138-429: Risto Heikki Ryti ( Finnish pronunciation: [ˈristo ˈhei̯kːi ˈryti] ; 3 February 1889 – 25 October 1956) was a Finnish politician who served as the fifth president of Finland from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a political background figure during the interwar period . He made a wide range of international contacts in the world of banking and within
276-647: A Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland . Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these countries as well as those who have resettled. Some of these may be classified as separate ethnic groups, rather than subgroups of Finns. These include the Kvens and Forest Finns in Norway , the Tornedalians in Sweden , and
414-546: A National Progressive member of Parliament in 1919, at the age of thirty the second youngest member. In the same year, the party candidate, an admirer of Ryti, Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg , was elected the first president of Finland. Ryti served as a member of Parliament from 1919 to 1924 and from 1927 to 1929. During his first few years in Parliament, Ryti served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and later
552-731: A Finnish tailor took Kordelin's party hostage, with the intent to rob them. Ryti, Kordelin's lawyer, refused to legally authorize the robbery despite being threatened at gunpoint. Armed White Guard soldiers were however present and the situation deteriorated into a gunfight. 20 people including Kordelin were killed. Ryti was saved by a malfunction in the enemy's firearm. During the Finnish Civil War Ryti played no active part, remaining in hiding with his family in Red-dominated Helsinki . Afterwards, however, he would become deeply involved in politics, being elected
690-816: A Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) due to his great merits in Anglo-Finnish relations. He had excellent relations with the leaders of the Bank of England , due to his similar economic policies, such as the belief in the gold standard until the Great Depression , and due to his excellent command of English. In fact, Ryti could regularly telephone the Bank of England's leaders when he wanted to discuss economic or financial policies with them (see Martti Turtola, "Risto Ryti: A Life for
828-413: A blue field, but in the provinces, the field was divided (party per sinister), with two or three colors representing each province. The white armband also bore the name of the municipality. Each chapter had its own flag, but generally it was a symmetric variant of the modern State Flag of Finland where the cross was extended with small swastika arms, the "S" symbol in the canton and local symbols instead of
966-419: A constitutional amendment was enacted by the parliament to enable the electors of 1937 to elect a successor to Kallio. Ryti was chosen with 288 votes out of 300. On the day of his retirement, 19 December 1940, Kallio suffered a fatal heart attack during a farewell gathering; on the same day, Ryti became the holder of the presidency. Finland's changed policy from a Scandinavian orientation up to, and during,
1104-611: A culmination point for that mode of politics which the Soviet Union has ever since the Moscow peace settlement utilized towards Finland, and the purpose of which has been the destruction of our independence and enslavement of our people. Having been left wanting for military assistance during the 1939-40 winter war, we had no choice except for during the dark moments of night on the March 13th conclude peace with Soviet Union, which after
1242-608: A false name. With regard to this matter, the staff numbers at USSR representative office have increased more than substantially. At the Helsinki mission, there are 31 diplomatic corps staff and 120 assisting staff. At the Consulate in Petsamo , 3 consular staff and 21 assistance staff, at Mariehamn 8 consular staff and 30 other staff. In total there have been some 42 diplomatic and consular staff and 171 assistant staff employed at
1380-475: A farmer, and Ida Vivika Junttila. Although he came from a peasant farming background, during his childhood Ryti hardly participated in work on the family's large farm, being a bookish and academically inclined boy. He was educated briefly at Pori Grammar School , and was then tutored at home, before enrolling in the University of Helsinki in 1906 to study law . Ryti was the only one among his brothers to pass
1518-572: A fellow Balto-Finnic group. Finns and Karelians form a cluster with another Balto-Finnic people, the Veps . They show relative affinity to Northern Russians as well, who are known to be at least partially descended from Finno-Ugric-speakers who inhabited Northwestern Russia before the Slavs. When not compared to these groups, Finns have been found to cluster apart from their neighboring populations, forming outlier clusters. They are shifted away from
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#17327721693121656-487: A few of these. On Midsummer’s eve last year Soviet Union surprisingly opened the matter of Åland , which was not included in the peace agreement documents. When this was pointed out as a way of warding off the demand, Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Molotov cynically announced that the Soviet cabinet had not bought the matter of the Åland Islands forward in connection of peacemaking because this may have disturbingly affected
1794-600: A fine-scale analysis contain more precise clusters that are consistent with traditional dialect areas. When looking at the fixation index (F ST ) values, the distance within Finns from different parts of the same country is exceptional in Europe. The distance between Western and Eastern Finns is higher than the distance between many European groups from different countries, such as the British people and Northern Germans. This
1932-525: A fringe party, because he was considered an expert especially in economic policy and, very importantly, an impartial servant of the fatherland who refused to play partisan politics (see Martti Turtola, Risto Ryti: A Life for the Fatherland ). In 1921, the thirty-two-year-old Ryti was appointed finance minister in the government of Juho Vennola . He served in that position twice until 1924. In 1923 President Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg appointed him governor of
2070-725: A higher frequency of the Y-haplogroup N1c (71.6%). While N1c is the most common haplogroup in Western Finland as well (53.8%), the haplogroup I1a is found more often there (30.9%) than it is in Eastern and Northern Finland (19%). This suggests that there is an additional Western component in the Western Finnish gene pool. Despite the differences, the IBS analysis points out that Western and Eastern Finns share overall
2208-461: A large number of words (about one-third) without a known etymology, hinting at the existence of a disappeared Paleo-European language ; these include toponyms such as niemi , 'peninsula'. Because the Finnish language itself reached a written form only in the 16th century, little primary data remains of early Finnish life. For example, the origins of such cultural icons as the sauna , and
2346-484: A largely similar genetic foundation. In the 19th century, the Finnish researcher Matthias Castrén prevailed with the theory that "the original home of Finns" was in west-central Siberia . Until the 1970s, most linguists believed that Finns arrived in Finland as late as the first century AD. However, accumulating archaeological data suggests that the area of contemporary Finland had been inhabited continuously since
2484-516: A low frequency, but seems to be found in significantly higher levels among Finns, Estonians and the Sami people . The older population of European hunter-gatherers that lived across large parts of Europe before the early farmers appeared are outside the genetic variation of modern populations, but most similar to Finns. With regard to the Y-chromosome, the most common haplogroups of the Finns
