American Reacts to Finland: Animated History

[@zami8827]

The Finland is called an land of lakes, but Suomi doesnt mean that. Well what i know, no one knows where it comes from, maybe the Finnish word suo = swamp has something to do with it, but not a land of lakes.

[@Skege1000]

Now Finland has been the happiest country for 7 years in a row

[@EeroKutale]

Then other countries must be really miserable.

[@Mojova1]

That is because all the sad people commit suicide.

[@jarkkojuntunen5506]

I would like to point out: Finland is the nation that complains less. That's not the same.

[@zami8827]

Well the people in Finland arent happy, but statistics are :D

[@jarkkojuntunen5506]

@@zami8827 Statistics seems to be like a perfect party punch, everyone can ladle himself exactly the kind of drink he wants.

[@hauskalainen]

"socialist welfare state".... there is a misnomer. Finland, like all the Nordics, can be regarded as a welfare state, BUT welfare does not mean the same as the same word in American culture. Welfare just means that the nation nurtures it's own people. Making sure that they are healthy, educated, and able to play a full part in the operation of society. Working and paying taxes to fund the services that guarantee everyone's freedom. The Nordic countries are neither communist nor socialist, though government is more involved in the economy than in, for example the United States. They are capitalist economies operating in a regulated environment that protects the environment, workers rights, and the health of the populace, end ensuring a level playing field.

[@PapilioArgiolus]

Loved your comments ❤ thanks a lot 🙏kiitos from 🇫🇮

[@rulssie]

"Swedes we are no longer, Russians we do not want to become, let us therefore be Finns." by Adolf Arwidsson

[@SairanBurghausen]

That slogan was already somewhat present in the sentiments of founding father Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt and other proto-Fennomans like Georg Sprengtporten and Jan Anders Jägerhorn.

[@12OZK12]

I just hate the misuse of the word "socialist". Free market economies can't be socialist.

[@michael.adamyk]

"Socialist" is a buzz word used often in the United States to describe countries with strong social welfare. I've often wondered if that's accurate, but I don't yet know enough about the nuances. ;-)

[@12OZK12]

@@michael.adamykI'm aware as I'm Finnish and have often heard left-leaning Americans praise the Nordic model and calling it socialist. It's a dangerous mistake and sometimes not sincerely made, I feel. They should be called social democracies. High taxation and social welfare, but always based on a free market economy with private ownership. There is not a single social democractic (centre-left) party in Europe who at this point doesn't recognize and admit that capitalism is the best economic system. The discussion is just about how much you tax people and regulate capitalism and what you do with said tax money. Socialism however means social ownership of the means of production and that has always led to death, poverty and oligarchy.

[@butterflies655]

Finland like all the other Nordic countries are capitalist countries.

[@toniheikkila5607]

​​@@12OZK12Its such a good thing that capitalistic systems have never led to death, poverty, slavery, imperialism, famine, wars, exploitation of the poor and the third world workers, and genocides.

[@12OZK12]

@@toniheikkila5607 whataboot whataboot grow up

[@butterflies655]

Quite a few viking graves have been found close to Mikkeli. Welcome to the Viking center to Hiittinen in Finland.

[@TheJorif]

The Vikings were tough. But it was a different story with the Finns. The same message is for everyone. As a friend, Finland is a loyal and valuable ally. Not so much for unfriendly states.

[@Nekoksu]

I do not understand why these youtubers call Finland a Socialist country. We are not socialists. We are SocDems. Finland is a highly capitalist country.

[@michael.adamyk]

I've heard that many of the European countries with lots of government social support actually have a freer market than the United States, although I haven't investigated that in-depth.

[@butterflies655]

Finland like other Nordic countries is a capitalist country with some social elements.

[@84com83]

1: 32 That is not an image of a finish reindeer, just a "standard deer".

[@TheJorif]

I actually admire Vikings a lot. I was interested in the history of England and the Vikings long before it became pop culture. Wonderful people once and for all.

[@NinjaBee81]

Have to say the narrator kinda buchered the pronunciation of the word ”Suomi”. To my Finnish ears it sounded like he said ”Swami” or something.

