horizon of Finland, the Social-Democratic Party of Finland, which grew from a membership of 8,300 in 1902, to a party which won a clear majority in the Finnish Diet in 1916, the first Socialist Party in the world to get a parliamentary majority. This may be explained by the social composition of the rural population of Finland which in 1901 comprised 88 per cent of the total. Only 111,000 families or less than a quarter of the rural population owned any land at all; the rest were tenant farmers; torpparits or sharecroppers, and landless agricultural laborers. It was this vast reservoir of rural exploitation which enabled the Socialist Party of a dominantly rural country to win a majority in the Finnish Diet. In 1905, when the first great revolutionary wave swept through Russia, the Swedo-Finnish bourgeoisie remained loyal to Tsarism. But the Finnish Social-Democratic Party rose to the occasion and struck a blow for a free Finland, a democratically-elected Diet and for social reforms. A general strike was so complete that even the local police went on strike. All the Socialist demands were granted by the Tsarist government. The Social-Democrats won 80 out of the 200 seats in the first democratic Diet of Finland. In the counter-revolutionary period followed upon the 1905 revolution, the national, social and political gains of 1905 were largely lost in Finland as in the rest of the empire. But the militant Social-Democratic Party of Finland knew that their time would come again and organized for the occasion. In the 1916 Diet the won 103 out of the 200 seats. The Bolshevik Revolution Brings Finland Its Independence When the Tsarist regime was overthrown in March, 1917, the Provisional Government grudgingly restored to Finland the autonomy that the Social-Democratic Party won in 1905. But both the Lvov and Kerensky Governments refused to grant complete independence to Finland. The only Russian political party that was in favor of granting complete independence to Finland was the
Norman, head of the Bank of England.” At the London Economic Conference in 1933 this representative of an “independent power” voted loyally for Britain on every issue. He holds a British honorary title, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. The New York Evening Post, December 1, 1939, commented: “The British confers such honors only on foreign royalty or on prominent individuals who have earned the gratitude of the British Government for being unusually cooperative. Ryti rated his title because as Governor of the Bank of Finland he worked hand in hand with the Bank of England. He kept Finnish currency closely tied to the pound sterling.” Former Prime Minister Eljas Erkko is a rich man by inheritance who has added to the family fortunes. He is the owner of one of the biggest Finnish newspapers. The Helsinki Sanomat. In 1918 he was an officer of the White Guard, the Finnish counterpart of the Storm Troopers, which has kept Finland in a vigilante atmosphere ever since 1918. Although he has always had a pro-British orientation he had no objections to bringing in German soldiers to help crush the Socialist Republic established in independent Finland. The political to which he belonged—the Progressive Party—has had a liberal wing and a reactionary wing. Erkko is one of the leaders of the latter. He has been a close coworker of T. M. Kivimaki, Prime Minister in the pro-fascist administration of President Svinhufvud, just as he has been a bitter opponent of Holsti, who belonged to the liberal wing of his party. Holsti, as the first foreign minister in the Cajander cabinet, won the hatred of Erkko by advocating friendlier relations with the Soviet Union and admitting, on a visit to Moscow, that Finland owed its independence to the Bolsheviks. Erkko forced Holsti’s resignation and became Foreign Minister in his place. Tanner, Ryti’s Foreign Minister, is a He has followed the compromising policy that
to the carrying out of the exchange of territories for which Russia asked—unless she is allowing herself to be used by America or another Western Power. “There can be no possibility of Finland planning any attack on Russia by herself, nor would any of the territories, which Russia asked her to transfer, enable her alone to defend herself effectively against Daily Mail, Dec. 2. Very Reverend Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury “It would have been wisdom and kindness on our part if we had urged Finland to meet Russia’s desire to remove the possibility of guns placed only twenty miles away from the heart of the area which possesses a quarter of her industrial activities. “I deplore the situation might have been wholly avoided, together with the war itself, had we not spurned Russian friendship and thwarted her efforts to make the League of Nations a success. “Russia feared with reason a united Western attack. We through many desired Germany to be the spearhead of that attack. Many influential persons still desire and work for it. Russia knows that.” H. G. Wells “There is much to be said for the preventive security measures being taken by the Soviet Government.” Sir Stafford Cripps, M.P. “In the long run, I am convinced, it is of supreme importance to the workers all over the that a strong and powerful Russia should survive. “And I, for one, see no reason for blaming Russia, in a situation into which she has been driven by the capitalist governments of the world, for taking every step to strengthen her position. “But for the German Nazi influence in Finland and the anti-Soviet feeling stirred up, it is probable that the exchange of territory would have been accepted and
Soviet Union would be secured. “It is important to note, even twenty-four hours before the Soviet move, that well-informed Conservative circles in London were offering even money on the proposition that Sweden and the United States could be militarily and financially aligned against the Soviet Union’s proposals. And these proposals were of a particularly alarming nature, inasmuch as their success would profoundly change the world power position by removing the possibility of a direct threat by the ‘Capitalist World’ to one of the principal industrial regions of the ‘Communist World.’... “There was a moment of acute nervousness when Paasikivi, then the Finnish delegate to Moscow negotiations, was discovered to be willing to reach an agreement on Soviet terms.... The appointment of M. Tanner... was made with the object of ‘stiffening’ the Finnish delegation and reversing the position reached by Paasikivi. “That having been accomplished, it was thought a long period of diplomatic and financial pressure by the Russians would set in and last all winter, the Helsinki Government in the meantime receiving increasing support from the United States. “The suddenness of the Russian move, therefore, dislocated all plans—diplomatic and otherwise—based on this assumption. It also seems probable that it was responsible for the lack of coordination in Western propaganda on the matter. For instance, while some British and American newspapers were freely reporting the ‘massacre of civilians’ in Helsinki, neither the correspondent of the London Times, the correspondents of Swiss newspapers nor the official Finnish radio station in Lahti at that time said anything about the matter at all, though some of them got into line later.” The Anti-Soviet Drive Today Add the mad hysteria being whipped up against the Soviet Union all over the world. Add copious evidence from
threats to its independence, by the forces of the Red Army. This aim also fully corresponds with the vital interests of our people. That is why the masses of the people of Finland meet and welcome the valiant and invincible Red Army with tremendous enthusiasm, being aware that it is marching to Finland not as a conqueror but as a friend and liberator of our people. The People’s Government of Finland, being deeply convinced that the Soviet Union pursues no aims directed against the independence of our country, fully approves and supports actions by the Red Army on the territory of Finland. It regards them as invaluable assistance to the Finnish people on the part of the Soviet Union for the purpose of eliminating as soon as possible by joint efforts the most dangerous seat of war created in Finland by the criminal government of war provocateurs. To accomplish this task as early as possible, the People’s Government of Finland invites the Government of the U.S.S.R. to render the Democratic Republic of Finland all necessary assistance by the Red Army forces. For participation in a struggle, hand in hand with the heroic Red Army of the U.S.S.R., the People’s Government of Finland already has formed the First Finnish Army Corps, which in the course of forthcoming battles will receive reinforcements by volunteers coming from revolutionary workers and farmers and must become the strong backbone of the future People’s Army of Finland. To the First Finnish Army Corps is accorded the honor of bringing the banner of Finland’s Democratic Republic into the capital and hoisting it on the roof of the Presidential Palace to the joy of the working people and to the awe of the enemies of the people. Our State must be a democratic republic serving the interests of the people, unlike the plutocratic republic of Cajander and Erkko, serving the interests of the capitalists and landlords. However, our State is not a State of the Soviet type because the Soviet regime cannot be established by the efforts of the government alone without the consent of the whole people, in particular the farmers. In conformity with