Finland the Republic of Finland, is a country in Northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Gulf of Finland, between Norway to the north, Sweden to the northwest, Russia to the east. Finland is situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia; the capital and largest city is Helsinki. Other major cities are Espoo, Tampere and Turku. Finland's population is 5.52 million, the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region. 88.7% of the population is Finnish and speaks Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. Finland is the eighth-largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union; the sovereign state is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital city of Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, one autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which produces one third of the country's GDP. Finland was inhabited when the last ice age ended 9000 BCE.
The first settlers left behind artefacts that present characteristics shared with those found in Estonia and Norway. The earliest people were hunter-gatherers; the first pottery appeared in 5200 BCE. The arrival of the Corded Ware culture in southern coastal Finland between 3000 and 2500 BCE may have coincided with the start of agriculture; the Bronze Age and Iron Age were characterised by extensive contacts with other cultures in the Fennoscandian and Baltic regions and the sedentary farming inhabitation increased towards the end of Iron Age. At the time Finland had three main cultural areas – Southwest Finland and Karelia – as reflected in contemporary jewellery. From the late 13th century, Finland became an integral part of Sweden through the Northern Crusades and the Swedish part-colonisation of coastal Finland, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland.
In 1906, Finland became the first European state to grant all adult citizens the right to vote, the first in the world to give all adult citizens the right to run for public office. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent. In 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Red Guard supported by the new Soviet Russia, fighting the White Guard, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the country became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Kuusamo and some islands, but retaining their independence. Finland established an official policy of neutrality; the Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era. Finland joined the OECD in 1969, the NATO Partnership for Peace in 1994, the European Union in 1995, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 1997, the Eurozone at its inception, in 1999.
Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialisation, remaining a agrarian country until the 1950s. After World War II, the Soviet Union demanded war reparations from Finland not only in money but in material, such as ships and machinery; this forced Finland to industrialise. It developed an advanced economy while building an extensive welfare state based on the Nordic model, resulting in widespread prosperity and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, human development. In 2015, Finland was ranked first in the World Human Capital and the Press Freedom Index and as the most stable country in the world during 2011–2016 in the Fragile States Index, second in the Global Gender Gap Report, it ranked first on the World Happiness Report report for 2018 and 2019. A large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution.
The earliest written appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three runestones. Two have the inscription finlonti; the third was found in Gotland. It dates back to the 13th century; the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, mentioned at first known time AD 98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, meaning "land". In addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian. Alternatively, the Indo-European word * gʰm-on "man" has been suggested; the word referred only to the province of Finland Proper, to the northern coast of Gulf of Finland, with northern regions such as Ostrobothnia still sometimes being excluded until later. Earlier theories suggested derivation from suomaa or suoniemi, but these are now considered outdated; some have suggested common etymology with saame and Häme, but that theory is uncertain
Magnus IV of Sweden
Magnus IV was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364, King of Norway as Magnus VII from 1319 to 1355, ruler of Scania from 1332 to 1360. By adversaries he has been called Magnus Smek. Referring to Magnus Eriksson as Magnus II is incorrect; the Swedish Royal Court lists three Swedish kings before him of the same name. Magnus was born in Norway in April or May 1316 to Eric, Duke of Södermanland and Ingeborg, a daughter of Haakon V of Norway. Magnus was elected king of Sweden on 8 July 1319, acclaimed as hereditary king of Norway at the thing of the Haugating in Tønsberg in August of the same year. Under the regencies of his grandmother, Helwig of Holstein, his mother, Ingeborg of Norway, the countries were ruled by Knut Jonsson and Erling Vidkunsson. Magnus was declared to have come of age at 15 in 1331; this provoked resistance in Norway, where a statute from 1302 stipulated that a king came of age at the age of 20, a rising by Erling Vidkunsson and other Norwegian nobles ensued. In 1333, the rebels submitted to King Magnus.