[@SK-nw4ig]

"...And Norway, I guess.." Yeah Finland has over 700km border with Norway, so it definately is our border country :P Finnish and Polish do have some cultural similarities when is comes to the state of mind. Interesting that you thought of that :) Being under Russian rule is one of the things that has shaped that mindeset. Especially the wars during the WWII. This is truly a big deal, wars still have impact in families in Finland. Finland was the only country fighting both sides during WWII AND to pay war reparations in whole. Shout out from Finland! o/

[@michael.adamyk]

Thanks for the info! Can you tell me more about how that mindset and history impacts your culture and families? Like I said in the video, we've been so relatively safe in the United States that it's difficult for us to know what that feels like. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts. Also, thanks for watching and commenting!

[@SK-nw4ig]

@@michael.adamyk When Soviet Russia took Karelian areas from Finland during WWII, it ment 400k people had to leave their homes behind and search safety elsewhere in Finland. That is a huge amount of people in already poor country with very little population. Even centuries of rooted family history and everything they owned was left behind and homes were burnt. Nowadays as Finland's population is 5,5 million, over a million people has roots from Karelia - so these stories are very common. In Häme and eastern Finland areas almost every family has Karelian family history. I am half Karelian. Also as the world is right now, I can only hope to be able to go to my ancestral land at some point in the future. Right now it is not possible. And every single family has grandfather or great grandfather or -mother who fought in the war. Mine died in that war, leaving my great grandmother alone with five children. War trauma is still very much visible in Finnish culture and i think that is something that mostly separates us from other nordic countries. Certain toughness which can be both good for our resilience, but also harmful, since we tend to just want to handle things on our own and not necessarily show feelings as much. As a cultural trait, obviously individuals are individuals everywhere. War impacted already poor and small country economically, emotionally on physically: many war veterans who survived the war, were scarred and broken and the wife and children had also to endure that. Alcoholism was common, because people were trying to medicate themselves. But the sense of survival and nationalism was and is high, and Finland managed built itself to a well-fare state it is today. During WWII Finland was not prepared and soviet amy was many times bigger than Finland, yet they lost nearly a hundred times more soldiers than Finland. They were not prepared for Finnish terrain or weather either. Officially Finland lost, but we see that as a survival. We dont really see ourselves as a part of WWII either, we see that time as aiming to sustain our own independence. Our independence day is themed as our army and the wars 80 years ago. Our military is called Defence forces, because that's what the are. Ment to defend, not to attack. When Russia attacked Ukraine, it was like an electric shock through Finland and for the first time i saw political parties being so unanamous. Recently Finland has made decisions that have been groundbreaking: Russian border is closed and we just passed a law that can prohibit asylum seekers arriving if so chosen - and this is all because of Russia and our history with it. This is the reason why Finland is prepared for war. We were made to promise after WWII that we wont join military alliances - so we had to prepare just among ourselves. There are plenty of videos on KZbin how Finland is prepared for war. We have conscription, which means every man over 18 years of age has to go to either an army or civil services. Females can volunteer for army. It is carved in our culture that army is important and we all know why. Our neighbour is huge and unpredictable. Finland has the highest percentage of European countries when measuring willingness to defend our country (83%), we have biggest artillery in Europe, and for the scale: Finland has 280k soldiers plus 900k reserve of soldiers (population of 5,5 million) - while for example UK has 76k + 110k (population 67 millions), Germany has 270k + 67k (population 84 millions) and France has 270k + 68k (population 87 millions). There is no comparison. We have food, medication, fuel etc stacked in secure secret locations to last for 5-6 months if a crisis hits. We have bomb shelters around the country for 4,8 million people - everyone who live in an urban areas has a designated bomb shelter, usually below their houses. Under Helsinki there is a huge undeground bombshelter which houses 900k people - while population of Helsinki is only 632k. We produce 80% of all of our food intake and 100% of our energy - because sustainability is the key. There is some things that came to mind, hope it answers your guestion to a degree at least :)

[@michael.adamyk]

That is a fantastic response, thanks so much! It helps me understand much better. It's very sad that your history has so many tragedies and that you have been forced to be so vigilant... but your resilience is incredibly inspiring. Cheers, my friend!

