Containing Coexistence: America, Russia, and the "Finnish Solution"Containing Coexistence: America, Russia, and the "Finnish Solution," 1945-1956, is the first full-scale study of Finland's role in Soviet-American relations during the onset of the cold war. Cold war Finland was an enigma. Defeated by the Soviet Union in World War II, the country appeared ripe for joining the "people's democracies" in 1945, when the Finnish communists made substantial gains in elections. But it soon became clear that Finland's fate was to be different; by the early 1950s, the Finn claimed to be neutral, and by 1956 the Soviets endorsed this claim. Finland's ability to keep its democratic institutions and Western-oriented trade patterns largely intact was initially accepted in Washington. When the Soviets began propagandizing Finland as an example of "peaceful coexistence" in the aftermath of Stalin's death, however, Finland's symbolic significance as a Western outpost gradually gave way to the perception of Finland as a willing partner in a Soviet effort to spread neutralism to western Europe; later such concerns would be captured under the rubric of Finlandization. Despite such growing concerns, the U. S. generally practiced a cautious policy that allowed the Fins to coexist with the Soviets, as long as such coexistence could be "contained" within strict limits. By comparing the "Finnish Solution" with the general role and development of neutrality, Jussi Hanhimaki adds an important dimension to international studies. Containing Coexistence is an important contribution of political science scholarship to Cold War Studies reading lists.--Midwest Book Review |
Contents
The Finnish Solution | 1 |
Part | 19 |
Containment in a Borderland 19481949 | 40 |
Finland and the Spring Crisis of 1948 | 55 |
Part | 81 |
In the Danger Zone 19491953 | 88 |
Two Roads to Follow | 103 |
The Looming Danger | 111 |
1 | 208 |
Notes | 211 |
23 | 215 |
81 | 220 |
83 | 222 |
87 | 230 |
111 | 233 |
137 | 249 |
Part Three | 137 |
Containing Coexistence 19531956 | 139 |
A New Look for Finland? | 151 |
The Spirit of Porkkala | 169 |
Bridgebuilding versus Finlandization The Enduring Dilemma | 194 |
The Treaty of Friendship Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Republic of Finland and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ix xi | 207 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
American Foreign Policy American policy argued BCNEA coexistence Cold Cold War Cooperation and Conflict countries DDEL Department Diplomatic History East-West Eastern Europe Eduskunta Eisenhower Eisenhower Papers Enckell European example Fagerholm FCMA Treaty FFMA Finland Finnish Communists Finnish foreign policy Finnish Solution Finnish-Soviet Finno-Soviet relations Finno-Soviet trade Foreign Ministry FRUS Helsinki Secret Telegrams HSTL International Jakobson JKPC July June Jutila Korean War Kremlin Kuningastie Marshall Plan Max Jakobson Memorandum of conversation military Moscow NATO negotiations Nordic Nykopp Osakeyhtiö Paasikiven päiväkirjat Paasikivi diary entry Paasikivi Line pact Peace policy toward Finland political Porkkala postwar President Paasikivi Prime Minister Rautkallio Raynor reparations Sakari Tuomioja Scandinavian secretary Sept Soviet foreign policy Soviet Union Stalin's Suomen Suomi Sweden Swedish Swedish neutrality Tuomioja U.S. Policy United Urho Kekkonen Väinö Tanner Warren Washington West Winter War WNRC World Wuori Ylitalo York