FINLAND

a republic of northern europe and a member of the league of nations, in finnish it is suomen tasa- volta. its area is 132,550 sq. m. and the population 3,435,240. i. political history in the closing decades of the 19th century there was a remark- able development of finnish nationalism, primarily directed against the swedish language and finno-swedish cultural domination. finland english miles : so 100 kilometres go ounarkies railways ee ee ee 4.4 ps is inari l. : yee y tod / , im ido pr @ on ns bs: borg vy olajarvi y an 4 n ‘ ° vata 's al aacy > ede * < ; bs cina oks er | my wee i ak py whs vesl-. « qjsoe ue | oe rs 2 wieksdme 5 aes ae — le. isenvadray—tm second period of russtfication 1908-14.—the successive gov- ernors of russia, however, regarded the democratic, almost self-governing grand duchy as infringing the principle of the autocratic state, and delivered their first attack upon the lib- ertics of finland (1899-1905). the policy of repression was arrested by the russian revolution of 1905, the manifesto of the emperor-grand duke of nov. 4 (oct. 22) annulling all uncon- stitutional interferences. but after two years of peace, internal progress and political development, the same pan-slav con- ception of a great homogeneous russia stretching from the warm-water ports of scandinavia to the pacific, which had caused the contlict between finland and the tsar, involved her in fresh collisions with the duma. | . _ new and provocative interference with finland’s constitu- 30 tional rights began. the tsar peremptorily fixed an annual contribution in lieu of military service (ukase of oct. 7 1909) and the imperial duma approved of the principle (imp. law of jan. 23 (u.s.) 1912). the finnish diet, though ready to com- promise, was twice dissolved, and all the large measures of domestic reform which it passed were never heard of again. such was the fate of the bill for the prohibition of alcohol, of measures relating to the care of children, insurance, old-age pensions, education, public health and the betterment of the landless worker upon the soil. civil marriages, however, were instituted, illegitimate children placed upon a better basis, and the principle of “ equal pay for equal work ” was applied in teaching, the printing trade and, in 1913, in the state service. the duma considered itself competent to decide what ques- tions affected the interests of the russian empire, and for that reason did not fall within the competence of the finnish diet. the law, known as “‘ imperial legislation act,” was passed on june 30 (17th) ro10, amid shouts of ‘‘ finis finlandiae.” immediately two imperial laws were laid before the diet, which refused them both, and was thereupon dissolved. in one, already referred to, the duma affirmed the principle of an annual finnish indemnity in lieu of service, in the other full citizen rights were accorded to temporary russian residents in finland. the consequence of the last-named measure, apart from its in- justice, was the overlapping of two different codes of law. judges resigned rather than be a party to it; high officials suffered exile or imprisonment; every single provisional governor left volun- tarily or under compulsion. the country was ruled by a packed senate, the diet was capriciously summoned and dismissed, the press censored. the russification inflicted by the duma was as oppressive as that of the tsar. the world war 1914-8.—it was left to lt.-gen. if. seyn, the governor-general, to supervise the harassing restrictions of lib- erty which the world war brought with it. though finland escaped foreign invasion, two systems of fortified lines were constructed to protect the chief railways and the long sea border. the mercantile marine, exposed to destruction in the baltic sea, remained locked in the harbours of the bothnian gulf, and, there being no leaks—as in sweden and denmark—in the ‘allied blockade, the price of living gradually rose by 25%. on the other hand, industries connected with military supply, as also iron, leather, glass, chemical and paper-manufacturing con- cerns, attained unexampled prosperity. the russians, sporadic- ally anxious to please, remitted the annual military indemnity, and merely imposed a 5% tax on property and mortgage. finland naturally feared that russia, if she emerged victo- rious, would again turn oppressor. a strong party was anxious for a german victory, from patriotic motives. only some 2,000 finns volunteered for the russian army. about the same num- ber enlisted on the german side, though ostensibly only for service on the eastern front. the russian revolution, march-nov. 1917. —the tsar nich- olas ii. abdicated on march 15 1917 and the new provisional govt. of russia restored representative government in fin- land. the russianised senate was disbanded and a tempo- rary body of 12, half of whom were social democrats and the remainder representatives of the bourgeoisie, assumed