Greater Finland

Greater Finland ( _fi. Suur-Suomi) was an idea which was born in some irredentist movements emphasizing pan-Finnicism and expressed a Finnish version of pre-World War II European nationalism. It was imagined to include Finland as well as territories inhabited by ethnically-related Finnic peoples: Finns, Karelians, Estonians, Ingrians, and Kvens. The Greater Finland idea gained dramatically in popularity and influence in 1917, and lost its ground and support after World War II and the Continuation War.

The most coined version of "Greater Finland" was thought to be limited by so-called natural borders encompassing the territories inhabited by Finns and Karelians, ranging from the White Sea to Lake Onega and along River Svir and River Neva – or, more modestly, River Sestra – to the Gulf of Finland. Some proponents also included Ingria, Estonia, northern Finnmark, and the Torne Valley.

In some utopian or humorous mind-sets the most extended Greater Finland included the entire area from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Ural Mountains and even beyond to the areas of western Siberia, where some Uralic speakers live also today.

History

In Finland, interest in the landscape and the culture of Karelia was first expressed in a 19th century cultural phenomenon called Karelianism, a form of Finnish national romanticism. Later, some of the ideas included in Karelianism were taken over by proponents of a greater Finland.

Wars in the beginning of the 20th century

After Finland's declaration of independence in 1917, in connection with the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War, the situation in the Finnic inhabited areas adjacent to Finland's eastern border was considered unstable and exploitable by Nationalist activism. For example, some Finnish volunteer troops carried out operations across the border into Russian territory. These activities, along with the participation of Finnish volunteer troops in the Estonian Liberation War (1918-1920) are known in Finland's history as "heimosodat" ("kindred peoples wars," in the sense of wars related to the Finnic kinship).