Before Finland became a part of Sweden (guess it should be sometime after 1300), what was going on there? IIRC, first time Finland became independet is 1918, before that it hade belonged to the Russia and the Sweden.
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Before Sweden colonized Finland the people lived in tribes, like Karels for example(not sure that this is a good translation). I belive I read somewhere that they all were independent. Both Sweden and Novograd claimed that Finland belonged to them and that led to 600 years of Swedish and Russian hostility
Well that´s all forgotten today isn´t it? I cant understand why all you finns are so bitter over something that lays way back in time. The poeple of the eastern part of the kingdom had it better then those of Västergötaland for example. Let us instead celebrate our history and do both our people enyoy most. Drink!! 
Kippis (hope it´s spelled right)
Kippis (hope it´s spelled right)
Its forgotten. We are not bitter for the past but for that relatively large amount of swedish tv programs without finnish subtitles on our tv.Originally posted by rundis
Well that´s all forgotten today isn´t it? I cant understand why all you finns are so bitter over something that lays way back in time. The poeple of the eastern part of the kingdom had it better then those of Västergötaland for example. Let us instead celebrate our history and do both our people enyoy most. Drink!!
Kippis (hope it´s spelled right)
Kippis vaan ja hölökyn kölökyn. Skål.
The Principality of Novgorod tried to conquer Finland in the same period as the "crusades" and what have the outcome been if they have succeseded instead of us ?
We can just imagine what have happend.
On the other hand Åland was a part of Uppland and some of the coastal areas may have been populated by Swedish fishermen/peasants already long before.
Generally the period is described in "Finlands HIstoria band 1", Schildts förlag, Helsingfors 1993. ISBN 951-50-0566-3
There are two things to be ashamed over as Swede in the relation to Finland.
1. The governamental high treason against the population in Finland during the Great Northern War and the wars in 18th century.
2. The discrimination of the Finnish language in Sweden after 1809.
We can just imagine what have happend.
On the other hand Åland was a part of Uppland and some of the coastal areas may have been populated by Swedish fishermen/peasants already long before.
Generally the period is described in "Finlands HIstoria band 1", Schildts förlag, Helsingfors 1993. ISBN 951-50-0566-3
There are two things to be ashamed over as Swede in the relation to Finland.
1. The governamental high treason against the population in Finland during the Great Northern War and the wars in 18th century.
2. The discrimination of the Finnish language in Sweden after 1809.
A Chronology of Finnish History
100,000 B.C. - 1,100 A.D. The prehistory of Finland. Archaeological finds of the 1990s indicate that there was probably human settlement in Finland more than 100,000 years ago.
98 A.D. The Roman historian Tacitus writes about the Fenni, a people of the north. This is the first reference to the Finns in recorded history. (In reality he is thought to have meant the Lapps).
1150s King Erik of Sweden and the English-born Bishop Henry (Swedish: Henrik) lead a crusade to south-western Finland.
1238/49 Birger, Earl of Sweden, leads a crusade, known as the Second Crusade, to the Finnish inland province of Tavastia (Häme, Tavastland).
1290 Building work on Turku (Åbo) Cathedral begins.
1293 Sweden's Third Crusade, led by Tyrgils Knutsson to Karelia, eastern Finland, establishes a dividing line between the Catholic west and the Orthodox east.
Late 13th century To consolidate Sweden's might fortified castles are built in Turku (Åbo), Häme (Tavastehus) and Viipuri (Viborg).
Early 14th century The first Finnish students arrive at the Sorbonne, France's leading university.
1323 The peace treaty of Pähkinäsaari (Nöteborg, Schlusselburg) is signed by Sweden and Novgorod. The signatories divide up the territory of Finland. The border established by the peace treaty becomes a dividing line between states, religions and cultures. Finnish was spoken on both sides of the border.
1362 Finns granted the right to send representatives to vote in Sweden's royal election.
1397 The kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden and Norway unite in the Kalmar Union.
1475 Swedish nobleman Erik Axelsson Tott founds Olavinlinna (Olofsborg) castle in the region of Savo, eastern Finland.
1493 Finland is mentioned for the first time on a printed map of Europe in the book "Liber Chronicarum" authored by Hartmann Schedel in Germany.
1400-1500 Most of Finland's mediaeval stone churches are built.
