New book: Soviets tried to instigate revolution in Finland twice in 1970s
New biography of President Kekkonen released
|
According to a new biography of Finnish President Urho Kekkonen, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union tried to help the Finnish Communist Party take power twice in the 1970s. The first such attempt was in the winter of 1970-1971 and the second time was in 1976-1977.
In his new book, Urho Kekkonen - Suomen johtaja ("Urho Kekkonen - Leader of Finland"), historian and former Finnish Foreign Ministry official Jukka Seppinen examines the entire life of President Kekkonen. However, the main focus is on Finnish-Soviet relations.
In the 1970s Seppinen served at Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs as head of the division that dealt with relations with the East.
As Seppinen sees it, Soviet attempts to bring Finland into the socialist camp began in 1964, when Leonid Brezhnev took over the leadership of the Soviet Communist Party.
The first attempt at fomenting revolution was led by Ambassador Aleksei Belyakov, who first came to Finland in the summer of 1970. Also involved in the plan was Politburo member Arvid Pelshe. Seppinen said that the plot had Brezhnev’s support.
According to the Soviet plan, the Finnish Communist Party might be able to take power in Finland if the country had a centre-left coalition government led by Ahti Karjalainen (Centre).
Such a situation arose in the summer of 1970. The caretaker government of Teuvo Aura resigned under Soviet pressure.
The Soviets then pressured Kekkonen to appoint Karjalainen as the Prime Minister of a centre-left "popular front" government.
The Finnish Communist Party provoked a number of strikes, but there was no revolution. Belyakov had to leave Finland, the Communists quit the Finnish government, and by dissolving Parliament, Kekkonen soon got rid of Prime Minister Karjalainen as well.
"Kremlin puppet" is how Seppinen characterises Ahti Karjalainen.
The second attempt to encourage a revolution in Finland was launched the year after the Helsinki summit of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1975. At that time there was also a centre-left government in power under Prime Minister Martti Miettunen (Centre). Leading the plot was Ambassador Vladimir Stepanov, and it culminated in Stepanov’s demand that Finland stop talking about itself as a neutral country.
This attempt also failed miserably.
In the research for his book Seppinen had access to the archives of the Finnish Security Police, and its extensive material on the Finnish Communist Party from 1962 to 1978.
A full review of Seppinen’s new Kekkonen biography will be among our weekly articles on Tuesday next week.
In his new book, Urho Kekkonen - Suomen johtaja ("Urho Kekkonen - Leader of Finland"), historian and former Finnish Foreign Ministry official Jukka Seppinen examines the entire life of President Kekkonen. However, the main focus is on Finnish-Soviet relations.
In the 1970s Seppinen served at Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs as head of the division that dealt with relations with the East.
As Seppinen sees it, Soviet attempts to bring Finland into the socialist camp began in 1964, when Leonid Brezhnev took over the leadership of the Soviet Communist Party.
The first attempt at fomenting revolution was led by Ambassador Aleksei Belyakov, who first came to Finland in the summer of 1970. Also involved in the plan was Politburo member Arvid Pelshe. Seppinen said that the plot had Brezhnev’s support.
According to the Soviet plan, the Finnish Communist Party might be able to take power in Finland if the country had a centre-left coalition government led by Ahti Karjalainen (Centre).
Such a situation arose in the summer of 1970. The caretaker government of Teuvo Aura resigned under Soviet pressure.
The Soviets then pressured Kekkonen to appoint Karjalainen as the Prime Minister of a centre-left "popular front" government.
The Finnish Communist Party provoked a number of strikes, but there was no revolution. Belyakov had to leave Finland, the Communists quit the Finnish government, and by dissolving Parliament, Kekkonen soon got rid of Prime Minister Karjalainen as well.
"Kremlin puppet" is how Seppinen characterises Ahti Karjalainen.
The second attempt to encourage a revolution in Finland was launched the year after the Helsinki summit of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1975. At that time there was also a centre-left government in power under Prime Minister Martti Miettunen (Centre). Leading the plot was Ambassador Vladimir Stepanov, and it culminated in Stepanov’s demand that Finland stop talking about itself as a neutral country.
This attempt also failed miserably.
In the research for his book Seppinen had access to the archives of the Finnish Security Police, and its extensive material on the Finnish Communist Party from 1962 to 1978.
A full review of Seppinen’s new Kekkonen biography will be among our weekly articles on Tuesday next week.
Helsingin Sanomat