Yearbook 1996
Finland. A possible NATO accession received attention again in the spring when the Finnish Minister of Europe, in a statement, did not consider it incredible that the country would soon become a member. The Social Democratic government, headed by Prime Minister Lipponen, commented that an accession to NATO was not relevant. See cellphoneexplorer.com for Finland travel overview.
On October 20, 60% of the Finnish people voted for their representatives at both the municipal level and the European Parliament. The turnout was 61.1%, which was considered low, especially for the municipal elections. In both elections, Finland’s Social Democratic Party, Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Sdp), lost ground, while Finland’s Center (Suomen Keskusta) advanced and became the largest party. One of the reasons for the decline of the Social Democrats was considered to be Finns’ hesitation in EMU: two-thirds expressed their willingness to vote for membership. The week before the election, the EMU-positive government took a big step closer to EMU through its accession to the European exchange rate mechanism ERM, which was believed to have contributed to the loss of the Social Democratic Party.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG: What does FI stand for? In the field of geography, this two letter acronym means Finland. Check this to see its other meanings in English and other 35 languages.
During the fall, it was revealed that after World War II, the Sdp had built up its own intelligence service with the aim of charting left-wing movements. At the initiative of Prime Minister Lipponen, an investigation started.
Economically, the policy was characterized by the goal of meeting EMU’s convergence requirements. Growth rates were high, highest among EU countries, and industrial production grew by just over 3%. Unemployment fell more than expected, but an open unemployment rate of just over 16% remained.
Independence and Civil War
The reaction in Russia in 1908 had led to a number of attempts to abolish Finland’s autonomy, but the February revolution in Russia in 1917 again secured autonomy. For the bourgeoisie, it now became important to neutralize any revolutionary development in the Labor Party. The Labor Party majority in Parliament led to the party being offered the prime ministerial post and half of the government posts, which it accepted.
The tactics of the Socialist members were based on two conditions, which both proved equally horrifying: the independence of the bourgeois parties and the revolutionary development of Russia.
In July 1917, the Labor Party, with the help of some bourgeois representatives, implemented the so-called power law. It gave parliament the supreme power in all cases – except foreign and defense cases, which were left up to the Russian government so far. Kerensky’s cabinet, which had just suppressed the Bolsheviks’ revolutionary actions, responded by dissolving parliament. The majority of bourgeois politicians accepted this rather than handing over power to the socialist parliamentary majority. Especially because Finland did not have its own army or police force. The Labor Party eventually gave in and voted in new elections, which led to a bourgeois majority and a bourgeois government.
The defeat of the power law and the election result had reduced the possibilities of a reformist tactic – especially as conditions for the workers became worse with each passing day. The Finnish economy was based on supplies to the Russian army, but these ceased now. At the same time as unemployment rose rapidly, inflation increased, among other things. due to the lack of goods. The famine threatened. The supply of consumer goods was based on imports from Russia, but it also ceased. All these problems caused a general dissatisfaction with the social system, which was expressed in spontaneous actions by the working masses. During the spring, these actions led to the introduction of the 8-hour day. butter supplies were seized. The initiative slipped away from the Labor Party and, on the one hand, over to the bourgeois parties,
The October Revolution of the Bolsheviks caused the bourgeois parties to demand national independence. The new civil unity government tried to fulfill this requirement with the support of Emperor Germany. Despite the ideological differences, the socialists had long cooperated with the Bolsheviks and convinced them that Finnish self-government was necessary. Since Lenin’s party had also made this position publicly known, the socialists believed that the German policy of the government had domestic policy purposes. These very different views were behind the development that led to the Declaration of Independence on December 6, 1917, and to the recognition of it by the Soviet Government and then several foreign powers.
Population 1996
According to Countryaah.com, the population of Finland in 1996 was 5,118,894, ranking number 104 in the world. The population growth rate was 0.490% yearly, and the population density was 16.8449 people per km2.
