Finland (1983: Doomsday)

The Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Tasavalta) is a Nordic country in north-eastern Scandinavia. Finland is geographically bordered by the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south. Finland shares borders with Sweden to the west, Norway to the north, Estonia to the south, and Socialist Siberia and Karelia to the east.

It is a founding member of the Nordic Union, along with the nations of Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark.

History
The history of Finland is relatively unique in the Scandinavian region because the isolation of Finland from Germanic influences led to a unique, distinctly Finnish culture. Unlike Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, Finland uses a vastly different language.

Prehistory-1917
Finland was originally settled by Uralic and Baltic peoples, who were used to the cold climate, around 8500 BC. During the attempts of a Christian Sweden to convert pagans in Finland, Finland became a part of the Kingdom of Sweden. At this time, Swedish and Germanic influences began to pervade Finnish culture to the point where it is today. Finland, under the Swedish monarchy, grew to become predominantly Lutheran, a religious trait that most Finns still carry.

During the Finnish War or 1808-1809, Finland was lost by Sweden and ceded to Russia as a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. Finnish independence movements began around the same time as the Bolshevik and Soviet movements began to gain traction in Russia.

1917-1945
As World War I engulfed Europe, Russia broke into the Russian Revolution, which led to the Finnish Civil War. Germans, Swedes, and Estonians backed a "White Finland," while Communist "Red Finns" fought throughout the nation, including battles at Tampere and Helsinki.

Finland became a Presidential Republic in 1919, which led to an increase in positive relations between Western Europe and Finland. With the rise of Nazis in Germany, Finland began to distance itself from the USSR and move closer to Germany in particular.

The Finns fought in three wars during World War II. First, they defended against the Soviets in the Winter War (1939-1940), then they fought the Soviets as part of Operation Barbarossa in the Continuation War (1940-1941). Finally, after the Nazis were losing, the Finns switched sides and kicked a much larger Nazi army out of Finland in the Lapland War (1944-1945).

1945-1983
After World War II, Finland began to experience a period of relative economic success. This was the result of their neutrality, and therefore, ability to receive funds from both sides of the Cold War. Eventually, however, the Soviet Union ended up funding the Finns more than the Americans, leading to closer alliances with the Soviets.

The economic gains of Finland led to urbanization and a Baby Boom. During the 1960s-1970s many baby-boomers relocated to Sweden to find work. During the late 1970s, the Finnish government built a successful welfare state, leading to what is called the "Nordic Model."

Doomsday
Due to the Finnish neutrality in the Cold War, all of the Finnish cities and military installations were spared from a nuclear attack. This was the same fate of their neutral neighbor Sweden.

President Mauno Koivsto was awakened at 3:15 in the morning, Helsinki time, and informed that the nuclear annihilation of the world had begun. Koivsto immediately sought contact with Soviet Chairman Yuri Andropov and American President Ronald Reagan.

Since both two leaders were extremely busy, as was to be expected, Koivsto made contact with Olof Palme, the Prime Minister of Sweden. Both nations were spared in the nuclear holocaust, but both were also irradiated. While the Finnish cities were spared from nuclear devastation, some tracts of Finnish land became irradiated. This was especially common in the southern part of the nation, where nuclear blasts on Tallinn and Leningrad were really close to the Finnish border.

Following the atomic strikes, almost all technology was briefly experienced a period of shutdown, however the government owned radio never went down. A testament to the nation's dedication, most technology was restored within a week.

During the period directly after Doomsday, Finland entered "the Great Finnish Recession." During this period, unemployment was as high as 10%, and the national GDP fell by 5%. News of the attacks spread quite quickly through the publicly owned television provider Yleisradio (Yle).



1983-1990
Through skillfull use of the media, Finnish President Mauno Koivsto managed to retain power, and grew the SDP, the main political party of Finland at the time.

After a short period of time, however, it was decided by the Finnish Parliament that a new Constitution would be needed. Reforms had already been brought up prior to Doomsday, but the added stress on the government in order to maintain its borders led to the concessions. On March 23, 1983, Finnish Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa called for constitutional convention to be held in exactly one year, on March 23, 1984.

In the interim, the new Constitution was drafted and approved by a majority of the Parliament, ensuring its passage in the Convention. On the appointed day, in the nation's six largest cities (Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Espoo, Vantaa and Oulu), about 600,000 citizens voted and overwhelmingly approved the new constitution, which is called the Uusi Konstituutio (New Constitution).

As a result of the Uusi Konstituutio, the government was organized into four branches, the Parliament, Chancellor, Cabinet, and Judiciary.

Contact was made with other nations early on, and Sweden, Norway, and Finland never lost connection with each other. Reluctant to enter formerly Soviet lands, the Finns didn't discover Karelia until 1996.

In 1990, a new series of Constitutional Amendments were adopted.



1990-2010
As part of the Nordic Union, Finland grew.

Government
Immediately prior to the Doomsday catastrophe, the Finnish government under Mauno Kovisto (then-President) and Kalevi Sorsa (then-Prime Minister) decided, at the suggestion of many advisors that a Constitutional change was needed. The original changes were only intended to be small procedural changes to the Finnish parliamentary procedure, but after Doomsday and the ensuing need for a stronger central government the whole of the Constitution came under scrutiny.

Constitution
The Finnish Constitution prior to Doomsday was a collection of laws that were collectively referred to as "Constitutional Law." Following Doomsday and the Uusi Konstituutio, which was ratified by a nationwide convention on March 23, 1984, a single document was proclaimed to be the nation's official constitution, which reduced the difficulty of the amendment process vastly, among other profound changes.

The Constitution created four main divisions of government. The four divisions are:


 * The Finnish Parliament (Eduskunta), which is elected by a direct, secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation every four years.


