Title: Between Defeat and Victory: Finnish memory culture of the Second World War
Abstract: Abstract The article focuses on five essential phenomena in the Finnish memory culture relating to the three Finnish wars fought in 1939–1945, namely, (1) the memory of the fallen; (2) the influential work by author Väinö Linna; (3) the contested memory politics and veteran cultures in the 1960s and 1970s; (4) Germany and the Holocaust in the Finnish memory culture; and (5) the 'neo-patriotic' turn in the commemoration of the wars from the end of the 1980s onwards. The Finnish memory culture of 1939–1945 presents an interesting case of how the de facto lost wars against the Soviet Union have been shaped into cornerstones of national history and identity that continue to play a significant role even today. Using the growing research literature on the various aspects of the Finnish war memories and memory politics, the article aims, first, at outlining a synthesis of the memory culture's central features and, second, at challenging the common contemporary conception, according to which the Finnish war veterans would have been forgotten, neglected and even disgraced during the post-war decades, to be 'rehabilitated' only from the end of the 1980s onwards. Keywords: Second World WarFinlandmemorycommemorationwar veteranswar memorialswar fictionthe HolocaustFinlandization Acknowledgements The article is based on a presentation at the colloquium 'Erfahrungen der Ostfront in Erinnerung und Verarbeitung vom Kalten Krieg bis zum post-kommunistischen Europa: Fallstudien' at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, Germany, in October 2009. An earlier version of the article has been published in Spanish: Ville Kivimäki, 'Entre la victoria y la derrota: La memoria de la II Guerra Mundial en Finlandia', Historia Social 71 (2011): 41–58. I would like to thank Professor Gustavo Corni and Professor Xosé Manoel Núñez Seixas for their comments and helpfulness. Notes 1 For a general overview on the Finnish memory cultures of war in German, see Kinnunen, 'Finnische Kriegserinnerung'; also Rautkallio, 'Politik und Volk'. Parallel and interlinked with the finishing of this article a concise English presentation on the Finnish memory culture of war has been written by Tiina Kinnunen and Markku Jokisipilä, 'Shifting Images of "Our Wars"'. 2 Stenius, Österberg, and Östling, Nordic Narratives. 3 See Jokisipilä, 'Finnish History Culture'; Meinander, 'A Separate Story?'; and Kivimäki, 'Three Wars and Their Epitaphs'. 4 During the Continuation War, Finland occupied large areas of Soviet Eastern Karelia. Whereas the Winter War and the Continuation War were full-scale conflicts, the Lapland War against Germany was largely fought with reduced conscript units after the army was demobilized in November 1944. For concise English overviews on the political and military history of Finland in 1939–1945, see Vehviläinen, Finland in the Second World War; Kinnunen and Kivimäki, Finland in World War II. 5 For the distribution of casualties of 1918 in English, see War Victims in Finland, 1914–22. 6 Here and hereafter, for the general political history of Finland in English, please consult Jussila, Hentilä, and Nevakivi, From Grand Duchy; Kirby, Concise History of Finland. 7 The most important peace terms of 1944 included the Soviet annexation of some 10% of the Finnish territory, war reparations worth US$300 million, the obligation to drive out the German troops in Northern Finland and the renting of a military base to the Soviet Union in the immediate vicinity of Helsinki. 8 Ahto, Aseveljet vastakkain, 49–51; Jokisipilä, Aseveljiä vai liittolaisia, 359–61. 9 Malmi, 'Jatkosodan suomalaiset sotavangit', 1028. 10 Kurenmaa and Lentilä, 'Sodan tappiot', 1150–5. Military casualties of the Winter War, Continuation War and Lapland War were, respectively, ca. 27,000, 63,000, and 3,000 men. 11 Some of these, such as the Patriotic People's Movement party, were truly fascist, while some, such as the Academic Karelia Society, were at least chauvinistic. But the ban also included war veteran and national defence organizations, which most Finns could hardly see as fascist, and which would be better labelled as 'national conservative'. 