A Concise History Of Finland The 11th To The 21st Century

In 2017, Finland will celebrate its 100th Independence Day. It has been a long and turbulent path to prosperity for this Northern European nation, but today, Finland is a stable democracy. This book outlines the key historical events that created the nation. The story of Finland starts from the early Middle Ages, and takes readers to the new challenges set by globalization. Geographically located between East and West, Finland has been influenced and ruled by both cultures. The King of Sweden ruled Finland until the early 19th century, when he lost the scarcely inhabited territory to the Czar of Russia. 100 years ago, when the last Czar was dethroned, Finland seized the moment, and became a sovereign state. It, however, meant the beginning of a civil war. Later, Finns fought for their independence in the Second World War. History isn't about wars alone. The book describes how international relationships and a strong president can define a nation for decades. The concept of Finlandization can still be a touchy subject for Finns, but it is an elemental part of the nation's history. Today, Finland is the home of some 5.4 million people, millions of Angry Birds, rock group Nightwish and Nokia. Finland is also renowned for its high rankings in global school system comparisons and for its economical competitiveness. A Concise History of Finland starts from 1000-year old events, but the focus of the book is on the 19th and 20th centuries. The book is a perfect guide to Finland's past for travelers, students, business people, media, and everyone interested in history.

An up-to-date political, social and economic history of Finland from medieval times to the present. David Kirby traces the evolution of Finland's distinctive identity and of the Finnish national state from the long centuries under Swedish rule, through self-government within the Russian Empire, to independence in the twentieth century.

Finland has often been ignored or misunderstood by the English-speaking world and this work presents the reader with a readable and authoritative introduction to the life of the Finns and the position of their country in the modern world. The book explains how a small nation, placed in an unfavorable geopolitical situation, won its independence and eventually achieved a high material standard of living together with an enviable degree of social and political stability by adapting itself to the realities of life in an unpromising environment. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

A fascinating history of Finland from prehistoric times to the twenty-first century. The modern nation of Finland is the heir to centuries of history, as a wilderness at the edge of early Europe, a borderland of the Swedish empire, and a Grand Duchy of tsarist Russia. And, as Jonathan Clements’s vivid, concise volume shows, it is a tale paved with oddities and excitements galore: from prehistoric reindeer herders to medieval barons, Christian martyrs to Viking queens, and, in the twentieth century, the war heroes who held off the Soviet Union against impossible odds. Offering accounts of public artworks, literary giants, legends, folktales, and famous figures, Clements provides an indispensable portrait of this fascinating nation. This updated edition includes expanded coverage on the Second World War, as well as new sections on Finns in America and Russia, the centenary of the republic, and Finland’s battle with COVID-19, right up to its historic application to join NATO.

Few countries in Europe have undergone such rapid social, political and economic changes as Finland has during the last fifty years. David Kirby here sets out the fascinating history of this northern country, for centuries on the east-west divide of Europe, a country not blessed by nature, most of whose inhabitants still earned a living from farming fifty years ago, but which today is one of the most prosperous members of the European Union. He shows how this small country was able not only to survive in peace and war but also to preserve and develop its own highly distinctive identity, neither Scandinavian nor Eastern European. He traces the evolution of the idea of a Finnish national state, from the long centuries as part of the Swedish realm, through self-government within the Russian Empire, and into the stormy and tragic birth of the independent state in the twentieth century.

Examines Finland's search for a national identity.