Under blåsvarta färger. Den estniska konstitutionella krisens verkningar i de finsk-estniska relationerna åren 1934-1938 by Andr� Sahlstr�m (review)

Abstract

i6o SEER, 8o, I, 2002 reallyneed to be told on three separateoccasions (pp. 7, I3 and 27) about the move from theJulian to the Gregoriancalendar? All this, of course, is not entirely the fault of the author. Murphy has been verypoorly servedby the publisherof thismessyvolume. Department ofHistoy JONATHAN D. SMELE Queen Mary,University ofLondon Sahlstrom, Andre. Underblasvarta fdrger.Den estniskakonstitutionella krisens verkningar i de fnsk-estniskarelationerna aren i934-i938. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki, 2000. 322 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. German summary. FM I50.00. THE crisis of democracy in the I930S did not leave a single one of Europe's new democracies untouched. Usually, the successor states of the former Austro-Hungarianand Russian empires adopted some kind of authoritarian rule. Only in the cases of Finlandand Czechoslovakiadid democraticregimes survive. In the case of Finland the happy outcome was doubtless, to some extent at least, due to the exceptionally long democratic traditions. For example, Finland establisheduniversalsuffrageas earlyas in I906 -the first countryto do so, albeitnon-sovereign,in Europe. On the otherhand, Finland had also experienced a bloody civil war in I9I8. This had not, however, destroyedthe democraticpolitical systemand the Social Democratic partywhich had now retiredfrom the barricades scoredwell in the electionsjust a few months afterthe war. The fact that yesterday'sredsvery soon returned to the political scene and even formed a minority government in 1926, very much irritatedtherightistelements,who in I930 organizednon-parliamentary pressure groups and also succeeded in banning the Communist movement. The new anti-communist laws, however, were also used against rightist extremists during the first half of I930s. Consequently, the rightist mass movement, which had been a powerfulfactorin I930, was soon marginalized into one politically insignificantparty and a handful of fascisticgroups. The crucial result of this process was that Finnish conservatives distanced themselves from right-wing radicalism. By I934 the radical rightist party, which hadjust 7 per cent of the seats in the parliament,had definitelyparted ways fromthe moderate conservativewing. For Estonia, the crisisof democracy had more seriousconsequences. As in Finland, there was also in Estonia an element that was dissatisfiedwith the prevailing democratic system, which was considered to be ineffective and unable to answer to the challenges of the time; these included the economic difficultiesarisingfromthe greatdepressionand the heightened activityof the Moscow-led communists. In the case of Estonia, the democratic systemgave way to an authoritarianregime,which hasbeen called a 'centristdictatorship'. Relations between Finland and Estonia were quite intimate during the establishment of Estonia's independence. A Finnish auxiliary force had significantlycontributedto the repulsionof Bolshevikmilitaryaggression.Up to 1922 Finland had also closely cooperated in what had been called 'The Baltic Rim Cooperation' (reunavaltioylteistyd). This cooperation had, however, REVIEWS i6i lost most of itspolitical significancealreadyby I922, when a defence pact had been rejected by the Finnish parliament. Thereafter, relations had been strainedby severalfactors,including large scale Estonian smugglingof spirits into Finland, which had introduced Prohibition in I9I9. On the part of the Estonians,therewas also resentmentwith regardto the supposed'bigbrother' attitudesof the Finns. Andre Sahlstrom'sbook covers the period I934-38, duringwhich Estonia adopted Pats's dictatorship and Finland in turn got a broad-based left-andcentre coalition government and, in foreignpolicy, adopted the Scandinavian orientation. Sahlstrom's theme is the Estonian constitutional crisis and its impact on Finnish-Estonian relations. The central issue, which took the attentionof both partiesduringtheseyears,was a miscarriedplan fora rightist coup d'&tat in Estoniain I935. The abortivecoup did not claim casualties,but it was establishedthat there were Finnish connections: Finnish dynamite and hand grenadeshad been procuredby Estonianemigrantswho lived in Finland in cooperation with Finnish rightistelements, especiallywith members of the leadershipof the youth organizationof the Finnishradicalrightistparty,IKL. The case was discussed in the press and on the Estonian side and there was quite a lot of resentment regarding the alleged Finnish protection of the Estoniandiversionistactivity.Yet,thisaccusationlackedfoundation. Estonian resentment must ratherbe viewed in a largercontext: Finnishcriticismof the Estonian political system was seen to be condescending. The 'war of words' over the Gulf of Finland was not without political consequences. Finland, which officiallyadopted the Scandinavianorientationin I935, was stillfurther estranged from Estonia. Both countries went definitively their own way. In Finland, the scandal of the Estonian conspiracy still further estranged lawabidingcitizensfromthe rightistradicals,whose prestige,popularityand even organizationalresourceswere gravelyaffected...