1523 The Kalmar Union is disbanded when Gustavus Vasa becomes king of Sweden.
1527 The Diet of Västerås approves the Lutheran Reformation and the confiscation of ecclesiastical property.
1543 Bishop Mikael Agricola produces the first Finnish-language book, a volume of Finnish grammar.
1617 Under the Peace of Stolbova, Sweden becomes supreme ruler of the Baltic Sea with control of the entire Gulf of Finland.
1630-1643 The Finnish cavalrymen, famous for their wild charges, earn the nickname "Hakkapelites" in the Thirty Years War. Their commander, general Torsten Stålhhandske became one of the most famous Finnish soldiers of Sweden's great power era
1640 Queen Christina of Sweden establishes Finland's first university, the Swedish-language Åbo Akademi in Turku.
1642 The first complete Finnish translation of the Bible appears.
1700-21 The Great Northern War. Russia assumes the position of a great power. In 1703, Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland. Sweden's position weakens.
1721 Under the Treaty of Uusikaupunki (Nystad) Sweden cedes south-eastern Finland and the Baltic provinces of Livonia, Estonia and Ingria to Russia.
1747 Sweden begins construction of a fortress named Sveaborg, (lit. Castle of Sweden) on a group of islands off Helsinki. Later its name is changed to Suomenlinna (lit. Castle of Finland).
1765 The Finnish-born clergyman and politician Anders Chydenius publishes his book The National Gain in which he proposes free trade, eleven years before the publication of Adam Smith´s Wealth of Nations.
1807 The Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon of France agree to blockade Great Britain. Alexander pledges to compel Sweden to join the interdiction.
1808-1809 Sweden is defeated by Russia in the Finnish War and loses Finland, which becomes an autonomous Grand Duchy with the Czar as its ruler. Finland´s position is confirmed in its first separate Diet. Finland retains its own legislation and its old form of society, including the free status of the peasantry, the Lutheran religion and the old Swedish system of law and government.
1812 The territory known to Russia as "old Finland" is joined to the Grand Duchy. In the same year, Helsinki (Helsingfors) is declared capital of Finland.
1828 Helsinki replaces Turku as the site of Finland's sole university.
1835 Publication of the first edition of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, compiled and edited by Elias Lönnrot. An enlarged edition appears in 1849.
1848 The first public performance of the Finnish national anthem, Maamme (Vårt Land), (English: Our Land).
1848 The first volume of Johan Ludvig Runeberg's "Fänrik Ståls sägner" (Tales of Ensigh Stål), a collection of poems stressing morality and a sense of responsibility is published.
1853-1867 "Fältskärns berättelser" (The tales of Barber-Surgeon), a historical novel by Zachris Topelius is published as a series of books.
1860 Finland acquires its own currency, the markka or Finnish mark.
1860s Sawmilling begins to flourish and the paper industry starts to develop.
1863 Finland's own legislature convenes. Emperor Alexander II decrees that Finnish is to have equal status with Swedish as a language of administration. The decree is to have the force of law within 20 years.
1870 Publication of the first novel in Finnish, The Seven Brothers, by Aleksis Kivi.
1878-79 The Finnish-born geologist and explorer A.E. Nordenskiöld sails the North-East Passage.
1882 Emma Irene Åström becomes the first Finnish woman to receive a university degree.
1899 In the opinion of many Finns the Russian Emperor Nicholas II breaks his promise to uphold the Finnish Constitution when the so-called February Manifesto is issued. Finns oppose the manifesto, which they think will erode their autonomous position. A period of resistance begins and lasts until independence is attained in 1917.
1900 The Finnish pavilion at the World Fair in Paris attracts much admiration. The pavilion is designed by architects Armas Lindgren, Herman Gesellius and Eliel Saarinen with frescoes by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. This is a golden age of Finnish arts, represented by painters such as Gallen-Kallela, Albert Edelfelt, Eero Järnefelt and Pekka Halonen and the composer Jean Sibelius, who rapidly wins international acclaim.
1902 More than 23,000 Finns apply for passports to America. This is the crest of the wave, which brought over 320,000 Finns to the United States and Canada in 1864-1914.
1906 Finland acquires its own national parliament, elected by equal and universal suffrage, a development that makes Finnish women the first in the world to be granted full national political rights, that is to say suffrage and eligibility to stand for election to their national Parliament.
1917 Revolution in Russia; Finland declares itself independent on December 6; Russia's Bolshevik government recognises Finnish independence on December 31.
