Editing History of Finland (section)

==Post WW2 and Cold War==

===Neutrality in Cold War===
[[File:Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948.jpg|thumb|[[Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948|The Finno-Soviet Treaty]]]]
Finland retained a democratic constitution and free economy during the [[Cold War]] era. Treaties signed in 1947 and 1948 with the Soviet Union included obligations and restraints on Finland, as well as territorial concessions. The [[Paris Peace Treaty]] (1947) limited the size and the nature of Finland's armed forces. Weapons were to be solely defensive. A deepening of postwar tensions led a year later to the [[Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948|Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance]] (1948) with the Soviet Union. The latter, in particular, was the foundation of Finno-Soviet relations in the postwar era. Under the terms of the treaty, Finland was bound to confer with the Soviets and perhaps to accept their aid if an attack from Germany, or countries allied with Germany, seemed likely. The treaty prescribed consultations between the two countries, but it had no mechanism for automatic Soviet intervention in a time of crisis.<ref name="LOC"/> Both treaties have been abrogated by Finland since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, while leaving the borders untouched. Even though being a neighbor to the Soviet Union sometimes resulted in overcautious concern in foreign policy ("[[Finlandization]]"), Finland developed closer co-operation with the other [[Nordic countries]] and declared itself [[Neutral country|neutral]] in superpower politics.

The Finnish post-war president, [[Juho Kusti Paasikivi]], a leading conservative politician, saw that an essential element of Finnish foreign policy must be a credible guarantee to the Soviet Union that it need not fear attack from, or through, Finnish territory. Because a policy of neutrality was a political component of this guarantee, Finland would ally itself with no one. Another aspect of the guarantee was that Finnish defenses had to be sufficiently strong to defend the nation's territory. This policy remained the core of Finland's foreign relations for the rest of the Cold War era.<ref name="LOC"/>

In 1952, Finland and the countries of the [[Nordic Council]] entered into a passport union, allowing their citizens to cross borders without passports and soon also to apply for jobs and claim social security benefits in the other countries. Many from Finland used this opportunity to secure better-paying jobs in Sweden in the 1950s and 1960s, dominating Sweden's first wave of post-war labour immigrants. Although Finnish wages and standard of living could not compete with wealthy Sweden until the 1970s, the Finnish economy rose remarkably from the ashes of World War II, resulting in the buildup of another [[Nordic model|Nordic-style welfare state]].

[[File:Schlussakte Helsinki 1975 (KSZE).jpg|thumb|[[Helsinki Accords]] Treaty]]

Despite the passport union with Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, Finland could not join the [[Nordic Council]] until 1955 because of Soviet fears that Finland might become too close to the West. At that time the Soviet Union saw the Nordic Council as part of [[NATO]] of which Denmark, Norway and Iceland were members. That same year Finland joined the [[United Nations]], though it had already been associated with a number of UN specialized organisations.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/8717537|title="In a Class by Itself": Cold War Politics and Finland's Position vis-à-vis the United Nations, 1945–1956|first=Norbert|last=Götz|date=23 June 2008|journal=Journal of Cold War Studies|volume=10|issue=2|pages=71–96|doi=10.1162/jcws.2008.10.2.71|s2cid=202601364|via=www.academia.edu|access-date=26 April 2018|archive-date=23 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023215333/https://www.academia.edu/8717537|url-status=live}}</ref> The first Finnish ambassador to the UN was [[G. A. Gripenberg|G.A. Gripenberg]] (1956–1959), followed by [[Ralph Enckell]] (1959–1965), [[Max Jakobson]] (1965–1972), [[Aarno Karhilo]] (1972–1977), [[Ilkka Pastinen]] (1977–1983), [[Keijo Korhonen (politician)|Keijo Korhonen]] (1983–1988), [[Klaus Törnudd]] (1988–1991), [[Wilhelm Breitenstein]] (1991–1998) and [[Marjatta Rasi]] (1998–2005). In 1972 Max Jakobson was a candidate for [[Secretary-General]] of the UN. In another remarkable event of 1955, the Soviet Union decided to return the [[Porkkala]] peninsula to Finland, which had been rented to the Soviet Union in 1948 for 50 years as a military base, a situation which somewhat endangered Finnish sovereignty and neutrality.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-P0801-026, Helsinki, KSZE-Konferenz, Schlussakte.jpg|300px|thumb| Signing the Helsinki Accords are the West German Chancellor [[Helmut Schmidt]], East Germany's leader [[Erich Honecker]], US president [[Gerald Ford]] and the Austrian chancellor [[Bruno Kreisky]]]]