executive power. stakovich became governor-general and rodichev, a tried friend, secretary of state for finland. the socialist speaker of the diet, m. tokoi, was nominated president of the senate; kullervo manner, of the same party, speaker of the diet. but in view of the anarchical conditions in russia, the propertied classes of finland quailed before the rising power of the social democratic party, which was politically orientated towards russia. the intense industrial development of the last three years had strengthened hooliganism, and the war had brought to finland some 40,000 russian refugees from food shortage and the incipient riot. the swedo-finns aimed at complete inde- pendence, and the finnish govt. proclaimed that such was its policy. the struggle between the provisional russian govt. and the finnish diet crystallised around the law of july 18 1917 finland by which the diet resolved that it alone decided, confirmed and put into practice all laws of finland relating to home affairs, taxation and customs. this law reflected the standpoint of the social democratic majority, which demanded complete internal freedom but was ready to recognise russia’s supremacy in mil- itary matters and in foreign policy. upon this issue a dead- lock ensued, which the dilatory russian provisional govt. never succeeded in settling. the finnish diet passed ex bloc all reform bills previously held up by the tsar, including the total prohibition of alcohol and the eight-hour day. yet it passed no effective measure to avert the food-shortage, which was the inevitable result of the industrial effort of recent years and the neglect of agriculture. prices soared ever higher, and from march 1917 to feb. 1918 a veritable strike mania threatened the existence of the nation. meanwhile, the bolshevik advent to power in russia in nov. 1917 created fundamental social and economic differences be- tween the political parties in finland. the pro-russian sym- pathies of the social democrats deepened; on the other hand, the propertied classes—primarily the swedo-finn and finno-finn bourgeoisie—sought to cut adrift from a russia which had no settled government. accordingly, on dec. 6 1917 the diet and the now bourgeois senate drew up an old-fashioned declaration of independence, which is held to mark the birth of finnish freedom. the bolsheviks on jan. 4 1918 declared that the step taken eonformed with their policy, whereupon the swedish govt. and the other scandinavian countries acknowledged the independence of finland. france did likewise and was fol- lowed by germany. immediately after their declaration of independence, the finnish govt. entered into negotiations with germany. the treaty of brest litovsk (march 3 1918) confirmed finland’s independence, and four days later she concluded a treaty with germany which made her germany’s commercial ally and vassal. the bolsheviks, however, were bent on precipitating civil war. the finnish social democrats were almost all maxim- alists and anti-militarists, and, as such, averse even to the for- mation of a citizen army for the maintenance of order. they pinned their faith on the muscovite connection to save their country from invasion—oblivious of the fact that the russian revolutionary soldateska (reinforced from russia), without re- straint of discipline, starving and unpaid, was, to say the least, an uncertain factor. soon so-called “‘ red guards ” began to ransack the country, while the white guards, hurriedly organised by reactionaries, together with doubtful elements of the dis- banded gendarmerie, resisted. the white army, under baron carl gustav emil mannerheim, a former russian general of cavalry, proved insufficient to maintain order. foreign inter- vention was sought, but while sweden refused help, the germans did not hesitate. a german composite division, initially some 12,000 men strong under the prussian general count riidiger von der goltz, landed in the rear of the red forces and held these in a successful action near karis on april 6. this enabled general manner- heim to win the battle of tammerfors, whereupon goltz freed helsingfors, entering this capital officially on april 14. finally, the german victory over the reds (april 30—may 2) at lahti- tavastehus contributed to mannerheim’s decisive victory near viborg (april 28-29). the remnants of the red army were forced into russia, but the cruelty of the red insurrectionaries led to a white counter-terror. some 15,000 men, women and children were slaughtered and, by june 27 1918, 73,915 red rebels, including 4,600 women, were prisoners of war. the diet, which met in june 1918, was moderate in colour, since the socialists, who formed 46° of the electorate, were excluded from the register. it authorised the germanophil sen- ator, pehr evind svinhufud, to exercise the supreme power in so far as it had not already been conferred on the senate, which was offering the crown to prince frederick charles of hesse, brother-in-law of the german emperor.! 