There's probably a lot of academic work on Finland and Finnish history but I'm out of my depth here. I can recommend historian Ainur Elmgren who studies Finnish identity, also Turkic and Tatar ethnic groups, intetesting stuff:
Imperial Complicity: Finns and Tatars in the Political Hierarchy of Races
Map of Finnish tribes and their regions.
I'm not going to pretend to be an expert, but I can share some experiences and things learned after having moved to Finland a handful of years ago. I wasn't very well read on history when I moved here, and especially I didn't know anything about Finland's participation in WW2 or that they even had a civil war. And on top of that, I had a lot to learn about socialist theory. (Still do!)
I'm still pretty bad at speaking Finnish. I've picked up a bit just through ambient exposure, but my day to day is in English. So I probably miss a lot of political context because of the language and culture gap. I can translate the news though. Finnish posters please correct me if I've misrepresented something!
Newsheads probably remember the latest election which kicked out the incumbent Social Democrat party with Sanna Marin as PM due to a rightward swing. This swing brought a number of politicians from a previously more fringe party called the Finns Party or the True Finns Party. (Or I imagine them as the Basic Finns due to the name perussuomalaiset.) They seem like the American Tea Partyers but more racist. The new PM is Petteri Orpo of the national coalition party, typical European "center right" party. To form the government, they made an alliance with the Christian Democrats and the Finns party, the latter of which was controversial. The Social Democrats are doing the equivalent of "Orange Man Bad" now that they lost.
The mainstream left party (social democratic) afaict is basically the Left Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto) which was headed by Li Andersson. I think she was the last holdout one to not fall in line on the NATO vote, but eventually did. TheFinnishBolshevik on YouTube has a good video summarizing this moment in Finnish politics.
I can't really speak on this topic but Finns seem obsessed with their eastern neighbor. So the main recurring issues are related to this, such as the question of joining NATO. In 2009(?) Finland and Russia opened a high speed rail line between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg (50/50 ownership). I think this was hugely popular at least among Russians who would travel to Helsinki for tourism, and also for whatever reason really like the Finnish cheese. This rail line is closed for good. The line was closed indefinitely after the 2022 Ukraine SMO, but just a few weeks ago the Finnish government took complete control over the sitting trains (remember, 50/50 ownership with Russia) and are talking about repurposing the trains for domestic use.
I'd really love a Finn's perspective on this. And probably other hexbears know the history better. But in broad strokes, "Finland" before becoming a single nation was a collection of ethnically Finnish enclaves (for lack of a better word idk) in different regions. I don't know these details so well, but there are Karelians to the east, Häme in the south, and indigenous Sàmi in the far north. (Someone can expand here on the colonization of Sami region by Finland, Sweden and Norway!) But the Finland we know today is a unification of the different groups, just like was seen in formation of nation states elsewhere in Europe.
Important to note Finland has only had independence as a nation for a hair over 100 years thanks to the Bolsheviks. Prior to this, Finland was handed back and forth between Sweden and Russia. I don't know the details on the Christianization of Finland, but it probably happened during Swedish rule. Finnish tribes were originally pagan.
Passing on this question
Well, I think most here understand the folly of "Nordic Socialism" so I don't have much to say here. Finns are pretty racist against immigrants, but had (past tense) a relatively good social welfare state. Probably strongly influenced by the Soviets to the east and the Olof Palme social democrats to the west.
Absolutely cucked by the US now that they joined NATO, but it was already kinda the case. I don't know their overall relationship with the EU. Finland and the other Nordic countries occasionally make cooperation deals. A note on terminology: "Scandinavian" refers to the peninsula of Norway and Sweden. Finland isn't Scandinavian, but they are "Nordic." Estonia also badly wants to be on Team Nordic to forget their Soviet past. This is partly because Finnish and Estonian are related languages. Occasional bilateral agreements between Finland and Estonia have tried to promote this.
I could write a fair bit here, but it probably suffices fo say being a colony of Sweden and the Russian Empire had a lasting effect on Finnish identity and political consciousness.
I don't foresee any coups on the horizon. The Finnish population is mostly in line with their politicians as far as I can tell. HOWEVER, it does make me smile to see pro Palestine protestors and student protestors doing their part in this otherwise hellish political situation. If any political movement happens, I think it will happen from below from poorly treated immigrants and seasonal workers, OR more realistically from Finns who lost social benefits as the welfare state is carved out by neoliberalism.
That will get you pretty far tbh
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Lmao at "we're the first ones to solve the uncanny valley" tweet
Thank you for writing this up, I'm learning a lot from these!
It's also got that Braveheart vibe lol
They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!!
That's the one
I was just thinking about this earlier, imagine how soviet art and architecture would have developed through 2023
Sorry I don't have enough details on that to give a satisfying answer. But the newest government is planning sweeping cuts to save money across the board.
Here are the biggest cuts planned by Finland's new government (YLE/Finnish state media)
https://yle.fi/a/74-2003730417 June 2023
Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government has set itself a primary target of improving the Finnish economy. This means curbing the increase in central government debt.
Finland's national debt has been growing since 2008. According to the European Commission, Finland was the only EU country where the public debt-to-GDP ratio rose last year.
That said, Orpo's National Coalition Party only invited parties to form a new government that pledged to seek a six-billion adjustment to Finland's economy. This target is based on Ministry of Finance calculations aimed at finding a way for Finland to manage its debts and maintain the welfare state's services in the long term.
The government programme published on Friday includes an extensive list of cuts. The new administration is also implementing structural reforms aimed at generating savings. Getting more people into jobs is further expected to boost the economy.
The government plans to both raise and lower taxes, saying it believes that reducing income tax will strengthen employment and, through that, bring some savings and tax revenues.
Finland will see cuts totalling over four billion euros. These cuts are primarily targeted at areas where the government's largest expenditures lie, such as social and healthcare services.
In the long term, spending on social and healthcare services would decrease by two billion euros from current levels. This includes, for example, delaying the tightening of "healthcare guarantees" (access to care) and staffing requirements.
There are also plans to cut social security benefits by 1.2 billion euros. A further 0.5 billion euros would also be cut from expenses tied to indexing.
Structural measures would, according to the government, save a further 1.85 billion. Increasing employment would strengthen the economy by an additional 1.1 billion euros.
Orpo has said the planned cuts won't impact the most vulnerable in society. Social benefits for retirees will not be cut while there will be some increases in support for families with young children. Instead, the government is targeting significant cuts to unemployment benefits, housing allowances and social security benefits. Savings are also planned in social and healthcare services.
Main savings areas highlighted in the government programme:
Some significant savings areas include:
I think the healthcare system is under quite a lot of pressure from a chromic shortage of staff, and underpaid staff which they do have. So the nurses have gone on strike more than once.
Unemployed benefits are being reduced too, using usual tricks like means testing. I think this will also affect the pensions program which will get progressively chopped down like US social security.