2622-473: A matter-of-fact way being led and incited from Moscow, Soviet Union endeavored to instill similar developments in Finland, which it has achieved in the Baltic countries . The Soviet Union has even undertaken attempts to interfere in internal staff matters and apply pressure in these matters. The propaganda and spying by Soviet Union within Finland become ever more unscrupulous and active. Every Finnish citizen who
2760-655: A military support base in Petsamo. Descriptive of the Soviet Union’s two-faced actions was that the nature of their demands in the matter of the Petsamo nickel mines were presented to us and to a certain interested superpower in totally different ways. To one party they stated as being only financially interested in relation to Petsamo nickel, to the other stating the matter as a totally politically act directed at Petsamo area. Third doubtful demand related to transport of military equipment by railway via land area of Finland to
2898-689: A minor employer (see Economy of Finland ). Christianity spread to Finland from the Medieval times onward and original native traditions of Finnish paganism have become extinct. Finnish paganism combined various layers of Finnic, Norse, Germanic and Baltic paganism. Finnic Jumala was some sort of sky-god and is shared with Estonia. Belief of a thunder-god, Ukko or Perkele , may have Baltic origins. Elements had their own protectors, such as Ahti for waterways and Tapio for forests. Local animistic deities, haltija , which resemble Scandinavian tomte , were also given offerings to, and bear worship
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#17327721693123036-442: A more toponymical approach. Yet another theory postulates that the words Finn and Kven are cognates . The Icelandic Eddas and Norse sagas (11th to 14th centuries), some of the oldest written sources probably originating from the closest proximity, use words like finnr and Finnas inconsistently. However, most of the time they seem to mean northern dwellers with a mobile life style. Current linguistic research supports
3174-401: A new route of attack being available to USSR. Threat of this demand for railway encompasses the entire Northern Scandinavia, but is in the first instance a dagger aimed at Finland’s back. During the peace negotiations Soviet Union notified as final and absolute point of view that the reached agreement fully meets the demands of USSR. Representatives of the Soviet Union considered it to guarantee
3312-504: A northern part of Europe, but the real meaning of these terms is debatable. It has been suggested that this non- Uralic ethnonym is of Germanic language origin and related to such words as Old High German : finthan , lit. 'find, notice'; Old English : fanthian , lit. 'check, try'; and fendo ( Middle High German : vende ) ' pedestrian, wanderer ' . Another etymological interpretation associates this ethnonym with fen in
3450-661: A realistic analysis of the situation, instead of pessimism or over-optimism. He and foreign minister Tanner agreed that the war must be brought to an end as quickly as possible. They both spoke fluent English and had close contact with the Western powers. At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union formed a puppet government and cut connections with the Ryti–Tanner government. The Finnish Army fought defensively in battles during December 1939 through February 1940. This gained time and freedom for diplomatic manoeuvering. The Soviet Union
3588-695: A result, there was strong discontent in Finnish society. In 1905 Russia lost the Russo-Japanese War . This stunning and unexpected defeat led to the Russian Revolution of 1905 . In Finland the unrest was expressed in the Finnish general strike of 1905 . During the strike Finnish police forces were effectively disbanded, as they had been closely associated with the occupying Russian authorities. Municipal, mostly unarmed, security guards were spontaneously organised by individuals associated with
3726-770: A separate, political armed force. During the war the Guard membership mostly served at the front. In the home area the Guard districts formed the local headquarters for the military districts and the oldest and youngest Guard members served in guard and anti-aircraft duties. There were some small anti- desant actions on the home front, e.g. in Hollola in 1941. After the Continuation War , the Finnish White Guards were disbanded in November 1944, as demanded by
3864-468: A way that distinguished it from its neighbors. Finnish material culture became independent of the wider Baltic Finnic culture in the 6th and 7th centuries, and by the turn of the 8th century the culture of metal objects that had prevailed in Finland had developed in its own way. The same era can be considered to be broadly the date of the birth of the independent Finnish language, although its prehistory, like other Baltic Finnic languages, extends far into
4002-444: A year ago, Soviet Union stated their demands for nickel mines of Petsamo. It was not satisfied with demanding a share of the mines production, but its demands had a directly political stamp. For example, the Soviet Union demanded that it be handed management of the mines and right to put in place a fifth of the employees. Locating this number of men in the Petsamo area, would have meant that the Soviet Union would in practice also have had
4140-506: Is N1c , as it is carried by 58–64 percent of Finnish men. N1c, which is found mainly in a few countries in Europe (Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia), is a subgroup of the haplogroup N distributed across northern Eurasia and suggested to have entered Europe from Siberia. The haplogroup N is typical for Uralic-speaking peoples. Other Y-DNA haplogroups among Finns include I1a (25 %), R1a (4.3 %), and R1b (3.5 %). Finns are genetically closest to Karelians ,
4278-584: Is a matter of debate how best to designate the Finnish-speakers of Sweden, all of whom have migrated to Sweden from Finland. Terms used include Sweden Finns and Finnish Swedes , with a distinction almost always made between more recent Finnish immigrants, most of whom have arrived after World War II , and Tornedalians , who have lived along what is now the Swedish-Finnish border since the 15th century. The term "Finn" occasionally also has
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4416-470: Is also Meänkieli , a language developed in partial isolation from standard Finnish, spoken by three minorities, Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset , in the border area of northern Sweden. The Finnish language as well as Meänkieli are recognized as official minority languages in Sweden . The use of mitochondrial "mtDNA" (female lineage) and Y-chromosomal "Y-DNA" (male lineage) DNA-markers in tracing back
4554-527: Is also noticeable in the distances of Finns from other Europeans, as the isolation is even more profound in Eastern Finns than in Western Finns. The division is related to the later settlement of Eastern Finland by a small number of Finns, who then experienced separate founder and bottleneck effects and genetic drift. Eastern Finns also have a higher portion of autosomal Siberian admixture and
4692-533: Is entirely dependent on it, as well as is how it arranges its fiscal policy. The Soviet Union has no interest in these matters. Even though us Finnish have had painful experiences regarding how little both the man’s word as well as the agreements given by the USSR means, we would have expected that their words would have been at least binding at basic points, and at the very least for a short while. However, once again we have directly come to realize that no word given by
