1 A “generations” approach to history is suggested by von Ranke, Leopold, Geschichten tier romanischen und Germanischen Völker von 1494 bis 1514 (third ed.; Leipzig: Verlag von Duncker & Humblot, 1885), p. 323 Google Scholar, and much more emphatically, by Lorenz, Ottokar, Lehrbuch der Gesamten wissenschaftlichen Genealogie (Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz, 1898)Google Scholar. Art historians, in particular, have tended to see two generations, classical and romantic, constantly alternating. See, for example, Pinder, Wilhelm, Kunstgeschichte nach Generationen (Leipzig: Pfeiffer, 1926)Google Scholar.

2 The finest example, of course, is Turgenev's Fathers and Sons.

3 A study searching for fundamentals is Eisenstadt, S. N., From Generation to Generation: Age Groups and Social Structure (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1956)Google Scholar.

4 This definition is taken from Neumann, Sigmund, Permanent Revolution: The Total State in a World at War (New York: Harper, 1942), pp. 235-36Google Scholar.

5 It has been in the study of modern totalitarianism that the greatest advances have been made in using the conceptual tool of generation. The impact of such a set of disruptive experiences upon those who became the leaders of National Socialism is analyzed in ibid., pp. 230-56, and the same author's “The Conflict of Generations in Contemporary Europe,” Vital Speeches of the Day, V (1939), 623-28. A student of Soviet society has found basic differences between the responses of the younger and older Soviet generations to the enforcement of conformity, and concludes: “We are clearly dealing with the impact of historical events rather than with life cycle differences.” Raymond A. Bauer, “Some Trends in Sources of Alienation from the Soviet System,” The Public Opinion Quarterly, XIX (Fall, 1955), 288. Further data on generational differences in the Soviet Union is found in Raymond A. Bauer, Alex Inkeles, and Kluckhohn, Clyde, How the Soviet System Works: Cultural, Psychological, and Social Themes (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956), pp. 190-98Google Scholar, and Fainsod, Merle, How Russia is Ruled (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953), pp. 493-97Google Scholar.

6 It has been argued that “at best the coup d'etat of January, 1918, was a Russian wolf in Finnish sheep's clothing.” Jay Smith, C., Jr., “Russia and the Origins of the Finnish Civil War of 1918,” The American Slavic and East European Review, XIV (1955), No. 4, 501 Google Scholar. For a substantially different analysis see the definitive work by Juhani Paasivirta, Suornen itsenäisyyskysymys 1917 II—eduskunnan hajoituksesta itsenaisyysjulistukseen (Porvoo-Helsinki: Werner Soderstrom Osakeyhtio, 1949), pp. 200-201.

7 In the first parliamentary election in which they participated, in 1922, Communists received 14.8% of the total vote; in the last election, in 1929, before their party organization was effectively outlawed in 1930, they received 13.5%.

8 See Tuominen, Arvo, Sirpin ja vasaran tie—muistelmia (Helsinki: Tammi, 1956)Google Scholar. These are the memoirs of one of the most powerful Finnish Communists of the interwar period. In November, 1939, he was offered the prime ministership of the new (Soviet-dictated) “Government of Finland.” His refusal marked the beginning of his break from Communism. His memoirs are the most important single source for the history of Finnish Communism.

9 “The Finns are the only people I know who had a political police under the control of a Communist Minister of the Interior, and have rid themselves of both without disturbance.” Bartlett, Vernon, East of the Iron Curtain (New York: Medill McBride Company, 1950), p. 180 Google Scholar. This, of course, did not happen “without disturbance“; it led to one of the most critical moments in Finnish history.

10 For a Soviet analysis of the unusual relationship of postwar Finland to the Soviet Union see Ambartsumov, E., “Soviet-Finnish Relations—Relations of Peace and Friendship,” International Affairs: A Monthly of Political Analysis (Moscow), October, 1955, pp. 44–53 Google Scholar.

