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A Political History of Finland since 1809 Osmo Jussila, Seppo Hentilä, and Jukka Nevakivi Translated
from the Finnish by David and Eva-Kaisa Arter
February 2000 ISBN 0-8093-9111-2 | Cloth | $49.95s ISBN 0-8093-9112-0 | Paper | $30.00s 380 pages | 8 maps | 6 x 9 World
History, Political Science Distributed in North America for C. Hurst & Company Publishers
In this book historians Osmo Jussila, Seppo Hentilä, and Jukka Nevakivi cover the three periods of Finland’s history since 1809. Their fast-moving narrative style brings to life the interaction of social and political forces and powerful personalities in a country whose destiny has been determined by its geopolitical situation between Eastern and Western Europe. From
the twelfth to the early nineteenth century, Finland was ruled by Sweden,
which bequeathed to it Western-style political, economic, and cultural
institutions. From 1809 to the Bolshevik Revolution, it was an autonomous
Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire with its own parliament, army, and
currency. The Finns won their independence in 1917 but had to fight two
wars against the Soviets—the Winter War of 1939-40 and the so-called
Continuation War of 1941-44—to maintain their freedom. The
Cold War presented further challenges as Finland sought to balance its
position within the Soviet sphere of influence without succumbing to
communist dictatorship. This balancing act was successfully achieved by
adroit diplomatic and economic means, with Finland acting as a bridgehead
between East and West in both spheres. In the 1960s and 1970s, the country
achieved a high level of economic and social development supported by an
extensive welfare state and in 1995 voted to join the European Union. Osmo
Jussila is a professor of political history in the Institute of Social
History at the University of Helsinki. Seppo
Hentilä is a professor in the Department of Political, Economic, and
Social History at the University of Helsinki. Jukka Nevakivi has been a professor of history at the University of Helsinki, visiting professor at the University of Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, and visiting scholar and fellow in several foreign research institutions. |
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