Cold War Finland: Democracy

Figure 1.--This Finnish policeman in 1970 is working at primary school 'traffic city'. Notice that the boy is pat od the safety patrol, you can see his shoulder belt. The press caption read, "Stopped by SUPFRIO: Even assistant 'policemen' [reference to the safety patrol] get stopped once in a while at 'Childen's Traffic City'. This young fellow is driving legally, though ; he's got a 'license' which means he sucessfully passed.the traffic safety course and knows the rules of the road." Finlandization affected Finland's foreign policy, but the Finns were spared the attrocities of the Soviet NKVD and collaborating Communist police forces which spread terror throughout the Soviet Eastern European Empire. The Finnish police and independent judiciary respected democratic norms and basic civil liberties. You do not see school driver education programs like these in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe because people had such limited prospects of ever owning a private car.

The kinds of control the Soviets maintained in Finland are similar to what Russia today is seeking to acheve in Ukraine, although in the end, Stalin decided to tolerated Finnish democracy which Russia seems unwilling to do in Ukraine. Finns were divided between a monarchy and a republic after declaring independence from Russia at the end of World War I (1918). Baron Carl Mannerheim led the White forces in the Finnish Civil War that made this possible. A parlimentary democracy was established. There was no Bolshevik coup attempt and democracy survived the anti-Communist Lapua Movement. The Bolsheviks after early defeats in Finland focused on the Baltics and Poland to the south. Finnish society successfully moved toward greater social integration and economic progress (1920s-30s), building support for the democratic parties and weakening the appeal of the Communists. This and knowledge of Stalin's treatment of Finns in the Soviet Union along with Finnish portrait explain the popular support to resist Soviet aggression in the seemingly Quixotic Winter War (1939-40). After the War, Stalin did something in Finland he di not do anywhere else in Eastern Europe, he did not seize control of the country. He allowed the Finns to remain independent as long as they walked a narrow line, essentially Soviet control of Finnish foreign policy. What the German press labeled Findlandization. In return for Finlandization, the Soviets tolerated Finnish democracy, a concession not allowed elseshere in the Soviet Empire. Free elections continued. The Communists had to compete with other Finnish political parties. The non-Communist parties agreed to not criicize the Soviet Union. Elections are only part of democracy. The Finns were spared the attrocities of the Soviet NKVD and collaborating Communist police forces which spread terror throughout the Soviet Eastern European Empire. The Finnish police and independent judiciary respected democratic norms and basic civil liberties. Finland had one of the freest presses in the world, although during the YYA era practiced self censorship concerning the Soviet Union. We are not sure how the Finnish press today deals with Putin and Russia.

Created: 9:35 PM 5/9/2016
Last updated: 2:11 PM 2/14/2018