title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Several themes regularly addressed in the show include the gathering of information, community identity, public order, limited resources, the value of family, hardships of fatherhood and internal and external threats. The show also features several mysteries involving the backgrounds of major characters, the perpetrators of the attack and the extent of damage to the United States and its government.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The pivotal character in this story is Jake Green, the 32-year-old son of Mayor Johnston Green. Jake had fled the town of Jericho five years earlier, when he became mixed up with the wrong people and was involved in questionable activity. He briefly returns home to claim his inheritance, before being stranded by the catastrophe. After a somewhat awkward return home and a tense reunion with his father, Jake steps up to become a leader in Jericho, fighting to protect the town and its citizens. As the people of Jericho struggle to survive in a changed world, most remain unaware that one of the newest residents, Robert Hawkins, knows a lot more about the attacks than he is letting on. It is later revealed that he is in possession of an unexploded nuclear bomb that was supposed to be used in the attack but how he obtained it and what side he is on remain anything but clear.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Gray Anderson encounters a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) camp outside of Topeka, where he learns that the attack on New York City was foiled by alert New York City Police who shot the bomber before he could detonate the nuclear bomb that he had in the back of a van. Mayor Green reports that the NYPD captured the van in New York with a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb on board but Washington, D.C. has been bombed. On the way back from the FEMA camp, Anderson's car is stolen by 12 looters and he is forced to walk home to Jericho. Anderson also reports that Lawrence, Kansas has been attacked. Robert Hawkins receives a morse code message on a ham radio stating that Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Kansas City, San Diego and several more cities not shown on screen have been attacked. A black box flight data recorder that Jake recovers from a crashed airliner indicates that air traffic control is non-existent, a mushroom cloud is rising into the atmosphere and that flashes have also been seen towards Texas.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: A radiation-burn victim walks into Jericho from Denver, leading a rescue party to Bear Lake but the 20 radiation-burn victims there are dead. Before the unnamed radiation-burn victim dies, while he is interrogated by Hawkins, it is revealed that he is an accomplice of Hawkins and that there is a traitor in the attack. In the season one finale, armed residents of New Bern attack Jericho with crude mortars made at the factories in New Bern. The mortar bombardment injure people in Jericho. Jake and Johnston Green along with Robert Hawkins lead a counter-attack on New Bern's forces outside of town, killing many of the attackers; Johnston Green is mortally wounded. Army units arrive to separate the combatants just as the season ends.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The military forces of the new Allied States of America (ASA), which now govern most of what was formerly the Western United States, except the independent Republic of Texas, have restored order to Jericho and its hinterland, putting an abrupt end to the conflict between Jericho and its rival town, New Bern. As a semblance of normal returns to Jericho, the plot shifts away from day-to-day survival to life and political intrigue under the ASA government.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The garrison commander of the ASA Army's newpost in Jericho, Major Edward Beck, asks Jake to accept appointment as the Sheriff of Jericho and the county. Jake reluctantly accepts the appointment with reservations about the ASA government's intentions. Known only to Hawkins and a select few, the September attacks were neither a foreign nor domestic terrorist act but a conspiracy of unknown perpetrators within the highest level of the former U.S. government, including the president and the secretary of defense of the new ASA government in Cheyenne. Hawkins must calculate his every move to avoid capture, piece together the trail of evidence and bring the truth to light, before the conspiracy's mastermind buries it forever.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Jericho's residents deal with the reality of the new ASA government based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Welcomed as saviors, the government's military and mercenary agents transform life in Jericho into a repressive police state, led by a private security contracting firm, Ravenwood, owned by Jennings & Rall, which has ties to and sponsors the leaders of the ASA government. When a Ravenwood contractor kills Bonnie, a deaf farm girl from the outskirts of Jericho, to conceal his embezzlement, the town is put on the edge of revolt as Jake and the deputies protect Mimi, the only witness to Bonnie's murder and the embezzlement.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Jake can no longer tolerate the methods of Ravenwood and the ASA government in Jericho and leads an underground movement to remove them from power in the town. He is arrested by Major Beck and interrogated. Jake refuses to break and escapes with the help of his mother and other town residents. The citizens of the town rebel against the local ASA soldiers. All of this causes Major Beck, a decorated former U.S. Army officer, to question his duty to a government that would treat its citizens the way the new ASA government is doing. He orders his men to stand down and return to their garrison.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Hawkins tries to transport the bomb to his contacts in the reborn Republic of Texas. The ASA military is tipped off and after a brief chase, seizes the weapon. Hawkins narrowly escapes and the ASA military then transports the weapon to Cheyenne for safekeeping. Hawkins makes contact with Jake and the two travel to Cheyenne, where they retake the bomb from J&R contractors. Hawkins is wounded in a brief gun battle. The two make it to the Republic of Texas embassy in Cheyenne with the only undetonated bomb (in ASA territory) from the September attacks. The ASA's military is right behind them. The Republic of Texas is considered the swing state in the struggle for power between the Eastern United States, which is led by the legitimate surviving United States government, now governed from Columbus, Ohio and the Allied States. Texas has not decided which government to back. The Texan ambassador in Cheyenne shelters Jake and Hawkins at his embassy.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The ambassador informs his military forces at the embassy to tell the ASA forces outside the fence that any incursion into the embassy by ASA troops will be considered an act of war against the Republic of Texas. The ambassador manages quickly to smuggle Jake, Hawkins and the bomb to the Cheyenne airport. At the airport he secures a small diplomatic jet plane to carry Jake, Hawkins and the device to Texas. While they are "en route", two ASA F-15 fighters intercept Jake and Hawkins and order them to turn around or be shot down. When Jake refuses to be escorted back to Cheyenne, the two jets drop back to open fire. Two Republic of Texas Air National Guard F-16 fighters suddenly appear and shoot down the ASA planes. Jake and Hawkins make it to Texas with the evidence and Hawkins ominously intones that a second American Civil War was always coming and the two of them have made history by giving the United States a fighting chance in the war to come.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Season 3 is not a television show, but a six-part comic book series "from the minds" of the original "Jericho" production team and written by the "Jericho" writing team.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: In April 2013, "Jericho" creator Stephen Chbosky revealed during a chat with Nerdacy that talks about a live-action season 3 remain ongoing. In his statement, Chbosky noted, "you know William Morris Endeavor Agency, who represents me, executive producer Jon Turteltaub and many other people, and they've been talking to Netflix and you never know. I can't say what it will be in season 3, but I'm excited for the new developments."


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Season 4 is a continuation of the comic book series released by IDW Publishing on August 15, 2012. The five issue story picked up after the events of "Jericho": Season Three. The comic was written by Kalinda Vazquez, and the process was overseen by the television series' writers.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: "Jericho" features an ensemble cast of characters, along with a number of minor and recurring roles. The series website listed eleven main cast members. Alicia Coppola moved from a recurring role to a regular character in February 2008. Gerald McRaney did not have a regular role in season 2. Esai Morales was only present in season 2.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Jericho, Kansas is a fictional town. It is approximately 47 miles east of the Kansas–Colorado border (which would put it near the location of the real Colby, Kansas). However, a map (episode 3: Jericho is Ness City, Kansas on the map) in the series seems to show Jericho near the junctions of I-70 and US 83. That would place it near the real Oakley. Jericho is 90 miles west of the also fictional Rogue River, Kansas, and around 330 miles from the real Wichita. New Bern, Kansas is a neighboring fictional town which starts a war with Jericho in the wake of the national destruction. Jericho is served by one state highway and the (fictional) Cedar Run Road.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The city's population is mentioned to be almost 5,000 as mentioned in season 1 Ep. 2 "Fallout" (1,000 in 1957). But after the great war between New Bern and Jericho, the population was reduced to 3,000. The city has one grocery store, owned by Gracie Leigh (Beth Grant).


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Jericho is run by two mayors throughout the series. Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) was the mayor at the show opening and for most of season one, but loses the election in the show. Gray Anderson (Michael Gaston), the other electoral candidate, wins the election in the show.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The series originated as a feature film idea of co-creators Jonathan Steinberg and Josh Schaer: a post-apocalyptic plot set amidst the trappings of "a little character drama" movie, in the vein of "The Day After", "Threads", and "Testament". However, they soon realized that a two- or two-and-a-half-hour-long film would still not carry the necessary length they felt such a concept required to properly explore the setting and the characters. Thus, Schaer and Steinberg decided to re-conceive the entire project as a television series, producing a treatment out of the original feature screenplay. Director Jon Turteltaub and producer Carol Barbee then entered the picture, the pair having pitched the project to them. Turteltaub soon commissioned writer Stephen Chbosky to pen the pilot teleplay based upon Schaer and Steinberg's series treatment.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: One of Chbosky's major contributions to the structure of the series was the introduction of a greater feminine element to the storyline, opining that, "[We] could use some girls, a little kissing, and some laughs." Another significant developmental influence were the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, and the sense of "[being] a spectator to a disaster, while not quite being part of it." Co-creator Steinberg in particular felt that after 9/11, the United States saw some of the "best of people," and after Hurricane Katrina, some of the "worst of people," and sought to include both in the fabric of "Jericho", with Katrina providing "lots of inspiration" for the show's overall premise.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Although Jericho is set in northwestern Kansas, most of the series was filmed on a studio backlot in Van Nuys, California. The pilot and all episodes involving New Bern, Kansas, were filmed in Fillmore, California. Filming also occurred in Pasadena, California, including in front of the city hall, for scenes involving the Allied States capital of Cheyenne, Wyoming. The final episode to air included portions filmed at the Santa Anita race track. Some filming also took place in Canada and in Long Beach, California (specifically along Alamitos Bay). The commentary for some episodes on the "Jericho" Season 1 DVD includes the location of their filming.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The first season of the show premiered Wednesday, September 20, 2006 and concluded with a cliffhanger episode on May 9, 2007. Lackluster ratings prompted concern, as the show hit a ratings low in early April. The ratings were down 25% when the series returned following the nearly three-month hiatus. During its first season, it ranked 48th, with an average of 9.5 million viewers in the United States. Other Wednesday night programs it competed with were "Bones", "Deal or No Deal", and ABC's comedy block.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Though the producers seemed confident that the program would be picked up for a second season, CBS officially announced "Jericho"'s cancellation on May 16, 2007.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Several online communities, including the official "Jericho" forums, launched campaigns in an effort to revive the show. Fans also sent just over 20 tons of nuts to CBS headquarters; this referred to a scene from the season one finale "Why We Fight" where Jake Green repeats General Anthony McAuliffe's historic phrase "Nuts!" from the Battle of the Bulge. The peanuts and other proceeds from the donations were donated to charities, including the rebuilding effort in Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was largely destroyed by a tornado in 2007.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: In a response posted on the "Jericho" forum, CBS president Nina Tassler acknowledged the fan response, stating, "We hope to develop a way to provide closure to ... the Jericho story." CBS officials acknowledge the campaign was the largest the network had seen using digital means to protest a show cancellation. President and CEO Leslie Moonves acknowledged that he was filtering emails from "Jericho" fans, while senior vice president of communications Chris Ender said, "You have to tip your hat to their ability to get attention and make some noise."