1918 At the end of January, Government forces, known as The Whites, led by General C. G. E. Mannerheim, start to disarm Russian troops still stationed in the western Finnish province of Ostrobothnia. At the same time, extremist left-wing forces known as The Red Guards, inspired by the Bolshevik revolution, seize power in southern Finland. The ensuing conflict between Reds and Whites, known to some as the war of independence, becomes a bloody civil war eventually won by the Government forces with the help of German troops despatched to southern Finland. A German prince, Friedrich Karl, is chosen to be king of Finland but he renounces the nomination within a month, without setting foot in Finland.
1919 Finland adopts a new republican form of government and K.J. Ståhlberg becomes the country's first president.
1920 Finland and Soviet Russia sign the Peace of Tartu. Finland acquires the Petsamo area. The great Finnish runner, Paavo Nurmi, wins his first Olympic gold medals in Antwerp. Finland joins the League of Nations.
1921 An act is passed by the Finnish parliament granting autonomy to the Åland Islands.
1922 Laws on freedom of religion, compulsory education and military service are enacted.
1924 Paavo Nurmi wins four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Paris.
1926 Finland's first Social Democratic government takes office. The Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE, is established.
1929-1932 The anti-Communist Lapua movement increases its support but is outlawed after a failed attempt to seize power.
1930 The Communist party is banned on the grounds that it is considered an agent of a foreign country.
1932 Finland and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact.
1935 Completion of the Viipuri library, designed by Alvar Aalto, the eminent Finnish architect.
1937-1939 A.K. Cajander heads a so-called "red clay" coalition government composed of the Progressive Party, the Agrarian League and the Social Democrats.
1939 The Soviet Union and Germany sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement. The secret protocol attached to the agreement states that Finland belongs to the Soviet sphere of interest.
1939 Finnish writer F.E. Sillanpää is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1939-40 The Red Army attacks Finland. In the Winter War (30.11. 1939 - 13.3. 1940) the Finnish defence forces, commanded by Marshal C.G. Mannerheim, though greatly outnumbered, fight alone against the Soviet would-be invaders for 105 days. Finland's stubborn resistance against a fifty-times larger nation seizes the attention of the world press, which writes about the "Miracle of the Winter War". In the ensuing peace of Moscow, Finland is forced to cede a large part of the Viipuri province, in the south-east.
1941-1944 Fighting resumes in the Continuation War, during which a defiant Finland aligns itself with Germany against the Soviet Union in order to regain the lost territory. Finland takes the view that it is a cobelligerent with Germany but fighting a separate war that coincides with, but is not part of, the conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union. Nazi ideology is firmly rejected in Finland despite German efforts to promote it.
1944 In July the Finnish army halts a massive Soviet offensive before it reaches the 1940 border. The Red Army's aim is to occupy southern Finland, but once the offensive is stopped Stalin orders his forces to regroup for defence.
1944 An armistice agreement is signed in Moscow in September. The peace terms restore the frontier of 1940, except in the far north where the Soviet Union annexes the Petsamo area with its nickel mines and ice-free port on the Arctic Ocean. Finland has to pay huge war reparations to the Soviet Union in the form of manufactured goods. The entire population of the ceded areas - about 450,000 people - choose to leave their homes rather than live under Soviet rule. They are resettled in Finland. The peninsulta of Porkkala is rented to the Soviets for 50 years as a naval base.
1944-45 War in Lapland. In accordance with the peace terms agreed with Russia, Finland drives some 200,000 German soldiers out of Finnish Lapland and into neighbouring Norway.
1944-47 An Allied Control Commission, consisting of representatives of the Soviet Union and Great Britain, is installed in Helsinki. Communist activities are legalised. The Soviet Union insists on the establishment of a tribunal to try the Finnish leaders that it holds responsible for the Finnish-Soviet conflict.
1945 Professor A.I. Virtanen is awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
1945 The first Moomin book by Tove Jansson, The Moomin and the Great Flood, is published.
1947 The Peace Treaty of Paris.
1947 Finland rejects Marshall aid, following Soviet pressure to do so.
1948 Finland and the Soviet Union sign a Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance.
1951 Designer Tapio Wirkkala receives the Grand Prix at the Milan Triennale, opening the way for the triumphal march of Finnish design all over the world.
1952 The Olympic Games are held in Helsinki.
1954 Väinö Linna's war novel, "The Unknown Soldier" is published.
1955 Finland joins the United Nations and the Nordic Council.
1956 The Soviet Union returns the Porkkala naval base to Finland. Urho Kekkonen is elected President of the Republic for the first time.
1958 The Soviet Union intervenes in the composition of the Finnish government, an event known as the "night frost crisis".
