Editing Finland (section)

===Civil war and early independence===
{{Main|Independence of Finland|Finnish Civil War}}
After the [[February Revolution]] of 1917, Finland's position as a Grand Duchy under the rule of the Russian Empire was questioned. The [[Parliament of Finland|Finnish parliament]], controlled by the [[Social Democratic Party of Finland|Social Democrats]], passed the so-called [[Independence of Finland#Power act|Power Act]] to give the parliament supreme authority. This was rejected by the [[Russian Provisional Government]], which decided to dissolve the parliament.<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/finland/15.htm The Finnish Civil War, Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228235436/http://countrystudies.us/finland/15.htm |date=28 December 2016 }}. Countrystudies.us. Retrieved 18 May 2016.</ref> New elections were held in which the right-wing parties won by a small majority. Some social democrats refused to accept the result, claiming that the dissolution of parliament and the subsequent elections were extra-legal. The two almost equally powerful political blocs, the right-wing parties and the Social Democratic Party, were deeply divided.

[[File:The victory parade of the White Army 1918.jpg|thumb|left|Finnish military leader and statesman [[C. G. E. Mannerheim]] as [[general officer]] leading the [[White Victory Parade]] at the end of the [[Finnish Civil War]] in Helsinki, 1918]]
The [[October Revolution]] in Russia changed the geopolitical situation once again. Suddenly the right-wing parties in Finland began to reconsider their decision to block the transfer of supreme executive power from the Russian government to Finland when the [[Bolsheviks]] came to power in Russia. The right-wing government, led by Prime Minister [[P. E. Svinhufvud]], presented the [[Finnish Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] on 4 December 1917, which was officially approved by the Finnish Parliament on 6 December. The [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (RSFSR), led by [[Vladimir Lenin]] was the first country to recognise Finland's independence on 4 January 1918.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=107215&contentlan=1&culture=fi-FI | title = Uudenvuodenaatto Pietarin Smolnassa – Itsenäisyyden tunnustus 31.12.1917 | publisher = Ulkoministeriö | access-date = 14 September 2020 | language = fi | archive-date = 26 November 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161126002743/http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=107215&contentlan=1&culture=fi-FI | url-status = dead }}</ref>

On 27 January 1918, the government began to disarm the Russian forces in [[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Ostrobothnia]]. The socialists took control of southern Finland and Helsinki, but the white government continued in exile in [[Vaasa]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Tuomas Tepora & Aapo Roselius|title=The Finnish Civil War 1918|chapter=The War of Liberation, the Civil Guards, and the Veterans’ Union: Public Memory in the Interwar Period|series=History of Warfare (vol. 101)|year=2014|isbn=978-90-04-24366-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://europecentenary.eu/reds-vs-whites-the-finnish-civil-war-january-may-1918/ |title=«Reds» vs. «Whites»: The Finnish Civil War (January- May 1918) |last=Simbeteanu |first=Iulian |work=Europe Centenary |date= 29 November 2018|access-date=13 May 2024 |quote= |archive-date=1 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701004827/https://europecentenary.eu/reds-vs-whites-the-finnish-civil-war-january-may-1918/amp/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This led to a short but bitter [[Finnish Civil War|civil war]]. The [[White Guard (Finland)|Whites]], backed by [[German Empire|Imperial Germany]], prevailed over the [[Red Guards (Finland)|Reds]]<ref>{{cite web |title=A Country Study: Finland—The Finnish Civil War |url=http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/fitoc.html |work=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |access-date=11 December 2008 |archive-date=10 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310171449/http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/fitoc.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and their self-proclaimed [[Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic]].<ref>[https://www.verkkouutiset.fi/sdpn-puheenjohtaja-halusi-punadiktaattoriksi-mutta-kuoli-stalinin-vankileirilla-69089/#cd1f8043 "SDP:n puheenjohtaja halusi punadiktaattoriksi, mutta kuoli Stalinin vankileirillä"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128041947/https://www.verkkouutiset.fi/sdpn-puheenjohtaja-halusi-punadiktaattoriksi-mutta-kuoli-stalinin-vankileirilla-69089/#cd1f8043 |date=28 November 2021 }} {{in lang|fi}}.</ref> After the war, tens of thousands of Reds were interned in camps where thousands were executed or died of malnutrition and disease. A deep social and political enmity was sown between the Reds and the Whites that would last until the [[Winter War]] and beyond.<ref>[https://www.is.fi/paakirjoitus/art-2000005492424.html "Pääkirjoitus: Kansalaissota on arka muistettava"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526204428/https://www.is.fi/paakirjoitus/art-2000005492424.html |date=26 May 2022 }} {{in lang|fi}}.</ref><ref>[https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-8831374 "Punaisten ja valkoisten perintöä vaalitaan yhä – Suomalaiset lähettivät yli 400 muistoa vuoden 1918 sisällissodasta"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521072139/https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-8831374 |date=21 May 2022 }} {{in lang|fi}}.</ref> The civil war and the activist expeditions to Soviet Russia in 1918–1920, known as the "[[Heimosodat|Kinship Wars]]", strained relations with the East.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Manninen | first=Ohto | title=Suur-Suomen ääriviivat: Kysymys tulevaisuudesta ja turvallisuudesta Suomen Saksan-politiikassa 1941 | location=Helsinki | publisher=Kirjayhtymä | year=1980 | isbn= 951-26-1735-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last=Nygård | first=Toivo | title=Suur-Suomi vai lähiheimolaisten auttaminen: Aatteellinen heimotyö itsenäisessä Suomessa | location=Helsinki | publisher=Otava | year=1978 | isbn=951-1-04963-1}}</ref>