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: In June 2007, "Jericho" executive producer Carol Barbee announced that CBS was discussing the possibility of the show's return for an eight-episode mid-season run. A day later, Tassler posted an announcement on the forum stating that seven new episodes of "Jericho" had been commissioned as a midseason replacement for the 2007-2008 television season, with the possibility of an extension based on viewership. The last of these seven episodes was broadcast on March 25, 2008, and was not affected directly by the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: On August 2, 2007, a video was released on YouTube showing clips from the first day back at work for the "Jericho" cast and crew. It included a "thank you" from the cast and crew to the fans for their efforts to revive the show. Several months later, CBS released trailers announcing the second-season premiere, including Morse code spelling "SPREAD THE WORD".


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: "Jericho" returned for its second season on February 12, 2008 to mostly favorable reviews but with the lowest numbers the ratings had seen yet. In the early days of January 2008, the first three episodes of the second season leaked on the internet via a DVD screener source. The show's second season has also premiered in Canada on CTV, mirroring the US broadcast.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The first two episodes of the 2008 season received the lowest ratings to date for the series. "Jericho"'s ratings did increase somewhat for its third episode, but dropped to fairly consistent but still low ratings. The second season averaged 6.2 million viewers.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: On March 21, 2008, CBS announced that the network would not be renewing "Jericho" for a third season. CBS entertainment boss Nina Tassler stated that "The March 25 episode ... will be the series finale. Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more. We thank an engaged and spirited fan base for keeping the show alive this long, and an outstanding team of producers, cast and crew that went through creative hoops to deliver a compelling, high-quality second season. ... We're proud of everyone's efforts." According to SyFy's source, two endings were shot for the March 25 episode. One involved a cliffhanger leading into a third season, while the other would wrap up the series and provide closure for fans who had worked to secure the series' return. One unidentified source said, "There are a lot of people here who really care about what happens to "Jericho", and I think we all wanted to see it succeed. Numbers are numbers, and [CBS] had to do what [CBS] had to do."


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: In early 2008, executive producer Carol Barbee said talks were ongoing to find another home for "Jericho", perhaps on a cable network, and raised the possibility of the Sci Fi Channel and broadcast networks such as The CW (co-owned by CBS). Other possibilities may include a television or theatrical movie.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: In April 2008, "The New York Times" website reported that CBS Paramount Network Television held talks with Comcast about finding a new home for "Jericho". Possibilities included an arrangement whereby Comcast would pay part of the series' production expenses and then offer episodes in High-Definition before they air on CBS.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: "Jericho" fans continued efforts to resurrect the series, including a one-page advertisement in the April 25, 2008 edition of "Variety" magazine. A second advertisement appeared in "The Hollywood Reporter", as well as banner ads on the "Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter" websites.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: In March 2009, Devil's Due Publishing announced that all story lines from the TV series would be continued in a comic book series. In November 2009, Devil's Due Publishing released the first issue of the six-issue continuation of the "Jericho" saga. As of May 2011, IDW Publishing re-released the first three comics as "Jericho: Redux", as well as issues 4, 5 and 6, thus completing its publication. In August 2011, IDW collected all 6 comics into a 144-page graphic novel entitled "Jericho Season 3: Civil War".


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Continuing right where the Jericho Season 2 television cliffhanger ended! This specially priced edition collects the first three issues in one affordable package, to prep you for the series' continuation, also available this month. Jake Green and Robert Hawkins are in the safe haven of Texas with the last remaining bomb from the first attack. From amidst the chaos, they're contacted by John Smith, the mastermind behind the first strike, seeking aid. As the Cheyenne army bears down on them, they must decide whether to side with their former enemy to fight a greater one ...


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: In April 2012, IDW announced a new series of Jericho comics, entitled "Jericho Season 4", which picks up after the events of "Jericho Season 3". The five-issue series, written by Kalinda Vazquez, with artwork by Andrew Currie and covers by Tim Bradstreet, was overseen by the original television series' writing staff. As the publisher's description, posted at Amazon.com reads:


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Overseen by the original writing staff of the television series, Jericho is back with a vengeance, with a whole new chapter of stories told in the show's official continuity. Jericho Season Four picks up where Season Three left off. Though Jake and Hawkins are happy to be back in Jericho, the challenges they face are daunting. Not only are they fugitives in their own hometown, but they find themselves forced to play host to the newest member of the Jericho community - John Smith ... a man who some know as a friend of the resistance, but who Jake and Hawkins know as the man behind the September Attacks. Only they know his secret. And only they can stop him from committing another heinous act.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Clips from the pilot episode became free to watch on Yahoo! TV several weeks before the episode actually aired on television. CBS is still showing most, but not all, of the "Jericho" episodes on their Innertube website as of January 2009, although they cannot be accessed from outside the U.S. CBS repeated the first three episodes on the Saturday nights following their original airings, as did Australia's Network Ten. All episodes from seasons 1 and 2 can be seen on Netflix.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Each episode's opening title sequence is accompanied by an audio message in Morse code. The messages vary from generic references to cryptic clues, and are always related to the current episode in some way. The messages were broadcast at 15 words per minute at a frequency of 1000 Hz. In addition to these messages, there is Morse code over the DVD menus. These messages say "Jericho Fans Made TV History." (Season 1) and "Thank You Fans For Making TV History" (Season 2). Also, in the second episode, Robert Hawkins received several additional Morse code messages through a ham radio that he was fixing.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 1 has an approval rating of 58% based on reviews from 27 critics. The website's critical consensus states: ""Jericho" squanders the limitless potential of its apocalyptic premise by relying on tired tropes instead of forging a new path forward, leaving humanity with a retread rather than a reboot." Season 2 has an approval rating of 60% based on reviews from 10 critics. The website's critical consensus states: ""Jericho" improves in a redemptive second season that better explores the premise of humanity starting over, but the series still suffers from a thin approach to weighty material and conspiratorial plotting that strains credulity." On Metacritic, Season 1 has a score of 48 out of 100 while Season 2 holds a score of 72 out of 100.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: An online companion to "Jericho" is called "Beyond Jericho". The television program gave the web address for the online companion. "Beyond Jericho" was to feature the "other survivors" of the nuclear attacks. According to Barbee, the story was intended to be unique to the site, but as the season of "Jericho" progressed, the online story would dovetail into the episodes themselves. However, the site and "webisode" are now unavailable, having been removed from the CBS website before the second episode of the TV show was broadcast.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: CBS since decided to scrap the current webisode storyline, and instead released a new series of "prequel" webisodes named "Countdown" that take place before the first explosion. Each of these new webisodes appeared concurrently with the broadcast of new episodes during season 1, and showed Robert Hawkins gathering information before the attack.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The first installment of "Beyond Jericho" began with an unknown man calling someone on a cell phone, requesting a ransom of $1.2 million for a woman he kidnapped. He then disappears underground through a metal trap door. While climbing down, he hears and feels a bang, but thinks nothing of it. After conversing with an associate about their next plans, he picks the woman up and climbs back up to the roof. When he opens the door, it's surrounded by rubble. The entire city around them has been destroyed. Shortly after, rubble falls through the trap door. With the cell phone (apparently actually the victim's cell phone) dead, and assuming that the man's associate is dead as well in the collapse, they start to climb through the rubble to find out what happened. Nearby, a hand with a surgical glove on emerges from the rubble, as the vignette ends.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Starting on October 26, "Beyond Jericho" was replaced by "Countdown", which documents Robert Hawkins' efforts to learn as much as possible about the effects of nuclear bombs before he moved to Jericho. The webisodes do not feature any of the regular characters, and consist primarily of Hawkins, draped in shadows, watching mini-documentaries.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: The mini-documentaries feature expert interviews about the effects of a nuclear attack. They are only minimally connected to each episode's plot. For instance, CBS' 8-episode plot summary reads: "A shadowy military unit bursts into the chamber Hawkins has just vacated. On his computer, they find a video." The video was a short documentary about FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina and their use of paramilitaries. The "shadowy military unit" then patiently waits until the documentary ends to resume its search for Hawkins.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: "Countdown"'s sponsor, AT&T, is heavily promoted in the series using product placement. Nearly all dialog takes place as SMS messages on an AT&T cellular phone, and a full-screen AT&T logo appears in every episode when Hawkins views the expert interviews. This web-based programming is not accessible from outside of the United States.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: Created for the Tom Tooman game, JenningsandRall.com is the purported website of Jennings & Rall, the corporate giant which plays an increasingly prominent role in the second season of the series. The site contains a wealth of information about the company's post-holocaust global operations, with significant hints regarding events in the show.