 * The Chancellor, who is co-elected by the Parliament and the general public every eight years.


 * The Cabinet, which is appointed by the Parliament at the recommendation of the Chancellor.


 * The Judiciary, which is in turn divided into two separate court systems, the Legal and Administrative Courts.



Chancellor
The Chancellor is the most important political office in Finland, and is currently held by Ansio Askola, of the SDP. The Chancellor is elected every four years for a four year term, with a maximum of only one term.

The duties of the Chancellor include serving as both Head of State and Head of Government, a role which had previously been filled by two separate offices (the President and the Prime Minister). The Chancellor no longer plays a direct role in the function of the Eduskunta as a result of the Constitutional Amendments of 1990 which, among other things, established the role of Parliamentary Speaker.

The current Chancellor is Ansio Askola, a noted SDP politician who rose to power as Mayor of Turku from 1996-2008, and then served as Parliamentary Speaker from 2010-2012 before being elected to the Chancellorship.

Parliament
Called the Eduskunta by the Finns and the Riksdagen by Swedish-speaking Finns, the Parliament of Finland is delegated law-making powers under the Uusi Konstituutio.

The Eduskunta is made up of 100 Representatives that must be, as a minimum, be 24 years of age and have lived for at least 14 years in Finland, and 20 in the Nordic Union (a change made to the Uusi Konstituutio as part of the 1990 Amendments.

The primary responsibility of the Eduskunta is the legislation of the Finnish state. The legislation is introduced to the General Assembly of the Eduskunta by one of ten committees, each with ten members. These committees are assigned based upon seniority, with the higher committees assigned to more senior members. They are, in order of importance, and therefore seniority: After legislation is introduced, the Parliamentary Speaker will call the bill to a vote, after which a majority vote will confirm the legislation into law.
 * 1) Oversight Committee
 * 2) Foreign Affairs Committee
 * 3) Finance and Tax Committee
 * 4) Defence Committee
 * 5) Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
 * 6) Budget Committee
 * 7) Social Affairs and Health Committee
 * 8) Education and Culture Committee
 * 9) Media Committee
 * 10) Labor Committee

Cabinet
The Finnish Cabinet plays a crucial role in guiding the Prime Minister.

Political Parties
The government of Finland is tightly controlled by a number of political parties, which then align with a larger grouping in the Nordic Law Thing. The four primary political parties (ones with representation at the Thing) are:
 * Suomen Maaseudun Puolue (SMP)
 * Nordic Conservatives bloc
 * Finnish Rural Party
 * Kansallinen Kokoomus (Kok.)
 * Nordic Liberals bloc
 * National Coalition Party
 * Suomen Keskusta (Kesk)
 * Nordic Centrists bloc
 * Centre Party
 * Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (SDP)
 * Nordic Social Democrats bloc
 * Social Democratic Party

Military
The Finnish military is often considered to be the smallest and least effective of the original four founding nations of the Nordic Union, yet the military is also considered to be the most effective at fighting in the snow and in mountainous terrain.

The Finnish military is responsible for providing 1,000 troops to the Nordic Battle Group. Additionally, Finland is repsonsible for maintaining its own territorial integrity.

Finnish Navy
The Finnish navy is a relatively small force but plays a role in patrolling the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. While the Finnish government allocates very little funds to the navy, the navy is still able to function.

Equipment
The equipment of the Finnish military is almost exclusively imported from other Nordic and Atlantic Defense Community nations.

Culture
The Finnish culture is extremely unique since it was formed by Uralo-Baltic peoples as opposed to the Germanic peoples that make up the most of Scandinavia. Because of its history and geographic location Finland has been influenced by the adjacent areas' various Finnish and Baltic peoples as well as the former dominant powers Sweden and Russia.

Typical Finnish society is often considered to be made up of ascetic living conditions, a widespread ideal of individualism and self-sufficiency, and egalitarian roots.

Traditions and Customs
After Doomsday, many Finns turned to traditional cultures as ways of expressing themselves as a people in a world with extremely little international cooperation. After 1990's foundation of the Nordic Union and eventual reintegration of society that continues to this day, the practice of traditions continued.

The traditions are typically mixes of Protestant Christian tradition and old, pagan Finnic customs. Among these customs are the sauna (a steam-bath) and the mökki (a summer cottage for vacationing).

The three biggest holidays are also mixes of pagan and Christian celebrations. They are Juhannus (Midsummer's Day), Easter, and Vappu (May Day). All of these holidays combine Christian worship with ritualistic dancing, feasting, and bonfires.

Sports
The most popular sports of Finland are ice hockey, ice skating, cross country skiing, and ski jumping. Other popular sports include soccer (which the Finns call football), car racing (especially Formula One-style Grand Prix races), and baseball-like pesäpallo.

The primary league sport in Finland is the ice hockey league, the SM-liiga. Popular Finnish teams compete against other Nordic Teams, and also compete in the IIHF.

Finland has won five medals in the 2010 Winter Olympics at Zurich, ranking 9th overall, and has won five medals in the 2012 Summer Olympics at Auckland.

Music
The music of Finland tends to be categorized into folk music, classical music, and modern music (which includes metal and other rock genres).

Folk music of Finland tends to draw from Karelian roots since Karelian music, in the form of the Kalevala, is considered to be the traditional music of Finland prior to Germanic and Russian influences.

Classical music has recently reemerged in popularity with the Finns. The Finnish Opera House, completed in 2003, was delayed by Doomsday, but its completion has fueled the opera and classical genres to make a comeback in Finland. The famous Magnus Lindberg writes for the Opera House, and is noted for his positivity as he addresses the rebirth of civilization after Doomsday.

In addition, metal, which has always had a decent presence in the Scandinavian nations, has continued on strongly. One of the favorite acts of the Finnish people is Black Sabbath.