horizon of Finland, the Social-Democratic Party of Finland, which grew from a membership of 8,300 in 1902, to a party which won a clear majority in the Finnish Diet in 1916, the first Socialist Party in the world to get a parliamentary majority. This may be explained by the social composition of the rural population of Finland which in 1901 comprised 88 per cent of the total. Only 111,000 families or less than a quarter of the rural population owned any land at all; the rest were tenant farmers; torpparits or sharecroppers, and landless agricultural laborers. It was this vast reservoir of rural exploitation which enabled the Socialist Party of a dominantly rural country to win a majority in the Finnish Diet. In 1905, when the first great revolutionary wave swept through Russia, the Swedo-Finnish bourgeoisie remained loyal to Tsarism. But the Finnish Social-Democratic Party rose to the occasion and struck a blow for a free Finland, a democratically-elected Diet and for social reforms. A general strike was so complete that even the local police went on strike. All the Socialist demands were granted by the Tsarist government. The Social-Democrats won 80 out of the 200 seats in the first democratic Diet of Finland. In the counter-revolutionary period followed upon the 1905 revolution, the national, social and political gains of 1905 were largely lost in Finland as in the rest of the empire. But the militant Social-Democratic Party of Finland knew that their time would come again and organized for the occasion. In the 1916 Diet the won 103 out of the 200 seats. The Bolshevik Revolution Brings Finland Its Independence When the Tsarist regime was overthrown in March, 1917, the Provisional Government grudgingly restored to Finland the autonomy that the Social-Democratic Party won in 1905. But both the Lvov and Kerensky Governments refused to grant complete independence to Finland. The only Russian political party that was in favor of granting complete independence to Finland was the
horizon of Finland, the Social-Democratic Party of Finland, which grew from a membership of 8,300 in 1902, to a party which won a clear majority in the Finnish Diet in 1916, the first Socialist Party in the world to get a parliamentary majority. This may be explained by the social composition of the rural population of Finland which in 1901 comprised 88 per cent of the total. Only 111,000 families or less than a quarter of the rural population owned any land at all; the rest were tenant farmers; torpparits or sharecroppers, and landless agricultural laborers. It was this vast reservoir of rural exploitation which enabled the Socialist Party of a dominantly rural country to win a majority in the Finnish Diet. In 1905, when the first great revolutionary wave swept through Russia, the Swedo-Finnish bourgeoisie remained loyal to Tsarism. But the Finnish Social-Democratic Party rose to the occasion and struck a blow for a free Finland, a democratically-elected Diet and for social reforms. A general strike was so complete that even the local police went on strike. All the Socialist demands were granted by the Tsarist government. The Social-Democrats won 80 out of the 200 seats in the first democratic Diet of Finland. In the counter-revolutionary period followed upon the 1905 revolution, the national, social and political gains of 1905 were largely lost in Finland as in the rest of the empire. But the militant Social-Democratic Party of Finland knew that their time would come again and organized for the occasion. In the 1916 Diet the won 103 out of the 200 seats. The Bolshevik Revolution Brings Finland Its Independence When the Tsarist regime was overthrown in March, 1917, the Provisional Government grudgingly restored to Finland the autonomy that the Social-Democratic Party won in 1905. But both the Lvov and Kerensky Governments refused to grant complete independence to Finland. The only Russian political party that was in favor of granting complete independence to Finland was the
SovietFinland.docx