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{{Short description|Far-left political party in Finland (1918–92)}}{{About|the historical Communist Party of Finland|the current party|Communist Party of Finland (1994)}}{{Distinguish|Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}{{expand Finnish|date=June 2023|topic=hist}}

factoids

| logo = Logo - Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue.png| logo_size = | abbreviation = SKPSocial Democratic Party of Finland

• Left Alliance
• Communist Party of Finland (1994)

{edih}| youth_wing = Young Communist League of Finland, Democratic Youth League of Finland| ideology = CommunismMarxism–Leninism (until 1970s)Eurocommunism (from 1970s)Factions:Taistoism (until 1980s)Far-left politics>Far-left| national = Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL)| international = Comintern| colors = Red| country = Finland}}{{Communist parties}}The Communist Party of Finland (, SKP; ) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.The SKP was banned by the state from its foundingBOOK, Saarela, Tauno, Suomalaisen kommunismin synty 1918–1923, 1996, Kansan Sivistystyön Liitto, 951-9455-55-8, fi, 23–24, 161, and did not participate in any elections with its own name. Instead, front organisations were used. In the 1920s the communists took part in the Socialist Workers' Party of Finland (1920–1923) and the Socialist Electoral Organisation of Workers and Smallholders (1924–1930). Both of them were also banned. In 1944, a new front, Finnish People's Democratic League was formed. The SKP controlled these fronts but they always had a prominent minority of non-communist socialists.

History

File:SKP Central Committee 1920.jpg|thumb|Central Committee of the exile Communist Party of Finland (SKP) in Moscow, 1920. From left to right: K. M. Evä, Jukka Rahja, Jalo Kohonen, Kullervo Manner, Eino Rahja, Mandi Sirola and Yrjö SirolaYrjö Sirola

Early stages

In 1918, the Reds lost the Finnish Civil War. The Social Democratic Party of Finland had supported the losing side, and several of its leaders were exiled in Soviet Russia. Some of these exiles founded the Communist Party of Finland in Moscow.The SKP was illegal in Finland until 1944, and members could be imprisoned. After the Continuation War, the SKP dominated the Finnish People's Democratic League, which was founded in 1944 as an umbrella organization of the radical left.

Cold War

File:SKPn vappumarssikulkue Kaivokadulla 1.5.1960.jpg|thumb|Labour Day march of the Communist Party of Finland on Kaivokatu in HelsinkiHelsinki(File:Communist-Party-of-Finland-1970.jpg|thumb|Leaders of the Communist Party of Finland: Ensio Laine (left), Markus Kainulainen, Taisto Sinisalo, Aarne Saarinen, Arvo Aalto, and Erkki Kivimäki in 1970)The Cold War era was the high point of Communists in Finland. Between 1944 and 1979 support of the Finnish People's Democratic League was in the range of 17%–24%. Communists participated in several cabinets, but Finland never had a communist Prime Minister or President. In the mid-1960s, the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 40 000 (1.44% of the working age population).Benjamin, Roger W.; Kautsky, John H. Communism and Economic Development, in the American Political Science Review, vol. 62, no. 1. (Mar. 1968), pp. 122. with the SKP's main rival for domination of the political left being the Social Democratic Party of Finland. The competition was very bitter in trade unions and other leftist organizations.The SKP received substantial financial support from the Soviet Union during the Cold War.BOOK, Rentola, Kimmo, 1997, Niin kylmää että polttaa - Kommunistit, Kekkonen ja Kreml, Helsinki, Otava, 951-1-14497-9, fi, 177, Internally, SKP was divided, with a Eurocommunist mainstream and a hardline pro-Moscow minority, called the Taistoists after their leader, Taisto Sinisalo. The word "taisto" also means "battle" or "fight"; the double connotation made this slur, originally launched by the largest Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, stick. Soviet threats to withdraw support were the main reason why the majority did not expel the Taistoists from the party leadership or membership.{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}

Aftermaths of the Prague Spring

The events of the Prague Spring followed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia had strong repercussions for the SKP. With the SKP's leadership strongly denouncing the Soviet intervention, internal disputes became fiercer than ever. While a de facto Eurocommunist majority held sway, the Taistoist minority decisively stood by the Soviet Union and the Brezhnev doctrine.WEB,weblink Tuomioja, Erkki, Erkki Tuomioja, The Effects of the Prague Spring in Europe, 2008, 2 January 2015, Gradually this led to a disintegration, and in practice, the party now consisted of two parallel structures, and gradually lost ground in terms of public support.BOOK, Jakobson, Max, Max Jakobson, The Communist Split, 77ff, {{Google books, T8B2V1lNgVoC, 77, yes, |title=Finland in the New Europe|series=CSIS Washington Papers|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, Conn.|year=1998|isbn=0-275-96372-1}} The most hardline leader of the party, Markus Kainulainen, led a group that even opposed Soviet policies after the Perestroika had begun.In 1985–1986 a large number of Taistoists, hundreds of party organizations with thousands of members, were expelled. They regrouped as the Communist Party of Finland (Unity) (SKPy) which later evolved into the current Communist Party of Finland (1994).

Collapse

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s led to ideological conflicts: bitter internal disputes plagued the party. Bad stock-market investments made during Arvo Aalto's term of office resulted in financial bankruptcy in 1992. The SKP never recovered. A majority of the party members, with other member-organizations of SKDL, formed the Left Alliance in 1990.SKPy, originally the faction of the party expelled in 1985–1986, outlasted its parent and registered itself as the Communist Party of Finland in 1997, but has failed to regain the former Communist Party's parliamentary representation. In the elections of 2007 it won 0.7% of the vote; in April 2011, it won just 0.3%.9.232 of 2.939.571 (Ministry of Justice Finland {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420061201weblink |date=20 April 2011 }})

Youth wing

The youth wing of the SKP was the Communist Youth League of Finland (SKNL, 1925–1936). After World War II young communists were active in the SKDL's Democratic Youth League of Finland (SNDL). The SNDL was member of World Federation of Democratic Youth.

Leaders {|

|Chairmen{| class="wikitable"Yrjö Sirola|1918–1920Kullervo Manner|1920–1935Hannes MäkinenTITLE=STALINISMIN LYHYT KURSSIYEAR= 2006LANGUAGE=FI, Jukka Lehtosaari|1937–1938Aimo Aaltonen|1944–1945 &1948–1966Aaro Uusitalo|1945–1948Aarne Saarinen|1966–1982Jouko Kajanoja|1982–1984Arvo Aalto|1984–1988Jarmo Wahlström|1988–1990Heljä Tammisola|1990–1992|  |  General secretaries{| class="wikitable"Arvo Tuominen|1935–1940Ville Pessi|1944–1969Arvo Aalto|1969–1977 &1981–1984Erkki Kivimäki|1977–1981Aarno Aitamurto|1984–1985Esko Vainionpää|1985–1988Heljä Tammisola|1988–1990Asko Mäki|1990–1992

See also

• Kaisu-Mirjami Rydberg
• List of Communist Party (Finland) breakaway parties
• List of Social Democratic Party (Finland) breakaway parties

References

{{Reflist}}{{Authority control}}