1

THE KEKKONEN ERA

THE LEADERS OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE THE DEVELOPMENT AND CRISES OF THE SOVIET ECONOMY UTOPIA AND EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE SOVIET SYSTEM OFFICIAL AND ALTERNATIVE SOVIET CULTURE THE SOVIET UNION IN THE COLD WAR A GLOBAL SUPERPOWER AS A NEIGHBOUR A NATION FINLANDISED

The heirs of Stalin

After Stalin died in 1953, the leaders of the Soviet Union's communist party tried to lead the country together. Yet it didn't take long until the battle over the dictator's legacy began. Lavrentiy Beriya, Deputy Premier and Chief of the Secret Police, was shot first. The power of the notorious secret police was restricted and the official Committee for State Security, the KGB, was founded in its place.

The new Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Georgy Malenkov, was expected to become Stalin's successor. He was planning on developing the consumer goods industry and opened a state-run department store in Moscow. Due to poor economic policies, he was replaced by leaders with an interest in heavy industry. He was allowed to live, though, and worked the rest of his life as the manager of a remote hydroelectric power plant.

With his down-to-earth attitude Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Central Committee, became the new leader. In 1957 there was an attempt to have him removed as well, but the coup failed. After the attempt, Khrushchev took the position of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and led both the party and the country until 1964.

Crimes revealed

In 1956, at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev condemned the crimes carried out during Stalin's era. He held Stalin responsible even though the hands of every Soviet leader were bloody. Khrushchev criticized the cult of personality, executions of party leaders, forced displacement of peoples and military leadership.

The Soviet society denounced its extensive terror apparatus, extremely centralized economic system and the tight connection between cultural life and the Party. Those executed in the "cleansings" had their reputations returned to them and hundreds of thousands of prisoners were freed from camps. The economically unviable forced labour camp system was shut down. Dissidents were still silenced, but arbitrary persecution became rarer.

This trend reached its peak one night in the fall of 1961, when Stalin's body was removed from Lenin's mausoleum and buried with less remarkable revolutionaries at the Kremlin wall.

Khrushchev's reforms 2

Nikita Khrushchev's Soviet Union enjoyed an era of modernisation and optimism. The consumer goods industry was growing and the standard of living improved. It was widely believed that the Soviet Union would pull ahead of the West in terms of both agricultural and industrial production. Soviet space technology was a source of national pride – after all, it was much more advanced than the technology of America at that time.

Khrushchev believed in the superiority of the socialist system and aimed to create a Soviet Union that would benefit the people by providing them with goods and wellbeing. His strength was the ability to make practical decisions and bold moves. Uneducated, Khrushchev was still an impulsive and unpredictable leader whose policies reflected the confusion of the post-Stalin era.

Risky foreign policy and unsuccessful agricultural reforms led to Khrushchev's removal in October 1964. The removal was plotted by three men, who then divided the most important positions amongst themselves. Careful and calculating Leonid Brezhnev ended up becoming the new leader and was the Party's General Secretary until his death in 1982.

The Brezhnev Doctrine

The time of Leonid Brezhnev's rule has been called an era of stagnation; the focus was on past Soviet achievements and making official statistics look good. Still, during the 1960s and early 1970s, the country's economy and the people's standard of living kept improving. From an outsider's point of view it seemed like the Soviet Union was stronger than ever.

Yet throughout the 1970s, economic problems increased. Technological development slowed down and the escalating arms race put a strain on the economy. Low productivity, the ineffective use of labour and an inadequate labour force put a strain on the Soviet regime. There was also a constant shortage of food, which resulted in an extensive semi-illegal food market.

Leonid Brezhnev has been described as a calculating party leader who favoured slow, small-scale reforms. He was more conservative than his predecessors and cracked down on dissidents. During Brezhnev's time, the Eastern Bloc took action if socialism was under threat somewhere in the world. In the West, this practice became known as the "Brezhnev Doctrine".

Agricultural reforms

Nikita Khrushchev started his reforms from agriculture, since he considered himself an expert on the subject. Khrushchev's socialism was based on agricultural efficiency and self-sufficiency. Therefore he increased fertilizer and tractor production, improved the position of farmers and reduced taxes. Thousands of young people were sent to clear forest and create new fields.

