Editing Finland's language strife (section)

== After independence ==
[[File:Mielenosoitus Snellmanin patsaalla yliopiston suomenkielisyyden johdosta vuonna 1935.jpg|thumb|Demonstration for the position of Finnish language in the University at the statue of [[Johan Vilhelm Snellman|J. V. Snellman]] in [[Helsinki]] in 1935.]]
After [[Independence of Finland|Finland gained independence]] in 1917, its relations with Sweden unexpectedly became strained in connection with the [[Finnish Civil War]] and the [[Åland crisis]]. These events aggravated the language dispute, and the controversy over Swedish and Finnish became a prominent feature of domestic politics during the 1920s and 1930s.

In the newly independent [[Constitution of Finland|Finnish constitution]] of 1919, Finnish and Swedish were given equal status as national languages. The language strife thereafter centered on this and on the role of Swedish in universities, particularly regarding the number of professors who spoke and wrote in Swedish in their teaching. In the [[interwar period]], the [[University of Helsinki]] was the scene of conflict between those who wanted to advance the use of Finnish and those who wished to maintain the use of Swedish.<ref name=UppslagsFiUniv>{{cite web |url=http://uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-103684-Universitetsadresserna |title=Universitetsadresserna |author=Lasse Sundman |date=2011-04-24 |website=[[Uppslagsverket Finland]] |access-date=2017-11-30 |language=sv}}</ref> Geographer [[Väinö Tanner (geographer)|Väinö Tanner]] was one of the most vocal defenders of Swedish.<ref name=UppslagsverketFi>{{cite web |url=http://uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-103684-TannerVaeinoe |title=Tanner, Väinö |author=Johan Lindberg |date=2011-08-05 |website=[[Uppslagsverket Finland]] |access-date=2017-11-30 |language=sv}}</ref> A campaign initiated by the [[Swedish People's Party of Finland]] collected 153,914 signatures in defense of Swedish in a petition that was presented to the parliament and government in October 1934.<ref name=UppslagsFiUniv/> The conflict at the university generated an international reaction when academics from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland sent letters to the diplomatic representatives of Finland in their respective countries warning that diminishing the role of Swedish at the university would result in a weakening of Nordic unity.<ref name=UppslagsFiUniv/>

The government issued a language decree on 1 January 1923 making Finnish and Swedish equal in status.<ref name="ylevierailu">{{cite web | url = https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2013/06/11/keisarivierailu-vauhditti-yhteiskunnan-muutosta | title = Keisarivierailu vauhditti yhteiskunnan muutosta | author = Rita Trötschkes | publisher = Yle | date = 2013-12-09 | access-date = 2017-12-11}}</ref>

During the resettlement of more than 420,000 [[Karelia]]n refugees after the [[Winter War]] against the Soviet Union (1939–1940), the Swedish-speaking minority feared that the new Finnish-speaking settlers would change the linguistic balance of their neighborhoods. Since the late 20th century, there has been discussion of whether the policy of [[mandatory Swedish]] classes in schools should continue.