4830-651: Is how the Celtic , Germanic , Slavic , and Baltic languages were formed. The linguistic ancestors of modern Finns did not switch their language due to their isolated location. The main supporters of Wiik's theory are Professor Ago Künnap of the University of Tartu , Professor Kyösti Julku of the University of Oulu and Associate Professor Angela Marcantonio of the University of Rome . Wiik has not presented his theories in peer-reviewed scientific publications. Many scholars in Finno-Ugrian studies have strongly criticized
4968-458: Is like a pistol aimed directly at heart of Finland. Neither the demand for construction of Salla railway nor North-east Finland area secession demands were included in the advance notification of terms of peace which were bough to notice of Finnish cabinet. The railway of Salla, by which it is intended to join the railway network of Finland to the Murmansk railway, in all probability would leave
5106-466: Is not known how, why, and when this occurred. Petri Kallio had suggested that the name Suomi may bear even earlier Indo-European echoes with the original meaning of either "land" or "human", but he has since disproved his hypothesis. The first known mention of Finns is in the Old English poem Widsith which was compiled in the 10th century, though its contents are believed to be older. Among
5244-478: Is the recent proposal originating from Soviet Union’s official sources, that a certain person convicted in connection of the largest instance of spying in Finland and currently serving the sentence, would be freed and permitted do depart for Soviet Union. Soviet Union’s political and fiscal demands over and above those stated in the peace terms extended to many different matters and become from Finland’s security point of view ever increasingly precarious. I will mention
5382-488: The heimos have been constructed according to dialect during the rise of nationalism in the 19th century. The historical provinces of Finland can be seen to approximate some of these divisions. The regions of Finland , another remnant of a past governing system, can be seen to reflect a further manifestation of a local identity. Journalist Ilkka Malmberg [ fi ] toured Finland in 1984 and looked into people's traditional and contemporary understanding of
5520-402: The heimos , listing them as follows: Tavastians ( hämäläiset ), Ostrobothnians ( pohjalaiset ), Lapland Finns ( lappilaiset ), Finns proper ( varsinaissuomalaiset ), Savonians ( savolaiset ), Kainuu Finns ( kainuulaiset ), and Finnish Karelians ( karjalaiset ). Today the importance of the tribal ( heimo ) identity generally depends on the region. It is strongest among
5658-466: The Bank of Finland , a post he remained in until he became prime minister in 1939. Ryti only began to exercise his duties as chairman of the Bank of Finland after he resigned as finance minister in January 1924. During his early years in parliament, Ryti succeeded in bringing order to the government budget . Although he was a Ståhlbergian, Ryti did not approve of pardoning Red prisoners. In his opinion,
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5796-649: The Civil Guard ( Finnish : Suojeluskunta , IPA: [ˈsuo̯jelusˌkuntɑ] ; Swedish : Skyddskår ; lit. ' Protection Corps ' ) , was a voluntary militia , part of the Finnish Whites movement, that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guards in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. They were generally known as the "White Guard" in the West due to their opposition to
5934-516: The Finnish war-responsibility trials (1945–1946), which resulted in his conviction for crimes against peace . He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment but was pardoned by decision of President Juho Kusti Paasikivi in 1949. His reputation was largely unscathed, but his health had suffered and he never returned to public life. Risto Ryti was born in Huittinen , Satakunta , one of seven sons, among 10 siblings. His parents were Kaarle Evert Ryti,
6072-518: The Ice age ended. They populated central and northern Europe, while Basque speakers populated western Europe. As agriculture spread from the southeast into Europe, the Indo-European languages spread among the hunter-gatherers. In this process, both the hunter-gatherers speaking Finno-Ugric and those speaking Basque learned how to cultivate land and became Indo-Europeanized. According to Wiik, this
6210-476: The Imperial Russian Army was slowly disintegrating and had already started to withdraw its units from Finland, the demoralized, poorly trained and undisciplined Russian military forces in the country posed a substantial challenge to Finnish authority. In parliament the question on forming a new security force was hotly debated. On January 13, 1918, the non-socialist majority gave authorization to
6348-896: The Ingrian Finns in Russia. Finnish , the language spoken by Finns, is closely related to other Balto-Finnic languages , e.g. Estonian and Karelian . The Finnic languages are a subgroup of the larger Uralic family of languages , which also includes Hungarian . These languages are markedly different from most other languages spoken in Europe, which belong to the Indo-European family of languages . Native Finns can also be divided according to dialect into subgroups sometimes called heimo ( lit. ' tribe ' ), although such divisions have become less important due to internal migration. Today, there are approximately 6–7 million ethnic Finns and their descendants worldwide, with
6486-780: The Lapua Movement 's abortive coup d'état (the Mäntsälä Rebellion ) in 1932, however only a small fraction of the Guard participated and the majority of it stayed loyal to the government. White Guardsmen served in the regular army during the Second World War . The White Guard was disbanded according to the terms of the 1944 Moscow Armistice , following the end of the Continuation War . Similar militias operated in Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania , lands that, like Finland, came under Russian sovereignty until
6624-585: The Lapua movement . Ryti was an admirer of British civilisation and culture and of American free enterprise . Ryti had built up relations of trust with leading Social Democratic Party politician Väinö Tanner and President Kyösti Kallio . In late autumn 1939, Ryti was offered the post of prime minister, but he tried to turn down the offer. However, when the Winter War broke out on 30 November, Ryti agreed. He took his post on 1 December. Ryti concentrated on
6762-546: The Soviet Union without approval from Nazi Germany , in order to secure German military aid for Finland to stop the Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive against Finland. His resignation soon afterwards allowed his successor, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim , to bypass the agreement and make peace with the Soviet Union once the offensive had been stopped. After the war, Ryti was the main defendant in
6900-642: The Soviet Union . However, the military district system as the basis for mobilisation was retained, now fully as an army structure. In the Winter War the White Guard was responsible for the carrying out of the mobilisation. A quarter of the manpower of the field army consisted of Guard members. This contribution proved important, as Guard members were the best trained and equipped personnel in an army which lacked even basic supplies. The frosty relations between White Guards and Socialists started to ease during
7038-521: The Uralic languages were first spoken in the area of contemporary Finland is debated. It is thought that Proto-Finnic (the proto-language of the Finnic languages ) was not spoken in modern Finland, because the maximum divergence of the daughter languages occurs in modern-day Estonia. Therefore, Finnish was already a separate language when arriving in Finland. Furthermore, the traditional Finnish lexicon has
