FINLAND 



3152 



FINLAND 



of thought. They 

 a r g e 1 y reflect 

 the hardships of 

 the Finnish peas- 

 ant's life. Literary 

 and scientific socie- 

 ties are active in 

 Finland, particu- 

 larly in the study 

 of the home coun- 

 try. Several Finns, 

 including A. E. 

 Nordenskjold, the 

 discoverer of the 

 north-east passage, 

 have been distin- 

 guished in Arctic 

 exploration. Finn- 

 ish painters include 

 E. Jiirnefelt and 

 A. Gallen. 



HISTORY. The 

 Finns reached Fin- 

 land from their 

 Asiatic home in the 

 7th and 8th cen- 

 turies. In the 12th 

 century Sweden 

 began to get a hold 

 on the country, 

 and established 

 Christianity. Grad- 

 ually Swedish in- 

 fluence spread 

 round the coasts, 

 and by the 16th 

 century Finland 

 was raised to a 

 grand duchy which 

 had a large mea- 



Finland. Map ot tne North European tepuoiic, lormerly 



part of the Russian Empire 



Russia's rule there was much emi- sure of self-government, but was an 

 gration to America. Finns, either integral part of the Scandinavian 



kingdom. Early in the 18th century 



Tavastlanders or Karelians, form 

 90 p.c., and Swedes about 9'5 p.c. 

 of the population. There are a few 

 thousand Lapps in the North. 



The language is Finnish, but 

 Swedish is understood in the larger 

 towns and is the language of the 

 Aaland Islands. Swedish was for 

 long the official as well as the liter- 

 ary language. Finnish literature 

 may be said to have begun in 1835, 

 when Elias Lonnrot collected and 

 published in Finnish the traditions 

 and f olklore'of Finland as expressed 

 in its national songs. This epic of 

 Finland, the Kalevala, was later 

 revised and extended, and in 1888 

 translated into English. The Fin- 

 nish Literary Society has done 

 much to revive Finnish as a literary 

 language, although many Finnish 

 books are mere translations from 

 Swedish and other tongues. 

 ^ Writers and Explorers 



Among Finnish writers may be 

 mentioned A. Stenvall, dramatist 

 and poet ; M. Canth, dramatist ; 

 P. Paivarinta, noted for the work 

 entitled His Life; and J. Aho. Fin- 

 nish novels and playsare frequently 

 grim and realistic, but often show 

 much simplicity and tenderness 



Russia began to pay attention to 

 Finland, and by the treaty of Ny- 

 stad (1721) secured the province 

 of Viborg. Sweden unsuccessfully 

 tried to recover the lost province 

 in 1741, and the Russian sphere 

 was extended. 



In 1809, after years of fighting, 

 Sweden finally withdrew from Fin- 

 land, the whole of which, with the 

 Aaland Islands, passed to the grand 

 duchy under the tsar Alexander I, 

 who guaranteed the Finn constitu- 

 tion and became grand duke. For 

 many years the relations between 

 Russia and Finland were cordial and 

 Finland prospered. Successive tsars 

 respected the Finnish constitution 

 and the right of Finland to settle 

 her own affairs. Gradually, how- 

 ever, a Finnish national party arose 

 whose first object was to put Fin- 

 nish on the same standing as 

 Swedish as the official language of 

 the country. They succeeded hi 

 doing this in 1863, in face of the 

 opposition of the Swedish element. 



Meanwhile the reactionary party 

 in Russia tried to exert its influence 

 against the Finnish national party, 

 and for the next 50 years succeeded 



in oppressing Finland.. By the 

 " February manifesto " of 1899, 

 the tsar claimed the right to inter- 

 fere in Finnish affairs, to overrule 

 the diet, and to merge the Finnish 

 in the Russian army. The Finns 

 met these measures with opposi- 

 tion, but were overawed. The as- 

 sassination of the Russian governor 

 hi 1904 and a general strike hi 

 Finland led to a temporary respite, 

 and in the following year the con- 

 stitution was restored. By 1908 the 

 curtailment of Finnish rights began 

 again, the aggressor being the Duma 

 in place of the tsar. 



The Great War 



At the outbreak of the Great 

 War coercive measures increased, 

 with the result that the Finns, dis- 

 trustful of Russia's allies, sympa- 

 thised with the Germans. The 

 Russian revolution of March, 1917, 

 restored freedom to Finland, which 

 declared itself a republic within 

 Russia. After the Bolshevist revo- 

 lution, Nov., 1917, Finland de- 

 clared her independence and civil 

 war spread to the country. The 

 White, or constitutional, party, 

 failing to get help hi arms and food 

 from Britain and Sweden, turned 

 to Germany for help against the 

 Reds and Bolshevists. A German 

 force landed and subdued the Red 

 forces. The Germans, after making 

 a treaty with Finland, almost 

 wholly to thjeir advantage, tried to 

 foist a German prince on the Fin- 

 nish throne, but their collapse in 

 Nov., 1918, put an end to the 

 scheme. In Oct., 1920, a state of 

 war continued between Finland 

 and Soviet Russia, without actual 

 hostilities. Finland demanded from 

 the former the port of Petschenga, 

 the province of Karelia, and cer- 

 tain islands in the gulf of Finland. 

 Finland then became an indepen- 

 dent republic recognized by all the 

 powers. Government is by two 

 houses, senate and diet. The diet 

 is elected by all men and women 

 over 24. Women are eligible. After 

 the declaration of independence 'a 

 conscript army was raised. There 

 is no navy. Education is good ex- 

 cept in remote parts where the 

 population is too scattered for the 

 children to attend school. About a 

 third of the population is said to be 

 unable to write. There are several 

 high schools, technical schools, and 

 agricultural colleges. The Uni- 

 versity of Helsingfors has about 

 3,500 students, among whom. are a 

 large proportion of women. 



About 90 p.c. of the population 

 belong to the Lutheran Church. 

 There are a few adherents of the 

 Greek Church, and a small number 

 of Roman Catholics. There is an 

 archbishop of Abo, and bishops of 

 Borga, Nyslott, and^ Kuopio. Of 