title: Jericho (2006 TV series)

text: "Tom Tooman" is an alternate reality game that CBS ran in conjunction with "Jericho", beginning in August 2007. The game began with a cryptic letter posted on a website, supposedly from a Tom Tooman of Lame Deer, Montana. This letter was accompanied by a series of bar codes, some with decimal numbers and others with Mayan numbers. These numbers were used to create an IP address for a second website. More clues were released, as well as a blog on the CBS website connecting the game with "Jericho". The game abruptly ended when the series was cancelled, with no closure offered. A synopsis of the game and the puzzles appear at TomTooman.com.


title: Olga Korbut

text: Olga Valentinovna Korbut (born 16 May 1955) is a former gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the Soviet team, and was the inaugural inductee to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1988.


title: Olga Korbut

text: Korbut retired from gymnastics in 1977 at the age of 22, considered young for gymnasts of the period, but her influence and legacy in gymnastics was far reaching. Korbut's 1972 Olympic performances are widely credited as redefining gymnastics, changing the sport from emphasising ballet and elegance to acrobatics as well as changing gymnastics from a niche sport to one of the most popular sports in the world.


title: Olga Korbut

text: Korbut was born in Grodno to Valentin and Valentina Korbut. After World War II, the family moved to Grodno from Dubniaki (small town near Kalinkavichy). She started training at age 8, and entered a Belarusian sports school headed by coach Renald Knysh at age 9. There, Korbut's first trainer was Elena Volchetskaya, an Olympic gold medalist (1964), but she was moved to Knysh's group a year later. Initially he found her "lazy and capricious" but he also saw potential in her great talent, unusually supple spine, and charisma. With him, she learned a difficult backward somersault on the balance beam. She debuted this at a competition in the USSR in 1969. The same year, Korbut completed a backflip-to-catch on the uneven bars; this was the first backward release move ever performed by a woman on bars.


title: Olga Korbut

text: She finished fifth at her first competition in the 1969 USSR championships, where she was allowed to compete as a 14-year-old. The next year, she won a gold medal in the vault. Due to illness and injury, she was unable to compete in many of the competitions before the 1972 Summer Olympics.


title: Olga Korbut

text: At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Korbut's acrobatics and open high-level gymnastics brought her much fame. To this day, the back tuck and Korbut Flip are still very popular (2003 world beam champion Fan Ye performed both in her routine).


title: Olga Korbut

text: During the Olympics, Korbut was one of the favorites for the all-around after her dynamic performance in the team competition; however, she missed her mount on bars three times and the title went to teammate Ludmilla Tourischeva. That said, Korbut won three gold medals for the balance beam, floor exercise, and team competitions. In one of the most controversial finishes of all time, she took a silver medal in the uneven bars. Korbut's first attempt at her uneven bars routine was marred by several mistakes which all but ended her chances of winning a gold medal in the all-around. The next day, Korbut repeated the same routine in the event finals, although this time successfully. After the boards displayed a score of 9.8, the audience began to whistle and shout vulgar remarks at the judges in disapproval, believing her score to be too low. This carried on for several minutes but the judges refused to change her score.


title: Olga Korbut

text: Korbut is most famous for her uneven bars and balance beam routines, as well as her charismatic performances that captivated audiences. In 1973, she won the Russian and World Student (i.e., University) Games, and a silver medal in the all-around at the European Championships.


title: Olga Korbut

text: At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Soviet coaches and officials had designated Korbut as the woman who could beat the Romanian prodigy, Nadia Comăneci, but Korbut was injured and her performances in the games were sub-par. She was overshadowed not only by Comăneci, but also by her own teammate Nellie Kim. She did collect a team gold medal, and an individual silver medal for the balance beam.


title: Olga Korbut

text: Korbut graduated from the Grodno Pedagogical Institute in 1977, became a teacher, and retired from gymnastic competition thereafter. She married Leonid Bortkevich, who was a member of Belarusian folk band Pesniary. The couple had a son, Richard, born in 1979. In 1988 Korbut was the first gymnast to be inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.


title: Olga Korbut

text: In 1991, she and her family immigrated to the United States, because they were worried about the effects of fallout from the Chernobyl disaster on Belarus. They settled in New Jersey, where she taught gymnastics. They moved to Georgia, USA two years later where she continued to coach. Korbut and Bortkevich divorced in 2000; she became a naturalized U.S. citizen the same year. In 2002 Korbut moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, to become head coach at Scottsdale Gymnastics and Cheerleading. Korbut faced Darva Conger on an episode of "Celebrity Boxing" which aired on 22 May 2002. Conger won by unanimous decision. Korbut lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. She now works with private gymnastics pupils and does motivational speaking.


title: Olga Korbut

text: Korbut travelled to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She watched the gymnastics competitions in the North Greenwich Arena, providing commentary by way of Twitter and Facebook. During the Olympics the Royal Opera House hosted an exhibit it created with the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, titled "The Olympic Journey, The Story of the Games". As well as historical artifacts, the exhibit featured the personal stories of 16 Olympic medallists, including Korbut. Korbut celebrated the 40th anniversary of her Olympic victories with an appearance at the exhibition on 3 August. She said "I didn't even expect this. I am so honored to be here."


title: Olga Korbut

text: In 2017, Korbut sold her 1972 and 1976 Olympic medals amongst 32 lots (including two golds and a silver from the Munich Olympics) which fetched $333,500 at Heritage Auctions.


title: Olga Korbut

text: In 1999 she spoke out about alleged sexual assault and rape she suffered at the hands of her coach, Renald Knysh, which he denied. Later in 2018 Korbut appeared in a TV show in which she again spoke out about several incidents in which she alleged that her coach sexually assaulted her. As a result of Korbut speaking out publicly, several other gymnasts who had also trained under Knysh spoke of similar incidents to Korbut's allegations.


title: Olga Korbut

text: Korbut, who has won four Olympic gold medals, is best known for her move, the Korbut flip, a backflip performed on the uneven parallel bars, starting from a standing position on the high bar and then catching the same bar from below on the under swing. She also achieved the flip on the 4" balance bar onto the straddle position and later the flip landing on her feet. Named after Korbut since she was the first to perform the skill at an international competition in 1972, the move has since been made illegal in the Olympic Code of Points.


title: Olga Korbut

text: After the 1972 Olympic competition, she also met United States President Richard Nixon at the White House. About the meeting, Korbut said: "He told me that my performance in Munich did more for reducing the political tension during the Cold War between our two countries than the embassies were able to do in five years." In addition to greatly publicizing gymnastics worldwide, she also contributed to a marked change in the tenor of the sport itself. Prior to 1972, the athletes were generally older and the focus was on elegance rather than acrobatics. In the decade after Korbut's Olympic debut, the emphasis was reversed. Korbut, in her 1972, gold-medal Olympics, at and , exemplified the deliberate and purposeful trend toward smaller women in the sport.


title: Olga Korbut

text: Her 1972 Olympic achievement earned her ABC's Wide World of Sports title of Athlete of the Year. In a UK poll conducted by Channel 4 in 2002 the public voted "Olga Korbut charms the world" No.46 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.


title: Olga Korbut

text: In a "Peanuts" comic strip published on 15 May 1973, the character Snoopy is seen doing balance beam positions with flawless precision on top of his doghouse for three panels until coming to a rest in the fourth one saying: "Olga Korbut has been bugging me for lessons!"


title: Dr. Evil

text: Douglas Powers, commonly known as Dr. Evil, is a fictional character portrayed by Mike Myers in the "Austin Powers" film series. He is the main antagonist and Austin Powers' nemesis (and secret twin brother). He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Dr. Evil routinely hatches schemes to terrorize and take over the world, and is usually accompanied by "Number Two", a goon who fronts his evil corporation Virtucon Industries, his cat Mr. Bigglesworth and his sidekick Mini-Me, a dwarf clone of himself.


title: Dr. Evil

text: American costume maker Phillip Morris had also created a long-running character named Dr. Evil in 1959. After an eight-year legal battle, New Line Cinema paid him a settlement in response to a trademark dispute.


title: Dr. Evil

text: In 1997, an unnamed "Saturday Night Live" writer claimed Dr. Evil was based on "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels, saying: "It's the lower lip, the eyebrows, the whole way he talks." Another unnamed former "SNL" actor cited Michaels' "obsessing about minutiae, the way he ends everything by bringing his pinkie up and chewing the fingernail." Mike Myers disagreed, insisting the character was based on Donald Pleasence's portrayal of Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in "You Only Live Twice".


title: Dr. Evil

text: In the first film, "", Dr. Evil is an internationally known criminal genius, cryogenically frozen in 1967 and reawakened in 1997. According to his own account, Dr. Evil's upbringing went as follows:


title: Dr. Evil

text: In the second film, he went on the "Jerry Springer" show and declared that he was the "Princess of Canada".


title: Dr. Evil

text: In the third film, "Goldmember", Nigel Powers reveals that Dr. Evil is in fact Austin Powers' twin brother, Douglas "Dougie" Powers. He explains that Douglas and Austin were separated as babies following a car explosion, and that he had thought that only Austin had survived. Following the explosion, Dougie was raised in Bruges, Belgium.


title: Dr. Evil

text: Dr. Evil has a strained relationship with his son Scott (played by Seth Green), even liquidating their therapy group over an accusation of insolence. Scott points out Dr. Evil's incompetence and immaturity, as well as obvious mistakes and flaws in his plans. Scott later grows more "evil" and momentarily gains his father's respect, especially after Scott provides him a pool filled with sharks with laser-beams attached to their heads. When Dr. Evil switches sides to help Austin save the world, Scott takes over as the head of the evil organization.