1961 Finland becomes an associate member of the European Free Trade Association, Efta.
1961 The Soviet Union intervenes indirectly in the Finnish presidential election, an incident known as "the note crisis".
1967 Finnish-born Professor Ragnar Granit receives a Nobel Prize for his studies on the physiology of vision.
1970 Finland adopts a 40-hour working week.
1971 Finlandia Hall, designed by Alvar Aalto, opens in Helsinki.
1973 Finland signs a free-trade agreement with the EEC.
1975 The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe takes place in Helsinki.
1981 Urho Kekkonen's 25-year period as President of Finland comes to an end.
1989 Finland becomes a member of the Council of Europe.
1991 The Soviet Union breaks up and the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance lapses.
1991 Finnish student Linus Torvalds writes the computer operating system that becomes known as Linux.
1991-1993 The Finnish economy in deep recession.
1992 Finland decides to apply for membership of the then European Community.
1994 An advisory national referendum on joining the European Union is held. A majority of 57 percent vote in favour of Union membership.
1995 Finland becomes a member of the European Union.
1999 Finland adopts European economic and monetary union and serves for the first time as President of the Council of the European Union.
2000 A new Constitution, which comes into effect in March, increases the parliamentary features of Finnish government.
100,000 B.C. - 1,100 A.D. The prehistory of Finland. Archaeological finds of the 1990s indicate that there was probably human settlement in Finland more than 100,000 years ago.
98 A.D. The Roman historian Tacitus writes about the Fenni, a people of the north. This is the first reference to the Finns in recorded history. (In reality he is thought to have meant the Lapps).
1150s King Erik of Sweden and the English-born Bishop Henry (Swedish: Henrik) lead a crusade to south-western Finland.
1238/49 Birger, Earl of Sweden, leads a crusade, known as the Second Crusade, to the Finnish inland province of Tavastia (Häme, Tavastland).
1290 Building work on Turku (Åbo) Cathedral begins.
1293 Sweden's Third Crusade, led by Tyrgils Knutsson to Karelia, eastern Finland, establishes a dividing line between the Catholic west and the Orthodox east.
Late 13th century To consolidate Sweden's might fortified castles are built in Turku (Åbo), Häme (Tavastehus) and Viipuri (Viborg).
Early 14th century The first Finnish students arrive at the Sorbonne, France's leading university.
1323 The peace treaty of Pähkinäsaari (Nöteborg, Schlusselburg) is signed by Sweden and Novgorod. The signatories divide up the territory of Finland. The border established by the peace treaty becomes a dividing line between states, religions and cultures. Finnish was spoken on both sides of the border.
1362 Finns granted the right to send representatives to vote in Sweden's royal election.
1397 The kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden and Norway unite in the Kalmar Union.
1475 Swedish nobleman Erik Axelsson Tott founds Olavinlinna (Olofsborg) castle in the region of Savo, eastern Finland.
1493 Finland is mentioned for the first time on a printed map of Europe in the book "Liber Chronicarum" authored by Hartmann Schedel in Germany.
1400-1500 Most of Finland's mediaeval stone churches are built.
1523 The Kalmar Union is disbanded when Gustavus Vasa becomes king of Sweden.
1527 The Diet of Västerås approves the Lutheran Reformation and the confiscation of ecclesiastical property.
1543 Bishop Mikael Agricola produces the first Finnish-language book, a volume of Finnish grammar.
1617 Under the Peace of Stolbova, Sweden becomes supreme ruler of the Baltic Sea with control of the entire Gulf of Finland.
1630-1643 The Finnish cavalrymen, famous for their wild charges, earn the nickname "Hakkapelites" in the Thirty Years War. Their commander, general Torsten Stålhhandske became one of the most famous Finnish soldiers of Sweden's great power era
1640 Queen Christina of Sweden establishes Finland's first university, the Swedish-language Åbo Akademi in Turku.
1642 The first complete Finnish translation of the Bible appears.
1700-21 The Great Northern War. Russia assumes the position of a great power. In 1703, Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland. Sweden's position weakens.
1721 Under the Treaty of Uusikaupunki (Nystad) Sweden cedes south-eastern Finland and the Baltic provinces of Livonia, Estonia and Ingria to Russia.
1747 Sweden begins construction of a fortress named Sveaborg, (lit. Castle of Sweden) on a group of islands off Helsinki. Later its name is changed to Suomenlinna (lit. Castle of Finland).
1765 The Finnish-born clergyman and politician Anders Chydenius publishes his book The National Gain in which he proposes free trade, eleven years before the publication of Adam Smith´s Wealth of Nations.