11 This militancy was the fundamental characteristic of both the extreme right (especially the Lapua movement) and the extreme left in Finnish politics during the interwar period. A young Finnish officer fighting with the German Army in World War I, later a right-wing leader, reacted to war in this manner: “Even though millions fell and one generation sank into misery, it means no more in the thousand-years’ life of nations than a floating cloud in the summer sky. Every manly act and willingly-carried sacrifice that purely rose to the surface from amidst torrents of blood and crimes is immortal, for it gathers together all who confess the obligation of the past, to build the future of their race.” See Somersalo, Arne, Taisleluvuosien varrelta—suomalaisen sotilaan muistelmia maailmansodasta (Helsinki: Otava, 1928), p. 10 Google Scholar. In the final stages of the civil war a Social Democratic newspaperman read the future of his cause: “The whole richness of the future will be based upon the triumph of labor's cause. The Finnish worker has enriched this cause during these days with his blood and this worker's blood in the future will carry a message of peace and reassurance from these days, when the greatest Finnish tragedy took place.” Irmari Rantamala, “Suomalainen murhenäytelmä,” Työmies, April 8, 1918, cited in Atte Pohjanmaa, Sanan säilätaistelun tiellä—Puolen vuosisadan (1895-1945) taival Työmiehen-Suomen Sosialidemokraatin palstoilta nähtynä (Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Kansanvalta, 1948), p. 113; see also Tuominen, op. cit., p. 43.

12 “But just at that moment, during the beginning of August, 1917, when our adoration of parliamentarism and our hymn of praise to it had reached the highest strain, unexpectedly came the news that Parliament was dissolved.” Tuominen, op. cit., p. 66. See also Väinö Voionmaa, “Venäjän vallankumous ja Suomen itsenäisyys,” in Sosialidemokraattinen puolue 25 vuotta—Muistojulkaisu (Helsinki: Sosialidemokraattinen puoluetoimikunta, 1924), p. 176, and Vaino Tanner, “Työväki eduskunnassa,” in ibid., p. 108.

13 See Paasivirta, op. cit., p. 24.

14 A distinguished sociologist's evaluation is found in Waris, Heikki, Suomalaisen yhteiskunnan rakenne, (second ed.; Helsinki: Otava, 1952), p. 105 Google Scholar. Tuominen, op. cit., p. 314, relates the case of Hannes Mäkinen: “He was in his last year at the secondary school in Riihimäki, first in his class, when the rebellion broke out, but he enthusiastically joined the Red Guard, and, even though he was only seventeen, became a company commander. In that chaos, he was wounded so badly that he has had to limp all his life; he became a newspaperman and secretary of the Young Communist League.“

15 Kurjensaari, Matti, Taistelu huomispäivästä—Isänmaan opissa 1918-1948 (Helsinki: Tammi, 1948), p. 37 Google Scholar. This sensitive liberal literary figure, a young boy during the civil war, relates (ibid., p. 26) its impact on him: “In everything, no matter how long afterwards, the depth of my being wants to see what happens to those who fell that spring. In my mind I stretch out my hand to them. For years I am like a hesitant lover who cannot find expression for his feelings.“

16 Of his first ten days as a prisoner in Tampere, Tuominen, who afterwards spent many years in Finnish prisons, relates (op. cit., p. 86): “They were among the most shocking of my life. I have never been able to free myself from their memory and I probably never shall.” The same author tells (p. 91) of his youngest brother: “He was taken from one hunger-and execution-camp to another, and barely managed to stay alive. He too has not been able to forget, nor will he ever get over, the bitterness which this unjust treatment then evoked.“

17 “Intellectually I was, as I said, in a vacuum: the old God had proved false and I had not yet found a new one.” Ibid., p. 103.

