Editing Urho Kekkonen (section)

===Early political career===
A [[Nationalism|nationalist]] at heart, Kekkonen's ideological roots lay in the student politics of newly independent Finland and in the radicalism of the right-wing. He joined the [[Academic Karelia Society]] (''Akateeminen Karjala-Seura''), an organisation favouring Finland's annexation of [[East Karelia]], but resigned from it in 1932 along with over 100 other moderate members because of the organisation's support for the 1932 far-right [[Mäntsälä rebellion]]. According to [[Johannes Virolainen]], a longtime Agrarian and Centrist politician, some Finnish right-wingers hated and mocked Kekkonen for the decision and cast him as a power-hungry opportunist.<ref>see Johannes Virolainen, "The Last Electoral Term" / Viimeinen vaalikausi, published in Finland in 1991.</ref> Kekkonen chaired [[Suomalaisuuden Liitto]], another nationalist organisation, from 1930 to 1932. He also published articles in its magazine, ''Suomalainen Suomi'' ({{langx|fi|Finnish Finland}}), which was later renamed as ''[[Kanava (magazine)|Kanava]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Andrew G. Newby|author2=Richard Mc Mahon|title=Select Document: John Hampden Jackson, 'Finland and Ireland: assorted comparisons' (1937)|journal=Irish Historical Studies|volume=41|issue=160|doi=10.1017/ihs.2017.35|page=259
|s2cid=165268135|year=2017}}</ref>

Kekkonen spent long periods of time in late-[[Weimar Republic|Weimar-era Germany]] between 1931<ref>[https://jyx.jyu.fi/bitstream/handle/123456789/13448/9789513928278.pdf?sequence=1 Timo J. Tuikka : "Kekkosen konstit" – Urho Kekkosen historia – ja politiikkakäsitykset teoriasta käytäntöön 1933-1981. University of Jyväskylä 2007]</ref> and 1933 while working on his dissertation and there witnessed the rise of [[Adolf Hitler]]. This alerted him to far-right radicalism and apparently led him to publish ''Demokratian itsepuolustus'' (Self-Defense of Democracy), a political pamphlet warning about the danger, in 1934. In 1933 he joined the [[Centre Party of Finland|Agrarian League]] (later renamed the Centre Party), became a civil servant at the Ministry of Agriculture and made his first unsuccessful attempt at getting elected to the [[Parliament of Finland|Finnish Parliament]].<ref name="bio" />

Kekkonen successfully stood for parliament a second time in 1936 whereupon he became [[Minister of Justice (Finland)|Justice Minister]], serving from 1936 to 1937. During his term, he enacted the "Tricks of Kekkonen" (''Kekkosen konstit''), an attempt to ban the right-wing, radical [[Patriotic People's Movement (Finland)|Patriotic People's Movement]] (''Isänmaallinen Kansanliike'', IKL). In the end, this effort was found illegal and halted by the [[Supreme Court of Finland|Supreme Court]]. Kekkonen was also Minister of the Interior from 1937 to 1939. 

He was not a member of the cabinets during the [[Winter War]] or the [[Continuation War]]. In March 1940, in a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Finnish Parliament, he voted against the [[Moscow peace treaty]]. During the [[Continuation War]], Kekkonen served as director of the [[Evacuation of Finnish Karelia|Karelian Evacuees]]' Welfare Centre from 1940 to 1943 and as the Ministry of Finance's commissioner for coordination from 1943 to 1945, tasked with rationalising public administration. By that time, he had become one of the leading politicians within the so-called [[Peace opposition]] which advocated withdrawing from the war, having concluded that Germany, and consequently Finland, would lose. In 1944, he again became [[Ministry of Justice (Finland)|Minister of Justice]], serving until 1946, and had to deal with the [[war-responsibility trials]]. Kekkonen was a Deputy Speaker of the Parliament 1946–1947, and was [[Speakers of the Parliament of Finland|Speaker]] from 1948 to 1950.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.eduskunta.fi/triphome/bin/hx5000.sh?{hnro}=910708&{kieli}=su&{haku}=kaikki
 |title        = Edustajamatrikkeli
 |publisher    = Eduskunta
 |access-date  = 2 December 2017
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518224214/http://www.eduskunta.fi/triphome/bin/hx5000.sh?%7Bhnro%7D=910708&%7Bkieli%7D=su&%7Bhaku%7D=kaikki
 |archive-date = 18 May 2013
 |url-status     = dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref>

In the 1950 Presidential election, Kekkonen was the candidate of the Finnish [[Centre Party (Finland)|Agrarian League]]. He conducted a vigorous campaign against incumbent President [[Juho Kusti Paasikivi]] to finish third in the first and only ballot, receiving 62 votes in the [[electoral college]], while Paasikivi was reelected with 171. After the election, Paasikivi appointed Kekkonen Prime Minister where in all his five [[Cabinet (government)|cabinets]], he emphasised the need to maintain friendly relations with the Soviet Union. Known for his authoritarian personality,{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} he was ousted in 1953 but returned as Prime Minister from 1954 to 1956. Kekkonen also served as [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Finland)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] for periods in 1952–1953 and 1954, concurrent with his prime ministership.<ref>For the number and composition of Kekkonen's five coalition governments, see, for example "The President of the Finnish Republic 1956–1982" / ''Tasavallan presidentti 1956–1982'', published in Finland in 1993–94. The Finnish government website, www.vn.fi, also has information.</ref>