History of Finland
The history of Finland begins around 9,000 BC during the end of the last glacial period. Stone Age cultures were Kunda, Comb Ceramic, Corded Ware, Kiukainen, and Pöljä cultures. The Finnish Bronze Age started in approximately 1,500 BC and the Iron Age started in 500 BC and lasted until 1,300 AD. Finnish Iron Age cultures can be separated into Finnish proper, Tavastian, and Karelian cultures. The earliest written sources mentioning Finland start to appear from the 12th century onwards when the Catholic Church started to gain a foothold in Southwest Finland.
Social Democratic Party of Finland
The SDP was founded as the Finnish Labour Party () in 1899. The name was changed to the present form in 1903. SDP was closely associated with the Finnish Trade Union Federation (SAJ), established in 1907, as all of its members were also members of the party. The party remained a chiefly extra-parliamentary movement until universal suffrage was introduced in 1906 (before Finland's independence from Russia in 1917), after which the SDP's share of the votes reached 47% in 1916, when the party secured a majority in the parliament — the only time in the history of Finland when one party has had such a majority. The party lost its majority in the 1917 election, and in 1918 it started a rebellion that escalated into the Finnish Civil War.