18 See ibid., pp. 87 and 100-101, and Nousiainen, Jaakko, Kommunismi Kuopion läanissä— ekologinen tutkimus kommunismin joukkokannatukseen vaikuttavista tekijöistäPohjois-Savossa ja Pohjois-Karjalassa (Joensuu: Pohjois-Karjalan Kirjapaino Oy, 1956), p. 18.Google Scholar

19 “Those gunshots [execution of Social Democrats] which rang out then not only in Tampere but to some extent throughout the land, the treason trial tragicomedy following them, and the misery of the concentration camps produced many times more bitterness, hajjed, and Communists in this land than the Finnish Communist Party has achieved in spite of its efforts during thirty-eight years of activity. For me, also, those days were the final touch in that process of mental development that had begun with the dissolution of Parliament during the previous summer.” Tuominen, op. cit., p. 88.

20 In a speech commemorating the thirty-eighth anniversary of the civil war, Tuure Lehén proclaimed: “The example of those who battled on the front lines in the civil war absolutely obligates us to exert all our strength to establish a united front of workers. Action towards this goal is the best way to honor their memory.” Kommunisti, Volume XII, Nos. 1-2 (January-February, 1956).

21 See Nousiainen, op. cit., pp. 58, 63, 159-60.

22 The term Communist, used with reference to parliamentary representation in Finland, includes the Socialist Workers’ Party (1922-23), the Workers’ and Small Farmers’ parliamentary group (1924-26), the Workers’ and Small Farmers’ Party (1927-30), and the Finnish People's Democratic League (since 1945). All information has been obtained from official biographies of members of Parliament contained within the editions of Suomen eduskunta published after the elections of 1922, 1924, 1927, 1929, 194.=>, 1948, 1951, and 1954.

23 In several cases no data concerning a particular member's education is given by Suomen eduskunta. In these isolated instances his educational achievement has been estimated on the basis of data concerning the member's occupation, birthplace, parents’ occupation, and so forth.

24 Important data on support given to the Finnish Communist movement by “underdeveloped” rural areas is found in Nousiainen, op. cit. Since these areas have remained Communist strongholds even after four decades of rising living standards (p. 69), however, it would appear that the economic factor is not the most significant. The source of continuing loyalty must be found elsewhere, most probably in the impact of the civil war.

25 The role of intellectuals in these Communist movements is depicted in Almond, Gabriel A. and others, The Appeals of Communism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954), pp. 394-95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

26 A remarkable autobiographical novel by one of the young leaders of this attempt (perhaps unintentionally) sheds considerable light on the reasons for its failures. See R. Palomeri [nom deplume of Raoul Palmgren], 30-luvun kuvat (Helsinki: Tammi, no date).

27 This expression of militancy is described in Viljo Kajava, Paavo Pajunen, Elvi Sinervo, and others (editors), Suomen pojat Espanjassa (Lahti: Etela-Suomen Sanomain Kirjapaino Oy, 1939).

28 Pertti Pcsonen, “Ylioppilaiden poliittiset kannanotot,” Tlioppilaslehti, Jan. 13, 1956, p. 8. Significantly, in this survey, 43% of the students polled expressed support for the presidential candidate of the (conservative) National Coalition Party, 23% for the (liberal) Finnish People's Party, 8% for the Agrarian Party, 7% for the Social Democratic Party, and 5% for the Swedish People's Party, with 13% noncommittal or undecided. In the actual election, the parties received the following percentages of votes in the electorate as a whole: Communist, 18.7%; National Coalition, 19.6%; Finnish People's, 4.5%; Agrarian, 27%; Social Democratic, 23.3%; Swedish People's, 6.9%. This right-wing orientation of university students and of the educated class as a whole is traditional in Finnish politics.

29 von Bonsdorff, Göran, Suomen poliittiset puolueet (Helsinki: Tammi, 1957), p. 41 Google Scholar, classifies members of the Finnish Parliament, 1919-56, by occupational status. His extremely valuable analysis is not particularly helpful in the case at hand, however, for he does not separate Communist representation into pre-1930 and post-1944 periods; furthermore, his occupational categories are chosen to facilitate analysis of leadership within the Finnish party system as a whole, rather than within the Communist movement as a distinct group. Von Bonsdorff finds (p. 44) that over 40% of Finnish Communist voters are members of one or another of the party's organizations, a very much higher percentage than any other Finnish party has attained.