12 Marshal Mannerheim, who had also been the commander-in-chief of the White troops in 1918, remained, of course, a highly controversial figure in Finland. Yet his hero-worship reached a high peak in the 1950s and the early 1960s; Peltonen, 'Yhdistävä ja erottava sankaruus', 94–8. 13 See, e.g., Winter and Sivan, 'Setting the Framework', 6–10; for a comprehensive discussion; Misztal, Theories of Social Remembering. 14 Kemppainen, Isänmaan uhrit, 65–82. 15 Kivimäki and Tepora, 'För krig och kärlek', 445–8; Kemppainen, Isänmaan uhrit, 156–72, 243–5. 16 Cf. West German post-war soldier themes in Kühne, Kameradschaft, 209 ff. 17 Kormano, 'Amputoidun maan pirstoutuneet puut'. 18 Tepora, Lippu, uhri, kansakunta; in English, Tepora, 'Redirecting Violence'; see also Kivimäki and Tepora, 'För krig och kärlek'. 19 Tepora, 'Redirecting Violence', 165; Kormano, 'Amputoidun maan pirstoutuneet puut', 280–81; and Peltonen, Muistin paikat, 226–8, 258. 20 This is best demonstrated by the victory of the people's democrats in the first post-war elections in March 1945. The Finnish People's Democratic League, including the Communist Party candidates, received 23.5% of the vote and became the second largest party after the Social Democratic Party. 21 Niemi, Viime sotien kirjat, 125–33; cf. Jokinen, 'Myytti sodan palveluksessa', 141–3. 22 Varpio, Väinö Linnan elämä, 352–5. 23 Niemi, Viime sotien kirjat, 130–33; Varpio, Väinö Linnan elämä, 271, 301–17, 375; this national meaning of the war is emphasized in Edvin Laine's film, which ends with Finnish soldiers burying their comrade, with the Finlandia hymn by Jean Sibelius playing in the background. According to Yrjö Varpio and contrary to popular beliefs, Linna himself accepted this idea and it was not 'a nationalistic retouch' of his novel by Laine. 24 Varpio, Väinö Linnan elämä, 340; Raittila, 'Jätkäpojan linja', 10–11. 25 Kinnunen, 'Gender and Politics', 193–5. 26 In 1985, director Rauni Mollberg filmed a new version of The Unknown Soldier, the spirit of which is much more strongly anti-war, and which emphasizes the futility of soldiers' sacrifices. It is telling that this film is rarely shown on television, and the Independence Day spectacle is reserved for Edvin Laine's less violent and more patriotic version. 27 Varpio, Väinö Linnan elämä, 294, 640–46; on the myth of war experience and Finnish masculinity, see Ahlbäck and Kivimäki, 'Masculinities at War', 126–7. 28 Kettunen, 'Tuntematon sotilas', 119. 29 See Kinnunen and Jokisipilä, 'Shifting Images', 447–8. 30 Vihavainen, Kansakunta rähmällään, 222–5. 31 See, e.g., Juujärvi, Pesso, and Salin, Sotiemme veteraanien identiteetti, 26–32, 75–9. 32 Cf. Kinnunen and Jokisipilä, 'Shifting Images', 446–50. 33 Tuominen, Me kaikki ollaan sotilaitten lapsia, 73–8, 125–8, 388; on the youth revolt as a symbolic patricide, see also Siltala, 'Isien teot, Hamletin sanat'. At the same time in the 1960s, the above-mentioned lotta debate was also revisited, as the novel Sissiluutnantti (1963) by Paavo Rintala again raised questions of lottas reputation and honour; Kinnunen, 'Gender and Politics', 193–5. 34 See, e.g., Herzog, Sex after Fascism. 35 Sulamaa, '"Himmetä ei muistot koskaan saa"', 297–311. 36 Ukkola, 'Sodan jälkeen', 35. 37 On the term 'neo-patriotism' in this context, see Vares, 'Kuitenkin me voitimme!'. 38 Sulamaa, Veteraania ei jätetä, 43–63; Tuomisto, Etulinjassa, 100–140. 39 Miettunen, Menneisyys ja historiakuva, passim. 40 Apparently, the Soviet authorities considered the magazine as 'revanchist', but this did not disturb its publication: Rautkallio, 'Politik und Volk', 206. 41 Sulamaa, '"Himmetä ei muistot koskaan saa"', 302–3; editorial, Kansa taisteli, no. 5 (1986): 147. 42 On the Finnish readership of war literature until the end of 1980s, Niemi, Viime sotien kirjat, 194–203. 43 From 1945 until the 1970s, the social democrats and the people's democrats gained about 45% of the vote in national elections; today, the comparable share of the left is less than 30%. 44 A division into 'bourgeois' and 'working-class' unions would only be true as a general characterization. In practice, both unions tended to lean towards the centre and the local differences between the unions were often quite unclear and complicated, see Sulamaa, Veteraania ei jätetä, 40–2, 191–9; Tuomisto, Etulinjassa, 83–8, 113–17. 