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#17327721693127176-664: The Volga , Oka , and Kama rivers in what is now Russia. The genetic basis of future Finns also emerged in this area. There have been at least two noticeable waves of migration to the west by the ancestors of Finns. They began to move upstream of the Dnieper and from there to the upper reaches of the Daugava , from where they eventually moved along the river towards the Baltic Sea in 1250–1000 BC. The second wave of migration brought
7314-692: The kantele (an instrument of the zither family) have remained rather obscure. Agriculture supplemented by fishing and hunting has been the traditional livelihood among Finns. Slash-and-burn agriculture was practiced in the forest-covered east by Eastern Finns up to the 19th century. Agriculture, along with the language, distinguishes Finns from the Sámi , who retained the hunter-gatherer lifestyle longer and moved to coastal fishing and reindeer herding . Following industrialization and modernization of Finland, most Finns were urbanized and employed in modern service and manufacturing occupations, with agriculture becoming
7452-612: The " communist " Red Guards . In the White Army of Finland many participants were recruits, draftees and German-trained Jägers – rather than part of the paramilitary. The central organization was named the White Guard Organization, and the organization consisted of local chapters in municipalities. The Russian Revolution of 1905 led to social and political unrest and a breakdown of security in Finland , which
7590-741: The 18th century. When Finland became independent, it was overwhelmingly Lutheran Protestant . A small number of Eastern Orthodox Finns were also included, thus the Finnish government recognized both religions as "national religions". In 2017 70.9% of the population of Finland belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland , 1.1% to the Finnish Orthodox Church , 1.6% to other religious groups and 26.3% had no religious affiliation . Whereas, in Russian Ingria, there were both Lutheran and Orthodox Finns;
7728-542: The 1930s. During the 1920s Socialists had demanded the White Guards be demobilised, but as the Guard leadership and the overwhelming majority of the members remained loyal to the government during Mäntsälä rebellion , the demands were changed to making the Guards an official part of the army. The political rift between the White Guard and the labour movement was ultimately healed during the Winter War, when leadership of
7866-696: The Defence Forces. The legal basis for the activities was given by changing the Act on Defence Forces in 1994. More accurate basis was given by the Act on Voluntary Defence Work of 2007, which will make the Association a nominally independent public organization under political state control. As the heritage of the White Guard in Finland is very mixed, the National Defence Training Association does not consider itself to be
8004-409: The Fatherland"). Ryti participated in the activities of the League of Nations as a member of many committees dealing with economic questions and monetary policy . In the politics of the 1930s, Ryti was an important background figure. His social policy was two-minded. Ryti opposed work programmes for the unemployed and spending on assistance for poor. On the other hand, he thought that the benefits of
8142-423: The Finance Committee. He also served as a member of Helsinki City Council from 1924 to 1927. According to the Finnish historian Martti Turtola, Ryti succeeded in politics in the first few years after the Finnish Civil War because his liberal, democratic, and republican ideals were popular then. Moreover, Ryti's personal political success continued even after his liberal-oriented National Progressive Party shrank to
8280-757: The Finns and the Sami. While their genome is still mostly European, they also have some additional East Eurasian ancestry (varies from 5 up to 10 –13 % in Finns). This component is most likely Siberian -related, best represented by the north Siberian Nganasans . The specific Siberian-like ancestry is suggested to have arrived in Northern Europe during the early Iron Age , linked to the arrival of Uralic languages . Finns have high steppe or Corded Ware culture -like admixture, and they have less farmer-related and more hunter-gatherer-related admixture than Scandinavians and West and Central Europeans. Finns share more identity-by-descent (IBD) segments with several other Uralic-speaking peoples, including groups like Estonians,
8418-448: The Finns, are also closer to Finns than most European populations. Finns being an outlier population has to do with their gene pool having reduced diversity and differences in admixture, including Asian influence, compared to most Europeans. In general, Europeans can be modelled to have three ancestral components (hunter-gatherer, farmer and steppe), but this model does not work as such for some northeastern European populations, like
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#17327721693128556-518: The Guard and the Social Democratic Party issued a joint statement February 15, 1940, in which the Guard leadership recommended local Guards to recruit Socialists and the Party leadership recommended to its members that they join the Guards. At the same time, the employers' associations conceded to collective-bargaining agreements with the trade unions. The White Guards' relations towards non-socialist parties were mostly warm. The Guard did not distinguish between any non-socialist political views and received
8694-495: The Karelians, Savonians and South Ostrobothnians. The Sweden Finns are either native to Sweden or have emigrated from Finland to Sweden. An estimated 450,000 first- or second-generation immigrants from Finland live in Sweden, of which approximately half speak Finnish . The majority moved from Finland to Sweden following the Second World War, contributing and taking advantage of the rapidly expanding Swedish economy . This emigration peaked in 1970 and has been declining since. There
8832-440: The Reds were criminals. Ryti refused to see the social background of the Finnish Civil War. In 1925 Ryti was also nominated as a presidential candidate at the age of 36. In the second round of voting, he received the most support. However, in the third round the Swedish People's Party , which held the balance, moved their votes to Lauri Kristian Relander , and Ryti lost to Relander by 109 votes to 172. Ryti's support increased over
8970-536: The Russian garrisons in Ostrobothnia . During the night the executive committee of the Red Guards declared the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic in Helsinki. The Civil War of Finland had begun. Neither the Red nor the White Guard were trained for combat. Structures had to be built in extreme haste by both parties. The White Army had a better foundation for this, as it received the Finnish Jaeger troops , some 1,900 men trained by Germany since 1915. These soldiers were able to act as instructors and officers, forming
9108-403: The Russian-associated Finnish police were effectively disbanded, while the largely undisciplined Russian troops engaged in violence, mostly towards their own officers. During the summer of 1917 paramilitary groups were formed for protection and to preserve order. Although the founding of these "fire brigades" was often done in a non-partisan manner, they often split into two opposing factions during
9246-442: The Sami and the geographically distant Komis and Nganasans, than with their Indo-European-speaking neighbours. This is consistent with the idea that the Uralic peoples share common roots to some degree. Finnish genes being often described as homogeneous does not mean that there is no regional variation within Finns. Finns can be roughly divided into Western and Eastern (or Southwestern and Northeastern) Finnish sub-clusters, which in