These reforms produced high yields and the success encouraged new experiments. Khrushchev got excited about growing corn and, against experts' advice, had corn planted even in the north. This experiment failed and the people gave Khrushchev the nickname Kukuruza aka Corn. 3

In 1963 the harvest was so poor that grain had to be purchased abroad – and embarrassingly, even from the United States. The grain shortage is estimated to have been the result of the failure of the field-clearing project, the massive size of the kolkhozes and unsuccessful plant breeding. Khrushchev's modernisation campaign did, however, help farmers out of poverty. Kolkhoz farmers also gained the right to move freely and choose where they lived.

Industrial and economic success

During Nikita Khrushchev's rule, consumer good production was increased alongside heavy industry and arms production. The Soviet Union competed against the West, especially when it came to new technology: nuclear plants, cruise missiles and the space race.

Economic growth would help the Soviet Union surpass the capitalist countries and promote communism. In the 1950s, the Soviet economy experienced considerable growth. Khrushchev, believing that socialism would beat capitalism, boasted to the Americans: "We will bury you".

The Soviet Union was a country rich in natural resources. Export trade was still fairly minimal, because the economy was geared toward self-sufficiency. Products were imported if the Soviet Union's own production was not sufficient, and imports consisted of consumer goods, machinery and food. Exports to the West mainly consisted of fuel and raw materials, while the exports to other socialist countries consisted of industrial products and military equipment.

Agricultural problems

Like before, during Leonid Brezhnev's rule, agricultural production was the Soviet Union's weak spot. Outdated agriculture struggled with labour shortages and the weather and erosion destroyed crops. Wastage was a huge issue – far too often, the crops would be left in the fields, lost during transport or go stale in storage. Millions of tons of grain had to be purchased from abroad.

Secretary General Brezhnev invested in agriculture. In his era, large amounts of machinery and fertilizers were produced, kolkhoz farmers were educated and rural infrastructure developed. There were attempts to increase production through higher pay, recognition and awards.

Agricultural production increased, but not enough in comparison with the massive investments. Meanwhile, the higher standard of living was changing consumption habits: Soviet citizens were eating more vegetables, fruit and meat. This resulted in food queues, hoarding and at times even rationing. Missing goods were more and more often obtained through personal relationships and trading.

The Soviet Union falls behind

The rapid growth of the Soviet Union had, for a long time, been based on increases in labour, capital and natural resources. Once the limits of this growth were encountered, the next step was to improve productivity. Company managers were given more freedom and a new pricing system was created. 4

Soviet economic growth started to slow down in the 1970s and stopped during the next decade. There was a shortage of labour because the population was decreasing and labour was wasted. The Soviet industries planned their production years in advance and operational methods were not updated. Western technological development took the lead.

The Soviet Union's foreign trade was, however, growing. An oil crisis originating in the Middle East raised energy prices and strengthened the Soviet economy. Eventually though, the regime’s luck took a downturn: crude oil prices plummeted and the West reacted to the occupation of Afghanistan with economic sanctions. Simultaneously the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, challenged the Soviet Union to an arms race that ended up becoming an unbearable economic burden.

Communism and developed socialism

Nikita Khrushchev's era is defined by grandiose visions. The 1961 party program promised that "the current generation of Soviet citizens would live in a communist society". The communist society would be realized by the year 1980 and all poverty would be eliminated. The rapid economic growth gave these promises some credibility.

In a communist system, each person would work according to their abilities and get the goods they needed. Social classes would disappear and work days would only be four hours long. Visions of the future appeared astonishing: by the year 1975 Soviet citizens were to be provided with free meals, and five years later clothing and housing would become free as well.

During Leonid Brezhnev's era, it became obvious that the economic optimism had been excessive – the promise of communism could not yet be realized. The intermediate stage got a new name: developed socialism. The building of communism was to continue as the nation's shared project, even though more and more people had lost their faith in the system.

Ideological work

Political education work in the Soviet Union was based on the idea that changing to a socialist system would change people. These new Soviet people could be recognized based on openness to communism, hatred towards enemies of the cause, active participation in work, high education, the following of rules, responsibility, honesty and genuineness. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was like a prototype for the new Soviet man.

The concept of the New Soviet Man was being developed everywhere. Political propaganda was omnipresent: it was found in education, research, television, radio, cultural events and sports. Various types of socialist festivities, communal work projects and campaigns followed one another. Lenin's 100th birthday in 1970 was celebrated in every way imaginable.