title: Dr. Evil

text: Mr. Bigglesworth (played by Ted Nude Gent) is a fictional cat belonging to Dr. Evil. He was originally similar to Blofeld's cat, a typical white Persian cat from the James Bond movie series. Having escaped with Dr. Evil in a cryonic capsule, he lost all his fur due to an error in the thawing process. Mr. Bigglesworth has subsequently become bald, played by a Sphynx cat, whilst Dr. Evil's miniature clone, Mini-Me, has a kitten named Mini Mr. Bigglesworth. In the third installment of the franchise, Mr. Bigglesworth is only seen once.


title: Dr. Evil

text: Myers later revived the Dr. Evil character for a brief appearance on the December 20, 2014 episode of "Saturday Night Live", a show on which Myers had previously had a regular role. During the sketch, Dr. Evil lampooned North Korea and Sony Pictures on their spat over "The Interview". Myers once again revived the character for a brief appearance on a 2018 episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in a sketch where Dr. Evil has been fired from President Trump's cabinet, and again on Election Day to announce his run for Congress.


title: Dr. Evil

text: Myers subsequently played Dr. Evil in a Super Bowl LVI commercial, for General Motors. Seth Green, Rob Lowe, and Mindy Sterling also reprised their roles as Scott Evil, Number Two, and Frau Farbissina. In the commercial, Dr. Evil along with his henchmen take over General Motors, but his henchmen tell him that climate change is the biggest threat of the planet, making Dr. Evil the second threat on the planet. So, Evil decides he and his henchmen will save the planet, with the lineup of the company's electric vehicles. Scott Evil also informs his father he has a grandson named Kyle (but Dr. Evil names him Baby Me.)


title: History of Finland

text: The history of Finland begins around 9,000 BC during the end of the last glacial period. Stone Age cultures were Kunda, Comb Ceramic, Corded Ware, Kiukainen, and . The Finnish Bronze Age started in approximately 1,500 BC and the Iron Age started in 500 BC and lasted until 1,300 AD. Finnish Iron Age cultures can be separated into Finnish proper, Tavastian and Karelian cultures. The earliest written sources mentioning Finland start to appear from the 12th century onwards when the Catholic Church started to gain a foothold in Southwest Finland.


title: History of Finland

text: Due to the Northern Crusades and Swedish colonisation of some Finnish coastal areas, most of the region became a part of the Kingdom of Sweden and the realm of the Catholic Church from the 13th century onwards. After the Finnish War in 1809, Finland was ceded to the Russian Empire, making this area the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. The Lutheran religion dominated. Finnish nationalism emerged in the 19th century. It focused on Finnish cultural traditions, folklore, and mythology, including music and—especially—the highly distinctive language and lyrics associated with it. One product of this era was the "Kalevala", one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. The catastrophic Finnish famine of 1866–1868 was followed by eased economic regulations and extensive emigration.


title: History of Finland

text: In 1917, Finland declared independence. A civil war between the Finnish Red Guards and the White Guard ensued a few months later, with the Whites gaining the upper hand during the springtime of 1918. After the internal affairs stabilized, the still mainly agrarian economy grew relatively quickly. Relations with the West, especially Sweden and Britain, were strong but tensions remained with the Soviet Union. During World War II, Finland fought twice against the Soviet Union, first defending its independence in the Winter War and then invading the Soviet Union in the Continuation War. In the peace settlement Finland ended up ceding a large part of Karelia and some other areas to the Soviet Union. However, Finland remained an independent democracy in Northern Europe.


title: History of Finland

text: In the latter half of its independent history, Finland has maintained a mixed economy. Since its post–World War II economic boom in the 1970s, Finland's GDP per capita has been among the world's highest. The expanded welfare state of Finland from 1970 and 1990 increased the public sector employees and spending and the tax burden imposed on the citizens. In 1992, Finland simultaneously faced economic overheating and depressed Western, Russian, and local markets. Finland joined the European Union in 1995, and replaced the Finnish markka with the euro in 2002. According to a 2016 poll, 61% of Finns preferred not to join NATO. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the numbers had shifted significantly, with 62% in favour of Finland joining NATO and 16% against.


title: History of Finland

text: If confirmed, the oldest archeological site in Finland would be the Wolf Cave in Kristinestad, in Ostrobothnia. The site would be the only pre-glacial (Neanderthal) site so far discovered in the Nordic countries, and it is approximately 125,000 years old.


title: History of Finland

text: The last ice age in the area of the modern-day Finland ended c. 9000 BC. Starting about that time, people migrated to the area of Finland from the south and southeast. Their culture represented a mixture of Kunda, , and . At the same time, northern Finland was inhabited via the coast of Norway. The oldest confirmed evidence of post-glacial human settlements in Finland is from the area of Ristola in Lahti and from Orimattila, from c. 8900 BC. Finland has been continuously inhabited at least since the end of the last ice age up to the present. The earliest post-glacial inhabitants of the present-day area of Finland were probably mainly seasonal hunter-gatherers. Among finds is the net of Antrea, the oldest fishing net known ever to have been excavated (calibrated carbon dating: ca. 8300 BC).


title: History of Finland

text: By 5300 BC, pottery was present in Finland. The earliest samples belong to the Comb Ceramic cultures, known for their distinctive decorating patterns. This marks the beginning of the neolithic period for Finland, although subsistence was still based on hunting and fishing. Extensive networks of exchange existed across Finland and northeastern Europe during the 5th millennium BC. For example, flint from Scandinavia and the Valdai Hills, amber from Scandinavia and the Baltic region, and slate from Scandinavia and Lake Onega found their way into Finnish archaeological sites, while asbestos and soap stone from Finland (e.g. the area of Saimaa) were found in other regions. Rock paintings—apparently related to shamanistic and totemistic belief systems—have been found, especially in Eastern Finland, e.g. Astuvansalmi.


title: History of Finland

text: Between 3500 and 2000 BC, monumental stone enclosures, colloquially known as Giant's Churches (), were constructed in the Ostrobothnia region. The purpose of the enclosures is unknown.


title: History of Finland

text: In recent years, a dig at the Kierikki site north of Oulu on the River Ii has changed the image of Finnish neolithic Stone Age culture. The site had been inhabited year-round and its inhabitants traded extensively. Kierikki culture is also seen as a subtype of Comb Ceramic culture. More of the site is excavated annually.


title: History of Finland

text: From 3200 BC onwards, either immigrants or a strong cultural influence from south of the Gulf of Finland settled in southwestern Finland. This culture was a part of the European Battle Axe cultures, which have often been associated with the movement of the Indo-European speakers. The Battle Axe, or Cord Ceramic, culture seems to have practiced agriculture and animal husbandry outside of Finland, but the earliest confirmed traces of agriculture in Finland date later, approximately to the 2nd millennium BC. Further inland, societies retained their hunting-gathering lifestyles for the time being.


title: History of Finland

text: The Battle Axe and Comb Ceramic cultures eventually merged, giving rise to the Kiukainen culture that existed between 2300 BC and 1500 BC, and was fundamentally a comb ceramic tradition with cord ceramic characteristics.


title: History of Finland

text: The Bronze Age began some time after 1500 BC. The coastal regions of Finland were a part of the Nordic Bronze Culture, whereas in the inland regions the influences came from the bronze-using cultures of northern and eastern Russia.


title: History of Finland

text: The Iron Age in Finland is considered to have lasted from c. 500 BC until c. 1300 AD. Written records of Finland become more common due to the Northern Crusades led by the Catholic Church in the 12th and 13th centuries. As the Finnish Iron Age lasted almost two millennia, it is further divided into six sub-periods:


title: History of Finland

text: Very few written records of Finland or its people remain in any language of the era. Written sources are of foreign origin and include Tacitus' description of "Fenni" in his work "Germania", runestones, the sagas written down by Snorri Sturluson, as well as the 12th- and 13th-century ecclesiastical letters by the Pope. Numerous other sources from the Roman period onwards contain brief mentions of ancient Finnish kings and place names, as such defining Finland as a kingdom and noting the culture of its people.


title: History of Finland

text: The oldest surviving mention of the word "Suomi" (Finland in Finnish) is in the annals of the Frankish Empire written between 741 and 829. At 811, annals mention a person named Suomi in connection with a peace agreement. The name Suomi as the name of Finland is nowadays used in Finnic languages, Sámi, Latvian, Lithuanian and Scottish Gaelic.


title: History of Finland

text: Currently the oldest known Scandinavian documents mentioning Finland are two runestones: Söderby, Sweden, with the inscription (U 582), and Gotland with the inscription (G 319) dating from the 11th century. However, as the long continuum of the Finnish Iron Age into the historical Medieval period of Europe suggests, the primary source of information of the era in Finland is based on archaeological findings and modern applications of natural scientific methods like those of DNA analysis or computer linguistics.


title: History of Finland

text: Production of iron during the Finnish Iron Age was adopted from the neighboring cultures in the east, west and south about the same time as the first imported iron artifacts appear. This happened almost simultaneously in various parts of the country.


title: History of Finland

text: The Pre-Roman period of the Finnish Iron Age is scarcest in findings, but the known ones suggest that cultural connections to other Baltic cultures were already established. The archeological findings of Pernå and Savukoski provides proof of this argument. Many of the era's dwelling sites are the same as those of the Neolithic. Most of the iron of the era was produced on site.


title: History of Finland

text: The Roman period brought along an influx of imported iron (and other) artifacts like Roman wine glasses and dippers as well as various coins of the Empire. During this period the (proto) Finnish culture stabilized on the coastal regions and larger graveyards become commonplace. The prosperity of the Finns rose to the level that the vast majority of gold treasures found within Finland date back to this period.