9384-422: The Senate (Finnish cabinet) to organize a police force of the White Guard. Soon the Senate asked General Mannerheim to form a new Finnish army on the basis on the White Guard militia. In southern Karelia the White and Red Guards clashed in small-scale engagements as both sides attempted to secure the railway to St. Petersburg . During the night of January 27–28, 1918, the White Guards started to disarm and arrest
9522-458: The Soviet Union began in June 1941, Finland remained formally neutral until Soviet air raids gave an expected reason to fulfill the invasion plans some days later. Ryti made his famous radio speech after the outbreak of the Continuation War where he announced that Germany would win the war against the Soviet Union: Citizens! Our peace loving people, which for more than a year have strained to utmost to once again rebuild their country to flourish in
9660-479: The Soviet Union must have this key area of the Gulf of Finland in order to secure the safety of their large seaside city of Leningrad . The Hanko based troops do not, however, indicate seaborne battle capacity, in as much as attack capacity, and in particular, land-based attack. A sea battle does not require large armored tank troops or enormous railway-based artillery. The Hanko based troops principally were of those assembled for rapid attack occurring on land. Hanko
9798-438: The Soviets have managed to get hold of, prisoners of war included, has been either tried to be enlisted or forced to undertake spying against Finland. Soviet Union’s propaganda has inspired feelings of hate towards cabinet of Finland and members of government. It has tried to spread Bolshevism and Bolshevik style thinking in Finland. The latest example of Soviet Union’s continuously in ever differing situations shown disrespect
9936-499: The USSR can be relied upon. Regardless of what had been promised regarding intervention in Finland’s foreign policy, the Soviet Union bought forward demands regarding direction of Finland’s foreign policy. After the concluded severe battles, considerable losses and wanting for assistance of field equipment; our country was totally defenseless against possible further attacks by Soviet Union. In order of safeguarding to at least some measure
10074-413: The USSR mission. With the aid of their mission, as well as by utilizing the assistance of those citizens of Finland who have been agreeable to exchange their country for the silver coins of Judas , the USSR has unscrupulously attempted to interfere with Finland’s internal affairs. By supporting and financing Finland – Soviet Union Friendship Association’s subversive and revolutionary actions, which were in
10212-550: The White Guard and the district chiefs were selected by the President of Finland . From 1921 until the organisation's demise, this post was occupied by General Lauri Malmberg who took command in the aftermath of the White Guard Affair . Usually, the district chiefs and most officers in the district headquarters were from the regular army. Only able-bodied males between 17 and 40 years of age could be full members of
10350-424: The White Guard effectively ended all Finnish voluntary military training for the next several decades. The sports activities of the Guard were taken over by ordinary civilian sports associations, while the psychological work of instilling a national defence spirit was continued by the reservists' associations. However, the Guard itself is a contentious issue, which still divides the people along political lines. After
10488-470: The White Guard organisation consisted of the General Staff, White Guard districts and local White Guard chapters. Every municipality had at least a single chapter, which in part acted as an NGO (non-governmental organization) but in military affairs was part of the national chain of command. In an economical sense, each chapter was responsible for its own funding, although it received a minor grant from
10626-500: The White Guard units in number. These troops, which were much better disciplined and trained than the volunteer Guards, proved to be crucial for the outcome of the war. The Red side never accomplished conscription, which was one of the reasons for its demise. After four months of bitter fighting, the Red Guards were defeated and the White Guards were recognized as one of the key agents in the victory, downplaying for political reasons
10764-414: The White Guard. Every member was required to attend a specified amount of training on pain of losing membership. The members were required to buy their own equipment and rifle, but the local chapters helped their members if the chapters had funds for it. Until 1934 the White Guard would have formed a division in the full-scale mobilisation. In 1934 the Finnish mobilisation system was changed. The new system
10902-594: The Winter War, to a German orientation after the Winter War, was not in the least pursued by the confirmed Anglophile Risto Ryti. He had no illusions about the true nature of Germany. Traditionally Finland had been associated with Britain by stronger commercial ties, but as the Baltic Sea was dominated by the Germans and Soviets, lost markets had to be found elsewhere, and the Germans were willing to trade. In August 1940 Ryti also agreed to secret military cooperation with Germany. Over time it became increasingly likely that
11040-416: The aftermath of the previous war, has once again been made the target of vicious attack. Once again has the same enemy, during which in excess of half a millennium has over short intervals in total for some 100 years by ravaging, shattering, and murdering waged wars against our small nation, violated our territory, with their air arms slaying peaceful citizens, mainly the aged, women and children, and destroying
11178-408: The army, and separate Guard formations served in the reserve, but in 1934 all defence was consolidated into the regular army and the Guard became a voluntary defence-training organization only. Politically it was neutral, although unofficially it was anti-leftist, clearly anti-Communist, conservative, largely rejected by the labour movement and by the political left. Units of it formed the main forces of
11316-467: The autumn of 1917. The initially unarmed Red and White Guards strove to obtain weapons. The Red Guards usually were able to get arms from revolutionary Russian military units, while the White Guards got theirs from Swedish and German supporters abroad. At the same time, political tensions between socialists and non-socialists escalated. Inside the Social Democratic party, the official leadership
11454-558: The cline that most Europeans belong to towards geographically distant Uralic-speakers like the Udmurts and Mari (while remaining genetically distant from them as well). Their distance from Western Europeans is about the same as their distance from Komis . The Balto-Finnic Estonians are among the genetically closest populations of Finns, but they are less isolated from the European cluster than Finns. Swedes , while being distinct from
11592-425: The coat of arms. The rank insignia was rather different from modern Finnish insignia . In principle, the enlisted did not have a rank system, and there was only one officer rank ( suojeluskuntaupseeri ), marked by a single metal spruce branch worn on the collar. However, task-specific insignia was used instead. Underofficers wore a chevron pointed downwards, and chiefs of local chapters wore 1–4 horizontal bars,
11730-585: The collapse of Tsarist Russia in 1917. These militias remained in existence until World War II , evolving somewhat into home-guard militias. The phenomenon should be distinguished from the Freikorps established in Germany after its defeat in World War I , although some similarities exist. During the first years of the 20th century, Russia had been working on the abolition of Finland's autonomous status . As