In 1332 the King of Denmark, Christopher II, died as a "king without a country" after he and his older brother and predecessor had pawned Denmark piece by piece. King Magnus took advantage of his neighbour's distress, redeeming the pawn for the eastern Danish provinces for a huge amount of silver, thus became ruler of Scania. On 21 July 1336 Magnus was crowned king of both Sweden in Stockholm; this caused further resentment in Norway, where the nobles and magnates desired a separate Norwegian coronation. A second rising by members of the high nobility of Norway ensued in 1338. In 1335 he married Blanche of Namur, daughter of John I, Marquis of Namur, Marie of Artois, a descendant of Louis VIII of France; the wedding took place in October or early November 1335 at Bohus castle. As a wedding gift Blanche received the province of Tunsberg in Lödöse in Sweden as fiefs, they had two sons and Haakon, plus at least three daughters who died in infancy and were buried at Ås Abbey. Opposition to Magnus' rule in Norway led to a settlement between the king and the Norwegian nobility at Varberg on 15 August 1343.
In violation of the Norwegian laws on royal inheritance, Magnus' younger son Haakon would become king of Norway, with Magnus as regent during his minority. The same year, it was declared that Magnus' older son, Eric would become king of Sweden on Magnus' death. Thus, the union between Norway and Sweden would be severed; this occurred when Haakon came of age in 1355. Because of the increase in taxes to pay for the acquisition of the Scanian province, some Swedish nobles supported by the Church attempted to oust Magnus, setting up his elder son Erik Magnusson as king, but Eric died of the plague in 1359, with his wife Beatrice of Bavaria and their two sons. On 12 August 1323, Magnus concluded the first treaty between Sweden and Novgorod at Nöteborg where Lake Ladoga empties into the Neva River; the treaty delineated spheres of influence among the Finns and Karelians and was supposed to be an "eternal peace", but Magnus' relations with Russia were not so peaceful. In 1337, religious strife between Orthodox Karelians and the Swedes led to a Swedish attack on the town of Korela and Viborg, in which the Novgorodian and Ladogan merchants there were slaughtered.
A Swedish commander named Sten captured the fortress at Orekhov. Negotiations with the Novgorodian mayor Fedor were inconclusive and the Swedes attacked Karelians around Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega before a peace was concluded in 1339 along the old terms of the 1323 treaty. In this treaty, the Swedes claimed that Sten and others acted on their own without the consent of the king. In 1335, Magnus outlawed Thralldom for thralls "born by Christian parents" in Västergötland and Värend, being the last parts of Sweden where slavery had remained legal; this put an end to Medieval Swedish slavery - though it was only applicable within the borders of Sweden, which left an opening - used long afterwards - for the 17th and 18th Century Swedish slave trade. Relations were quiet between Sweden and Novgorod until 1348, when Magnus led a crusade against Novgorod, marching up the Neva, forcibly converting the tribes along that river, capturing the fortress of Orekhov for a second time; the Novgorodians retook the fortress in 1349 after a seven-month siege, Magnus fell back, in large part due to the ravages of the plague farther West.
While he spent much of 1351 trying to drum up support for further crusading action among the German cities in the Baltic States, he never returned to attack Novgorod. In 1355 Magnus sent a ship to Greenland to inspect its Eastern Settlements. Sailors found settlements Norse and Christian; the Greenland carrier made the Greenland run at intervals till 1369, when she sank and was not replaced. King Valdemar IV of Denmark reconquered Scania in 1360, he went on to conquer Gotland in 1361. On 27 July 1361, outside the city of Visby, the main city of the final battle took place, it ended in a complete victory for Valdemar. Magnus had warned the inhabitants of Visby in a letter and started to gather troops to reconquer Scania. Valdemar took a lot of plunder with him. Either in late 1361 or early 1362 the inhabitants of Visby raised themselves against the few Danish that Valdemar left behind and killed them. In 1363, members of the Swedish Council of Aristocracy, led by Bo Jonsson Grip, arrived in the court of Mecklenburg.
