Finland’s history: A timeline of an eventful history

In the following millennia, more and more new cultures migrated to what is now Finland. This is how the ridge pottery culture finally arrived in Finland. Early Finno-Ugric languages were spoken.

Around 3200 BC, settlers of the battle-axe culture from the Baltic region moved to Finland, who spoke an early offshoot of the Indo-European language. The combination of these cultures gave rise to the Kiukainen culture, which was to be the last Stone Age culture in Finland.

According to legend, King Erik I of Sweden personally proselytised Finland as part of the First Crusade, but the missionary work was actually carried out by merchants, warriors and missionaries working together. Due to earlier contacts and settlers, Christianity was already known and had its first followers, but many Finns continued to cling to their pagan customs. In addition, the Orthodox faith penetrated from Novgorod in the east.

The Catholic Church finally had its greatest success in the middle of the 13th century in the course of Birger Jarl’s conquests. Finland officially became part of Sweden for the first time in 1284. Finland’s first city, Turku, was founded and the local cathedral was consecrated in 1300.

As a Swedish “Ostland”, Finland was primarily characterised by the disputes between Sweden and Novgorod (later part of Russia) over Karelia. Finland was governed from Stockholm and the only official language was Swedish.

The existing cities of Turku and Vyborg in the east were expanded, and monasteries, stone churches and imperial castles were built throughout the country. The lords of these castles and other recruitment mechanisms ensured that a nobility was also formed in Finland. In 1362, a delegation from Finland was allowed to take part in the royal election in Uppsala for the first time.

With the rise of Russia, Sweden’s dominance in the Baltic Sea region came to an end – and Finland was once again the cause and theatre of battles between the two countries. The greatest turning point was the Great Northern War from 1700 to 1721, in which Sweden initially faced an alliance of Russia, Denmark-Norway and Saxony-Poland, with even more countries later becoming involved.

Although the Swedish King Charles XII initially remained victorious, the tide turned in later years. The population of Finland not only made up a large part of the Swedish army, but was now also exposed to the far-reaching consequences of the Russian offensive. This period of occupation, devastation and oppression of Finland by Russia between 1714 and 1721 is known as the “Great Disturbance”.

Finnish independence was formally confirmed by the Russian government on January 4, 1918. However, this did not calm the situation in Finland, as the bourgeois Whites and the socialist Reds were still opposed to each other. The formation of an army by the government was seen as a provocation and means of repression by the Socialists, who launched an attempted coup and civil war on the evening of January 27.

Initially, the numerically superior Reds were able to celebrate great successes, bringing large parts of southern Finland, including Helsinki, under their control. All that remained for the members of the government was to flee to Vaasa in western Finland, from where they planned a counter-offensive. Thanks to their better discipline and training, they were able to put down the uprisings and win the civil war in May – fittingly, the Finnish flag was officially introduced on May 29.

Initially, the bourgeois government wanted to introduce a monarchy in Finland. They wanted to model themselves on the German Empire, which had helped Finland out in the civil war. After the German November Revolution, however, these plans were changed and Finland became a republic with a strong president. The Finnish constitution came into force on July 17, 1919.

After the end of the civil war on the Finnish mainland, the beginning of a new conflict became apparent. The Swedish-speaking Åland Islands, which had been part of Finnish territory since 1809, sought a return to Sweden. The Swedish proposal for a referendum of the inhabitants was strictly rejected by Finland.

Instead, an autonomy law was passed in May 1920, as a result of which the League of Nations intervened and Finland agreed in 1921. Since August 11, 1922, a guarantee law has regulated the autonomy of the islands, giving the inhabitants of the Åland Islands special rights – including their own provincial government, parliament and flag. The inhabitants are also exempt from compulsory military service.

Unlike in the First World War, Finland was involved in the events of the Second World War. Although a non-aggression pact had been concluded with the Soviet Union in 1932, this was terminated on November 28, 1939 after an alleged Finnish attack on a Russian village. Two days later, the Soviet Union launched its attack and the Finnish Winter War began. The reason for this was Finland’s refusal to cede territory in the east of the country.

Despite being outnumbered, the Finnish army’s familiarity with the terrain and weather slowed down the invasion of the seemingly overpowering enemy and even forced some of the Soviet soldiers to retreat. Nevertheless, it was not possible to make a final stand against the Soviet forces, which meant that Finland had to accept territorial losses in the east of the country.

After Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union, Finland also resumed fighting against its neighbor to the east. The so-called Continuation War was only intended to ensure that the former Finnish territories could be regained; Finland did not participate in the Third Reich’s further eastern policy. An armistice with the Soviet Union followed in September 1944, after which Finnish soldiers pushed the Wehrmacht out of northern Finland in the destructive Lapland War.

Although Finland was the only ally of Germany that was allowed to retain its independence and constitution, the country still had to accept great losses. In addition to the numerous fallen soldiers and civilians, destruction throughout the country and loss of territory, high reparations had to be paid.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s led to a severe economic crisis in Finland, from which the country was able to recover quite quickly.

Now the focus turned to the West – in a referendum on October 16, 1994, 56.9% of voters approved accession to the European Union, and Finland officially joined the EU on January 1, 1995. In 1999, Finland was one of the 14 founding members of the euro, which was introduced as the official currency in 2002. Also new was the constitution, which came into force in 2000 and significantly weakened the power of the president.

Together with its neighbor Sweden, however, Finland remained neutral, with both countries refusing to join NATO. This changed in spring 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For the first time, a majority of the Finnish population was in favor of joining the Western defense alliance. In June 2022, the two Nordic countries submitted a joint official application to join NATO. Finland officially joined NATO on April 4, 2023.