1807 The Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon of France agree to blockade Great Britain. Alexander pledges to compel Sweden to join the interdiction.
1808-1809 Sweden is defeated by Russia in the Finnish War and loses Finland, which becomes an autonomous Grand Duchy with the Czar as its ruler. Finland´s position is confirmed in its first separate Diet. Finland retains its own legislation and its old form of society, including the free status of the peasantry, the Lutheran religion and the old Swedish system of law and government.
1812 The territory known to Russia as "old Finland" is joined to the Grand Duchy. In the same year, Helsinki (Helsingfors) is declared capital of Finland.
1828 Helsinki replaces Turku as the site of Finland's sole university.
1835 Publication of the first edition of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, compiled and edited by Elias Lönnrot. An enlarged edition appears in 1849.
1848 The first public performance of the Finnish national anthem, Maamme (Vårt Land), (English: Our Land).
1848 The first volume of Johan Ludvig Runeberg's "Fänrik Ståls sägner" (Tales of Ensigh Stål), a collection of poems stressing morality and a sense of responsibility is published.
1853-1867 "Fältskärns berättelser" (The tales of Barber-Surgeon), a historical novel by Zachris Topelius is published as a series of books.
1860 Finland acquires its own currency, the markka or Finnish mark.
1860s Sawmilling begins to flourish and the paper industry starts to develop.
1863 Finland's own legislature convenes. Emperor Alexander II decrees that Finnish is to have equal status with Swedish as a language of administration. The decree is to have the force of law within 20 years.
1870 Publication of the first novel in Finnish, The Seven Brothers, by Aleksis Kivi.
1878-79 The Finnish-born geologist and explorer A.E. Nordenskiöld sails the North-East Passage.
1882 Emma Irene Åström becomes the first Finnish woman to receive a university degree.
1899 In the opinion of many Finns the Russian Emperor Nicholas II breaks his promise to uphold the Finnish Constitution when the so-called February Manifesto is issued. Finns oppose the manifesto, which they think will erode their autonomous position. A period of resistance begins and lasts until independence is attained in 1917.
1900 The Finnish pavilion at the World Fair in Paris attracts much admiration. The pavilion is designed by architects Armas Lindgren, Herman Gesellius and Eliel Saarinen with frescoes by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. This is a golden age of Finnish arts, represented by painters such as Gallen-Kallela, Albert Edelfelt, Eero Järnefelt and Pekka Halonen and the composer Jean Sibelius, who rapidly wins international acclaim.
1902 More than 23,000 Finns apply for passports to America. This is the crest of the wave, which brought over 320,000 Finns to the United States and Canada in 1864-1914.
1906 Finland acquires its own national parliament, elected by equal and universal suffrage, a development that makes Finnish women the first in the world to be granted full national political rights, that is to say suffrage and eligibility to stand for election to their national Parliament.
1917 Revolution in Russia; Finland declares itself independent on December 6; Russia's Bolshevik government recognises Finnish independence on December 31.
1918 At the end of January, Government forces, known as The Whites, led by General C. G. E. Mannerheim, start to disarm Russian troops still stationed in the western Finnish province of Ostrobothnia. At the same time, extremist left-wing forces known as The Red Guards, inspired by the Bolshevik revolution, seize power in southern Finland. The ensuing conflict between Reds and Whites, known to some as the war of independence, becomes a bloody civil war eventually won by the Government forces with the help of German troops despatched to southern Finland. A German prince, Friedrich Karl, is chosen to be king of Finland but he renounces the nomination within a month, without setting foot in Finland.
1919 Finland adopts a new republican form of government and K.J. Ståhlberg becomes the country's first president.
1920 Finland and Soviet Russia sign the Peace of Tartu. Finland acquires the Petsamo area. The great Finnish runner, Paavo Nurmi, wins his first Olympic gold medals in Antwerp. Finland joins the League of Nations.
1921 An act is passed by the Finnish parliament granting autonomy to the Åland Islands.
1922 Laws on freedom of religion, compulsory education and military service are enacted.
1924 Paavo Nurmi wins four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Paris.
1926 Finland's first Social Democratic government takes office. The Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE, is established.
1929-1932 The anti-Communist Lapua movement increases its support but is outlawed after a failed attempt to seize power.