[@butterflies655]

Finland was not so much under Russian rule. Finland was never a part of the Soviet union. Never under communism and never an eastern bloc country. Finland was directly a part of Sweden for over 600 years and later an autonomous grand duchy of Russia's Empire of tsar 100 years with a lot of privileges. Swedish was retained as an official language. Also swedish laws. Finland had its own currency its own post office, its own government etc. There was a revolution in Russia 1917 and Finland declared its independence and has been independent and free ever since.

[@finnishculturalchannel]

Some videos on Sibelius and relating Finnish history and culture: "Vladimir Ashkenazy on the Path of Jean Sibelius", "Sibelius's Roots: An Interview with Pekka Kuusisto & Ilona Korhonen (Philharmonia Orchestra)", "Pekka Kuusisto’s hilarious Proms encore - My Darling Is Beautiful", "Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot-The epic poem of Finland (12 things you should know)", "Fornjótr The Kalevala", "Stories of Finnish Art - Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Lemminkäinen's Mother, 1897", "Sibelius : The Swan of Tuonela - Karajan*", "Esa-Pekka Salonen on Sibelius & Finland’s Independence Movement" and "Sibelius - Finlandia op. 26 (Opening of the new Helsinki music hall)". Something about the prehistoric times: "Suomen muinaiskuninkaat", "Ancient TRIBES of Finland", "Aldeigjuborg: The Lost Viking City near Europe's Largest Lake", "Austrveg: The Viking Silk Road", "The Finnish Vikings: Full History", "European beliefs still extant prior to the Northern Crusades", "BALTIC TRIBES - Hollywood Full Action English Movie", "Bjarmien Maa: Historia Suomi" and "Suomen kronikka". A video relating to Finland's social and economical development viewed through development of child welfare:"Lasten Suomi sata vuotta". There were some odd sounding claims made on that video you watched, but they do correspond with some historical events: "How the Finns became White (in America)". This documentary covers Finland's part in the WW2 through one soldier, who immigrated to the US after the war: "Törni - Sotilaan tarina (A Soldier's Story) English Subtitles". These videos answer to your possible questions about Finland's relationship with Germany: "The Finnish Jägers In World War 1 I THE GREAT WAR On The Road", "How the Reds LOST the Finnish Civil War (1918)", "MANNERHEIM | History and his Line" and "Strangers in a Stranger Land: Finland's Jewish Soldiers in WWII".

[@michael.adamyk]

This is amazing information, thank you! I love diving deeper and learning more beyond "just the surface," so I'll definitely check these out, and hopefully react to some of them too! Regarding Sibelius, do you have recommendations to learn more about his 5th symphony? I heard it the first time I went to hear a major orchestra play, and it captured my imagination. That's one major reason I love his music!

[@elinajarvinen4311]

​@@michael.adamyk Hi! I don’t know about learning about Sibelius’ 5th symphony, but I recommend you any version played by Finnish symphony orchestras RSO (Radion sinfoniaorkesteri which means ‘radio symphony orchestra’ as you easily can guess) HKO (Helsingin kaupunginorkesteri) and above all Sinfonia Lahti, which is famous of its Sibelius interpretations. Finnish conductors like Osmo Vänskä (with Lahti orchestra) and ESA-Pekka Salonen and Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Paavo Berglund with whatever orchestra around the world are great with Sibelius. Sibelius’ 5th symphony is my favourite too (well, I guess it is the most popular of his symphonies). Every time I see and hear swans (whooper swans which do sing) flying to south at autumn and coming back to north at spring I think about Sibelius seeing and hearing those majestic birds and transforming their flight into music, and every time I hear his 5th symphony’s finale, I get tears because I can visualise that sound to migrating swans. I don’t know what kind of birdlife there is in Kansas, but here in north migrating birds (especially swans and cranes) is a big emotional thing. At autumn when you hear them leaving there is sense of lost and sadness. At spring they bring hope and light, but still with melancholic way. And that is what I hear in Sibelius’ 5th symphony’s finale. My husband, who is an orchestra violinist, loves Sibelius’ 7th symphony most. He says it’s “compressed music”, clear, introverted and thoughtful and performing it is always magical. He says 1st and 2nd symphonies are “easier” to listen. Ok, I said 5th is my favourite. Well. Yes, from Sibelius’ “traditional” symphonies. But then there is Kullervo, which is a kind of symphony too. If you haven’t heard it or about it, there is quite something to explore. It is based on the story of Kullervo, from Finnish national epic Kalevala (the story is really really dark and violent and sad and tragic). Kalevala is written in Kalevala metre (trochaic meter), and the stories were originally performed by singing (the tradition was oral the first thousand years or so). And so Sibelius took this ancient story written in Kalevala metre and composed Kullervo symphony, and in my opinion this masterpiece is the most beautiful combination of Finnish language and music and rhythm. The rhythm of the poetry and music do create polyrhythms that go straight to my bones. And Finnish language sounds so strong and archaic when a male choir sings those ancient words. So. I highly recommend Kullervo. But if you are interested in listen to it, please check that the choir and soloists are Finns. Foreign singers perform it beautifully too, of course, but especially the choir looses its strength when the singers can’t pronounce the hard and strong Finnish consonants and straightforward vowels. You can find the whole symphony here in KZbin conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and as Kullervo there is Jorma Hynninen, the legendary Finnish baritone. Here is a link for a really nice 5 min clip: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIDQanZtp7qrrck

