Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- Dedication
- Preface
- 1 HISTORY OF FINLAND
- 2 FINLAND AND SWEDEN
- 3 FINLAND, SWEDEN AND RUSSIA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
- 4 THE FINNISH NATIONAL AWAKENING
- 5 THE FINNISH ECONOMY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
- 6 THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FINLAND, 1863–I917
- 7 INDEPENDENT FINLAND
- 8 FINLAND IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR
- 9 FINLAND IN THE POST-WAR WORLD: THE POLITICAL SITUATION
- 10 THE ECONOMY OF FINLAND IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
- 11 THE SPIRIT OF FINLAND
- Appendices
- Bibliography by John J. Horton
- Index
9 - FINLAND IN THE POST-WAR WORLD: THE POLITICAL SITUATION
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- Dedication
- Preface
- 1 HISTORY OF FINLAND
- 2 FINLAND AND SWEDEN
- 3 FINLAND, SWEDEN AND RUSSIA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
- 4 THE FINNISH NATIONAL AWAKENING
- 5 THE FINNISH ECONOMY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
- 6 THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FINLAND, 1863–I917
- 7 INDEPENDENT FINLAND
- 8 FINLAND IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR
- 9 FINLAND IN THE POST-WAR WORLD: THE POLITICAL SITUATION
- 10 THE ECONOMY OF FINLAND IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
- 11 THE SPIRIT OF FINLAND
- Appendices
- Bibliography by John J. Horton
- Index
Summary
The Soviet Union insisted that Finland should suppress all traces of fascism and put on trial those responsible for dragging the country into the war. At the same time the anti-fascist groups which had been suppressed previously – notably the Communist Party – should be allowed to operate freely within the political system.
Paasikivi became Prime Minister in September 1944 and, under the presidency of Mannerheim until 1946, he directed the political life of Finland during the difficult years of adjustment. The prestige of Mannerheim was an indispensible asset which helped to educate Finns to the realities of their new situation. Mannerheim realized that Finland could no longer pose as a bastion of Christian civilization against the barbarian hordes of bolshevism. There was no more talk of crusades against the hereditary enemy. Instead there was a sober appreciation that, if Finland was to survive and prosper as a democratic society, a way must be found to live at peace with the giant eastern neighbour. Paasikivi had always realized this. As a Compliant in the Tsarist times and as a negotiator of peace settlements with the Soviet Union over a period of 25 years, he had always been consistent in his assessment of reality. This conservative-minded banker echoed the sentiments of Engels in accepting the maxim that ‘Freedom is the recognition of necessity’. Words which recognize this sentiment are carved below the rugged granite block which stands in Helsinki as his monument.
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- Chapter
- Information
- A Short History of Finland , pp. 134 - 146Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998