[[File:Helsinki Olympic stadium and stadium tower, 1938 (29438954721).jpg|thumb|[[Helsinki Olympic Stadium]] in 1938]]
After a [[Kingdom of Finland (1918)|brief experiment with monarchy]], when an attempt to make [[Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse]] the king of Finland failed, a [[Constitution of Finland|republican constitution]] was adopted and Finland became a [[presidential republic]], with [[K. J. Ståhlberg]] elected as its first president on 25 July 1919.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singleton |first1=Fred |last2=Upton |first2=Anthony F. |title=A short history of Finland |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=113 |isbn=978-0-521-64701-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w3qwCHn3EgEC}}</ref> A [[Civic nationalism|liberal nationalist]] with a legal background, Ståhlberg anchored the state in [[liberal democracy]], promoted the [[rule of law]] and initiated internal reforms.<ref>{{cite web | first = Juha | last = Mononen | title = War or Peace for Finland? Neoclassical Realist Case Study of Finnish Foreign Policy in the Context of the Anti-Bolshevik Intervention in Russia 1918–1920 | url = https://tampub.uta.fi/handle/10024/80491 | date = 2 February 2009 | publisher = University of Tampere | access-date = 25 August 2020 | archive-date = 7 June 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150607035630/http://tampub.uta.fi/handle/10024/80491 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Finland was also one of the first European countries to strongly promote [[Women's rights|women's equality]], with [[Miina Sillanpää]] becoming the first female minister in Finnish history in [[Tanner Cabinet|Väinö Tanner's cabinet]] in 1926–1927.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://finland.fi/life-society/real-bridge-builder-became-finlands-first-female-government-minister/|title=Real bridge-builder became Finland's first female government minister – thisisFINLAND|date=29 September 2017|work=thisisFINLAND|access-date=7 December 2020|language=en-US|archive-date=1 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401030539/https://finland.fi/life-society/real-bridge-builder-became-finlands-first-female-government-minister/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Finnish-Russian border was established in 1920 by the [[Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia)|Treaty of Tartu]], which largely followed the historical border but gave Finland [[Pechengsky District|Pechenga]] ({{langx|fi|Petsamo}}) and its [[Barents Sea]] port.<ref name="tif"/> Finnish democracy survived Soviet coup attempts and the anti-communist [[Lapua movement]].

In 1917 there were three million people in the country. After the civil war, a credit-based [[land reform]] was introduced, increasing the proportion of the population with access to capital.<ref name="equity" /> About 70% of the workforce was employed in agriculture and 10% in industry.<ref>{{cite web |series=Finland 1917–2007 |url=http://www.stat.fi/tup/suomi90/helmikuu_en.html |title=From slash-and-burn fields to post-industrial society—90 years of change in industrial structure |website=Statistics Finland |date=20 February 2007 |access-date=26 August 2010 |first=Pekka |last=Myrskylä |archive-date=20 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120050148/http://www.stat.fi/tup/suomi90/helmikuu_en.html |url-status=live }}</ref>