[@michael.adamyk]

I love this, thanks so much for sharing! You described the feeling of the 5th symphony and the birds so poetically! My mom is a huge fan of birdwatching so I know quite a bit about the ones in Kansas, but their migrations aren't quite as dramatic as what you described. Still, we always look forward to the first robins arriving, showing that spring is near! I will definitely look into some of those conductors you mentioned, as well as more of Sibelius's music. I have heard many of the pieces you mentioned, but I not in a way where I sit down and listen to them deeply and intently. I'd love to learn the words of Kullervo also! Thanks so much for those great suggestions!

[@elinajarvinen4311]

​@@michael.adamyk Ah, robins. Unfortunately I haven't heard (or seen) them here in Helsinki. And sadly the cranes in Helsinki are not made from bones and feathers. But luckily we have blackbird community next to our home and their flute-like songs that tells the spring _is_ here (if for some reason you don't realise it other way). (But nevertheless I miss the countryside. I hope one day we can move back to where there is cranes and swans and eagles and wolves and wolverines and bears AND lynxes. My childhood home was located basically in a zoo :D) I just read about climate and topography of Kansas from Wikipedia. I knew it's quite as middle of USA as it can be, and (mostly?) on the Great Plains, but I imagined the average winter temperatures to get lower. Not a relevant thing to mention here, though. But I mentioned it anyway :D Anyway. I can gladly send you a translation of the Kullervo poems, if you would find it helpful. It is easy to me to pick them from English translation of Kalevala. But it is not handy to post them here, it is a long row of words, so I rather would send you an email, if you have an email account for your KZbin channel. (I have no idea if it is possible to send a private message somehow here.) I'm so glad for you for finding Sibelius! It is always so wonderful to get to know new music and new worlds.

[@michael.adamyk]

@@elinajarvinen4311 Absolutely! You can send them to [e-mail]

[@mattilindstrom]

Sir, you have far too few subscribers for your pretty good commentary and technical quality.

[@michael.adamyk]

I appreciate that, thanks! Cheers!

[@knightofblackfyre7950]

The Northern Crusades, also known as the Baltic Crusades, were a series of military campaigns that took place from the 12th to 15th centuries. The campaigns were organized by popes and western rulers to convert the pagan populations of the Baltic region to Christianity and incorporate their territories into the Christian world. The campaigns primarily targeted the Baltic, Finnic, and West Slavic peoples, as well as Orthodox Christian East Slavs, living around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. The most notable campaigns of the Northern Crusades were the Livonian and Prussian crusades. The Teutonic Knights, a German military order, dominated the campaigns from the mid-13th century and established their own militarized state in Prussia. For example, in 1201, German bishop Albert established a city and trading center called Riga in Livonia and established a religious military order called the Livonian Brothers of the Sword the following year. The order used this base to convert the remaining native peoples of the area, which became known as the Livonian Crusade. The Northern Crusades were part of the broader context of the medieval Crusades, which were religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church to spread the faith and reclaim Christian territories. While the Northern Crusades are less well known than the Crusades in the Middle East, they were just as important in that they were responsible for eliminating the last remnants of paganism in Europe by the late 14th century. The Crusades most people are familiar with were a series of military campaigns that took place in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries between Christian Europe and the peoples of the Near East. Those Crusades were primarily motivated by a desire to regain control of holy sites that were sacred to both Christians and Muslims, and to stop the expansion of Muslim states. The most well-known Crusades were those that took place between 1095 and 1291, with the goal of recapturing Jerusalem and the surrounding area from Muslim rule.

