Culture of Finland - Historical Main Aspects

Historical Main Aspects

Following the recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet, which covered most of northern Europe, from Great Britain to Moscow, around 8000 BC, peoples began arriving in what is today Finland presumably mainly from the south and east although recent archaeological finds reveal a presence of the north-western Komsa culture in Finnish north equally old to the earliest finds on the Norwegian coast.

The area of Finland belonged to the people northeastern European Kunda culture until around 5000 BC and Comb Ceramic culture from about 4200–2000 BC. The Kiukainen culture on the southwestern coast of Finland showed the 1200 BC.

From 1100 to 1200, the crown of Sweden started to incorporate Finland. However, Novgorod also attempted to gain control. Several wars were fought between Sweden and Novgorod and later Muscovy and Russia between the 1400 and 1700. In 1721, the Nystad Peace Treaty was signed ending Swedish dominance in the Baltic region. In 1809, Finland was annexed by Russia. From 1809 to 1917, Finland was a Grand Duchy with the Russian Czar as the constitutional monarch. Karelia, where most of the Russo-Swedish conflicts occurred, was influenced by both cultures though mostly it remained peripheral to both epicentres of power. The verses in the Kalevala originate mainly from Karelia and Ingria.

The 19th century brought a feeling of national Romanticism and Nationalism throughout Europe. Finland's nationalism also grew where cultural identity and control of their land became a priority. Expression of Finnish identity by the University docent, A. I. Arwidsson (1791–1858), became an often quoted Fennoman credo: "Swedes we are not / no-longer, Russians we do not want to become, let us therefore be / become Finns." Nationalism heightened and resulted in a declaration of independence from Russia on December 6, 1917, Finnish Independence Day. Notably, nationalists did not consider the Swedish-speakers members of a different (Swedish) nation; in fact, many Fennomans came from a Swedish-speaking family.