During the times of Khrushchev and Brezhnev, educational work became more challenging due to the citizens' increased level of education and number of international contacts. The party's propaganda department controlled the ideological work, which was then carried out, e.g., by workplace party activists. 5

Wellbeing and education

After the wars, life in the Soviet Union got better. Studies show that Soviet citizens were at their happiest during the 1960s. Healthcare in the Soviet Union was free and was developing rapidly. Both mortality and infant mortality rates decreased. As the standard of living improved, cheap vodka became a national health issue.

The state was responsible for housing construction, renting and maintenance. Rebuilding the nation and fixing the apartment shortage caused by the war took a lot of resources. The khrushchyovkas built during Khrushchev's era were in high demand and the queues for apartments were long even though these three- or five-floored, elevatorless, thin-walled houses were not the picture of comfort.

All education was funded by the state, but the seven-year-long compulsory education only reached the last parts of the country in the 1950s. Later in the regime, compulsory education became longer. Higher education was improved as well: the number of university students increased from 1950–1965.

The second economy

At the start of the 1980s, the production of consumer goods lagged far behind demand. There was more money than there were goods. The planned economy was not capable of reacting to the growing needs of the Soviet citizens. A shadow economy was created for all the goods that could not be obtained via the official distribution network. Its share of the Soviet economy was tens of percents.

In the Russian language blat had been used to refer to things that were difficult to obtain since the 1930s. In practice, a blat was someone you knew, who would help you get the desired goods, services or information through their network of contacts. The system relied on reciprocity – eventually the helper would need help and the roles would be reversed.

The difference between the Soviet utopia and reality was clearly visible in the blat system. Delicacies, electronics, fashionable clothing and Western products were the main goods being traded. Contacts were also helpful when looking for an education, job, promotion, holiday trip, medical help or an apartment. Travelling abroad was a luxury that required recommendations from the person's workplace and the local KGB department.

A balancing act

In art, socialist realism was favoured and ideologically or aesthetically improper art was not displayed. Kolkhozes, factories, everyday life and war were popular subjects in art. Eventually expression became more intimate and pathos started to recede. New avantgarde art was made from the start of the 1960s even though Nikita Khrushchev condemned abstract art as random smudging.

In the field of art music, Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich tested the system's limits. During Khrushchev's time, jazz music was popular, but later on the party leaders restricted recording and closed jazz clubs. Rock'n'roll music arrived in the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. Soviet rock was generally considered inappropriate and there were attempts to censor it. 6

Theatre and movies became popular across the nation. Tickets were cheap and the shows sold out regularly. Theatre began to change during Khrushchev's time. Even experimental theatre including political subjects was seen on stage. More delicate interpretations of humanity and everyday life were now allowed in Soviet movies. Andrei Tarkovsky became an internationally acclaimed movie director.

Cultural thawing

After Stalin's death, the cultural community could work more freely, although censorship was still a reality and socialist realism remained at the core of Soviet art. Executed artists had their reputations restored and their banned texts were published. Dostoyevsky's classics were no longer banned.

Few artists dared resist socialism – most criticism hidden between the lines was directed at the discrepancies between the official truth and the reality. The Soviet leadership had to constantly consider where to draw the line regarding artistic freedom. Published abroad, Doctor Zhivago won Boris Pasternak a Nobel prize in literature in 1958, but a blackmailing campaign forced him to decline the award.

On the other hand, a couple of years later Nikita Khrushchev allowed Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to publish One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which described life on a Soviet labour camp. Later on, such scandalous texts were no longer published. Khrushchev era cultural policy can be described as "one step forward, two steps back".

Dissidents in the Soviet Union

It was not easy to express criticism. Illegal self-published leaflets, samizdats, were passed around by hand. They included banned prose, religious texts, rock lyrics or news about dissidents. The legendary bard Vladimir Vysotsky and other Soviet troubadours recorded self-publications including songs that mocked the system and showed sympathy towards people at the bottom of society.

A more extensive dissident movement was formed during Leonid Brezhnev's era. These dissidents presented their criticism loud and clear. The opposition was not organized – it represented a wide variety of views. They had a much more significant effect on ordinary citizens' opinions than the elite and intellectuals.

