page_title: Finnish nationalism
section_title: Social movements
hierarchical_section_title: Finnish nationalism / Social movements
context_page_description: Nationalism was a central force in the History of Finland for the last two centuries. 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 between all people in Finland including 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 common to the Finns and to the Karelian people, stirred the nationalism that later led to Finland's independence from Russia.
  Nationalism was contested by the pro-Russian element and by the internationalism of the labor movement. The result was a tendency toward class conflict over nationalism, but in the early 1900s the working classes split into the Valpas and Mäkelin.
context_section_description: 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.
  Liberalism was the central issue of the 1860s to 1880s.
  in 2000  Suomen Sisu, an association that seeks to promote Finnish nationalism was founded.
caption: Senator Johan Vilhelm Snellman (1806–1881), who also possessed the professions of philosopher, journalist and author, was one of the most influential Fennomans and perhaps one of the most internationally known Finnish statesmen.[6][7][8][9][10]
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