11868-649: The collapse of the Soviet Union, Finland unilaterally renounced the military articles of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 . Following this, the NGOs working in fields with connections to total defence formed the National Defence Training Association of Finland ( Finnish : Maanpuolustuskoulutus ry ), which started to organise supplemental voluntary training primarily for Finnish Defence Forces reservists in conjunction with
12006-542: The constitutional and Social Democratic parties. At first all political groups were able to work together, but towards 1906 the civil guards of large towns had become divided along party lines. The first violent clash between Red and White Guards occurred in July 1906 in Helsinki , but after the return of Finnish autonomy the moderate Social Democrats and the whole constitutional party withdrew from military activities. However,
12144-479: The control of the Finnish Defence Forces. The first ad hoc symbols were a white armband and a small, three-branched shoot from a spruce branch, placed into the hat. The basic insignia was an embroidered badge with a white "S" topped by three single shoots of spruce branches. The badge and the "S" were embroidered with a gold-colored border. The symbol worn by General C.G.E. Mannerheim had
12282-424: The cooperation begun in late 1940 ultimately developed in 1941 into preparations for re-annexation of the territories lost after the Winter War, in case Nazi Germany were to realize the rumoured plans for an assault on the Soviet Union. The Continuation War, when it commenced, would also come to include occupation of East Karelia , which nationalist circles had championed since the 1910s. When Germany's assault on
12420-634: The debate has calmed, each side retaining their positions. Genotype analyses across the greater European genetic landscape have provided some credibility to the theory of the Last Glacial Maximum refugia . But this does not in any way corroborate or prove that these 'refugia' spoke Uralic/Finnic, as it belies wholly independent variables that are not necessarily coeval (i.e. language spreads and genetic expansions can occur independently, at different times and in different directions). Suojeluskunta The White Guard , officially known as
12558-427: The end of the ice age , contrary to the earlier idea that the area had experienced long uninhabited intervals. The hunter-gatherer Sámi were pushed into the more remote northern regions. A hugely controversial theory is so-called refugia . This was proposed in the 1990s by Kalevi Wiik , a professor emeritus of phonetics at the University of Turku . According to this theory, Finno-Ugric speakers spread north as
12696-469: The existence of our country, the cabinet of Finland commenced talks designed to achieve formation of a Northern League of Defence. These discussions were made public on the same day as the peace agreement had been concluded in Moscow. While the articles of the peace agreement were being dealt with by Finnish parliament on March 21st the USSR in Moscow made known their strict opposition to this plan, totally without foundation claiming it to be in disagreement with
12834-459: The fact Ryti had signed the peace treaty, Ryti became an acceptable figure for the post of president in December 1940 when Kallio resigned. The exceptional circumstances, such as the lack of a permanent place of residence for many Karelian refugees (see Turtola, "Risto Ryti: A Life for the Fatherland" and Virkkunen, "The Finnish Presidents II"), prevented the election of presidential electors, so
12972-522: The first written sources possibly designating western Finland as the land of Finns are also two rune stones . One of these is in Söderby, Sweden, with the inscription finlont ( U 582 ), and the other is in Gotland , a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea , with the inscription finlandi ( G 319 M ) dating from the 11th century. As other Western Uralic and Baltic Finnic peoples, Finns originated between
13110-533: The forces of the White Guard, and on the same day the Reds proclaimed revolution, leading to a bloody civil war. White Guards, led by General Gustaf Mannerheim , constituted the bulk of the victorious White Army during the Finnish Civil War (1918). After the war the Finnish Defence Forces and a regular police service were founded. From 1919–1934 White Guards were considered a voluntary part of
13248-481: The former were identified as Ingrian Finns while the latter were considered Izhorians or Karelians . Finns are traditionally assumed to originate from two different populations speaking different dialects of Proto-Finnic ( kantasuomi ). Thus, a division into Western Finnish and Eastern Finnish is made. Further, there are subgroups, traditionally called heimo , according to dialects and local culture. Although ostensibly based on late Iron Age settlement patterns,
13386-594: The framework of the League of Nations . Ryti served as prime minister during the Winter War and the Interim Peace , and as president during the Continuation War . Ryti penned the 1944 Ryti–Ribbentrop Agreement – named after himself and Joachim von Ribbentrop – a personal letter to Nazi German Führer Adolf Hitler whereby Ryti agreed not to reach a separate peace in the Continuation War against
13524-464: The gold markka. However, after the Great Depression in 1929, Finland was forced to abandon the gold standard following the example of Great Britain. In the 1920s, Ryti established international contacts with the banking world of Scandinavia , and with Great Britain and the United States. The Wall Street Journal recognized his success. In 1934 he was awarded a British honour, being created
13662-585: The history of human populations has been gaining ground in ethnographic studies of Finnish people (e.g. the National Geographic Genographic Project and the Suomi DNA-projekti.) The most common maternal haplogroup among Finns is H , as 41.5% of Finnish women belong to it. One in four carry the haplogroup U5 . It is estimated to be the oldest major mtDNA haplogroup in Europe and is found in the whole of Europe at
13800-517: The hypothesis of an etymological link between the Finnish and the Sami languages and other modern Uralic languages . It also supports the hypothesis of a common etymological origin of the toponyms Sápmi ( Northern Sami for 'Lapland') and Suomi ( Finnish for 'Finland') and the Finnish and Sami names for the Finnish and Sami languages ( suomi and saame ). Current research has disproved older hypotheses about connections with
13938-690: The independence of Finland was greatly in question until the end of World War I. There were reparations in the aftermath of the Civil War. As the Reds had murdered some 1,100 people in their zone of control (the so-called Red terror ), the Whites retaliated ruthlessly, executing some 7,370 people after the recapture of the Red areas (the so-called White terror ). Approximately 4,000 Whites and 4,500 Reds were killed in action. The famine of 1918 claimed another 20,000 lives. Of those who perished, some 13,000 died in
14076-533: The main group of ancestors of Finns from the Baltic Sea to the southwest coast of Finland in the 8th century BC. During the 80–100 generations of the migration, Finnish language changed its form, although it retained its Finno-Ugric roots. Material culture also changed during the transition, although the Baltic Finnic culture that formed on the shores of the Baltic Sea constantly retained its roots in
14214-556: The majority of them living in their native Finland and the surrounding countries, namely Sweden , Russia and Norway. An overseas Finnish diaspora has long been established in the countries of the Americas and Oceania, with the population of primarily immigrant background, namely Australia , Canada , New Zealand , Brazil, and the United States . The Finnish term for Finns is suomalaiset ( sing. suomalainen ). It