1 prince charles accepted the crown, lsut never proceeded to fin- land and the question of the finnish monarchy was allowed to lapse. finland but the germans pursued the ulterior object of securing fin- nish military co-operation against the murman railway, which was guarded by a british expeditionary force. the claim of the liberators upon the gratitude of the finns was assuming the most peremptory forms known to diplomacy when, on july 18, the allied offensive in the west diverted germany’s forces. thus valuable time was gained until the armistice of nov. 11 1918 caught finnish reaction between wind and water. svinhufud was succeeded on dec. 12 by general mannerheim as regent, who formed a coalition govt. composed of six republicans and six monarchists. the most prominent pro-germans were dismissed; finland turned definitely towards the entente and the monarchical period of german influence gave way to the democratic regime associated with england and america. the german troops, in part mutinous, were conveyed back to germany in december. general mannerheim, who was a monarchist, but not a pro-german, wielded the power of a quasi-dictator. restoration of order.—in 1919 mannerheim organised the ‘* skyddskorps ” of 100,000 men to maintain order. the general election of march 1 showed the following division of parties: social democrats 80, agrarians 42, coalitionists 28, progres- sives 26, swedish 22, christian labour 2. the tendency towards a republican form of government was outlined by the agrarian party composed of small land-owners hostile to the swedish- speaking monarchist section. the social democrats lost 12 seats, largely owing to the disfranchisement of 40,000 voters for participation in the red revolt. mannerheim’s popularity with the right and the army tempted him to exploit the military impotence of soviet russia. when, at the end of may 1919, the entente intervention on the murmansk front brought the 237th brigade (of the expedition- ary force under the british major-general maynard) to the head of lake onega, the finnish govt. offered co-operation in return for the possession of petrozavodsk. the offer being de- clined, a finnish volunteer force nevertheless assaulted the town independently, but without success. again, at the close of the year, when the white russian general yudenitch was marching on petrograd, mannerheim sounded the allies on proposed fin- nish intervention. he received no encouragement from paris or london, nor from the moderates at home. establishment of the republic—on june 17 1t9rg the finnish diet resolved to establish a republic. the new constitution came into force on july 17. there is a single chamber, the diet, in which the sovereign power of the people is embodied. the executive power is in the hands of a president, who is elected for six years by 300 presidential electors elected by the citizens. he ratifies new laws or withholds consent, dissolves the diet, orders new elections and conducts foreign affairs. all his powers are exercisable through the ministers and his decisions have to be taken in the council of state (cabinet) consisting of 10 ministers, who are legally and politically responsible. there are nine departments for local government, closely following the linguistic distribution. both finnish and swedish are official languages. on july 25 professor kaarlo juho stah!berg was chosen as first president by 143 votes against 50 recorded for mannerheim. a coalition anti-socialist government under m. erich held office till april 9 r921. the vennola govt., a coalition of progressive and agrarian parties, then came into power. commanding only 64 out of 200 seats in the diet, it introduced the amnesty bill which, after a chequered career, was passed on dec. 18 by 165 votes to 68. on may 6 1919 great britain recog- nised the independence of finland and the existing govt. de jure. a peace treaty was signed with soviet russia at dorpat on oct. 14 1920. pechenga was ceded to finland, which thus ob- tained an outlet on the arctic ocean, although russia retained eastern karelia, where, after the collapse of genera] skobel- zine’s white russian army, fighting had occurred with bolshe- vist troops with results satisfactory to finnish arms. the treaty was approved on dec. 1 by the diet with only 27 dissentient voices and ratified on dec. rr by the president. on dec. 16 1920 finland was admitted as a member of the league of na- 3i tions. as such it claimed sovereignty over the aaland is. (g.2.) which was disputed by sweden. in june 1921 the league of nations gave its decision in favour of finland. despite the treaty of dorpat, relations with soviet russia did not improve. in oct. 1921 the native karelian population, racially allied to the finns, broke out into open revolt against moscow. after initial success, this “‘ war of independence ” was crushed by a soviet army. but