Andrei Sakharov, the developer of the hydrogen bomb, became a dissident leader. Nobel laureate Alexandr Solzhenitsyn shook the foundations of the Soviet system with his book The Gulag Archipelago. He was deported like many other dissidents, but some dissidents also ended up in forced labour or psychiatric hospitals used as prisons.

Peaceful coexistence

After Stalin's death, the Soviet Union's foreign policy was based on the principle of peaceful coexistence. The battle between socialism and capitalism would be ideological and financial – there would be no attempts to overthrow the capitalistic West through the use of military force. It was believed that socialism could take over through parliamentary methods, without a bloody revolution. 7

The cause behind the principle was a fear of weapons of mass destruction. The Soviet Union detonated its own hydrogen bomb in 1949 and the arms race against the United States began. The first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik, which launched in 1957, and the manned space flight in 1961 were signs for the West of the Soviet Union's missile technology. In reality, the Soviet Union didn't manage to get ahead of the Americans in the arms race.

Khrushchev practiced Soviet foreign policy in his usual contradictory style. At times he threatened the world with nuclear weapons, only to soon hint at disarmament. The relationship between the superpowers experienced plenty of ups and downs even though Khrushchev was the first Soviet leader to visit the United States, which he did in 1959.

The socialist camp disintegrates

The Soviet Union faced a lot of problems in Eastern Europe. After the war, Yugoslavia declared itself neutral and would no longer let Moscow control its actions. After Stalin died, there was unrest in East Germany. Soviet soldiers used violence to calm the situation. Poland could barely control its own demonstrations.

The largest uprising happened in Hungary in 1956. The new nationalist and reformist Prime Minister, Imre Nagy, declared the country neutral. The Eastern Bloc was not allowed to show weakness: Soviet tanks put a bloody end to the uprising. Nagy was hanged and replaced with communists who had a more positive stance towards Moscow.

Tension also increased between the Soviet Union and China in the late 1950s and early 1960s. China was challenging the Soviet Union's position and presenting territorial claims. There were also ideological differences between these two giants: The communist party in China did not approve of the principle of peaceful coexistence. After the death of Chairman Mao Zedong, the relationship between the two countries improved a little, but was still not much warmer.

Divided Europe

The Cold War got hotter at the start of the 1960s. No agreement was reached on the reunification of the two Germanies and West Germany joined the NATO military alliance in 1955. The rearmament of Germany was the worst nightmare of the Soviet leadership and in response, the Soviet Union and its supporters created the Warsaw Pact.

The divided city of Berlin in the middle of East Germany, which was supported by the Soviet Union, was the hot spot of the Cold War. In the summer of 1961, Nikita Khrushchev demanded that the West needed to pull their military troops out of Berlin. Newly elected as the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy didn't want to back down and stated that the US was prepared to go to war for Berlin if necessary. World War III was not far from becoming reality as tanks were aiming at each other from both the East and the West.

During the crisis, tens of thousands of East Germans escaped from East Berlin to West Berlin every day. East Germany was unable to guarantee the wellbeing of its people and they were living with constant hunger. In 8

August, East Germany closed the borders of Berlin and started building the wall that would divide the city. It became a symbol for the separation of Eastern and Western Europe.

The third world

The Soviet Union and the United States were battling for power in Africa, Asia and South America. In addition to the capitalist and socialist world, there was a "third world" where the United States was pushing market-driven capitalism and the Soviet Union was pushing state-run command economies.

Both superpowers arranged construction projects, development cooperation and loans for their previous colonies. Both countries had thousands of young people from poor countries studying in their schools. The superpowers also armed and funded their "friends". If necessary, allies were gained by supporting military coups and guerrilla organizations. All of this was very expensive for the Soviet Union.

The bloodiest battles of the Cold War were fought in the southern countries, with both the Soviet Union and the United States involved. In Vietnam, the guerrillas supported by the Soviet Union humiliated the United States - in Afghanistan, the superpowers' roles were reversed. In 1962 the world was on the verge of a nuclear war as the Soviet Union attempted to import missiles into now-socialist Cuba, right under the Americans' noses.

Prague Spring

In 1968, it was Czechoslovakia's turn to cause trouble for the leaders in Moscow. Protests initiated by the culture circles in the country turned into a power struggle amongst the communists. Reformist Aleksander Dubček arose as a new leader for the country and started the "socialism with a human face" experiment.