[@michael.adamyk]

Wow, that's fascinating! Thanks so much for sharing that information. I had always wondered how pagan beliefs were replaced in areas of Europe outside the Holy Roman Empire.

[@mantelikukkapenkki2368]

Dude, you are at the top of your game. Wow 🤯

[@phoenixknight8837]

​@@michael.adamykPagans were replaced through violent proselytising.

[@Swedishpolymath]

Good. I'd look up Carl Gustav Mannerheim, Urho Kekkonen and Finnish diplomatic relationship between Finland, Spain and America.

[@Alexandros.Mograine]

Sure vikings were more brutal than their western european counterparts, but still gotta be fair everyone in those days were kinda brutal.

[@michael.adamyk]

That's a great point!

[@MrKevlarkent]

do you have any idea of your ancestory? you look like you could just as easily be from sweden or (coastal) finland as kansas

[@michael.adamyk]

You're right! I haven't dug too far into family history, but I think it's roughly 25% Irish/English, 25% Ukrainian, and 50% Swedish. All but the English part of my ancestry immigrated within the last 150 years.

[@khatack]

"Suomi" does NOT mean "the land of lakes", but is rather likely a derivative of the Finnish word "Suo", which means "swamp". This is hardly surprising considering how many swamps and bogs and marshes there are in Finland. The likeliest etymology for the word "Suomi" is "Suomaa", literally swampland. So when we Finns say that we're a bunch of forest people, we're just trying to oversell ourselves. We're actually swamp dwellers.

[@michael.adamyk]

Ah, I see. Haha, if that's the case I can see why resilience and saunas are so important! ;-)

[@Pataassa]

Hole finnish history is very brutal. Finland has always been between west and east. And both has always attacked here. Finns has suffered very much in history. Under sweden rule, under russian rule etc. We feel that we are more part of west than east. We have been independent since 1917. Finland and Poland have a lot in common in terms of history and attitudes. And the defense. In Finland, military service is mandatory for men. Thanks to that, we remain independent as a small nation. Finns have invented many important things and for example Nokia is Finnish. Finns are known for their SISU. I recommend reacting to the winter war. The entire Finnish people today are children or grandchildren of these soldiers of the winter war. So it influences our culture even today. Finland has the best school system in the world and today we are the happiest nation in the world. We speak fluent English and are very hospitable. Welcome to the holiday. 🇫🇮😊

[@Pataassa]

And white death was part of that winter war. Soviet attached Finland and Finland fought back, alone. React that.

[@michael.adamyk]

I haven't heard of "sisu" before, but your comment prompted me to learn about it. What a wonderful word, that means so much! It reminds me of the pioneer spirit many had in the Midwestern United States in the 19th century. Sadly, I don't think that's much of a cultural thing for us anymore. I wonder if sisu is at least partly responsible for your excellent school system and happiness?

[@Pataassa]