the karelian question remained, and, at the instance of finland, occupied the league of nations all through 1923. the permanent court of inter- national justice, to which the legal aspect of the question was referred, decided in july not to deal with this matter, as soviet russia was not a member of the league and might not recognise its competence. the council of the league, however, deter- mined that this view of the permanent court should not hinder an attempt at a settlement, which resolve the assembly of the league of nations strongly supported. but the soviet com- missar for foreign affairs, m. chicherin, protested against the intervention of the league and declared karelia part of soviet russia. his argument had the support of the red battalions, which, after completely discomfiting the insurrectionaries, held the trump card of power. this rendered all diplomatic negotia- tion nugatory. in these years, the guidance of finnish foreign policy remained in the hands of dr. r. holsti, under successive administrations. in march 1922, this statesman met at warsaw the foreign min- isters of estonia, latvia and poland, and signed an agreement by which the parties undertook “ to observe benevolent neutral- ity towards any of the signatory states which might be attacked without provocation and to consult immediately with regard to subsequent steps to be taken.” the finnish diet, in its spring session, refused to ratify this agreement, and dr. holsti relin- quished office. the principle of policy enunciated upon this occasion by the diet—the avoidance of treaty commitments of a military nature, continued to rule finland’s baltic policy. on june 27 1924 finland signed bilateral conventions with sweden, norway and denmark for compulsory arbitration in the event of disputes. internal policy.—the karelian dispute with soviet russia reacted on finnish internal politics. the long land-frontier to the east made it impossible to keep out russian propagandists, and the discontent, thus fomented, threatened to imperil the economic recovery of the country. in may 1922 the vennola administration resigned, but the new “ government of officials ” formed by professor cajander, did not long outlive the general election, which was held in july. the social democrats retained only 53 seats, while the agrarians, with 45 and the union party with 35, showed small gains, and the progressives with 15 and the swedish party with 25, small losses. the true victory lny with the communists, who made their first appearance in the diet with 27 seats. in nov. 1922, therefore, the agrarians, who had held their ground, formed a centre govt. under m. kydsti kaalhio. this administration passed the religious liberty act, the military service bill and the “ lex kaalio,” which made pro- vision for the landless population. in oct. 1923 the communist party was suddenly dissolved, its newspapers were suppressed, and 25 of its parliamentary representatives imprisoned. but this stroke reduced the diet to a rump, and new elections be came necessary in april 1924. the kaalio govt. resigned on the eve of the poll, being superseded by professor cajander’s (second) ‘‘ government of officials.” the social democrats obtained 60 seats (+7), communists 18 (—9), agrarians 44 (—1), union party 38 (+3), progressives 17 (+2), swedish party 23 (—2). on may 31 the cajander govt. made way for the non-socialist coalition govt. formed by professor lauri ingman (union party). m. lauri relander was elected president on feb. 16 1925. the candidate of the agrarians, he was elected by their votes and by those of the finnish coalition and the swedish party, which supported him when it was clear that their own candi- dates had no chance of success. he was president of the diet in 32 1919 and was appointed governor of the viborg district in 1920, a position which he still occupied at the time of his election. he is a landed proprietor who has always taken great interest in agricultural questions and has published works on forestry in swedish, danish and german. his political views are moderate. the government of professor tulenheimo, in which the union party and the agrarian union were represented, took office on march 31 1925. the chief political question it had to face was that of the military and naval estimates, which the parties of the right desired to maintain at a comparatively high figure, while those of the left desired a reduction. this left the cost of defence by land and by sea within reasonable bounds—at approximately 17% of the national expenditure. in dec. a new government was formed by m. kyesti kaalio (agrarian) in which again the agrarian union and the union party were represented. | (w.l.