14352-462: The meaning "a member of a people speaking Finnish or a Finnic language". Historical references to Northern Europe are scarce, and the names given to its peoples and geographic regions are obscure; therefore, the etymologies of the names are questionable. Such names as Fenni , Phinnoi , Finnum , and Skrithfinni / Scridefinnum appear in a few written texts starting from about two millennia ago in association with peoples located in
14490-408: The names Häme (Finnish for ' Tavastia ') and Proto-Baltic *žeme / Slavic землꙗ (zemlja) meaning ' land ' . This research also supports the earlier hypothesis that the designation Suomi started out as the designation for Southwest Finland ( Finland Proper , Varsinais-Suomi ) and later for their language and later for the whole area of modern Finland. But it
14628-465: The officer and NCO corps of the new conscript army. In addition, the White side had 1,200 volunteers from Sweden (many of whom were officers), and a significant number of Finnish officers who had previously served in the imperial Russian Army but returned home after the revolution. Although in the beginning of the war the White Guard formed the bulk of the White army, the conscript units very soon matched
14766-409: The orders of their government regular, wide-scale military operations in all regions of our country, and in keeping with their habits, primarily targeted these operations towards sparsely populated areas and peaceful civilian population. In this manner has commenced our second battle for defence only some 19 months since occurrence of the previous attack. This new attack towards Finland is as if it were
14904-537: The past. Just as uncertain are the possible mediators and the timelines for the development of the Uralic majority language of the Finns. On the basis of comparative linguistics, it has been suggested that the separation of the Finnic and the Sami languages took place during the 2nd millennium BC, and that the Proto-Uralic roots of the entire language group date from about the 6th to the 8th millennium BC. When
15042-712: The peace agreement. In respect of the same foreign policy matter the Soviet Union further three times with threatening note intervened in our right of self determination: on the 27th of September 1940, on our independence day of the same year, and two weeks following that, on the December 18. This occurred regardless of the above mentioned idea of League of Defence not by any means being aimed against anybody, merely to safeguard these sister nations. In contravention of international covenants and practices, Soviet Union’s diplomatic and consular representation in Finland has undertaken intervention with regard to Finland’s domestic situation as well as spying, even appearing for this purpose with
15180-574: The peace between Germany and the Soviet Union would end, and the experts' opinion - even among the enemies of Germany - was that in case of invasion the Soviets could not stop the German war machine. Ryti apparently turned, step by step, to being in favour of seizing the opportunity to secure Finnish claims to areas he saw to be in the country's interests, in case the great realignment of ownership of East European territory by force were to materialize. Thus
15318-430: The peace negotiations. The Soviet Union now demanded that the Åland Islands had to be demilitarized, defense equipment located there destroyed, and Soviet Union itself had to be permitted to control all works of destruction. With these demands the Soviet Union clearly wanted to reserve itself the opportunity to effortlessly occupy the Åland Islands, whenever a suitable moment occurred. During same timeframe, approximately
15456-498: The peace, the USSR obtained a starting point that from the military point of view was advantageous in case of renewed warlike attacks. That, however, is not all. In order to totally deprive Finland of any defensive capacity against attack by their immense military forces, the Soviet Union demands both the naval base of Hanko as well as building of the Salla railway. The argument for renting of Hanko base has been stated as being that,
15594-402: The period after the outbreak of World War I, before Finland achieved its independence, Ryti's business relationship with Kordelin grew even closer, and it appeared likely that Kordelin would ask Ryti to become general manager of his numerous business enterprises. However, in November 1917 Ryti and his wife witnessed the murder of Kordelin at the hands of a Russian Bolshevik . Russian seamen led by
15732-427: The prison camps. Because of their ruthlessness and eagerness to retaliate, the White Guards earned the title Lahtarikaarti (Butcher Guard) among the Reds. After the Civil War the function of the White Guards was unclear. In some municipalities the local White Guard was understood to be a part of the municipal administration. In others, the organisation was considered to have a primarily political role in safeguarding
15870-415: The property of peaceful citizens. From the instant of commencement of hostilities between Germany and Soviet Union, numerous instances of border violations have been committed by the Soviet Union, for which we have expressed our most vigorous protests, all to no avail. As of yesterday the military forces of Soviet Union have without regard to agreements and without any cause being supplied by us, committed on
16008-497: The radicalized Red Guard of Helsinki did not disband, despite an order from the Social Democratic leadership to do so, and took part in the mutiny at Viapori fortress alongside revolutionary, anti-imperial Russian soldiers. In the ensuing fighting Czarist Russian troops destroyed the Red Guard as an organisation. The February Revolution in Russia in 1917 caused the collapse of Russian political and military power in Finland. Again,
16146-464: The rented Hanko area. These points were not in the peace agreement. The inherent danger of these transports from point of view of the security of our country and the right to self determination is considerable. In this manner the Soviet Union attempted by various means weaken the political and military position of Finland. Simultaneously with this, the Soviet Union attempted by all possible means by economical means to weaken our capacity to resist. Without
16284-518: The result of the war. The organisation was given a legal basis on August 2, 1918 by a decree of the Finnish Council of State . Changes to the decree were made later, refining the organisation's structure. From the beginning, the White Guard was considered to be a voluntary part of the Finnish military. The local White Guards' function in the following 20 years—up to the Winter War —was a mixture of Veteran Corps and Home Guards . After 1921
16422-532: The role of the German intervention units and the German-trained 2,000 Jaegers. The Civil War was portrayed as a liberation from Russian control after a 20-year-long Russification programme, with the Whites stressing the links of the Reds to the Russian Bolshevik regime. However the White victory was achieved with assistance from the Germans. German influence after the war was so strong that
16560-500: The safety of Leningrad, enabling the security of which was notified as being the reason for commencement of hostilities. Likewise, the Russian negotiators assured the peace agreement guarantees safety of the railway running North-west of Lake Ladoga , which the USSR considered to be important for their network. Additionally, the negotiators assured that how Finland arranges and decides their internal as well as external political matters
16698-409: The separate wartime White Guard units were removed from the mobilisation plans. The aim of the White Guard was no longer to provide ready fighting units but to act as a voluntary training organisation for reservists. Only the Guard chapters immediately adjacent to the eastern border had responsibility for starting the initial defence against invasion. This effectively ended the role of the White Guard as