Officially claiming to be [[Neutral country|neutral]], Finland lay in the grey zone between the [[Western world|Western countries]] and the Soviet Union, and it also developed into one of the centres of the [[Cold War espionage|East-West espionage]], in which both the [[KGB]] and the [[CIA]] played their parts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/eastern-approaches/2011/12/01/secret-history|title=Finland and American intelligence – Secret history|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=1 December 2011|access-date=16 August 2020|archive-date=23 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023215412/https://www.economist.com/eastern-approaches/2011/12/01/secret-history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://intelnews.org/2011/08/19/01-794/|title=Former Finnish diplomat reveals she worked for the CIA|first=Joseph|last=Fitsanakis|website=Intelnews.org|date=19 August 2011|access-date=16 August 2020|archive-date=22 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022143146/https://intelnews.org/2011/08/19/01-794/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9692396|title=Naisia, autoja ja piilopirttejä – Norjalainen vakoili CIA:n laskuun kylmän sodan Suomessa|first=Satu|last=Helin|publisher=[[YLE]]|date=2 July 2017|access-date=16 August 2020|language=fi|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109022738/https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9692396|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2019/10/14/kylman-sodan-suomalaisagentit-kasikirjoitus|title=Kylmän sodan suomalaisagentit: käsikirjoitus|first=Kai|last=Byman|work=MOT|publisher=[[YLE]]|date=14 October 2019|access-date=16 August 2020|language=fi|archive-date=17 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817020918/https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2019/10/14/kylman-sodan-suomalaisagentit-kasikirjoitus|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000005833479.html|title=Näin Neuvostoliitto vakoili Suomessa – Supo seurasi "Jakkea", joka johdatti uusille jäljille|first=Mika|last=Lehto|work=[[Ilta-Sanomat]]|date=19 September 2018|access-date=16 August 2020|language=fi|archive-date=11 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811230354/https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000005833479.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The 1949 established [[Finnish Security Intelligence Service]] (''SUPO, Suojelupoliisi''), an operational [[Security agency|security]] authority and a police unit under the [[Ministry of the Interior (Finland)|Interior Ministry]], whose core areas of activity are [[counter-Intelligence]], [[counter-terrorism]] and [[national security]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://supo.fi/en/frontpage?p_p_id=fi_yja_language_version_tool_web_portlet_LanguageVersionToolMissingNotificationPortlet&_fi_yja_language_version_tool_web_portlet_LanguageVersionToolMissingNotificationPortlet_missingLanguageVersion=1|title=Frontpage|website=Supo|access-date=10 October 2022|archive-date=10 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010111708/https://supo.fi/en/frontpage?p_p_id=fi_yja_language_version_tool_web_portlet_LanguageVersionToolMissingNotificationPortlet&_fi_yja_language_version_tool_web_portlet_LanguageVersionToolMissingNotificationPortlet_missingLanguageVersion=1|url-status=live}}</ref> also participated in this activity in some places.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tuomioja.org/kirjavinkit/2009/09/matti-simola-toimittanut-ratakatu-12-suojelupoliisi-1949-2009-wsoy-319-s-hameenlinna-2009/|title=Salaisen palvelun tutkimuksen haasteet|last=Tuomioja|first=Erkki|date=8 September 2009|work=Tuomioja.org|access-date=24 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024153602/https://tuomioja.org/kirjavinkit/2009/09/matti-simola-toimittanut-ratakatu-12-suojelupoliisi-1949-2009-wsoy-319-s-hameenlinna-2009/|archive-date=24 October 2017|url-status=live|language=fi-FI|trans-title=Challenges in secret service research}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10224/4054|title=The Cold War and the Politics of History|last=Rentola|first=Kimmo|publisher=Edita Publishing Ltd|year=2008|isbn=978-952-10-4637-7|editor-last=Aunesluoma|editor-first=Juhani|location=Helsinki|pages=269–289|chapter=President Urho Kekkonen of Finland and the KGB|editor-last2=Kettunen|editor-first2=Pauli|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010917/https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10224/4054|archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> The [[Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948]] (Finno-Soviet Pact of ''Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance'') gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics. However, Finland maintained [[capitalism]] unlike most other countries bordering the Soviet Union. Property rights were strong. While nationalization committees were set up in France and UK, Finland avoided nationalizations. After failed experiments with protectionism in the 1950s, Finland eased restrictions and committed to a series of international free trade agreements: first an associate membership in the [[European Free Trade Association]] in 1961, a full membership in 1986 and also an agreement with the [[European Community]] in 1973. Local education markets expanded and an increasing number of Finns also went abroad to study in the United States or Western Europe, bringing back advanced skills. There was a quite common, but pragmatic-minded, credit and investment cooperation by state and corporations, though it was considered with suspicion. Support for capitalism was widespread.<ref name="equity">[http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRANETSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/finland.pdf Growth and Equity in Finland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113032435/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRANETSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/finland.pdf |date=13 November 2018 }}, World Bank</ref> Savings rate hovered among the world's highest, at around 8% until the 1980s. In the beginning of the 1970s, Finland's GDP per capita reached the level of Japan and the UK. Finland's economic development shared many aspects with export-led Asian countries.<ref name="equity"/>