-b,) ii. financial and economic history all through the war finnish export trade, shut off from a large part of its foreign outlets, had to struggle with great difli- culties. until 1917, russia remained a very considerable buyer of finnish goods, but the revolution brought about a complete reversal of conditions, and trade with finland became insignifi- cant. at the close of the war, finland, accordingly, had to shoulder the task not only of regaining her old markets in the west, but also of creating new markets to set off the loss of rus- sian trade. similar difficulties were met in the import trade. imports and exports—the adjustment to the changed condi- tions was achieved with surprising rapidity, in spite of the un- favourable business conditions which prevailed on the leading markets. it was temporarily helped by the declining tendency of the finnish exchange, which in the autumn of 1921 brought quotations down to a bottom level. imports —— exports value mill. finnish marks percentage percentage of volume of volume great britain took about 40% of finnish exports in 1924. in the import trade the part played by great britain (19% in 1924), though considerable, is inferior to that of germany (30% in 1924). the trade with great britain during recent years has gained ground when compared with pre-war conditions, but trade with russia has not yet recovered. timber products have long been of paramount importance in finnish export trade, and timber exports after the war reached, and even exceeded, the record level of 1913. in 1924 the timber industry contributed close upon 60% of the total exports. the paper and pulp exports are second in importance only to the timber exports, the share of this industry in total exports amounting in 1924 to about 28%. agricultural exports gradually revived, but the import of cereals, a very large item in finnish foreign trade, was temporarily re- duced. as a whole, finnish agriculture showed some advance in comparison with pre-war conditions. currency.—the outbreak of war opened a period of serious mone- tary disturbance. the depreciation of the finnish mark was, at first, largely due to the strain which russian war finance put on the fin- nish banking system. when, at the end of 1917, finland gained her independence, she had to cover the increased expenditure imposed by her new position as an independent state, and that incurred in the suppression of the red rebellion in the spring of 1918. as, in the disturbed state of the country, the taxes could not be punctually collected, the government resorted to increased borrowing. part of this demand for credit was met by means of new note issues which were made by the state bank. finland during the course of the years 1919, 1920, and rg2t the finnish exchange declined seriously. in the latter part of 1922 the bank of finland embarked on a policy of stabilising the finnish exchange in relation to the dollar, and since that date variations have been slight. at the end of 1925 the finnish monctary system was put on a gold basis, the level of parity being approximately 193-23 finnish marks to the £ sterling. finnish monetary statistics rates of exchange on new york quoted by the bank of finland. par 5-18 mks, =1 dollar index of whofe- sale prices annual average llighest lowest base 1913 =100 1921 80-50 28-00 1263 1922 54°50 35°25 1219 1923 40°75 35°85 1095 1924 40-44 39°79 1100 1925 39°70 39°79 1129 banks.—the leading banking institutes are at present nordiska f greningsbanken, kansallis osake-pankki, helsingfors aktiebank and unionbanken, which at the end of 1924 held about 80% of the total! home deposits of the 19 joint stock banks in existence. the note circulation of finland’s bank, the bank of issue, at the end of 1925, amounted to 1,309,000,000 gold finnish marks, backed by a gold reserve of 331,000,000 gold marks and foreign assets exceeding 1,000,000,000 gold marks. national budget—the improved conditions of production and trade formed a firm basis for financial reorganisation. before the war the bulk of the finnish state revenue was derived from customs duties and other indirect taxes and from the earnings of govern- ment enterprises, mainly the railways. the chief change in national finance since the war ee been the introduction of an income and property tax. the customs duties still form the main part of the state revenue, but direct taxes now yield about a quarter of the total tax revenue. the income from state enterprises is relatively less than before the war. the public debt, foreign and internal, in sept. 1925, was estimated at a sum equivalent to $94,300,000. the debt is balanced by state forests, railways and other state prop- erty. there has also been a reorganisation of municipal taxation. tariff policy—yhbe pre-war tariff might be characterised as a protectionist one, but it granted practically no protection to grain- growing, post-war legislation has provided agricultural protection and, with the elimination of the special facilities formerly existing between russia and finland, the grain duties now established may be expected sensibly to influence agricultural conditions. the new solicy made no radical change in the tariff on manufactured goods, but sought to promote a more scientific distribution of duties and to secure as large an income as possible to the state. but the revision of the tariff was not completed in 1925. commercial agreements have been concluded with france (july 13 1921), great britain (dec. 14 1923), the united states (may 2 1925) and several other countries during the post-war period. finland’s prohibitory legisla- tion in regard to wines and alcoholic liquors in some cases made the task of negotiation a difficult one. to estonia finland granted (oct. 29 1921) considerable fiscal concessions not granted to any other power, but estonia plays a very small part, about 1% in finnish trade. social legislation.