Czechoslovakia's new leadership was unable to convince the Soviet Union that they would stay in the socialist camp. The Soviet Union was concerned that these suspicious changes would spread to its other allies. As a result, tanks from the Warsaw Pact members along with half a million soldiers invaded Prague on the 23rd of August, 1968. Dubček was removed and the reforms were cancelled.

The Soviet Union claimed it had prevented an imperialist counterrevolution and saved socialism. The use of force raised a storm of protest. From the perspective of the western youth and intellectuals, the two superpowers were equally bad: The United States was wreaking havoc in Vietnam and the Soviet Union in Czechoslovakia. After the Prague Spring, the Soviet system became suspicious of all kinds of reforms.

Détente and the arms race

In the early 1970s, the Soviet regime’s leadership was full of confidence. The oil crisis was shaking Western economies, the United States gave up in Vietnam and president Richard Nixon resigned due to an information leak. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was doing well: its military power was at an unprecedented height and its society seemed stable.

Both superpowers wanted to reduce international tensions. This was called "détente". The Soviet Union wanted access to Western technology, while the United States was interested in Soviet natural resources. 9

In 1972, the superpowers signed the Strategic arms reduction treaty and three years later the European Security and Co-operation Agreement, which confirmed the division of spheres of influence in Europe.

Détente ended when the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in 1979. During Ronald Reagan's presidency, the United States increased its arms spending. Medium-range ballistic missiles were set up in Europe. The tension between the two superpowers was as intense as during the worst years of the Cold War.

Neutral Finland

In 1955, Finland suddenly got back the area of Porkkala, which had been used as a Soviet base after the war. The military importance of the base had decreased since the creation of new weapons technologies and, in the spirit of détente, Soviet leaders attempted to get the western countries to decommission some of their bases as well.

The returning of Porkkala symbolized the improvement of the relationship between Finland and the Soviet Union. In connection with returning the area to Finland, the FCMA Treaty was extended by 20 years. Once the Soviet troops left, Finland was able to practice neutral foreign policy. In 1956, Nikita Khrushchev called Finland a neutral country for the first time.

Finland's international position also changed when it joined both the Nordic Council and United Nations in the mid-1950's. In the UN, Finland focused on Nordic cooperation, the promotion of peace on a global scale and staying out of the superpowers' conflicts of interest. Finland did not take part in statements that criticised the Soviet Union, which was understood by some and criticised by others.

The Kekkonen doctrine

Prime Minister Urho Kekkonen took the credit for the return of Porkkala. For the 1956 presidential election campaign, a new foreign policy concept, the Paasikivi-Kekkonen doctrine, was developed. Kekkonen was Nikita Khrushchev's favourite and he was deemed a suitable successor to Juho Kusti Paasikivi. In addition to the Agrarian League's electors, Kekkonen's election was sealed by the Finnish People's Democratic League and some electors from the middle groups, by a margin of only one vote.

During the Cold War, Finland's foreign policy was in the hands of Urho Kekkonen, who served as the president of Finland from 1956 to 1981. Kekkonen continued the "good neighbourship" policy started by Paasikivi. His goal was to be understanding towards the Soviet Union's security needs and to make Finland a bridge-builder between the East and the West. Finland's position as a global superpower's neighbour required constant balancing of its foreign policy: when making decisions, Kekkonen always considered the Soviet Union's position and then attempted to maximize Finland's elbow room.

Personal diplomacy

Kekkonen's line differed from that of his predecessor Paasikivi in that he created a direct political relationship that hit the top Soviet leaders. Unofficial meetings allowed Kekkonen to react quickly and even to affect the Soviet Union's reactions. The personal form of diplomacy practiced by Kekkonen also faced some criticism in Finland. 10

Urho Kekkonen and Nikita Khrushchev got along extremely well on a personal level. There was a Soviet saying that claimed they understood each other based on half a word. Kekkonen managed to convince Khrushchev that Finland was neutral and that Finland would not act against the Soviet Union.

Kekkonen also got to know the other Soviet leaders and tried to maintain good relationships with them. With Alexei Kosygin, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, he managed to become very close; while with Leonid Brezhnev, the contact was distant. The coldness between them was apparent. Thus diplomacy on a personal level was no longer as effective as before during Brezhnev's time.