title: History of Finland

text: The Migration period saw the expansion of land cultivation inland, especially in Southern Bothnia, and the growing influence of Germanic cultures, both in artifacts like swords and other weapons and in burial customs. However most iron as well as its forging was of domestic origin, probably from bog iron.


title: History of Finland

text: The Merovingian period in Finland gave rise to a distinctive fine crafts culture of its own, visible in the original decorations of domestically produced weapons and jewelry. The finest luxury weapons, however, were imported from Western Europe. The very first Christian burials are from the latter part of this era as well. In the Leväluhta burial findings, the average height of a man was originally thought to be just 158 cm and that of a woman 147 cm, but recent research has corrected these numbers upwards and has confirmed that the people buried in Leväluhta were of average height for that era in Europe.


title: History of Finland

text: Recent findings suggest that Finnish trade connections became more active during the 8th century, bringing an influx of silver onto Finnish markets. The opening of the eastern route to Constantinople via Finland's southern coastline archipelago brought Arabic and Byzantine artifacts into the excavation findings of the era.


title: History of Finland

text: The earliest findings of imported iron blades and local iron working appear in 500 BC. From about 50 AD, there are indications of a more intense long-distance exchange of goods in coastal Finland. Inhabitants exchanged their products, presumably mostly furs, for weapons and ornaments with the Balts and the Scandinavians, as well as with the peoples along the traditional eastern trade routes. The existence of richly furnished burials, usually with weapons, suggests that there was a chiefly elite in the southern and western parts of the country. Hillforts spread over most of southern Finland at the end of the Iron and early Medieval Ages. There is no commonly accepted evidence of early state formations in Finland, and the presumably Iron Age origins of urbanization are contested.


title: History of Finland

text: The question of the timelines for the evolution and the spreading of the current Finnish languages is controversial, and new theories challenging older ones have been introduced continuously.


title: History of Finland

text: It is widely believed that Finno-Ugric (the western branch of the Uralic) languages were first spoken in Finland and the adjacent areas during the Comb Ceramic period, around 4000 BC at the latest. During the 2nd millennium BC these evolved—possibly under an Indo-European (most likely Baltic) influence—into proto-Sami (inland) and Proto-Finnic (coastland). In contrast, A. Aikio and K. Häkkinen propose that the Finno-Ugric languages arrived in the Gulf of Finland area around 2000 BC or later in the Bronze Age, as result of an early Bronze Age Uralic language expansion possibly connected to the Seima-Turbino phenomenon. This would also imply that Finno-Ugric languages in Finland were preceded by a Northwestern Indo-European language, at least to the extent the latter can be associated with the Cord Ceramic culture, as well as by hitherto unknown Paleo-European languages. The center of expansion for the Proto-Finnic language is posited to have been located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. The Finnish language is thought to have started to differentiate during the Iron Age starting from the earliest centuries of the Common Era.


title: History of Finland

text: Cultural influences from a variety of places are visible in the Finnish archaeological finds from the very first settlements onwards. For example, archaeological finds from Finnish Lapland suggest the presence of the Komsa culture from Norway. The Sujala finds, which are equal in age with the earliest Komsa artifacts, may also suggest a connection to the Swiderian culture. Southwestern Finland belonged to the Nordic Bronze Age, which may be associated with Indo-European languages, and according to Finnish Germanist Jorma Koivulehto speakers of Proto-Germanic language in particular. Artifacts found in Kalanti and the province of Satakunta, which have long been monolingually Finnish, and their place names have made several scholars argue for an existence of a proto-Germanic speaking population component a little later, during the Early and Middle Iron Age.


title: History of Finland

text: The Swedish colonisation of the Åland Islands, Turku archipelago and Uusimaa could possibly have started in the 12th century but reached its height in the 13th and 14th centuries, when it also affected the Eastern Uusimaa and Pohjanmaa regions. The oldest Swedish place names in Finland are from this period as well as the Swedish-speaking population of Finland.


title: History of Finland

text: Contact between Sweden and what is now Finland was considerable even during pre-Christian times; the Vikings were known to the Finns due to their participation in both commerce and plundering. There is possible evidence of Viking settlement in the Finnish mainland. The Åland Islands probably had Swedish settlement during the Viking Period. However, some scholars claim that the archipelago was deserted during the 11th century.


title: History of Finland

text: According to the archaeological finds, Christianity gained a foothold in Finland during the 11th century. According to the very few written documents that have survived, the church in Finland was still in its early development in the 12th century. Later medieval legends from late 13th century describe Swedish attempts to conquer and Christianize Finland sometime in the mid-1150s.


title: History of Finland

text: In the early 13th century, Bishop Thomas became the first known bishop of Finland. There were several secular powers who aimed to bring the Finnish tribes under their rule. These were Sweden, Denmark, the Republic of Novgorod in northwestern Russia, and probably the German crusading orders as well. Finns had their own chiefs, but most probably no central authority. At the time there can be seen three cultural areas or tribes in Finland: Finns, Tavastians and Karelians. Russian chronicles indicate there were several conflicts between Novgorod and the Finnic tribes from the 11th or 12th century to the early 13th century.


title: History of Finland

text: It was the Swedish regent, Birger Jarl, who allegedly established Swedish rule in Finland through the Second Swedish Crusade, most often dated to 1249. The Eric Chronicle, the only source narrating the crusade, describes that it was aimed at Tavastians. A papal letter from 1237 states that the Tavastians had reverted from Christianity to their old ethnic faith.


title: History of Finland

text: Novgorod gained control in Karelia in 1278, the region inhabited by speakers of Eastern Finnish dialects. Sweden however gained the control of Western Karelia with the Third Swedish Crusade in 1293. Western Karelians were from then on viewed as part of the western cultural sphere, while eastern Karelians turned culturally to Russia and Orthodoxy. While eastern Karelians remain linguistically and ethnically closely related to the Finns, they are generally considered a separate people. Thus, the northern part of the border between Catholic and Orthodox Christendom came to lie at the eastern border of what would become Finland with the Treaty of Nöteborg with Novgorod in 1323.


title: History of Finland

text: During the 13th century, Finland was integrated into medieval European civilization. The Dominican order arrived in Finland around 1249 and came to exercise great influence there. In the early 14th century, the first records of Finnish students at the Sorbonne appear. In the southwestern part of the country, an urban settlement evolved in Turku. Turku was one of the biggest towns in the Kingdom of Sweden, and its population included German merchants and craftsmen. Otherwise the degree of urbanization was very low in medieval Finland. Southern Finland and the long coastal zone of the Gulf of Bothnia had a sparse farming settlements, organized as parishes and castellanies. In the other parts of the country a small population of Sami hunters, fishermen, and small-scale farmers lived. These were exploited by the Finnish and Karelian tax collectors. During the 12th and 13th centuries, great numbers of Swedish settlers moved to the southern and northwestern coasts of Finland, to the Åland Islands, and to the archipelago between Turku and the Åland Islands. In these regions, the Swedish language is widely spoken even today. Swedish came to be the language of the upper class in many other parts of Finland as well.


title: History of Finland

text: The name "Finland" originally signified only the southwestern province, which has been known as Finland Proper since the 18th century. The first known mention of Finland is in runestone Gs 13 from the 11th century. The original Swedish term for the realm's eastern part was ('Eastern Lands'), a plural, meaning the area of Finland Proper, Tavastia, and Karelia. This was later replaced by the singular form Österland, which was in use between 1350 and 1470. In the 15th century Finland began to be used synonymously with Österland. The concept of a Finnish country in the modern sense developed slowly from the 15th to 18th centuries.


title: History of Finland

text: During the 13th century, the bishopric of Turku was established. Turku Cathedral was the center of the cult of Saint Henry of Uppsala, and naturally the cultural center of the bishopric. The bishop had ecclesiastical authority over much of today's Finland, and was usually the most powerful man there. Bishops were often Finns, whereas the commanders of castles were more often Scandinavian or German noblemen. In 1362, representatives from Finland were called to participate in the elections for the king of Sweden. As such, that year is often considered when Finland was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sweden. As in the Scandinavian part of the kingdom, the gentry or (lower) nobility consisted of magnates and yeomen who could afford armament for a man and a horse; these were concentrated in the southern part of Finland.


title: History of Finland

text: The strong fortress of Viborg (Finnish: , Russian: ) guarded the eastern border of Finland. Sweden and Novgorod signed the Treaty of Nöteborg ( in Finnish) in 1323, but that did not last long. In 1348 the Swedish king Magnus Eriksson staged a failed crusade against Orthodox "heretics", managing only to alienate his supporters and ultimately lose his crown. The bones of contention between Sweden and Novgorod were the northern coastline of the Gulf of Bothnia and the wilderness regions of Savo in Eastern Finland. Novgorod considered these as hunting and fishing grounds of its Karelian subjects, and protested against the slow infiltration of Catholic settlers from the West. Occasional raids and clashes between Swedes and Novgorodians occurred during the late 14th and 15th centuries, but for most of the time an uneasy peace prevailed.


title: History of Finland

text: During the 1380s, a civil war in the Scandinavian part of Sweden brought unrest to Finland as well. The victor of this struggle was Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who brought the three Scandinavian kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark and, Norway under her rule (the Kalmar Union) in 1389. One of the phenomenons that appeared in those days with the unrest, was the notorious pirates, known as the Victual Brothers, who operated in the Baltic Sea in the Middle Ages to terrorize the coastal areas of Finland, and among other things, Korsholm Castle in Ostrobothnia, Turku Castle in the Finland Proper and also the Turku's Archipelago Sea were the most significant domains for the pirates. The next 130 years or so were characterized by attempts of different Swedish factions to break out of the Union. Finland was sometimes involved in these struggles, but in general the 15th century seems to have been a relatively prosperous time, characterized by population growth and economic development. Towards the end of the 15th century, however, the situation on the eastern border became more tense. The Principality of Moscow conquered Novgorod, preparing the way for a unified Russia, and from 1495 to 1497 a war was fought between Sweden and Russia. The fortress-town of Viborg withstood a Russian siege; according to a contemporary legend, it was saved by a miracle.