@@michael.adamyk Sisu means an attitude where you don't give up. You never give up, no matter what happens. When the strength is completely gone or the pain is unbearable, from then on we continue with Sisu. And Finns are known for this. Sisu also helped us fight with 5 million Finns against 300,000 million Soviets. I believe that the formation of Sisu is in our history. For example, "Great Wrath" of the 18th century, where the Russians killed half of the Finnish people, kidnapped around 30,000 children and tortured women and children in front of each other, has shaped us. Before this, we had to hide grain from the Kingdom of Sweden, which took everything from us and starved the people of Finland. A large part of Finns died of hunger at that time. The period of Russian rule was its own chapter and after we gained independence after 1917, we had to fight for it between 1939-1944. These traces of war can still be seen in our country, both in the environment and in people. In addition, in every cemetery in Finland, you can also find hero's graves in the best place, where Finns who perished in the Winter War and the Continuation War are laid to rest. Yes, our history certainly plays a role in the title of "world's happiest country". I personally believe that because of history, we are satisfied with less and we don't expect too much. So, at least in that respect, it definitely has an effect. The best school system, on the other hand, is born out of love for Finnish people. In this matter as well, due to history, Finns usually take each other's side and take care of each other until the very end. We may argue deeply among ourselves, but when it comes down to it, the whole nation is one. Because of this, we have always had an excessively high tax rate. And with this tax money, we take care of our people and prioritize tax money, e.g. to schools. There are no private schools in Finland and every school is equal to each other. There are not many differences between them. This way each child gets the same starting point. In addition, children are provided with healthy, tasty and versatile school food during school days, which the chefs prepare for them in the school kitchen. This is also financed by taxes. Great to hear if the topic started to interest you. Thanks for that. You should at least watch videos called Great Wrath on KZbin. In addition, there are videos on KZbin about the winter war and how all this has caused the Finns to build an underground city under Helsinki as a bunker, and how a country the size of Finland with a population of 5.5 million today has one of the largest armies in the world, with a reserve of 900,000 people.

[@butterflies655]

Finland has been and still is strongly a Nordic and western country.

[@butterflies655]

Most of the Sami ppl live in Norway. The second is Sweden. Finland is the third.

[@tomvidqvist4768]

Yes, when Sweden and finland was together 600 hundred years, we were same. At so many wars russia invaded Finland at 1819? And the land was part of Russian empire almost 100 years. In that time finland have own parliament and currency. At year 1915? in russia there was bolseviks who come to rule kommunist russian world. Finland came independent year 1917 because one of most powerful Kommunist leader Leninin tell so.

[@Finkele1]

Happiest country 4 or 5 times in a row but life quality 5th.

[@butterflies655]

Finland was an autonomous grand duchy of Russia's Empire 100 years. Before that era Finland was directly a part of Sweden for over 600 years. Finland was never under communism. Never a part of the Soviet union and never an eastern bloc country.

[@mantelikukkapenkki2368]

Thank you for your interest in our small country. If you are interested in military history, I recommend checking out the videos Simo Häyhä-the most efficient sniper in the world and Lauri Törni-soldier of the three armies, who is only ex Waffen-SS member who's buried in the Arlington cemetery and not forgetting Aimo Koivunen-meth fueled soldier. Greetings from Finland 🙂

[@michael.adamyk]

I will definitely look up more information about those people! It's easy to depersonalize from history until you hear the stories of the very real people who were part of it. Thanks so much for the suggestions, and for watching!

[@mantelikukkapenkki2368]

@@michael.adamyk 🍻

[@GeneralCalculus]

When you really get into it Brutality of vikings is mostly good/bad PR that's been brewed various factions over the years. during Viking Era christians did similar raiding and acted as nasty as vikings, but it was easy for Christian writers to "other" norse pagans. And I guess in later ages there were something romantic about whole viking warrior deal.

[@tomi_9212]

Have you seen the video of Finnish man VS bear? From channel: Vuusteri Title: [FUNNY] Finnish man scares a bear away by shouting PERKELE [2017]

[@michael.adamyk]

Haha, I hadn't heard of it but I just watched it. It's great! What does "Perkele" mean?

[@Fortuna88828]

@@michael.adamyk it is a very powerful curse word. It refers to Satan.

[@ravenfin1916]

They weren't actually crusaders, but priests spreading religion. The Vikings were not very good friends, they also robbed slaves from here and sent them to the Middle East. Similarly, the Russians took thousands of people during the time of Great Wrath. It is justified to say that relative to the population, more people have been taken as slaves from Finland than from Africa. Finland has the most swamp land in Europe. Suo is swamp in English. That's probably where the word Suomi (Finland) comes from. However, it is true that Finland is called the land of thousands of lakes. Disturbing when they always use a picture of a deer instead of a reindeer.

