Patriotic People's Movement
Template:For Template:Infobox political party
Patriotic People's Movement (Template:Langx, IKL, Template:Langx) was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapua Movement. It existed from 1932 to 1944 and had an ideology similar to its predecessor, except that IKL participated in elections with limited success.
HistoryEdit
FormationEdit
The IKL was founded at a conference on 5 June 1932 as a continuation of the Lapua Movement.<ref name=Upton215>Upton, p.215</ref> The three major founding members were Herman Gummerus, Vilho Annala and Erkki Räikkönen.<ref>Rees, p.1</ref> Lapua leader Vihtori Kosola was imprisoned for his part in the Mäntsälä rebellion at the time of formation but the leadership was officially kept in reserve for him and other leading rebels, notably Annala and Bruno Salmiala, were involved in the formation of IKL.<ref name=Upton215 />
Relationship to mainstream politicsEdit
IKL participated in parliamentary elections. In 1933 its election list was pooled with the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), and got 14 seats out of 200.<ref>Upton, p. 217</ref> Kokoomus collapsed from 42 to 18 seats. After the collapse, Juho Kusti Paasikivi was elected chairman of Kokoomus. He converted his party to the voice of big business and as such had no interest in the direct action tactics of IKL, and thus weeded out the most outspoken IKL sympathizers from the party.<ref name=Upton218>Upton, p. 218</ref>
IKL came under increasing scrutiny from government and was subject to two laws designed to arrest its progress. In 1934, a law passed allowing the suppression of propaganda which brought government or constitution into contempt and this was used against the movement, whilst the following year a law banning political uniforms and private uniformed organisations came in, seriously affecting the Sinimustat in particular.<ref name=Upton218/>
IKL kept its 14 seats in the elections of 1936 but was weakened by the overwhelming victory for the coming social democrat-agrarian coalition, under Prime Minister Aimo Kaarlo Cajander that would replace in the spring of 1937 the centrist minority government of Kyösti Kallio, which had, in turn, replaced the narrow right-wing minority government of Toivo Mikael Kivimäki.<ref name=Upton218/> The strong new government soon moved against the IKL, with Urho Kekkonen, then Minister of the Interior, bringing legal proceedings against the movement late in 1938. However, the courts did not find sufficient grounds for banning IKL.<ref>Upton, p. 219</ref> Despite this the prosperity experienced under Cajander's government hit the IKL and in the 1939 elections they managed only eight seats.<ref>Upton, p. 220</ref> Kekkonen was one of two leading government opponents of the IKL who would later go on to serve as presidents of Finland, the other being Juho Kusti Paasikivi.
According to docent André Swanström, IKL was by far the most popular party among Finnish Waffen SS recruits.<ref>André Swanström: Hakaristin ritarit – Suomalaiset SS-miehet, politiikka, uskonto ja sotarikokset, s. 23. Atena, Jyväskylä 2018.</ref>
Final yearsEdit
The Winter War, and particularly the Moscow Peace, were seen by IKL and its sympathizers as the ultimate proof of the parliamentary government's failed foreign policy. During the year after the Winter War, Finland's foreign policy was drastically changed, by and large to correspond with that of IKL, and Annala was even included in the Cabinet in January 1941, when all but one parties of the parliament were represented. The price of this recognition was however an end to IKL attacks on the system and as such an effective end to the very reason it had support.<ref>Upton, p. 221</ref> After the initial enthusiasm of the Continuation War in 1941 waned during the first winter, IKL wasn't included in Edwin Linkomies' cabinet in spring 1943.
