Rental Cars Finland - History of Finland

In the first millennium BC, various people settled in Finland, including the nomadic Saami who inhabited the north of the country and the Tavastians from central Europe. During the Viking period (10 – 11th C) the country extended far into present day Russia. For seven centuries it was part of Sweden, however the Russians coveted the area and when Sweden began losing its influence in the 18th C in Europe. Finland was then occupied by the Russians in 1809. The Finns concentrated during this time on preserving their language, culture and institutions. Further fighting took place during WWI, with the Russian ‘Reds’ fighting the nationalist ‘Whites’ who were modeled on the German state. The civil war ended soon after WWI and relations with Russia were normalised. In the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution Finland declared independence in 1917. In the 1930s further anti-communist violence broke out resulting in Finland losing part of Karelia and some nearby islands to the Russians. Finland then turned to Germany for help and slowly began to resettle Karelia, including some areas that had been in Russian possession since the 18th century. Finland then pursued a bitter war to oust German forces from Lapland until the general peace in the spring of 1945. This war weakened Finland to a large extent due to the burden of reparations imposed by the Soviets.

Urho Kekkonens became president in 1956 until 1981 in which time he managed to strengthen ties with his Scandinavian neighbours. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, Finland went through an economic slump. However relations improved after the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev at the Kremlin and the two countries signed a ten-year treaty in 1992.

Politics were altered by the emergence of the right-wing National Coalition Party. Finland’s long-serving President, Mauno Koivisto, who balanced relations between East and West, stood down in 1993, after two terms. He was replaced by the SDP candidate, former senior UN official Martti Ahtisaari. April 1995 saw a new coalition government, with Paavo Lipponen, the leader of the SDP, appointed Prime Minister.

Finland voted to join the European Union in late 1994 and became a full member in 1995. In February 2000, Finns elected their first ever female president Tarja Halonen.