Evening star., 1948-12-05


unsuccessful wars, the Finnish mo
mercy. It is vigorously disarmed, h
vital strategic points for Soviet
occupation, and is saddled with .
bill that strains its
economy badly. BY . single blow
Of its powerful paw, the Soviet cat
could crush Finnish resistance and
the country.
Yet Finland retains its national
identity. It remains master OF its
own house and Is legally free to
its affairs as it sees fit. Fin
land is q democracy. Finland be-
lieves in individual freedom, private
property and the other features OF
our Western civilization. Relatively
few Films have any use for COM
munism or the Soviet way Of life.
And more than a century Of un-
pleasant experience has taught the
Russians that the Firms are a tough,
stubborn people, ready to stand up
for their rights at almost any risk
and capable Of making trouble out
Of all proportion to their numbers
Struggle Is Old One
The struggle between Finn and
Russian is not new. 1t goes back
more than . thousand years and
q deep-going conflict
between sharply contrasted racial
stocks, temperaments and cultures
The Firms are of Asiatic origin,
kinsmen of the Magyars or Hun
garians and the Turks. Ages ago
they migrated westward from some
where in Central Asia and occupied
not only the present-day Finland
but also much of what is now North
ern Russia. From those latter
regions they were slowly pushed back
or absorbed by the Russian Slavs
from the south. About
the same time, present-day Finland
was conquered by the Swedes, VINO
partially colonized the country and
gave it a basic Scandinavian culture,
though the Finnish language and
traditions maintained themselves.
Even now there is a sizable Swed-
ish-speaking minority in Finland
and the ties between the two coun-
tries are close.
Finland suffered greatly in the
wars between Russia and Sweden
It's destiny was "iolently altered by
q Russian war Of aggression against
Sweden early in the 18th century
when Sweden was forced to cede
Finland to the victorious Musco-
vites. However, the Firms them
selves demanded that the rights
they had enjoyed under Sweden b.
respected by the conqueror, threat
ening a fight to the death rathe'
than submit Internationally. Ac'
cordingly, the Car OF that da!
granted Finland the status Of ar
autonomous grand duchy withir
the Russian Empire. So the Films
continued to manage their owl
affairs and evolved q solid nationa.
consciousness. Their nationalistit
solidarity was proved when, TOWARD
the close of the last century, Czarist
Russia went back on its pledges ano
tried to "Russify" the country
Militarily helpless against Russian
might, the Firms staged an amazing
passive resistance which rendered
direct Russian rule unworkable.
This struggle against Russificatior
naturally accentuated Finnish ma
tional feeling. So, when the Czaris'
empire broke up in the Bolshevil
Revolution of 1917, Finland promptly
declared its independence. And thi!
was quickly recognized by the new
Bolshevik government, which, unde1
Lenin and Trotsky, was more inter:
ested in furthering world revolution
than with the maintenance OF Rus
sian rule over former Czarist de-
Tendencies. However, the Bolshe'
viks did try to foment a Communis
revolution in Finland itself. Tha
resulted in a bloody civil war II
which the Finnish Reds got th'
worst of it, their leaders fleeing tt
Moscow to await better times
Meanwhile, Finland was recognized
by the rest of the world as a sover'
eign state, joined the League o
Nations and became . prosperous
stable democracy.
Aggression Renewed
This epoch of peace and pros
perity ended with q renewal O
Russian aggression. That aggres'
sion was made possible by the Hitler
Stain pact concluded in August
1899. Under this highwayman'
agreement Soviet Russia was giveI
a free hand in the Eastern Balti'
and promptly proceeded to cash il
on the deal. The three little Baltic
states-Estonia, Lstvia and Lithu'
ania-which had gained their free
dom along with Finland after Worle
War I, we're quickly brought undel
Russian domination by the mere
show of overwhelming force. The
same tactic was then employed
against Finland, but with q dramati.
cally different result. Far from SUBJ
to Russian demands for ces-
sions Of territory and strategic base
rights, which would have left Finland
at Russia's mercy, tiny
Finland defied the Russian giant to
do his worst. And when Russian
armies crossed the Finnish frontiers
they met with series Of humiliatins
defeats.