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.
Monarchy of Finland
In December 1917, Finland declared her independence from Russia, in response to the October Revolution in Russia. The internal unrest in the country soon descended into an open civil war between the Reds (i.e. revolutionary forces consisting of various socialist factions and the working class) and the Whites (i.e. pro-government forces, political conservatives and much of the middle and upper classes). In the end the White side emerged victorious. During the war, the Whites had been supported by Imperial Germany, and in an effort to cement the alliance with Germany, the Finnish parliament, now purged of socialist members, elected Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse as the King of Finland. Before Frederick Charles could move to Finland, however, the collapse of the Central Powers made the idea of German-born Finnish king untenable and he declined the throne. After new elections, the parliament, now again composed of representatives from all political parties, adopted a republican constitution of 1919 which was in effect, with numerous modifications, until 1999 and the basic structure of which is continued in the current Constitution.