Building on its status as western democratic country with friendly ties with the Soviet Union, Finland pushed to reduce the political and military tensions of cold war. Since the 1960s, Finland urged the formation of a {{ill|Nordic Nuclear Weapons Free Zone|fi|Pohjolan ydinaseeton vyöhyke}} (Nordic NWFZ), and in 1972–1973 was the host of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), which culminated in the signing of the [[Helsinki Accords]] in 1975 and lead to the creation of the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]].<ref name="LOC"/>

===Society and the welfare state===
[[File:UKK-hautajaissaattue-linna.jpg|thumb|President [[Urho Kekkonen]]'s funeral procession in 1986]]
Before 1940 Finland was a poor rural nation of urban and rural workers and independent farmers. There was a small middle class, employed chiefly as civil servants and in small local businesses. As late as 1950 half of the workers were in agriculture and only a third lived in urban towns.<ref name="populationdevelopment">{{cite web |author=Finland 1917–2007 |url=http://www.stat.fi/tup/suomi90/joulukuu_en.html |title=Population development in independent Finland – greying Baby Boomers |publisher=Stat.fi |access-date=6 December 2011 |archive-date=18 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218064517/http://www.stat.fi/tup/suomi90/joulukuu_en.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The new jobs in manufacturing, services and trade quickly attracted people to the towns and cities. The average number of births per woman declined from a [[baby boom]] peak of 3.5 in 1947 to 1.5 in 1973.<ref name="populationdevelopment"/> When baby boomers entered the workforce, the economy did not generate jobs fast enough and hundreds of thousands emigrated to the more industrialized Sweden, migration peaking in 1969 and 1970 (today 4.7 percent of Swedes speak Finnish).<ref name="populationdevelopment"/>

