Suchergebnisse

The formation of a small polity -- The problem -- A comparative perspective -- What is to be explained -- Plan of the book -- State-making and the class structure -- Dominant groups and state-making -- The early nineteenth century -- Economic integration -- The late nineteenth century -- The Agrarian class structure and industrial workers -- The industrial and agricultural revolutions in Finland -- Freeholding peasants and Agrarian workers -- The link between industrial and Agrarian workers -- Crofters -- Territorial integration -- Finnish regions up to 1809 -- Reorientation from Stockholm to St. Petersburg -- Territorial integration in the late nineteenth century -- Core-periphery interaction -- the county of Viipuri and Eastern Finland -- South-Western Finland as a core region -- Declining ostrobothnia -- Division of labour and state penetration in Northern Finland -- National integration and class integration -- Finnish nationalism -- The dual nature of nationalism in nineteenth-century Europe -- Finland in a European perspective -- The consolidation of a national culture -- Before the revolution: organisation, mobilisation, and the role of Russia -- Early mass organisation -- The Finno-Russian conflict -- The general strike of 1905, parliamentary reform, and the rise of Agrarian socialism -- Regional consolidation of party support -- Regions as loci of party systems -- The south-western core region -- The county of Viipuri -- Ostrobothnia -- Eastern Finland -- Northern Finland -- The abortive revolution -- On preconditions for revolutionary situations -- The abortive Revolution of 1917-1918 -- Socialists within the polity -- The rise of multiple sovereignty -- The revolutionary situation -- The aftermath -- The social and regional basis for the revolution -- On the character of the Finnish revolution -- Breakdown of society or contest for state power? -- State and nation after the failed revolution -- The failed revolution and the nation -- The persistence of the volcanic model of the Finnish revolution -- On the state, the nation, and class balance -- The Lapua Movement, 1930-2 -- The mass movement and the dominant classes in Finnish fascism -- The Finnish state and revolution in a European perspective -- Eastern European revolutionary movements -- National movements in the Baltic provinces -- Revolution in the Baltic provinces, 1905 and 1917-18 -- Challenges in East-Central Europe -- Fascism in Eastern Europe -- The formation of Finland in Europe -- Economic consolidation -- The formation of state and nation -- Political organisation and mobilisation before 1917 -- Revolutionary situations in small European polities -- State and revolution in Finland

By analysing the experience of Finland, Risto Alapuro shows how upheavals in powerful countries shape the internal politics of smaller countries. This linkage, a highly topical subject in the twenty-first century world, is concretely studied by putting the abortive Finnish revolution of 1917-18 into a long historical and a broad comparative perspective. Readership: Institutes and academic libraries whose specialties include modern European political history, notably (1) the Nordic countries and (2) Eastern Europe.

This title is published in Open Access with the support of the University of Helsinki. ; By analysing the experience of Finland, Risto Alapuro shows how upheavals in powerful countries shape the internal politics of smaller countries. This linkage, a highly topical subject in the twenty-first century world, is concretely studied by putting the abortive Finnish revolution of 1917-18 into a long historical and a broad comparative perspective. In the former respect the revolution appears as a tragic culmination in the unfolding of a small European state. In the latter respect it appears as one of those crises that new states experienced when they emerged from the turmoils of the First World War.

The role of voluntary associations in the repertoire of joint action in France and Finland captures in a concrete way the character of the political culture in the two countries. The role of associations is viewed, first, in a historical state–society perspective. In Finland, they appear to be the main vehicle for making claims and taking joint action, whereas in France they have long been harassed or barely tolerated by the state. Second, seen as a part of a wider repertoire of collective action, the dominant position of the associations in Finland – reflecting the character of Finnish 'organization society'– is contrasted with action orientation in the French tradition, which is manifested, for example, in the linkage of associations with demonstrations. Third, the French and the Finnish view of 'representation', in a wide sense of the term, are compared. It is argued that a 'descriptive' vision 'expressing' society predominates in Finland, whereas a 'constructive' vision 'producing' society characterizes France. Finally, a few reflections are made on the French and the Finnish perceptions of societal dynamics and on the current problem of claim‐making.

The character of Finnish political culture stems from the country's specific position as a polity which emerged in the interface between Sweden and Russia. Western, or Scandinavian, by institutions and structures and Eastern by dependence on a multinational empire in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, this minority region in the Russian empire underwent a bloody civil war in 1918, in the wake of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. The resulting ambiguity between 'national' and 'not national', between what was Finland's 'own' and what was 'alien', remained a central dimension defining Finnish political culture, due to the strength of the communists in Finland and their close relation to the Soviet Union. What remains today, in the conditions of Finland's membership in the European Union, is a deep-seated attitude stressing the need to adapt to perceived necessities and constraints induced from outside.