suffering, was at least partly defined by being locked between powerful and often aggressive neighbours. Authoritarian movements emerged soon after independence, for example, the nationalist Lapua Movement. During this period, in northern Finland, and also northern Norway, the Sami people’s way of life and cultural heritage was undermined.

   Finland is a homogenous country with a low level of immigration. Right-wing nationalist populist politics were thus not prominent in the latter half of the twentieth century. Still, agrarian populist versions existed since the 1960s with a noteworthy support. Right-wing populist parties in Denmark and Norway did not gain much popular support until after the Euro crisis hit in 2009. The previous pro-EU stance of Finland—which had set it aside from their more Eurosceptic Nordic neighbours—was reversed.

   The populist True Finns Party (Perussuomalainen) rushed to the surface in the 2011 parliamentary election, gaining a remarkable 19 % of the votes. Its charismatic leader Timo Soini positioned himself on the side of the ordinary man and against corrupted elites. Referring to ethno nationalism and Christian social values, Soini emphasized Finnishness and protecting the national culture from being contaminated by immigrants and other foreign influences. The True Finns Party surged to the forefront of Finnish politics and fundamentally turned the political discourse in a more nationalist direction.