1930 The Communist party is banned on the grounds that it is considered an agent of a foreign country.
1932 Finland and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact.
1935 Completion of the Viipuri library, designed by Alvar Aalto, the eminent Finnish architect.
1937-1939 A.K. Cajander heads a so-called "red clay" coalition government composed of the Progressive Party, the Agrarian League and the Social Democrats.
1939 The Soviet Union and Germany sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement. The secret protocol attached to the agreement states that Finland belongs to the Soviet sphere of interest.
1939 Finnish writer F.E. Sillanpää is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1939-40 The Red Army attacks Finland. In the Winter War (30.11. 1939 - 13.3. 1940) the Finnish defence forces, commanded by Marshal C.G. Mannerheim, though greatly outnumbered, fight alone against the Soviet would-be invaders for 105 days. Finland's stubborn resistance against a fifty-times larger nation seizes the attention of the world press, which writes about the "Miracle of the Winter War". In the ensuing peace of Moscow, Finland is forced to cede a large part of the Viipuri province, in the south-east.
1941-1944 Fighting resumes in the Continuation War, during which a defiant Finland aligns itself with Germany against the Soviet Union in order to regain the lost territory. Finland takes the view that it is a cobelligerent with Germany but fighting a separate war that coincides with, but is not part of, the conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union. Nazi ideology is firmly rejected in Finland despite German efforts to promote it.
1944 In July the Finnish army halts a massive Soviet offensive before it reaches the 1940 border. The Red Army's aim is to occupy southern Finland, but once the offensive is stopped Stalin orders his forces to regroup for defence.
1944 An armistice agreement is signed in Moscow in September. The peace terms restore the frontier of 1940, except in the far north where the Soviet Union annexes the Petsamo area with its nickel mines and ice-free port on the Arctic Ocean. Finland has to pay huge war reparations to the Soviet Union in the form of manufactured goods. The entire population of the ceded areas - about 450,000 people - choose to leave their homes rather than live under Soviet rule. They are resettled in Finland. The peninsulta of Porkkala is rented to the Soviets for 50 years as a naval base.
1944-45 War in Lapland. In accordance with the peace terms agreed with Russia, Finland drives some 200,000 German soldiers out of Finnish Lapland and into neighbouring Norway.
1944-47 An Allied Control Commission, consisting of representatives of the Soviet Union and Great Britain, is installed in Helsinki. Communist activities are legalised. The Soviet Union insists on the establishment of a tribunal to try the Finnish leaders that it holds responsible for the Finnish-Soviet conflict.
1945 Professor A.I. Virtanen is awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
1945 The first Moomin book by Tove Jansson, The Moomin and the Great Flood, is published.
1947 The Peace Treaty of Paris.
1947 Finland rejects Marshall aid, following Soviet pressure to do so.
1948 Finland and the Soviet Union sign a Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance.
1951 Designer Tapio Wirkkala receives the Grand Prix at the Milan Triennale, opening the way for the triumphal march of Finnish design all over the world.
1952 The Olympic Games are held in Helsinki.
1954 Väinö Linna's war novel, "The Unknown Soldier" is published.
1955 Finland joins the United Nations and the Nordic Council.
1956 The Soviet Union returns the Porkkala naval base to Finland. Urho Kekkonen is elected President of the Republic for the first time.
1958 The Soviet Union intervenes in the composition of the Finnish government, an event known as the "night frost crisis".
1961 Finland becomes an associate member of the European Free Trade Association, Efta.
1961 The Soviet Union intervenes indirectly in the Finnish presidential election, an incident known as "the note crisis".
1967 Finnish-born Professor Ragnar Granit receives a Nobel Prize for his studies on the physiology of vision.
1970 Finland adopts a 40-hour working week.
1971 Finlandia Hall, designed by Alvar Aalto, opens in Helsinki.
1973 Finland signs a free-trade agreement with the EEC.
1975 The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe takes place in Helsinki.
1981 Urho Kekkonen's 25-year period as President of Finland comes to an end.
1989 Finland becomes a member of the Council of Europe.
1991 The Soviet Union breaks up and the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance lapses.
1991 Finnish student Linus Torvalds writes the computer operating system that becomes known as Linux.
1991-1993 The Finnish economy in deep recession.
1992 Finland decides to apply for membership of the then European Community.
1994 An advisory national referendum on joining the European Union is held. A majority of 57 percent vote in favour of Union membership.
1995 Finland becomes a member of the European Union.
1999 Finland adopts European economic and monetary union and serves for the first time as President of the Council of the European Union.
2000 A new Constitution, which comes into effect in March, increases the parliamentary features of Finnish government.