Finland is a country located in the Scandinavia region of Northern Europe. It is a parliamentary republic managed by both a President and a Prime Minister, and it has been considered to be the most progressive, most stable, and best-educated country in the world by many organizations.
History[]
Finland declared independence from the Bolsheviks on 6 December 1917 after the Russian Revolution, with Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim leading the Finnish White Army against communist Red Finland in the south of Finland. The country's conservative "Whites", allied with the German Empire, won control over a united country that ruled both the modern-day boundaries of Finland as well as Karelia, becoming a parliamentary republic after the plan to make Finland a kingdom failed in 1918.
Like many other recently-independent former Russian Empire regions, Finland came under pressure from its communist neighbor the Soviet Union, whose leader Joseph Stalin sought to reconquer the lost lands of the Russian Empire and spread communism to the rest of Europe. In 1940, the USSR invaded Finland to retake Karelia, leading to the "Winter War". Mannerheim had a reluctant alliance with Nazi Germany, with the Finns receiving support from both the Nazis and the Allied Powers against the Comintern; a Swedish Volunteer Corps was formed to assist the Finnish in their struggle with the Soviets. Finland bravely resisted the Soviets, but they were eventually forced to cede Karelia to the Soviets and make peace. President Risto Ryti saw an opportunity for revenge when Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa in 1941, invading the USSR, and Finland provided troops to help the Germans in the Continuation War. The Finns took part in the Siege of Leningrad and other battles on the frontier of the USSR with Finland, but in 1944 the Soviets launched a counterattack and the war reached Finnish soil. Eventually, Ryti resigned and Mannerheim became the new President, signing an armistice with the Soviet Union and declaring war on Germany in the Lapland War. The result of the ensuing war was the defeat of the Germans in Finland, and after World War II's end the Soviets allied with the Finns as a part of the Eastern Bloc.
During the Cold War, Finland decided to join the Non-Aligned Movement and remain neutral, avoiding being drawn into either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. In the 1950s, Finland began a process of industrialization to replace its agrarian past, and it joined the United Nations in 1955. In 1995, the country joined the European Union, being the most sparsely-populated country in the EU. In 2015, it was ranked the most stable country in the Failed States Index, while its educational system of no homework and the ability to pursue career-focused classes made it the best-educated in the world. In November 2015, Finland had a population of 5,486,125, with 73.9% of the population being Protestant, 1.1% being Orthodox, 23.5% being atheist or agnostic, and 1.5% Muslim, Jewish, or animist.
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