title: History of Finland

text: In 1521 the Kalmar Union collapsed and Gustav Vasa became the King of Sweden. During his rule, the Swedish church was reformed. The state administration underwent extensive reforms and development too, giving it a much stronger grip on the life of local communities—and ability to collect higher taxes. Following the policies of the Reformation, in 1551 Mikael Agricola, bishop of Turku, published his translation of the New Testament into the Finnish language.


title: History of Finland

text: In 1550 Helsinki was founded by Gustav Vasa under the name of Helsingfors, but remained little more than a fishing village for more than two centuries.


title: History of Finland

text: King Gustav Vasa died in 1560 and his crown was passed to his three sons in separate turns. King Erik XIV started an era of expansion when the Swedish crown took the city of Tallinn in Estonia under its protection in 1561. This action contributed to the early stages of the Livonian War which was a warlike era which lasted for 160 years. In the first phase, Sweden fought for the lordship of Estonia and Latvia against Denmark, Poland and Russia. The common people of Finland suffered because of drafts, high taxes, and abuse by military personnel. This resulted in the Cudgel War of 1596–1597, a desperate peasant rebellion, which was suppressed brutally and bloodily. A peace treaty (the Treaty of Teusina) with Russia in 1595 moved the border of Finland further to the east and north, very roughly where the modern border lies.


title: History of Finland

text: An important part of the 16th-century history of Finland was growth of the area settled by the farming population. The crown encouraged farmers from the province of Savonia to settle the vast wilderness regions in Middle Finland. This often forced the original Sami population to leave. Some of the wilderness settled was traditional hunting and fishing territory of Karelian hunters. During the 1580s, this resulted in a bloody guerrilla warfare between the Finnish settlers and Karelians in some regions, especially in Ostrobothnia.


title: History of Finland

text: In 1611–1632 Sweden was ruled by King Gustavus Adolphus, whose military reforms transformed the Swedish army from a peasant militia into an efficient fighting machine, possibly the best in Europe. The conquest of Livonia was now completed, and some territories were taken from internally divided Russia in the Treaty of Stolbova. In 1630, the Swedish (and Finnish) armies marched into Central Europe, as Sweden had decided to take part in the great struggle between Protestant and Catholic forces in Germany, known as the Thirty Years' War. The Finnish light cavalry was known as the Hakkapeliitat.


title: History of Finland

text: After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Swedish Empire was one of the most powerful countries in Europe. During the war, several important reforms had been made in Finland:


title: History of Finland

text: However, the high taxation, continuing wars and the cold climate (the Little Ice Age) made the Imperial era of Sweden rather gloomy times for Finnish peasants. In 1655–1660, the Northern Wars were fought, taking Finnish soldiers to the battle-fields of Livonia, Poland and Denmark. In 1676, the political system of Sweden was transformed into an absolute monarchy.


title: History of Finland

text: In Middle and Eastern Finland, great amounts of tar were produced for export. European nations needed this material for the maintenance of their fleets. According to some theories, the spirit of early capitalism in the tar-producing province of Ostrobothnia may have been the reason for the witch-hunt wave that happened in this region during the late 17th century. The people were developing more expectations and plans for the future, and when these were not realized, they were quick to blame witches—according to a belief system the Lutheran church had imported from Germany.


title: History of Finland

text: The Empire had a colony in the New World in the modern-day Delaware-Pennsylvania area between 1638 and 1655. At least half of the immigrants were of Finnish origin.


title: History of Finland

text: The 17th century was an era of very strict Lutheran orthodoxy. In 1608, the law of Moses was declared the law of the land, in addition to secular legislation. Every subject of the realm was required to confess the Lutheran faith and church attendance was mandatory. Ecclesiastical penalties were widely used. The rigorous requirements of orthodoxy were revealed in the dismissal of the Bishop of Turku, Johan Terserus, who wrote a catechism which was decreed heretical in 1664 by the theologians of the academy of Åbo. On the other hand, the Lutheran requirement of the individual study of Bible prompted the first attempts at wide-scale education. The church required from each person a degree of literacy sufficient to read the basic texts of the Lutheran faith. Although the requirements could be fulfilled by learning the texts by heart, also the skill of reading became known among the population.


title: History of Finland

text: In 1696–1699, a famine caused by climate decimated Finland. A combination of an early frost, the freezing temperatures preventing grain from reaching Finnish ports, and a lackluster response from the Swedish government saw about one-third of the population die. Soon afterwards, another war determining Finland's fate began (the Great Northern War of 1700–21).


title: History of Finland

text: The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was devastating, as Sweden and Russia fought for control of the Baltic. Harsh conditions—worsening poverty and repeated crop failures—among peasants undermined support for the war, leading to Sweden's defeat. Finland was a battleground as both armies ravaged the countryside, leading to famine, epidemics, social disruption and the loss of nearly half the population. By 1721 only 250,000 remained. Landowners had to pay higher wages to keep their peasants. Russia was the winner, annexing the south-eastern part, including the town of Viborg, after the Treaty of Nystad. The border with Russia came to lie roughly where it returned to after World War II. Sweden's status as a European great power was forfeited, and Russia was now the leading power in the North. The absolute monarchy ended in Sweden. During this Age of Liberty, the Parliament ruled the country, and the two parties of the Hats and Caps struggled for control leaving the lesser Court party, i.e. parliamentarians with close connections to the royal court, with little to no influence. The Caps wanted to have a peaceful relationship with Russia and were supported by many Finns, while other Finns longed for revenge and supported the Hats.


title: History of Finland

text: Finland by this time was depopulated, with a population in 1749 of 427,000. However, with peace the population grew rapidly, and doubled before 1800. 90% of the population were typically classified as peasants, most being free taxed yeomen. Society was divided into four Estates: peasants (free taxed yeomen), the clergy, nobility and burghers. A minority, mostly cottagers, were estateless, and had no political representation. Forty-five percent of the male population were enfranchised with full political representation in the legislature—although clerics, nobles and townsfolk had their own chambers in the parliament, boosting their political influence and excluding the peasantry on matters of foreign policy.


title: History of Finland

text: The mid-18th century was a relatively good time, partly because life was now more peaceful. However, during the Lesser Wrath (1741–1742), Finland was again occupied by the Russians after the government, during a period of Hat party dominance, had made a botched attempt to reconquer the lost provinces. Instead the result of the Treaty of Åbo was that the Russian border was moved further to the west. During this time, Russian propaganda hinted at the possibility of creating a separate Finnish kingdom.


title: History of Finland

text: Both the ascending Russian Empire and pre-revolutionary France aspired to have Sweden as a client state. Parliamentarians and others with influence were susceptible to taking bribes which they did their best to increase. The integrity and the credibility of the political system waned, and in 1771 the young and charismatic king Gustav III staged a coup d'état, abolished parliamentarism and reinstated royal power in Sweden—more or less with the support of the parliament. In 1788, he started a new war against Russia. Despite a couple of victorious battles, the war was fruitless, managing only to bring disturbance to the economic life of Finland. The popularity of King Gustav III waned considerably. During the war, a group of officers made the famous Anjala declaration demanding peace negotiations and calling of the (Parliament). An interesting sideline to this process was the conspiracy of some Finnish officers, who attempted to create an independent Finnish state with Russian support. After an initial shock, Gustav III crushed this opposition. In 1789, the new constitution of Sweden strengthened the royal power further, as well as improving the status of the peasantry. However, the continuing war had to be finished without conquests—and many Swedes now considered the king as a tyrant.


title: History of Finland

text: With the interruption of the Gustav III's war (1788–1790), the last decades of the 18th century had been an era of development in Finland. New things were changing even everyday life, such as starting of potato farming after the 1750s. New scientific and technical inventions were seen. The first hot air balloon in Finland (and in the whole Swedish kingdom) was made in Oulu (Uleåborg) in 1784, only a year after it was invented in France. Trade increased and the peasantry was growing more affluent and self-conscious. The Age of Enlightenment's climate of broadened debate in the society on issues of politics, religion and morals would in due time highlight the problem that the overwhelming majority of Finns spoke only Finnish, but the cascade of newspapers, belles-lettres and political leaflets was almost exclusively in Swedish—when not in French.


title: History of Finland

text: The two Russian occupations had been harsh and were not easily forgotten. These occupations were a seed of a feeling of separateness and otherness, that in a narrow circle of scholars and intellectuals at the university in Turku was forming a sense of a separate Finnish identity representing the eastern part of the realm. The shining influence of the Russian imperial capital Saint Petersburg was also much stronger in southern Finland than in other parts of Sweden, and contacts across the new border dispersed the worst fears for the fate of the educated and trading classes under a Russian régime. At the turn of the 19th century, the Swedish-speaking educated classes of officers, clerics and civil servants were mentally well prepared for a shift of allegiance to the strong Russian Empire.


title: History of Finland

text: King Gustav III was assassinated in 1792, and his son Gustav IV Adolf assumed the crown after a period of regency. The new king was not a particularly talented ruler; at least not talented enough to steer his kingdom through the dangerous era of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars.


title: History of Finland

text: Meanwhile, the Finnish areas belonging to Russia after the peace treaties in 1721 and 1743 (not including Ingria), called "Old Finland", were initially governed with the old Swedish laws (a not uncommon practice in the expanding Russian Empire in the 18th century). However, gradually the rulers of Russia granted large estates of land to their non-Finnish favorites, ignoring the traditional landownership and peasant freedom laws of Old Finland. There were even cases where the noblemen punished peasants corporally, for example by flogging. The overall situation caused decline in the economy and morale in Old Finland, worsened since 1797 when the area was forced to send men to the Imperial Army. The construction of military installations in the area brought thousands of non-Finnish people to the region. In 1812, after the Russian conquest of Finland, "Old Finland" was attached to the rest of the country, though the landownership question remained a serious problem until the 1870s.