[@TealJosh]

I wish the video had had a bit more detail about the sides of the Finnish civil war. It wasn't a capitalists or conservatives vs socialists. It was a fairly standard peasant uprising that was helped by the Soviet Union. Socialism as an ideology was present, but not the main driving force. On the other hand the white side was not capitalist or conservative, their defining feature was being monarchists, they wanted to appoint German prince(don't quote me on this, someone from germany) as king of Finland. The primary reason Finland didn't become a monarchy was Germany showing clear signs of losing WW1 at that point in time. So, if I were to represent the sides as a side note as it was on the animation, I'd call them monarchists vs soviet union supported peasants.

[@michael.adamyk]

That's really interesting, thanks for sharing! So Finland could have been a modern monarchy if things had gone slightly diffrently?

[@_veikkomies]

Quite a white summary of the civil war

[@anneliseppanen9105]

No Soviet Union until 1922 So Reds were supported by Russian and Lenin´s Bolseviks.

[@hockeybros4051]

I think you should look into history a little deeper before making a video. There is so much more to consider. Finnic were all over the scandinavian peninsula all the way to the ural mountains before the germanic tribes from the south and the Slavs from central europe aria. Rus where Russia came from was established by Swedish to rule over the slavs in the east to establish Kievn Rus and Novgorod all the way to Caspian and black sea. Trading with Constantinople and Samanid empire in central asia.

[@michael.adamyk]

Thanks for the feedback and information! I'm looking forward to including a bit more research in my videos in the future. :-)

[@saje446]

yea our history was just being tossed around, kinda sad

[@michael.adamyk]

Did you feel that your history wasn't treated respectfully, or were there inaccuracies in the video?

[@saje446]

@@michael.adamyk no i meant that our history was just being tossed around by sweden and russia

[@michael.adamyk]

@@saje446 Ah, I understand. Thank you!

[@TheRawrnstuff]

@@michael.adamyk I believe he's saying that the history of Finland includes a lot of different masters Finland has had to bow down to, not that the history itself was tossed around. As people, Finns have never been Swedes or Russians, but "politically" they've been both. But the language is different, the culture is different, and the ideology is different. If the Rus believe in projecting Strength and Power, and if the Swedes believe in collaboration and unification, Finns value personal capability and independence in a society that has their back if needed. Not exactly "leave no man behind", but rather "let's give people tools and skills so they don't get left behind". It sucks that the Finnish government has been reducing that support for the past 15-ish years, while taxation that should be there for that very support has been increasing.

[@vesarintamaki2712]

Arhi Kuittinen - Suomen historia Euroopan historia - yli 100 linkkiä ... choose any language.

[@teknoaija1762]

Finnish tribes actually kicked viking ass and because there were no churches etc to rob,viking raids to Finland were non existent.Word Rus comes from word for follovers of Finnish king Rurik.

[@herrbonk3635]

It stems from Roslagen. Rurik and his brothers are called rus (ruser) in the chronicle for rus people etymologically connected with Roslagen (Roden) in eastern Uppland, Svealand (i.e. Sweden proper). It is also the origin of the Finnish name for Sweden, Ruotsi.

[@teknoaija1762]

@@herrbonk3635 Ok I concede your point.Was just trying to be a smart ass.There is a lot false info here and I fell for it.

[@herrbonk3635]

@@teknoaija1762 Thanks, that was humble! Yes there are a lof of factoids circulating. You are right that there were probably almost no "Viking" raids against Finland though. But still evidence of sporadic contact with Swedes, Danes and Low Germans during the Viking age and Vendel time. So a few hundreds of years before Svitjod* started to include what is now Finland (and Norrland) in the state they were building. As you probably know, Finland was with Sweden from the early middle ages (ca 1100s) all the way up until 1809. Tsar Russia, supported by France in that war, won over Sweden and England and was given all of Finland in the peace treaty. *) Old name for Svealand, Sverige, Sweden.