—an active policy aiming at improving the position of the numerous landless agricultural population had been set on foot some time before the war. after gaining her independence finland adopted laws which with certain limita- tions gave tenants the opportunity of purchasing their holdings at a price below their value in the open market, and a large number of tenants have been turned into small owners. recent social legislation further includes the adoption of an eight-hour day. financial considerations have limited the scope of actual legislation for social insurance, but workmen’s compensation for accidents has been put on a new and more comprehensive basis by legislation of 1917 and 1925. the co-operative movement has made considerable progress in finland. this holds true of consumers’ co-operation as well as of several branches of agricultural co-operation. the central co-operative butter export association “‘ valio”’ has carried on by far the greater part of the total exports of butter and has, no doubt, been of great service in improving and standardising the quality of dairy produce. the butter exports mainly consist of high grade ware, and the grading takes place under state control, (a. my.) bibliography.—die aalandfrage: das kernproblem der ostsee- politik (1918); juhani aho, hajamietteita kapinavitkoitta (1919); finlay—finnish literature raphael erich, das staatsrecht des grossfiirstentums finnland (1912); finniand und russland: die internationale londoner konferenz vom 26, februar bis 1. mdrz rg1o0 (1911); die finldndische frage im jahre ror (1911); finland, handbook no. 47, prepared under the direction of the historical section of the foreign office (1920); general graf riidiger von der goltz, meine sendung in finnland und in baltikum (1920); volter hilpi, nationell sjaloprouning (1917); y¥rjo koskelainen, mannerheim, suomen vapantiaja ja valtionhoitaja (1919); “* new europe,”’ vol. iii., no. 30; vol. viti., nos. 93 and 94 (being the contributions by rosalind ‘travers hyndman); vol. vi, no. 67 (anon.); vol. vii., no. 80 (by 'v"); vol. xii., no. 155 (by s. e. morison); johannes ohquist, das potitische leben finniands (1916); and finnland (1919); olenev, kare/ski krai (1917); petition des finnldndischen landtages vom 26. mai 1910 tiber aufrechterhaltung der grundgesefze finnlands (1911); herman stenberg, ostkarelien im verhdlinis zu russland und finnland (1917); heming soderhjelm, det roda upproret 1 finland as 1918 (1918); thure svedlin, kamp och aventyr «1 roda finland (1918); der wetsse terror in finniand, beleuchtende urkunden aus der interpellationsdebatte im finnischen landitag den 30. april 1919; treaty of peace between finland and the russian soviet republic (1921); konni ziliacus, revolution und gegenrevolution in russland und finland (1912); trade and industry of fintand, ed. by f. tidermann (llelsingfors, 1922); g. braun, “ das landkartenwesen finnlands. ein uberblick und begleitwort zu drei probekarten,’' in berichte aus dem institut ftir finnlandkunde (greifswald, 1924); p. o. hoecker, finnland (bielefeld and leipzig, 1924). (w. l. b.) finlay, robert bannatyne finlay, ist viscount, (1842- ), british lawyer and politician, was bornat edin- burgh july 11 1842. he was educated at edinburgh academy and university, and graduated in medicine. in 1867 he was called to the bar, in 1882 becoming a q.c. and a bencher of the middle temple. he was elected as conservative member for inverness burghs in 1885, and held this seat until 1892. in 1895 he regained the seat, and was made solicitor-general in lord salisbury’s govt., when he was knighted. in 1900 he became attorney-general, remaining in the govt. until the conserv- ative defeat of 1906. in roro he was elected m.p. for edin- burgh and st. andrews universities, and in 1916, on the forma- tion of mr. lloyd george’s govt., became lord chancellor and a life peer. he retired in 1918, and in 1919 was created a vis- count. in 1920 he was appointed british member of the per- manent court of arbitration at the hague, and in 1921 became a member of the permanent court of international justice estab- lished by the league of nations. from 1902 to 1903 he was lord rector of edinburgh university.