16836-446: The slightest foundation in the peace agreement, it demanded we surrender to them substantial amounts of railway equipments. Likewise, it demanded compensation for equipments removed or destroyed from the surrendered areas, extending these compensation demands likewise to property transferred from Hanko rental area, to which the Soviet Union could not possibly have had any right. Descriptive in respect of these demands were that, compensation
16974-494: The state budget. The White Guard was active in numerous areas of Finnish life. It organised sports activities, especially cross-country skiing , shooting, orienteering and Finnish baseball . For fundraising, the chapters organised numerous informal events and lotteries. It is estimated that about one-fifth of all get-togethers in Finland were organised by the White Guard. To this end, the White Guard chapters had several hundred choirs, orchestras and theatre groups. The Chief of
17112-585: The strong economics should be distributed evenly over the whole population, not just a few. Ryti played an important part in creating the social welfare of the late 1930s. In general, Ryti was opposed to state intervention in business and industry. He opposed Socialist economics and especially its Soviet forms. Furthermore, Ryti had experienced the Russification period and the Civil War, making him anti-Soviet . Ryti approved of neither German national socialism nor right-wing extremism, and he also opposed
17250-415: The successful defensive battles conducted with substantial casualties felt paralyzing to us. From the terms of peace we were able to perceive the ultimate intentions of USSR in dictating these terms. The new boundary was ordered to be such, as to destroy the possibility of Finland defending itself. The border was to run across natural lines of defence and in such manner that road network was disabled. In making
17388-412: The successor of the White Guard. In 2007 formation of Territorial Forces was started, a volunteer military organization composed of reservists. Some political groups have criticized formation of these units, saying that they are too close to White Guards that were abolished as fascist organization in 1944. However, unlike the White Guard, local defense troops are not a separate organization, but fully in
17526-544: The support of all non-socialist parties. Only during the Mäntsälä rebellion did these relations deteriorate, as some more radical parts of the Guard were linked with the extreme right-wing. One of the chapters of the Treaty of Paris (1947) was disbandment of all "fascist-like organizations". The Soviet Union considered that the White Guard and Lotta Svärd were fascist organizations, and they were disbanded. The disbanding of
17664-450: The theory. Professor Raimo Anttila, Petri Kallio and brothers Ante and Aslak Aikio have rejected Wiik's theory with strong words, hinting strongly to pseudoscience , and even alt-right political biases among Wiik's supporters. Moreover, some dismissed the entire idea of refugia, due to the existence even today of arctic and subarctic peoples. The most heated debate took place in the Finnish journal Kaltio during autumn 2002. Since then,
17802-406: The two men became close friends. During this period Ryti also undertook further studies, becoming a Master of Laws in 1912. In the spring of 1914 he moved to Oxford to study maritime law , but the outbreak of World War I forced him to return to Finland. In 1916 he married Gerda Paula Serlachius (1886–1984). They had three children, Henrik (1916–2002), Niilo (1919–1997), and Eva (1922–2009). In
17940-584: The university entrance examination ; however his three sisters also matriculated . Ryti graduated in autumn 1909 as Finland was moving into the second period of Russification . Escaping an oppressive political atmosphere in the capital, Ryti returned to his roots in Satakunta, where he established himself as a lawyer in Rauma . During this period he became acquainted with Alfred Kordelin , one of Finland's richest men. Ryti became Kordelin's lawyer, and eventually
18078-414: The years but was never enough in elections. During the 1930s he withdrew from daily politics, but influenced economic policies. Ryti was an orthodox supporter of classical liberal economics. He made his goal to tie the value of Finnish markka to the gold standard . Unlike many other European countries, Finland did not choose deflationary solutions under his leadership; and in 1926 the country shifted to
18216-753: Was also demanded in respect of certain machinery that had been sold and removed from industrial establishments of Karelia several years prior to commencement of war. These had obviously at the time been catalogued by Russian spies, and with this as basis, demands were made for compensation. Finnish people No official statistics are kept on ethnicity. However, statistics of the Finnish population according to first language and citizenship are documented and available. Finnish born population resident in Sweden. This figure likely includes all Finnish-born (regardless of ethnic background) and as such might be misleading. Finns or Finnish people ( Finnish : suomalaiset , IPA: [ˈsuo̯mɑlɑi̯set] ) are
18354-504: Was also known. Finnish neopaganism , or suomenusko , attempts to revive these traditions. Christianity was introduced to Finns from both the west and the east. Swedish kings conquered western parts of Finland in the late 13th century, imposing Roman Catholicism . Reformation in Sweden had the important effect that bishop Mikael Agricola , a student of Martin Luther 's, introduced written Finnish, and literacy became common during
18492-401: Was based on military districts acting as the local mobilization centers. In practice, the military districts coincided with the White Guard districts. In case of mobilisation these two would be unified to act as a single home front district. After the change, the White Guard members formed the cadre of all wartime units, but no specific guard units were planned for mobilisation. On the other hand,
18630-470: Was derailed while the executive committee of the Red Guards and the labour unions gained more power. The Senate, led by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud , proposed a Declaration of Independence , which the Parliament adopted on December 6, 1917. Declaring independence was one thing, but exercising control over the territory was another. Svinhufvud's " White Senate " had nothing but the White Guards to rely on as yet. There were 42,500 Russian soldiers in Finland. Although
18768-550: Was forced to drop the Terijoki Government and accept negotiations via Stockholm . The Western allies' planned intervention influenced the Soviet government to seek an agreement. Ryti persuaded the rest of the cabinet to settle for peace and signed the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The peace agreement, in which Finland lost large land areas and faced the burden of resettling 400,000 refugees,
18906-469: Was generally considered crushing. Ryti had proved to be a strong prime minister, in contrast to his predecessor Aimo Cajander . President Kallio suffered a stroke in August, and also he had no great experience in foreign policy, so the heavy responsibilities of state leadership were shared by Ryti, Field Marshal C.G.E. Mannerheim , industrialist and general Rudolf Walden , and Tanner. Considering this and
19044-481: Was then a Grand Duchy under the rule of the Russian Tsar . Citizen militias formed as a response, but soon these would be transformed along political (left-right) lines. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent independence of Finland (declared in December 1917) also caused conflicts in the country. On January 27, 1918, the Finnish government ordered the disarming of all remaining Russian garrisons by
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