Finland's Survival and the European Union

1. Finland Survived the Cold War - and joined the European Union Seppo Hentilä Professor of Political History University of Helsinki Lecture on 8 December 2006 European Commission Joint Research CenterInstitute for Transuranium ElementsKarlsruhe, Germany

2. Map of Finland In the North of Europe, between Russia and Sweden Surface Area: 330 000 Sqkm Common Border with Russia: 1200 km

3. Historical starting point in 1944 In the Second World War Finland was fighting together with Germany against the USSR Separate peace with the USSR on September 19, 1944 Finland lost the war but was not occupied by the Soviet troops When the Cold War broke out in the second half of the 1940’s Finland found herself stranded in the no-man's-land between the two power blocs

4. Finland’s democracy and the Western judicial and social system all survived, the market economy became a flourishing success, and by the 1960’s Finland developed into a welfare state with a standard of living among the highest in the world How did this kind of “success story” become possible?

5. The years of danger 1944-1948 The terms of the interim peace agreed in Moscow on September 19, 1944 were hard to Finland The province of Karelia in the South-East was lost, ceded to the USSR, and the Karelian refugees, ten per cent of the Finnish population, had to be resettled further west; Reparations had to be paid; And the highest wartime political leadership had to be put on trial

6. Although the War had been hard, the Finnish society had nevertheless emerged strong and united The government and the administration were in good shape, while in workplaces up and down the country the Social Democrats met the pressure from the Communist Party There was fear in 1948 of Soviet intervention, but despite requests by the leaders of the SKP the Finnish Communists received no concrete support from their comrades in the Kremlin

7. According to President Paasikivi it was Finland's responsibility to attempt to build such trust in her relations with the Soviet Union that the latter would feel no need to attack our country Concessions had to be made, but there was no compromise over the Nordic judicial and social system of Finland This was the absolute limit of concessions in President Paasikivi's thinking. Finland would do best if she could as far as possible keep outside conflicts between the superpowers

8. Finland left between the blocs In February 1948 J. V. Stalin proposed to Finland the same sort of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance treaty as the Soviet Union had just concluded with Hungary and Romania The Communists had just seized power in Prague Was Finland to go the way of Czechoslovakia? The Swedish press was already writing that Finland's absorption into the Communist bloc was complete in all but name

9. Paasikivi informed Stalin that Finland would agree to negotiations if the text of the treaty could be discussed without preconditions Stalin consented to Finland's wishes with surprising ease, and the final content of the mutual assistance treaty was largely dictated by Paasikivi The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between the Republic of Finland and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was signed in Moscow on April 6, 1948 FCMA-treaty

10. The Finnish-Soviet treaty differed decisively from those between the USSR and her satellites: Finland was entitled to remain outside disputes between the superpowers and was not forced into military pact with the USSR The military articles obligated Finland to defend her own territory “if Germany or some other country allied to Germany were to attempt to invade the Soviet Union through Finland” Under Article 2 Finland undertook to negotiate for Soviet assistance in the event of being unable to resist the invader unassisted; this so-called 'consultation article' was from the Finnish point of view the most dangerous part of the treaty

11. The Finnish Communists had high hopes of the mutual assistance treaty, as in the event of a crisis it could offer the USSR the opportunity to occupy Finland The Communists' disappointment was all the more bitter at their defeat in the parliamentary elections of July 1948 and their consequent removal from the Finnish Government (remained in opposition until 1966) The Soviet Union protested, but its attitude towards Finland remained unchanged

12. There is no doubt that the Soviet Union would have had the capacity to force Finland to join the other 'people's democracies' if she had so wished Finland belonged militarily to the Soviet sphere of influence, and the Western Powers would have had no practical means to prevent Finland's seizure, just as they had been unable to help Czechoslovakia For some reason, which will probably remain an eternal mystery, Stalin chose not to use force

13. Stalin would certainly have weighed up the possible costs of using force The determined Finnish defence in the Winter War of 1939-40 and again in the massive Soviet offensive of summer 1944 were undoubtedly still fresh in Stalin’s memory

14. The military articles of the FCMA treaty meant that Finland was held more firmly within the Soviet sphere of influence than any other Western country For this reason Finland's case could be taken as an example of how a great power could interfere in the internal affairs of a smaller neighbour, rendering the latter's independence at once remote-controlled and incomplete

15. Finnlandisierung – Finlandization Leonid Brezhnev: ”Welcome Comrade Kekkonen, Who would ever even think that you could be Finlandized!”

16. Taken literally, this meant becoming like Finland It was seen as the fate awaiting other Western countries if they gave too much ground to Communism As a term, Finlandization became indelibly engraved on Finland's image abroad, and it also left its mark on historiography Was Finland actually Finlandized, and, if so, what did this mean in practice? It was generally thought in the West that the Soviet Union interfered in Finland's internal affairs and forced the Finns to do as it wanted

17. Finland nevertheless survived Kekkonen sometimes used to say: ”When you bow to the East you bare your bottom to the West, and vice versa," and it was through such an approach that Finland managed to secure her vital economic interests in the West From the point of view of Finland's survival, the agreement on associate membership of EFTA in 1961 and the free trade agreement with the EEC in 1973 were perhaps more important than is generally realised Finland's relative economic growth from the 1960’s to the early 1990’s was more rapid than that of any other OECD country

18. Finland after the Cold War The break-up of the Soviet bloc in the early 1990’s coincided with deepening integration in the West Without the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, Finland would not have been able to join the new, political phase in European integration When the members of the EC signed the Maastricht Treaty in 1991, establishing the European Union, not many people in Finland dreamed that they might participate in such political integration in the near future

19. Not three months had elapsed from the break-up of the USSR in March 1992, when the Finnish government applied to the membership of the EC Austria and Sweden had also recently applied to join, and Norway renewed its earlier application soon afterwards The question of joining the EU was deeply controversial In October 1994, the matter was submitted to a consultative referendum Security policy and agriculture emerged as the central issues in the public debate

20. The supporters of membership saw a unique opportunity to join the West, to which Finland had in fact belonged for centuries, the EU membership would confirm Finland’s Western identity Political integration was also seen as a source of security, particularly against the background of chaotic conditions in Russia Opponents of EU membership claimed that the EU would deprive Finland of its sovereignty, opening of borders would bring refugees, crime and foreign influence

21. The farmers feared for their profession: given the harsh climatic conditions, Finnish agriculture could never compete in an open market, they maintained The supporters of EU membership won the referendum, but the margin was narrow at just under six percentage points (56.9 - 43.1) The nation was divided: support for the membership was strongest in southern Finland and among well-educated city-dwellers and young people By contrast, the less-educated, the older generation and the inhabitants of eastern and northern Finland were mainly opposed to membership

22. Finland became a member of the EU on January 1, 1995; it was a transition from a country in the Eastern sphere of influence into an outpost of the West with incredible speed

23. Thank You for your attention!