Magnus III of Sweden
Magnus III was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290. He was the "first Magnus" to rule Sweden for any length of time, not regarded as a usurper or a pretender. Historians ascribe his epithet "Ladulås" – Barnlock – to a royal decree of 1279 or 1280 freeing the yeomanry from the duty to provide sustenance for travelling nobles and bishops; this king has been referred to as Magnus I, but, not recognized by any Swedish historians today. Magnus, whose birth year has never been confirmed in modern times, was the second son of Birger Jarl and Princess Ingeborg, herself the sister of the childless King Eric XI and daughter of King Eric X. Thus, Valdemar Birgersson was the eldest son and ruled as Valdemar, King of Sweden from 1250-1275, succeeding King Eric, their maternal uncle who ruled until 1250. Birger Jarl had designated Magnus as Jarl, henceforth titled Duke of Sweden, as Valdemar's successor. After Valdemar's coming of age in 1257, Birger Jarl kept his grip over the country. After Birger's death in 1266 Valdemar came into conflict with Magnus who wanted the throne for himself.
In 1275, Duke Magnus started a rebellion against his brother with Danish help, ousted him from the throne. Valdemar was deposed by Magnus after the Battle of Hova in the forest of Tiveden on June 14, 1275. Magnus was elected king at the Stones of Mora. In 1276, Magnus married a second wife Helwig, daughter of Gerard I of Holstein. Through her mother, Elizabeth of Mecklenburg, Helwig was a descendant of Christina, the putative daughter of King Sverker II. A papal annulment of Magnus' alleged first marriage and a dispensation for the second were issued ten years in 1286. Haelwig acted as regent 1290–1302 and 1320–1327; the deposed King Valdemar managed, with Danish help in turn, to regain provinces in Gothenland in the southern part of the kingdom, Magnus had to recognize that in 1277. However, Magnus regained them about 1278 and assumed the additional title rex Gothorum, King of the Goths, starting the tradition of "King of the Swedes and the Goths". King Magnus's youngest brother, Benedict archdeacon, acted as his Lord High Chancellor of Sweden, in 1284 Magnus rewarded him with the Duchy of Finland.
Magnus died. Magnus ordered his kinsman Thurchetel Canuteson, the Lord High Constable of Sweden as the guardian of his heir, the future King Birger, about ten years old at father's death. In spring 2011, archaeologists and osteologists from the University of Stockholm were given permission to open one of the royal graves in Riddarholm Church in order to study the remains of what was presumed to be Magnus Ladulås and some of his relatives. SVT broadcast a presentation of the preliminary studies. Carbon-14 tests dated the bones to the 15th century, indicating the remains could not be those of the king and his family. In December 2011, the researchers applied for permission to open the neighbouring sarcophagus, which has hitherto been presumed to contain the bones of a king, Charles VIII. From his alleged first marriage to an unknown woman: Eric Magnusson From his second marriage to Helwig of Holstein: Ingiburga Magnusdotter of Sweden. Birger, King of Sweden Eric Magnuson, Duke of Sudermannia in 1302 and Halland etc.
C 1305, born c. 1282. Died of starvation in 1318 at Nyköpingshus Castle while imprisoned by his brother King Birger. Waldemar Magnuson, Duke of Finland in 1302 and Öland 1310. Died of starvation 1318 at Nyköpingshus Castle while imprisoned by his brother, King Birger. Richeza Magnusdotter of Sweden, Abbess of the convent of St. Clare's Priory, Stockholm
Monarchy of Sweden
The Monarchy of Sweden concerns the monarchical head of state of Sweden, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Kingdom of Sweden has been a monarchy since time immemorial. An elective monarchy, it became an hereditary monarchy in the 16th century during the reign of Gustav Vasa, though all monarchs before that belonged to a limited and small number of families which are considered to be the royal dynasties of Sweden. Sweden in the present day is a representative democracy in a parliamentary system based on popular sovereignty, as defined in the current Instrument of Government; the monarch and the members of the Royal Family undertake a variety of official and other representational duties within Sweden and abroad. Carl XVI Gustaf became King on 15 September 1973 on the death of Gustaf VI Adolf. Scandinavian peoples have had kings since prehistoric times; as early as the 1st century CE, Tacitus wrote that the Suiones had a king, but the order of Swedish regnal succession up until King Eric the Victorious, is known exclusively through accounts in controversial Norse sagas.
