Editing Secession (section)

===Finland===
Finland successfully and peacefully seceded from the newly-formed and unstable [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] in 1917. The latter was led by [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], who had sought refuge in Finland during the [[Russian Revolution of 1905|Russian Revolution]]. Unsuccessful attempts at greater autonomy or peaceful secession had already been made during the preceding [[Russian Empire]] but had been denied by the Russian emperor. However, with the country still at war and under great pressure, Lenin allowed Finland to secede. Its peripheral location made it difficult to defend and less strategically important than Russia's other territories, so he conceded sovereignty to the Finns rather than try to defend it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Douds |first=Lara |date=2017-01-13 |title='The dictatorship of the democracy'? The Council of People's Commissars as Bolshevik-Left Socialist Revolutionary coalition government, December 1917-March 1918 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2281.12170 |journal=Historical Research |volume=90 |issue=247 |pages=32–56 |doi=10.1111/1468-2281.12170 |issn=0950-3471|url-access=subscription }}</ref>