The content of this post is quoted in its entirety from Japan’s Relations with Finland 1919-1944, as Reflected by Japanese Source Materials and authored by Hiroshi Momose, published in 1973 by Hokkaido University, Japan. The original is available at http://hdl.handle.net/2115/5026. Please note that this article is more or less as written … Continue reading
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian Empire, ruled by the autocratic Tsar Nicholas. Finnish Nationalism had been on the rise since the 1830’s and by 1900, resistance to Russian rule was growing, aided by the policy of Russification which had resulted … Continue reading
There are several prominent candy factories in Finland. The biggest of these are: Fazer, Panda, Brunberg, and Halva. These are the big factories in Finland. But there’s many other yummy candies and snacks than the above – some of them, like Salmiakki in all its varieties, rather hard for the non-Finn … Continue reading
Wherever you stroll around Helsinki, you’ll run into reminders of one of Finland’s most famous citizen’s – Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. Statues in bronze and stone, street signs, photographs and the like all serve to remind the visitor to the city of this quintessential European aristocrat who was over the course … Continue reading
The Kalevala, Finland’s national epic, was compiled by Elias Lönnrot in the 19th century from a huge collection of folk poetry and songs collected over many many years of study. In compiling the Kalevala, Lönnrot purposefully used only a carefully selected fraction of the material in his folk poetry archives to come … Continue reading
Pinaattiletut, or Spinach Pancakes, is one of those Finnish recipes I’d never heard of until I started experimenting with tracking down and trying out Finnish food, more often than not using my kids as the guinea pigs. They can be a bit picky at times (and they’re definitely nor … Continue reading
In 1929, two Aerosleds were purchased from the Finnish State Aircraft Factory, Valtion Lentokonetehdas for a German Arctic expedition in Greenland led by Alfred Wegener over 1930-31. The history of those Finnish Aerosleds and the people involved in designing, building and using them has been by and large forgotten for decades. Although there has been … Continue reading
In the Forestry Museum of Lapland you will find the “Sandberg” Locomotive – which is actually a steam-powered Phoenix Log Hauler imported from Wisconsin. In 1913, the first of two of the log haulers was delivered to Finland via the harbor at Hankko (the second arrived in 1914). They were imported from the … Continue reading
The Forestry Museum of Lapland (Lapin Metsämuseo) saves, researches, maintains and presents the cultural heritage of Lapland’s forestry history – and funnily enough, it’s the only museum in the world that concentrates on fostering the history of forest work in Finnish Lapland. It’s an outdoor museum located in the Pöykkölä part … Continue reading
Christmas in Helsinki begins when the lights are turned on along the street Aleksanterinkatu on the 24th of November, a traditional start to the Christmas Season and to serious Christmas shopping for those so inclined….24 November 2013 was the 64th year in a row for these lights. Shopkeepers along Aleksanterinkatu … Continue reading
The Finnish Trilogy from Miku Games is an epic wargame trilogy about the Finnish struggle to remain a free and independent country during World War II. The game is being produced in three volumes: Volume I – Winter War 1939-1940 campaign; Volume II – Continuation War 1941-1944 campaign and Volume III … Continue reading
How many of us today know that there were Finns in the Boer War in South Africa – who fought with the Boer forces? Well, they did, within the ranks of the Skandinaviska Karen (the Scandinavian Corps) of volunteers who were a part of the Transvaal militia. Following the outbreak of war, … Continue reading
