Communist Party of Finland (1918)
The Communist Party of Finland ( Finnish : Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue , SKP ; Swedish : Finlands kommunistiska parti , FKP ) was a party in Finland . It was founded in Moscow in 1918 and remained illegal in Finland until 1944. In 1990 it was absorbed into the newly established left-wing alliance , and in 1992 it was finally dissolved.
development
The Communist Party of Finland never ran for elections under its name. Before being legalized in 1944, the Communists were represented in elections by the Socialist Workers' Party of Finland , and later by the Socialist Workers' and Peasants' Association. After legalization, the SKP promoted the establishment of the Democratic Union of the Finnish People (SKDL), which was supposed to unite the country's left progressive forces.
The SKDL achieved 23.5% of the vote when it first participated in the parliamentary elections in 1945. Up to and including the 1979 parliamentary election , the party consistently achieved results between 17% and 24%. At the end of the 1960s there was a conflict within the SKP. While the party chairman, Aarne Saarinen, followed a Euro-Communist course, a minority loyal to Moscow, led by Taisto Sinisalo, opposed it. The Orthodox, often referred to as “Taistoists”, approved the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968, while Saarinen also publicly criticized it. Saarinen managed, however, to maintain the unity of the party, among other things by the fact that Sinisalo was elected second chairman behind Saarinen in 1970. In the mid-1980s, however, the SKP split into a camp loyal to Moscow and a Eurocommunist group that retained the majority of the party. The members loyal to Moscow split off and founded the Democratic Alternative (DeVa). Around 1980 the number of members of the SKP reached the 50,000 mark, but at the beginning of the 1980s the number fell rapidly, and the election results of the SKDL also fell to below 10% (1987). In 1990, the SKDL and the SKP finally merged into the newly founded left-wing alliance (Vasemmistoliitto, Vas.). The SKP finally disbanded in 1992 after being financially bankrupt.
As early as the early 1990s, the left-wing alliance split off and a new Communist Party of Finland was founded .
List of leaders
Party leader
- 1918–1920: Yrjö Sirola
- 1920–1935: Kullervo Manner
- 1935–1937: Hannes Mäkinen
- 1937–1938: Jukka Lehtosaari
- 1944–1945: Aimo Aaltonen
- 1945–1948: Aaro Uusitalo
- 1948–1966: Aimo Aaltonen
- 1966–1982: Aarne Saarinen
- 1982–1984: Jouko Kajanoja
- 1984-1988: Arvo Aalto
- 1988–1990: Jarmo Wahlström
- 1990–1992: Heljä Tammisola
General Secretaries
- 1935–1940: Arvo Tuominen
- 1944–1969: Ville Pessi
- 1969–1977: Arvo Aalto
- 1977–1981: Erkki Kivimäki
- 1981-1984: Arvo Aalto
- 1984-1985: Aarno Aitamurto
- 1985–1988: Esko Vainionpää
- 1988–1990: Heljä Tammisola
- 1990-1992: Asko Mäki
Membership development
| year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1921 | about 500 |
| 1924 | 1,196 |
| 1927 | 1,951 |
| 1932 | 2,180 |
| 1944 | 3,169 |
| 1945 | 23,778 |
| 1965 | 47.191 |
| 1970 | 47.094 |
| 1975 | 44.117 |
| 1980 | 51,139 |
| 1983 | approx. 33,400 |
| 1986 | approx. 31,000 |
Other well-known members
- Armas Äikiä (1904–1965), man of letters and journalist
- Hertta Kuusinen (1904–1974), Minister, daughter of Otto Wille Kuusinen
- Otto Wille Kuusinen (1881–1964), politician and founding member of the SKP
- Eino Rahja (1885–1936), founding member of the SKP