In the aftermath of the Continuation War, IKL was banned, on the insistence of the Soviet Union, four days after the armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union was signed 19 September 1944.<ref>Upton, p. 222</ref>
LegacyEdit
The IKL initials returned to the far-right political scene in 1993 with the foundation of the Isänmaallinen Kansallis-Liitto by Matti Järviharju.<ref>Koivulaakso et al., p. 68</ref> The new movement died out by 1998.<ref>Koivulaakso et al., p. 78</ref>
IdeologyEdit
Ideologically, IKL was ardently nationalist and anti-Communist, and endorsed an aggressive foreign policy against the Soviet Union and hostility towards the Swedish language.<ref name=Upton215 /> The creation of a Greater Finland was an important goal for the party.<ref name ="carsten">Carsten, F. L. (1982) The rise of fascism. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. 168–169 Template:Isbn</ref> Its manifested purpose was to be the Christian-moral conscience of the parliament. A more hard-line tendency was also active, centered on Bruno Salmiala.<ref>Rees, p. 342</ref>
OrganizationEdit
StructureEdit
Many of its leaders were priests or participants of the mainly Ostrobothnian Pietist movement called Herännäisyys.<ref>Alapuro, Risto (1970) "Akateeminen Karjala-seura: Ylioppilasliike ja kansa 1920– ja 1930–luvulla" ["Academic Karelian Society: Student movement and people in the 1920s and 1930s"]</ref>
Symbols and uniformsEdit
The IKL uniform was a black shirt with blue tie, inspired by the Italian fascists,<ref name=Upton215/> and also by the Herännäisyys movement, which had a tradition for black clothing. Members greeted each other with a Roman salute.<ref>Edgren, Torsten; Manninen, Merja and Ukkonen, Jari. "IKL – lapuan liikkeen jatkaja" ["IKL – the successor of the Lapua Movement"] in Korhonen, Arvi (1949) Suomen historian käsikirja [Handbook of Finnish History]. Werner Söderström. pp. 329–330</ref>
Youth wingEdit
The IKL had its own youth organization, called Sinimustat (Blue-and-blacks), members of which were trained in combat.<ref name=Upton215/> It was led by Elias Simojoki, a charismatic priest.<ref>Rees</ref> Sinimustat were banned in 1936 (although they were immediately reformed as Mustapaidat ("Blackshirts")).
SupportEdit
The party received its main support from wealthy farmers, the educated middle-class, civil servants, the Lutheran clergy and university students.<ref name ="carsten"/> Geographically, IKL obtained its largest share of votes in Southern Ostrobothnian municipalities such as Kuortane, Lapua and Ilmajoki.<ref>Mylly, Juhani (1988) Maalaisliitto–Keskustapuolueen historia: Maalaisliitto 1918–1939 [History of the Agrarian Union Center Party: Agrarian Union 1918–1939] p. 385</ref>Template:Clear left
Notable IKL supportersEdit
- Arne Somersalo, Commander of the Finnish Airforce 1920–26, IKL MP
- Paavo Susitaival, Lt. Col., IKL MP
- Paavo Talvela, General
- Rolf Nevanlinna, Mathematician, Professor, Rector of the University of Helsinki
- Vilho Lampi, painter<ref>Vilho Lampi: Viimeiset vuodet ("Vilho Lampi: The Last Years") Template:Webarchive Oulun Taidemuseo [Oulu Art Museum]</ref>
- Elias Simojoki, clergyman, IKL MP.
- Hilja Riipinen, the only women MP.
Election resultsEdit
Parliament of FinlandEdit
| Date | Votes | Seats | Position | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | ± pp | # | ± | |||
| 1936 | 97,891 | 8.34% | + 8.34 | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 14 | Opposition | 5th |
| 1939 | 86,219 | 6.65% | + 6.65 | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease | Opposition | 5th |
- Gallery
- IKL at Ilmajoki.jpg
Members of IKL saluting at the statue of Jaakko Ilkka
- White Victory Parade.jpg
15th anniversary of White Victory Parade, SKJ and IKL marching
- Isänmaallisen kansanliikkeen juhlakokous lokakuussa 1936.jpg
IKL meeting in 1936
- Kansanedustaja Hilja Riipinen puhumassa IKLn naisten kokouksessa Helsingissä maaliskuussa 1936.jpg
IKL women's meeting
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Notes Template:Reflist
Bibliography
- Template:Cite book
- Rees, Philip (1990) Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890
- Upton, A. F. "Finland" in Woolf, S. J. (1981) Fascism in Europe London: Routledge Template:Isbn
Further reading
- Vares, Vesa Yrjö (2020) "From allies to opponents. Conservatives facing fascism in Finland in the 1930s" Scandinavian Journal of History v.46, n.2, pp. 224–247. {{#invoke:doi|main}}
External linksEdit
Template:Finnish far right Template:Fascism Template:Authority control