Finland History

With an area of about 330,000 square kilometers, and a population of 5,276,571, Finland still stands tall in the vast field of world history. When we talk of brief history of Finland, its imperial temples, ancient Christian churches, medieval towers, majestic palaces, and extravagant cathedrals strike the core of our mind and we enter the superficial history of Finland and architecture. It takes us through the pages of Finland history.

At the beginning of eleventh century A.D., Finland was subjugated by the Kingdom of Sweden. More than 600 years of Swedish rule from 1150 to 1809 dominated the culture, economics, politics and history of Finland. Introduction of Christianity by Sweden's King Erik is considered as the first Swedish Crusade. Birger jarl then conducted the Second Swedish Crusade to Finland according to which Swedish became the official language of administrative and educational institution. It served as a battleground for many years between Sweden on the west and Russia on the east. Many wars were fought between Swedes and Finns on the one side and Russians on the other. Finally Russia conquered Finland and was made a part of the Russian Empire. From 1809 to 1917, it remained under the sovereignty of Russia.

Finland declared its independence on Dec. 6, 1917, shortly after the March Revolution of 1917 in Russia. At the start, Independence was threatened in a bloody civil war in 1918 between Finnish leftists and rightists. During World War II, Finland fought the Soviet Union twice: in the Winter War of 1939–1940 and in the Continuation War of 1941–1944. The long era of peace after World War II made possible the emerging of Finland as a modern industrialized social-welfare democracy. Operating on a platform to revive the economy, Ahtisaari, a Social Democrat, won the country's first direct presidential election in Feb. 1994. Previously, in the brief history of Finland presidents had been chosen by electors. Finland became a member of the European Union in Jan. 1995.

Since 1998, Finland has been judged to be the world's least corrupt country, according to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International. On Jan. 1, 1999, Finland, along with ten other European countries, adopted the euro as its currency. In 2000, Tarja Halonen became first woman president in Finland history. Finland appointed its first female prime minister, Jaatteenmaki, in April 2003, making it the only country in Europe with both a female president and prime minister.