The Swedish king had combined powers limited to that of a war chief, a judge and a priest at the Temple at Uppsala. However, there are thousands of runestones commemorating commoners, but no known chronicle about the Swedish kings prior to the 14th century, there is a small number of runestones that are thought to mention kings: Gs 11, U 11 and U 861. About 1000 A. D. the first king known to rule both Svealand and Götaland was Olof Skötkonung, but further history for the next two centuries is obscure, with many kings whose tenures and actual influence/power remains unclear. The Royal Court of Sweden, does count Olof's father, Eric the Victorious, as Sweden's first king; the power of the king was strengthened by the introduction of Christianity during the 11th century, the following centuries saw a process of consolidation of power into the hands of the king. The Swedes traditionally elected a king from a favored dynasty at the Stones of Mora, the people had the right to elect the king as well as to depose him.
The ceremonial stones were destroyed around 1515. In the 12th century, the consolidation of Sweden was still affected by dynastic struggles between the Erik and Sverker clans, which ended when a third clan married into the Erik clan and the House of Bjelbo was established on the throne; that dynasty formed pre-Kalmar Union Sweden into a strong state, king Magnus IV ruled Norway and Scania. Following the Black Death, the union weakened, Scania reunited with Denmark. In 1397, after the Black Death and domestic power struggles, Queen Margaret I of Denmark united Sweden and Norway in the Union of Kalmar with the approval of the Swedish nobility. Continual tension within each country and the union led to open conflict between the Swedes and the Danes in the 15th century; the union's final disintegration in the early 16th century led to prolonged rivalry between Denmark-Norway and Sweden for centuries to come. Catholic bishops had supported the King of Denmark, Christian II, but he was overthrown in a rebellion led by nobleman Gustav Vasa, whose father had been executed at the Stockholm bloodbath.
Gustav Vasa was elected King of Sweden by the Estates of the Realm, assembled in Strängnäs on 6 June 1523. Inspired by the teachings of Martin Luther, Gustav I used the Protestant Reformation to curb the power of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1527 he persuaded the Estates of the Realm, assembled in the city of Västerås, to confiscate church lands, which comprised 21% of the country's farmland. At the same time, he broke with the papacy and established a reformed state church: the Church of Sweden. Throughout his reign, Gustav I suppressed both aristocratic and peasant opposition to his ecclesiastical policies and efforts at centralisation, which to some extent laid the foundation for the modern Swedish unitary state. Sweden has only been a hereditary monarchy since 1544 when the Riksdag of the Estates, through Västerås arvförening, designated the sons of King Gustav I as the heirs to the Throne. Tax reforms took place in 1538 and 1558, whereby multiple complex taxes on independent farmers were simplified and standardised throughout the district and tax assessments per farm were adjusted to reflect ability to pay.
Crown tax revenues increased, but more the new system was perceived as fairer. A war with Lübeck in 1535 resulted in the expulsion of the Hanseatic traders, who had had a monopoly on foreign trade. With its own burghers in charge, Sweden's economic strength grew and by 1544 Gustav controlled 60% of the farmlands in all of Sweden. Sweden now built the first modern army in Europe, supported by a sophisticated tax system and an efficient bureaucracy. At the death of King Gustav I in 1560, he was succeeded by his oldest son Eric XIV, his reign was marked by Sweden's entrance into the Northern Seven Years' War. The combination of Eric's developing mental disorder and his opposition to the aristocracy led to the Sture Murders in 1567 and the imprisonment of his brother John, married to Catherine Jagiellon, sister of King Sigismund II of Poland