Night Frosts

In 1957 and 1958, Finland faced criticism from the Soviet Union due to being too right-wing and too friendly with the West. The Social Democratic Party had elected Väinö Tanner, who had been convicted of being responsible for the war and was hated in the East, as their chairman. When SDP also ended up as the prime minister party despite the communists winning the election, Moscow started to feel that the government was anti-Soviet. The Night Frost Crisis began.

In the fall of 1958, the Soviet Union pulled its ambassador out of Finland, limited imports and interrupted trade negotiations. It was obvious that Finland didn't have the political and economic resources needed to resist pressure from a superpower. The ministers of the Agrarian League resigned from the government and President Kekkonen travelled to Leningrad to personally guarantee that Finland's Soviet-friendly foreign policy would continue.

During the Night Frost Crisis, the Soviet Union got itself a veto on Finnish domestic policy, the forming of the government and the election of the president. The Soviet Union was amenable to having the Agrarian League manage the country, while the Social Democratic Party disintegrated over the question of policy towards the East and ended up in opposition for years to come.

A note to Finland

The Soviet Union was suspicious of Finland's foreign policy. In October 1961, a political crisis began when they suggested cooperation in order to secure Finland's borders. Officially, the Note was about the armament of West Germany, but if Finland had agreed to its demands, its fragile neutrality would have been destroyed.

The note scared the Finns. The Soviet Union was suspicious of the Honka alliance formed by four capitalist parties and the Social Democratic Party, who had former Chancellor of Justice Olavi Honka as their candidate. The group aimed to prevent the re-election of Urho Kekkonen. Kekkonen responded by dissolving the parliament, because a new election made cooperation more difficult for the parties in support of Honka.

The Note Crisis ended when the Soviet Union gave up their demands regarding consultations after Nikita Khrushchev and Kekkonen met in Siberia. On the same day, Olavi Honka announced he was giving up his 11 presidential candidacy. This allowed the Soviet Union to ensure that Finland's foreign policy would remain unchanged, and in 1962 Kekkonen was re-elected.

Trade between the East and the West

In the early 1950s, trade between Finland and the Soviet Union grew based on five-year framework agreements and commodity exchange agreements. During Nikita Khrushchev's era, Finland was cited as a shining example of peaceful coexistence, benefitting from trade with both the East and the West.

The eastern trade happened in the form of bilateral clearing trade, where both countries committed to using their export profits to make equally large counter-purchases. The more there were imports, the more there could be exports. Finland exported industrial products to the Soviet Union and imported fuel and raw materials - especially oil.

After the war, Finland was allowed to renew its trade relationships with the West while it was paying war reparations to the Soviet Union. Western trade increased in 1961 when Finland joined the British-led free trade association EFTA as an associate member. It was necessary in order for Finland's export industry to survive, but Kekkonen had to appease a reluctant Nikita Khrushchev by promising lower toll fees for the eastern trade as well.

EEC and the Exception Law

Strong relations between France and West Germany led to the founding of the economic community EEC in 1957. At the start of the 1970s, the Finnish business sector wanted to increase their co-operation with EEC. However, the Soviet Union and Finnish left-wing socialists resisted the planned free trade agreement.

At the same time, the re-election of President Urho Kekkonen was under consideration. He did not want to go through a traditional election process anymore. The matters were combined in a creative way: Finland got the Soviet Union's permission to sign the EEC agreement in exchange for parliament continuing Kekkonen's presidency through the "Exception Law" for the years 1974-1978. This turn of events is unique in Finnish history.

Urho Kekkonen's extra term tied to the EEC agreement strengthened Finland's relationships with both the East and the West. What suffered, however, was Finnish democracy. In 1978, Kekkonen was elected for his last term in a pseudo-election: All the major parties supported Kekkonen and he ended up getting nearly 90 percent of all votes.

Increasing eastern trade

Trade was at the heart of the relationship between Finland and the Soviet Union in the 1970s. President Kekkonen demonstrated his skills as the main trade negotiator. His goals were partially political: when Finland's eastern neighbour was tied to product deliveries from Finland, political problems were left alone. 12

A big increase in eastern trade was initiated by the 1973 oil crisis. The Soviet Union benefited from the situation and started ordering more and more ships, machinery, textiles, shoes and even complete construction projects from Finland. Eastern trade secured Finland's oil deliveries, but also tied Finland financially to the Soviet Union. Oil imports through the state-owned company Neste became a political game.