By the 1990s, farm laborers had nearly all moved on, leaving owners of small farms.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=KETTUNEN |first=LAURI |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/52253054.pdf |title=FINNISH AGRICUITURE IN 1990 |publisher=MAATALOUDEN TALOUDELLINEN TUTKIMUSLAITOS AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS RESEARCH INSTITUTE |year=1991 |isbn=951-9202-97-8 |pages=45–46}}</ref> By 2000 the social structure included a politically active working class, a primarily clerical middle class, and an upper bracket consisting of managers, entrepreneurs, and professionals. The social boundaries between these groups were not distinct. Causes of change included the growth of a mass culture, international standards, social mobility, and acceptance of democracy and equality as typified by the welfare state.<ref>Pertti Haapala, and Brian Fleming, "The Fate of the Welfare State," ''Historiallinen Aikakauskirja,'' 1998, Vol. 96 Issue 2, pp. 142–149</ref>

The generous system of welfare benefits emerged from a long process of debate, negotiations and maneuvers between efficiency-oriented modernizers on the one hand and Social Democrats and labor unions. A compulsory system provides old-age and disability insurance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.socialnet.de/international/en/finland.html|title=Country Portrait Finland – The Finnish Welfare State|last1=Jungerstam|first1=Susanne|last2=Wentjärvi|first2=Annika|date=6 March 2019|website=socialnet International|access-date=4 February 2020|archive-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103134144/https://www.socialnet.de/international/en/finland.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The national government provides unemployment insurance, maternity benefits, family allowances, and day-care centers. Health insurance covers most of the cost of outpatient care. The national health act of 1972 provided for the establishment of free health centers in every municipality.<ref>Pauli Kettunen, "The Nordic Welfare State in Finland," ''Scandinavian Journal of History,'' September 2001, Vol. 26 Issue 3, pp. 225–247</ref>  There were major cutbacks in the early 1990s, but they were distributed to minimize the harm to the vast majority of voters.<ref>Mikko Mattila, and Petri Uusikyla, "The politics of scarcity: Social welfare  and health care cutbacks in Finland, 1991–1995," ''West European Politics,'' October 1997, Vol. 20 Issue 4, pp. 146–63</ref>

===Economy===
The post-war period was a time of rapid economic growth and increasing social and political stability for Finland. The five decades after the Second World War saw Finland turn from a war-ravaged agrarian society into one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, with a sophisticated market economy and high standard of living.

In 1991, [[Early 1990s depression in Finland|Finland fell into a depression]] caused by a combination of [[Overheating (economics)|economic overheating]], fixed currency, depressed Western, Soviet, and local markets. Stock market and housing prices declined by 50%.<ref name="inflation">{{cite web |url=http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/evds/yayin/kitaplar/enf_kitap/4-Antti_Suvanto.pdf |title=Inflation targeting: Reflection from the Finnish experience |access-date=6 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326210550/http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/evds/yayin/kitaplar/enf_kitap/4-Antti_Suvanto.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2009 }}</ref> The growth in the 1980s was based on debt and defaults started rolling in. GDP declined by 15% and [[unemployment]] increased from a virtual full employment to one fifth of the workforce. The crisis was amplified by trade unions' initial opposition to any reforms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/finland|title=Finland {{!}} CIA World Factbook – The best country factbook available online|website=www.cia.gov|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=10 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110162709/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/finland|url-status=live}}</ref> Politicians struggled to cut spending and the public debt doubled to around 60% of GDP.<ref name="inflation"/> Some 7–8% of GDP was needed to bail out failing banks and force banking sector consolidation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://217.71.145.20/TRIPviewer/temp/TUNNISTE_VaVM_15_1996_fi.html |title=Converted |publisher=217.71.145.20 |date=14 May 1996 |access-date=6 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207032252/http://217.71.145.20/TRIPviewer/temp/TUNNISTE_VaVM_15_1996_fi.html |archive-date=7 February 2012 }}</ref> After devaluations the depression bottomed out in 1993.