45 These key war veteran figures, close to President Kekkonen and active in the Finnish foreign policy of the 1970s, included, for instance, long-time prime and foreign minister Ahti Karjalainen, two-time prime minister and later president Mauno Koivisto, and foreign minister (albeit for a rather short period) Väinö Leskinen. 46 The complexity of the issue can be illustrated by the fact that probably the two most despised Finnish politicians among the hardcore communist youth radicals of the 1970s were indeed war veterans, Aarne Saarinen and Ele Alenius, but Saarinen also happened to be the chairman of the Finnish Communist Party and Alenius the leader of the people's democrats. Eino S. Repo, the head of the Finnish Broadcasting Company in the 1960s and allegedly responsible for its 'radicalization', had also been a front-line officer. 47 Juujärvi, Pesso, and Salin, Sotiemme veteraanien identiteetti, 84–6. 48 Jokisipilä, '"Kappas vaan, saksalaisia"'; this debate is so long-lasting and nuanced that it is not fruitful to describe it here in detail – for summaries in German and English, see Kinnunen, 'Finnische Kriegserinnerung'; Meinander, 'A Separate Story'; Jokisipilä, 'Finnish History Culture'; and Kivimäki, 'Three Wars and Their Epitaphs'. 49 Junila, Kotirintaman aseveljeyttä, 31–2, 82, 136–46, 286–304. 50 Jokisipilä, Aseveljiä vai liittolaisia, 361–6. 51 Ahto, Aseveljet vastakkain, 67, 215–26; Junila, Kotirintaman aseveljeyttä, 62–3, 82. 52 As described in the above-cited title of Sampo Ahto's history of the Lapland War, Aseveljet vastakkain, which translates as 'brothers-in-arms against each other'. 53 This is also true regarding the wartime resistance movement: during the Continuation War, a few Finnish communists did organize some minor sabotages, but they remained practically irrelevant. 54 Vares, 'Kuitenkin me voitimme', 184. 55 Rautkallio, 'Politik und Volk', 214–17. Some Finnish Jews who served in contact with German troops were even awarded the Iron Cross, and the German military was surprised to learn that the Finnish Army in Eastern Karelia had established a field synagogue for its Jewish soldiers. For an updated view on the issue, see Holmila, 'Finland and the Holocaust'. 56 Silvennoinen, Salaiset aseveljet. 57 Raivo, 'Oblivion Without Guilt'. 58 Cf. Meinander, 'A Separate Story?', 61–7. 59 Kivimäki, 'Three Wars and Their Epitaphs', 16–20. 60 Sulamaa, Veteraania ei jätetä, 74–7. 61 Vares, 'Kuitenkin me voitimme', 184–5; Kinnunen, 'Finnische Kriegserinnerung', 350–53, 360–65. 62 Raivo, '"This Is Where They Fought"', 158. 63 Ahonen, Historiaton sukupolvi?, 67–8, 73–89, 120–32, 169–73. 64 Hautamäki and Coleman, 'Explanation for Low Prevalence of PTSD'. 65 For the project's website, see http://www.tammenlehva.fi (only available in Finnish and Swedish). 66 The populist right-wing party Perussuomalaiset ('True Finns', as they have chosen to be called in English) was the clear winner in recent national elections (2011), receiving 19% of the votes. The connection of the present Finnish memory culture of war to the growing populist right-wing sentiment would definitely require a study of its own. 67 Raivo, '"This Is Where They Fought"', 159–63. 68 Meinander, Suomi 1944, 395–8. 69 Aamulehti, 28 November 2009. 70 Meinander, 'A Separate Story?', 71–4. 71 Torsti, 'Suomalaisten moniulotteiset sotakuvat'. 72 See Stråth, 'Nordic Foundation Myths', 164–8. 73 On the troubles of including this European memory trend into the Finnish memory culture, see Silvennoinen, 'Still Under Examination'; Holmila, 'Varieties of Silence'. 74 See, e.g., Bucur, Heroes and Victims, passim; Ungváry, The Siege of Budapest, 357. 75 On the political uses of wartime history and memory, see Torsti, 'Suomalaisten moniulotteiset sotakuvat', 322–3. 76 As the war veterans now have a special status as a moral authority, we have already seen individual veteran's opinions, or wholly imagined and generalized 'veteran opinion', mobilized to oppose a multitude of issues, such as contemporary art and theatre performances, the selling of land property to Russians, refugee and immigration policies, the compulsory teaching of Swedish language at schools, and lately also gays dancing at the president's annual Independence Day reception, to name just a few examples. Furthermore, during the present economic crisis 'the Spirit of the Winter War' has been called forth to support national consensus at the face of economic austerity and budget cuts.