30 Not enough is known of possible factional divisions within the party leadership to justify assertion that “they seem to be divided into a ‘parliamentary’ faction headed by Mrs. Hertta Kuusinen, and a strong-arm group in which such sinister figures as the Finnish-born Russian Brigadier, Tuure Lehén are active.” The Scanditiavian States and Finland (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1951), p. 109.

31 This fact of course meant that important decisions as to party strategy were taken out of the hands of the Communist legislative leaders in Finland. Since as Communists they were bound to accept the dictates of the Third International anyway, the leaders of the parliamentary party would have gained very little additional discretionary power by “leading” the party organization as well. It is difficult to see that party function, structure, or strategy would have been altered basically had such an identity of party and parliamentary leaders existed.

32 Fascinating details of the interconnection between the emigrant and domestic Communist leaders during the interwar period are found in the memoirs of the main connecting link; see Tuominen, op. cit. Penetrating analysis of the nature of the emigrant leadership is found in Paasivirta, Juhani, Suomen poliittisen työväenliikkeen kehitys (Porvoo- Helsinki: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtio, 1949), pp. 48–58 Google Scholar.

33 Concerning this point see the fundamental arguments put forth by the present President of the Republic while he was the leader of the Agrarian Party, in Kekkonen, Urho, Onko maallamme malttia vaurastua? (Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava, 1952)Google Scholar.

34 The imprecision of the Finnish system of proportional representation is indicated by the fact that in 1945 the Communists gained forty-nine seats in Parliament, but in 1948 only thirty-eight seats, although the percentages of popular votes were much closer.

35 Aversion and even hatred towards the upper classes, particularly the bureaucracy, have for centuries been strikingly characteristic of the Finnish lower classes, especially in rural areas. The fundamental historical reasons for this hatred were that until Finland achieved its independence in 1917 not only did the bureaucracy represent a “foreign” power (at first Sweden, then Russia), but the upper classes generally sympathized with one or the other of these powers and (with the exception of the clergy) spoke a language other than that used by the great masses of Finns. To a considerable extent this dichotomy has been visible even after 1917, especially within the Agrarian Party. With the passing of the historic reasons, and the gradual approach of an equalitarian society, indefinite continuation of this bitterness, even in its present emaciated form, is improbable.

36 It is of more than literary significance that at plot's end the young Marxist hero of Raoul Palmgren's autobiographical novel, op. cit., is en route to join the Finnish Army in the Winter War.

37 Noteworthy is the fact that both of the two leaders who came to the political helm in 1944, Mannerheim and Paasikivi, had matured intellectually during the relatively stable 1880's and early 1890's, when the degree of accommodation between Finland and Russia was rather substantial. These eminent conservatives thus had an appropriate Weltanschauung, acquired a half-century before, to put into effect this new policy of moderation and accommodation vis-a-vis the Soviet Union after 1944. Paasikivi's speeches defining this postwar policy are found in Paasikiven linja I—Juho Kusti Paasikiven puheita mosilta 1944-1956 (Porvoo-Helsinki: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, 1956). A brief account of this policy is Gvon Bonsdorff, Göran, Finlands politik efter kriget (Stockholm: Utrikespolitiska institutets broschyrserie, 1950)Google Scholar.

38 Nousiainen, op. cit., pp. 152-54.

39 It would be premature to assume that a totalitarian party cannot accomplish this leadership renewal with considerable success. It has even been argued that “in autocratic parties energetic action by the centre to ensure the mobility of talent remains possible, whereas the machinery of election makes this difficult in democratic parties.” Duverger, Maurice, Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State (translated by Barbara and Robert North, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1955), pp. 162-63Google Scholar. Intensive leadership-training schools operated by the Finnish Communist Party support this observation.