title: History of Finland

text: While the king of Sweden sent in his governor to rule Finland, in day to day reality the villagers ran their own affairs using traditional local assemblies (called the ting) which selected a local , or lawman, to enforce the norms. The Swedes used the parish system to collect taxes. The (local parish) was at once a community religious organization and a judicial district that administered the king's law. The ting participated in the taxation process; taxes were collected by the bailiff, a royal appointee.


title: History of Finland

text: In contrast to serfdom in Germany and Russia, the Finnish peasant was typically a freeholder who owned and controlled his small plot of land. There was no serfdom in which peasants were permanently attached to specific lands, and were ruled by the owners of that land. In Finland (and Sweden) the peasants formed one of the four estates and were represented in the parliament. Outside the political sphere, however, the peasants were considered at the bottom of the social order—just above vagabonds. The upper classes looked down on them as excessively prone to drunkenness and laziness, as clannish and untrustworthy, and especially as lacking honor and a sense of national spirit. This disdain dramatically changed in the 19th century when everyone idealised the peasant as the true carrier of Finnishness and the national ethos, as opposed to the Swedish-speaking elites.


title: History of Finland

text: The peasants were not passive; they were proud of their traditions and would band together and fight to uphold their traditional rights in the face of burdensome taxes from the king or new demands by the landowning nobility. The great Cudgel War in the south in 1596–1597 attacked the nobles and their new system of state feudalism; this bloody revolt was similar to other contemporary peasant wars in Europe. In the north, there was less tension between nobles and peasants and more equality among peasants, due to the practice of subdividing farms among heirs, to non farm economic activities, and to the small numbers of nobility and gentry. Often the nobles and landowners were paternalistic and helpful. The Crown usually sided with the nobles, but after the "restitution" of the 1680s it ended the practice of the nobility extracting labor from the peasants and instead began a new tax system whereby royal bureaucrats collected taxes directly from the peasants, who disliked the efficient new system. After 1800 growing population pressure resulted in larger numbers of poor crofters and landless laborers and the impoverishment of small farmers.


title: History of Finland

text: During the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia, Finland was again conquered by the armies of Tsar Alexander I. The four Estates of occupied Finland were assembled at the Diet of Porvoo on 29 March 1809, to pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia. Following the Swedish defeat in the war and the signing of the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on 17 September 1809, Finland remained a Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire until the end of 1917, with the czar as Grand Duke. Russia assigned Karelia ("Old Finland") to the Grand Duchy in 1812. During the years of Russian rule the degree of autonomy varied. Periods of censorship and political prosecution occurred, particularly in the two last decades of Russian control, but the Finnish peasantry remained free (unlike the Russian serfs) as the old Swedish law remained effective (including the relevant parts from Gustav III's Constitution of 1772). The old four-chamber Diet was re-activated in the 1860s agreeing to supplementary new legislation concerning internal affairs. In addition, Finns remained free of obligations connected to the empire, such as the duty to serve in tsarist armies, and they enjoyed certain rights that citizens from other parts of the empire did not have.


title: History of Finland

text: Before 1860 overseas merchant firms and the owners of landed estates had accumulated wealth that became available for industrial investments. After 1860 the government liberalized economic laws and began to build a suitable physical infrastructure of ports, railroads and telegraph lines. The domestic market was small but rapid growth took place after 1860 in export industries drawing on forest resources and mobile rural laborers. Industrialization began during the mid-19th century from forestry to industry, mining and machinery and laid the foundation of Finland's current day prosperity, even though agriculture employed a relatively large part of the population until the post–World War II era.


title: History of Finland

text: The beginnings of industrialism took place in Helsinki. Alfred Kihlman (1825–1904) began as a Lutheran priest and director of the elite Helsingfors boys' school, the Swedish Normal Lyceum. He became a financier and member of the diet. There was little precedent in Finland in the 1850s for raising venture capital. Kihlman was well connected and enlisted businessmen and capitalists to invest in new enterprises. In 1869, he organized a limited partnership that supported two years of developmental activities that led to the founding of the Nokia company in 1871.


title: History of Finland

text: After 1890 industrial productivity stagnated because entrepreneurs were unable to keep up with technological innovations made by competitors in Germany, Britain and the United States. However, Russification opened up a large Russian market especially for machinery.


title: History of Finland

text: The Finnish national awakening in the mid-19th century was the result of members of the Swedish-speaking upper classes deliberately choosing to promote Finnish culture and language as a means of nation building, i.e. to establish a feeling of unity among all people in Finland including (and not of least importance) between the ruling elite and the ruled peasantry. The publication in 1835 of the Finnish national epic, the "Kalevala", a collection of traditional myths and legends which is the folklore of the Karelian people (the Finnic Eastern Orthodox people who inhabit the Lake Ladoga-region of eastern Finland and present-day NW Russia), stirred the nationalism that later led to Finland's independence from Russia.


title: History of Finland

text: Particularly following Finland's incorporation into the Swedish central administration during the 16th and 17th centuries, Swedish was spoken by about 15% of the population, especially the upper and middle classes. Swedish was the language of administration, public institutions, education and cultural life. Only the peasants spoke Finnish. The emergence of Finnish to predominance resulted from a 19th-century surge of Finnish nationalism, aided by Russian bureaucrats attempting to separate Finns from Sweden and to ensure the Finns' loyalty.


title: History of Finland

text: In 1863, the Finnish language gained an official position in administration. In 1892 Finnish finally became an equal official language and gained a status comparable to that of Swedish. Nevertheless, the Swedish language continued to be the language of culture, arts and business all the way to the 1920s.


title: History of Finland

text: Movements toward Finnish national pride, as well as liberalism in politics and economics involved ethnic and class dimensions. The nationalist movement against Russia began with the Fennoman movement led by Hegelian philosopher Johan Vilhelm Snellman in the 1830s. Snellman sought to apply philosophy to social action and moved the basis of Finnish nationalism to establishment of the language in the schools, while remaining loyal to the czar. Fennomania became the Finnish Party in the 1860s.


title: History of Finland

text: Liberalism was the central issue of the 1860s to 1880s. The language issue overlapped both liberalism and nationalism, and showed some a class conflict as well, with the peasants pitted against the conservative Swedish-speaking landowners and nobles. Finnish activists divided themselves into "old" (no compromise on the language question and conservative nationalism) and "young" (liberation from Russia) Finns. The leading liberals were Swedish-speaking intellectuals who called for more democracy; they became the radical leaders after 1880. The liberals organized for social democracy, labor unions, farmer cooperatives, and women's rights.


title: History of Finland

text: Nationalism was contested by the pro-Russian element and by the internationalism of the labor movement. The result was a tendency to class conflict over nationalism, but the early 1900s the working classes split into the Valpas (class struggle emphasis) and Mäkelin (nationalist emphasis).


title: History of Finland

text: During Russian rule, Lutheranism and Eastern Orthodoxy were official religions of the Finnish Grand Duchy. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland was separated from Church of Sweden in the early 19th century. Immediately after the Finnish War, Finnish Lutheran clergy feared state-led proselytism to Orthodoxy. The majority of Finns were Lutheran Christians, but an ancient prominent Orthodox minority lived in Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia. The monasteries of Valaam and Konevets were important religious centres and pilgrimage sites of Orthodox faithful. There were also Orthodox churches built in Finnish cities and towns, where there were Russian garrisons. During this period, Roman Catholism, Judaism and Islam came to Finland with Russian soldiers and merchants.


title: History of Finland

text: While the vast majority of Finns were Lutheran, there were two strains to Lutheranism that eventually merged to form the modern Finnish church. On the one hand was the high-church emphasis on ritual, with its roots in traditional peasant collective society. Paavo Ruotsalainen (1777–1852) on the other hand was a leader of the new pietism, with its subjectivity, revivalism, emphasis on personal morality, lay participation, and the social gospel. The pietism appealed to the emerging middle class. The Ecclesiastical Law of 1869 combined the two strains. Finland's political and Lutheran leaders considered both Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism to be threats to the emerging nation. Eastern Orthodoxy was rejected as a weapon of Russification, while anti-Catholicism was long-standing. Anti-Semitism was also a factor, so the Dissenter Law of 1889 upgraded the status only of the minor Protestant sects. Founding monasteries was forbidden.


title: History of Finland

text: Before 1790 music was found in Lutheran churches and in folk traditions. In 1790 music lovers founded the Åbo Musical Society; it gave the first major stimulus to serious music by Finnish composers. In the 1880s, new institutions, especially the Helsinki Music Institute (since 1939 called the Sibelius Academy), the Institute of Music of Helsinki University and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, integrated Finland into the mainstream of European music. By far the most influential composer was Jean Sibelius (1865–1957); he composed nearly all his music before 1930. In April 1892 Sibelius presented his new symphony "Kullervo" in Helsinki. It featured poetry from the "Kalevala," and was celebrated by critics as truly Finnish music.


title: History of Finland

text: Despite certain freedoms granted to Finland, the Grand Duchy was not a democratic state. The tsar retained supreme power and ruled through the highest official in the land, the governor general, almost always a Russian officer. Alexander dissolved the Diet of the Four Estates shortly after convening it in 1809, and it did not meet again for half a century. The tsar's actions were in accordance with the royalist constitution Finland had inherited from Sweden. The Finns had no guarantees of liberty, but depended on the tsar's goodwill for any freedoms they enjoyed. When Alexander II, the Tsar Liberator, convened the Diet again in 1863, he did so not to fulfill any obligation but to meet growing pressures for reform within the empire as a whole. In the remaining decades of the century, the Diet enacted numerous legislative measures that modernized Finland's system of law, made its public administration more efficient, removed obstacles to commerce, and prepared the ground for the country's independence in the next century.