[@teknoaija1762]

@@herrbonk3635 Despite my awful comment about Rurik,I am well aware history as it was my favorite subject in school and I still watch a lot of history content,especially linked to wars.So I am aware without googling that Sweden had a so called crazy king and after deposing him and Napoleon still being the boss,they decided to appoint a new king,One of Napoleon favorite generals(later field marshall)Bernadotte.Swedes like to brag how he paid states foreign debt with his own after being made king but they don t say that the money was war loot from earlier successful campaigns.I live in Vaasa,named after Vasa king who founded it,where Swedish troops retired over ice to Umeå where the commander held his famous speech about Finland now belonging to Russia.Von Döbeln i seem to remember his now.Russian troops tried to follow but a winter storm stopped them.I ve been to one of these islets where Russian "buried"their frozen comrades and their remains are still visible.I have no troubles admitting I don t know something or I have false data.Many of these false info grifters just start lying when confronted,like flat earthers and religious apologists.

[@teknoaija1762]

@@herrbonk3635 Oh and we do have many Rune Stones here nearby from around 900-1000.I t was catholic crusades that brought Finland under Swedish church and state around 1100-1200 common era.We have a famous legend about a guy called Lalli who skied after Bishop Henrik and killed with an axe on lake Köyliönjärvi ice;of course.Tells about our relationship to authorities.

[@KROB3LO]

Hakkapelitta = Hakkaa päälle

[@michael.adamyk]

Thanks!

[@toniheikkila5607]

There are still us communists left in Finland. And communism isnt a Russian thing, its German. Russians tried their thing, that failed. But the start was good.

[@butterflies655]

Every country has communists. They just have no power.

[@vicolin6126]

Yeah, this video contains a lot of inaccuracies. It tries to use humor to do a light take on Finnish history., but does not really work. Take it with a shovel of salt, as it seems to follow the narrative of the Russian-infused anti-Swedish (Finnish) propaganda after Finland was conquered by Russia. The propaganda was meant to instill a sense of Finnish nationalism so that the Finns would not want to go and rejoin Sweden, be it revolution or otherwise. Make no mistake, Finland was basically empty land when the Sweden came, with some tribes scattered about. The area now known as Finland was incorporated in to the Swedish Empire and the ethnic Finns were counted as Swedes, they were not more discriminated against more than Swedish peasants in Sweden. All the wars that were fought on Finnish soil versus Russia were between the Swedish Empire and imperial Russia - the Finns were not really "caught in the middle" - they were a part of the Swedish Empire and their home was invaded by Russians, who wanted to conquer it. However you look at it, being a part of Sweden was the better alternative than to be stuck under the Tsar's thumb. The Estonians even call their Swedish period "the golden years", or something like that. Losing Finland to Russia was a devastating blow to the Swedish kingdom, as it meant losing almost half their land in one go. Not to mention the human suffering that came with the Russian soldiers finally being able to raid and rape to their hearts content in their age old enemies backyard. When the later Soviet Union invaded Finland during WW2, many Swedes saw it as their duty to defend Finland (our brother nation), but Sweden was neutral in the war and could not change that because of being stuck between the Soviets and the Nazis. So Sweden changed it's status to "non-belligerent" and sent 9000 Swedish volunteer soldiers and many thousands of weapons to help keep the Soviets out of Finland. "Finland's cause is ours" was the motto. There are of course many more things to Finnish history, but these were the biggest things the video maker glossed over and annoyed me. // Swede who likes Finland.

[@toinenosoite3173]

Myself, I stopped at three minutes plus. This video doesn't seem to be worth a s**t. Why are there so many strange depictions of earlier Finnish history?

[@ryyb_himself]

Another Finn pitching in that while it's great that you're interested in learning about Finland (and Finns tend to get _really_ excited when Finland is acknowledged by foreigners), the video you were watching was just terrible. Straight up so many false statements and misinformation. We're a small and proud country, and foreigners tend to not know a lot about us, so when these "informational" videos misrepresent things, butcher names, and just lie about things, it really hurts. We want the people who are interested in Finland to get to know the actual facts.

[@michael.adamyk]

Midwestern folks are considered "flyover states" by people on the coasts here in the USA, and it can be frustrating to see how we're portrayed in media. I know that's very different from your country being misrepresented, that's definitely on another level! But I can understand at least a small part of how disappointing that could be. :( Do you have some suggestions for sources where I can get accurate history and culture information?

[@_veikkomies]

Suomi does not mean Land of Lakes. Also, Finland is not a socialist country, the economic system is largely a free market economy.