title: History of Finland

text: The policy of Russification of Finland (1899–1905 and 1908–1917, called "/" ('times/years of oppression') in Finnish) was the policy of the Russian czars designed to limit the special status of the Grand Duchy of Finland and more fully integrate it politically, militarily, and culturally into the empire. Finns were strongly opposed and fought back by passive resistance and a strengthening of Finnish cultural identity. Key provisions were, first, the February Manifesto of 1899 which asserted the imperial government's right to rule Finland without the consent of local legislative bodies; second, the Language Manifesto of 1900 which made Russian the language of administration of Finland; and third, the conscription law of 1901 which incorporated the Finnish army into the imperial army and sent conscripts away to Russian training camps.


title: History of Finland

text: In 1906, as a result of the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the associated Finnish general strike of 1905, the old four-chamber Diet was replaced by a unicameral Parliament of Finland (the "")"." For the first time in Europe, universal suffrage (right to vote) and eligibility was implemented to include women: Finnish women were the first in Europe to gain full eligibility to vote; and have membership in an estate; land ownership or inherited titles were no longer required. However, on the local level things were different, as in the municipal elections the number of votes was tied to amount of tax paid. Thus, rich people could cast a number of votes, while the poor perhaps none at all. The municipal voting system was changed to universal suffrage in 1917 when a left-wing majority was elected to Parliament.


title: History of Finland

text: Emigration was especially important 1890–1914, with many young men and some families headed to Finnish settlements in the United States, and also to Canada. They typically worked in lumber and mining, and many were active in Marxist causes on the one hand, or the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America on the other. In the 21st century about 700,000 Americans and 140,000 Canadians claim Finnish ancestry.


title: History of Finland

text: By 2000 about 6% of the population spoke Swedish as their first language, or 300,000 people. However, since the late 20th century there has been a steady migration of older, better educated Swedish speakers to Sweden.


title: History of Finland

text: In the aftermath of the February Revolution in Russia, Finland received a new Senate, and a coalition Cabinet with the same power distribution as the Finnish Parliament. Based on the general election in 1916, the Social Democrats had a small majority, and the Social Democrat Oskari Tokoi became prime minister. The new Senate was willing to cooperate with the Provisional government of Russia, but no agreement was reached. Finland considered the personal union with Russia to be over after the dethroning of the Tsar—although the Finns had "de facto" recognized the Provisional government as the Tsar's successor by accepting its authority to appoint a new Governor General and Senate. They expected the Tsar's authority to be transferred to Finland's Parliament, which the Provisional government refused, suggesting instead that the question should be settled by the Russian Constituent Assembly.


title: History of Finland

text: For the Finnish Social Democrats it seemed as though the bourgeoisie was an obstacle on Finland's road to independence as well as on the proletariat's road to power. The non-Socialists in Tokoi's Senate were, however, more confident. They, and most of the non-Socialists in the Parliament, rejected the Social Democrats' proposal on parliamentarism (the so-called "Power Act") as being too far-reaching and provocative. The act restricted Russia's influence on domestic Finnish matters, but did not touch the Russian government's power on matters of defence and foreign affairs. For the Russian Provisional government this was, however, far too radical, exceeding the Parliament's authority, and so the Provisional government dissolved the Parliament.


title: History of Finland

text: The minority of the Parliament, and of the Senate, were content. New elections promised a chance for them to gain a majority, which they were convinced would improve the chances to reach an understanding with Russia. The non-Socialists were also inclined to cooperate with the Russian Provisional Government because they feared the Social Democrats' power would grow, resulting in radical reforms, such as equal suffrage in municipal elections, or a land reform. The majority had the completely opposite opinion. They did not accept the Provisional government's right to dissolve the Parliament.


title: History of Finland

text: The Social Democrats held on to the Power Act and opposed the promulgation of the decree of dissolution of the Parliament, whereas the non-Socialists voted for promulgating it. The disagreement over the Power Act led to the Social Democrats leaving the Senate. When the Parliament met again after the summer recess in August 1917, only the groups supporting the Power Act were present. Russian troops took possession of the chamber, the Parliament was dissolved, and new elections were held. The result was a (small) non-Socialist majority and a purely non-Socialist Senate. The suppression of the Power Act, and the cooperation between Finnish non-Socialists and Russia provoked great bitterness among the Socialists, and had resulted in dozens of politically motivated attacks and murders.


title: History of Finland

text: The October Revolution of 1917 turned Finnish politics upside down. Now, the new non-Socialist majority of the Parliament desired total independence, and the Socialists came gradually to view Soviet Russia as an example to follow. On 15 November 1917, the Bolsheviks declared a general right of self-determination "for the Peoples of Russia", including the right of complete secession. On the same day the Finnish Parliament issued a declaration by which it temporarily took power in Finland.


title: History of Finland

text: Worried by developments in Russia and Finland, the non-Socialist Senate proposed that Parliament declare Finland's independence, which was voted by the Parliament on 6 December 1917. On 18 December (31 December N. S.) the Soviet government issued a Decree, recognizing Finland's independence, and on 22 December (4 January 1918 N. S.) it was approved by the highest Soviet executive body (VTsIK). Germany and the Scandinavian countries followed without delay.


title: History of Finland

text: Finland after 1917 was bitterly divided along social lines. The Whites consisted of the Swedish-speaking middle and upper classes and the farmers and peasantry who dominated the northern two-thirds of the land. They had a conservative outlook and rejected socialism. The Socialist-Communist Reds comprised the Finnish-speaking urban workers and the landless rural cottagers. They had a radical outlook and rejected capitalism.


title: History of Finland

text: From January to May 1918, Finland experienced the brief but bitter Finnish Civil War. On one side there were the "white" civil guards, who fought for the anti-Socialists. On the other side were the Red Guards, which consisted of workers and tenant farmers. The latter proclaimed a Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic. World War I was still underway and the defeat of the Red Guards was achieved with support from Imperial Germany, while Sweden remained neutral and Russia withdrew its forces. The Reds lost the war and the White peasantry rose to political leadership in the 1920s–1930s. About 37,000 men died, most of them in prisoner camps ravaged by influenza and other diseases.


title: History of Finland

text: After the civil war, the parliament controlled by the Whites voted to establish a constitutional monarchy to be called the "Kingdom of Finland", with German prince Frederick Charles of Hesse as king. However, Germany's defeat in November 1918 made the plan impossible and Finland instead became a republic, with Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg elected as its first President in 1919. Despite the bitter civil war, and repeated threats from fascist movements, Finland became and remained a capitalist democracy under the rule of law. By contrast, nearby Estonia, in similar circumstances but without a civil war, started as a democracy and was turned into a dictatorship in 1934.


title: History of Finland

text: Large scale agrarian reform in the 1920s involved breaking up the large estates controlled by the old nobility and selling the land to ambitious peasants. The farmers became strong supporters of the government.


title: History of Finland

text: Finland became member of the League of Nations on 16 December 1920. The new republic faced a dispute over the Åland Islands, which were overwhelmingly Swedish-speaking and sought retrocession to Sweden. However, as Finland was not willing to cede the islands, they were offered an autonomous status. Nevertheless, the residents did not approve the offer, and the dispute over the islands was submitted to the League of Nations. The League decided that Finland should retain sovereignty over the Åland Islands, but they should be made an autonomous province. Thus Finland was under an obligation to ensure the residents of Åland a right to maintain the Swedish language, as well as their own culture and local traditions. At the same time, an international treaty was concluded on the neutral status of Åland, under which it was prohibited to place military headquarters or forces on the islands.


title: History of Finland

text: Alcohol abuse had a long history, especially regarding binge drinking and public intoxication, which became a crime in 1733. In the 19th century the punishments became stiffer and stiffer, but the problem persisted. A strong abstinence movement emerged that cut consumption in half from the 1880s to the 1910s, and gave Finland the lowest drinking rate in Europe. Four attempts at instituting prohibition of alcohol during the Grand Duchy period were rejected by the czar; with the czar gone Finland enacted prohibition in 1919. Smuggling emerged and enforcement was slipshod. Criminal convictions for drunkenness went up by 500%, and violence and crime rates soared. Public opinion turned against the law, and a national plebiscite went 70% for repeal, so prohibition was ended in early 1932.


title: History of Finland

text: Nationalist sentiment remaining from the Civil War developed into the proto-Fascist Lapua Movement in 1929. Initially the movement gained widespread support among anti-Communist Finns, but following a failed coup attempt in 1932 it was banned and its leaders imprisoned.


title: History of Finland

text: In the wake of the Civil War there were many incidents along the border between Finland and Soviet Russia, such as the Aunus expedition and the Pork mutiny. Relations with the Soviets were improved after the Treaty of Tartu in 1920, in which Finland gained Petsamo, but gave up its claims on East Karelia.


title: History of Finland

text: Tens of thousands of radical Finns—from Finland, the United States and Canada—took up Stalin's 1923 appeal to create a new Soviet society in the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (KASSR), a part of Russia.


title: History of Finland

text: The Soviet Union started to tighten its policy against Finland in the 1930s, limiting the navigation of Finnish merchant ships between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland and blocking it totally in 1937.


title: History of Finland

text: In August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, where Finland and the Baltic states were allocated to the Soviet "sphere of influence". After invading Poland, the Soviet Union sent ultimatums to the Baltic countries, where it demanded military bases on their soil. The Baltic states accepted Soviet demands, and lost their independence in the summer of 1940. In October 1939, the Soviet Union sent a similar request to Finland, but the Finns refused these demands.