It was not small-scale trade, either - this small neighbour was, at times, the Soviet Union's main trade partner in the West. For Finnish companies, the Soviet Union was the main export market all the way to the start of the 1980s: at its largest, it covered 30 percent of all exports. Once fuel prices decreased in the 1980s, export into the Soviet Union became more difficult and the country ended up with debt to Finland. The basis for eastern trade crumbled.

The Spirit of Helsinki

The Soviet Union wanted a large security conference and asked Finland to host it. As a result, at the end of the 1960s, Urho Kekkonen suggested that a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe be held in Helsinki. Finns felt that this would enforce their neutrality.

After numerous preliminary meetings, leaders from the East, West and neutral countries gathered in Helsinki in the summer of 1975. The resulting document confirmed Europe's borders, which was the Soviet Union's main goal. Western countries required the acceptance of declarations of human rights, the implementation of which Soviet dissidents started monitoring in their home country.

The Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe was an important event on a global scale and a valuable achievement for the Finnish foreign policy and President Urho Kekkonen. International press coined the term "the Spirit of Helsinki" regarding the event where the leaders of the world's superpowers sat at the same table. President Kekkonen believed that Finland's security was better than ever, thanks to the meeting.

Pressure from the East

The Soviet Union tolerated Finland's neutrality, but especially in the 1970s, they still felt that Finland set a bad example for the countries of the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet Union wanted to use the FCMA Treaty to make Finland an ally. President Kekkonen, on the other hand, felt that the FCMA Treaty would support Finland's neutrality.

The Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe increased the Finns' support for disarmament and human rights policies. Finns felt the CSCE would strengthen their independence. After the meeting, the Cold War heated up, the arms race between the superpowers escalated and the Soviet Union wanted to initiate military co-operation with Finland.

The pressure peaked in summer 1978, when Soviet Minister of Defence, Marshal Dmitriy Ustinov, suggested a joint military exercise while visiting Finland. President Kekkonen and Lauri Sutela, Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces, sternly declined the offer. In addition to the 1961 Note Crisis, Ustinov's suggestion was the Soviet Union's biggest attempt to disturb Finland's neutrality policies. 13

Finlandisation

The concept of Finlandisation was born in the 1960s in West Germany, where Finnlandisierung meant "to become like Finland". The Night Frosts and Note Crisis had attracted international attention and created the impression that Finland was under Soviet control. West Germans were concerned that they, like Finland, would have to "bow down" to the Soviet Union.

In Finland, people were not eager to discuss the subject. President Urho Kekkonen attempted to give the word a more positive meaning that would refer to trust and constructive cooperation with the Soviet Union. The word did not end up referring to exemplary foreign policy, though – the negative connotations remained strong.

Finlandisation ended up becoming a word that describes the domestic politics of Kekkonen's presidency. It was used to refer to cosying up to the Soviet Union, letting the agents of a foreign power affect the country's decision-making, self-censorship, Soviet-friendly speech and the misrepresentation of historical events. If the press did not stay quiet on their own, Kekkonen reprimanded them in his "Mill Letters".

Friendship and admiration

Communists were the pioneers of Soviet friendship. Soon after the war, communist NGOs were founded in Finland and funded by the Soviet Union. The goal of the Finland-Soviet Union Association was to strengthen friendly and trusting relationships and to promote economic and cultural exchanges.

In the Finns' minds the Soviet threat and hatred towards Russians subsided as President Urho Kekkonen's foreign policy became more popular. The change was reflected in the Finland-Soviet Union Association, which became an association for the whole nation. In the 1970s, the organization had more than 100,000 members.

On an international scale, it is unusual to see how uncritical students in the 1970s were of the Soviet Union. Praising the eastern neighbour may have been a form of protest towards the country's nationalist history and the memories of the civil war. In the midst of rapid societal change, Soviet communism was a new "religion" that, to the young people's delight, shocked the older generation.

Socialist festivities

The 8th World Festival of Youth and Students in the name of peace and friendship in Helsinki in 1962 attracted some 12,000 foreign participants. The ten-day event consisted of culture, performances, music, sports, friendship meetings and conferences. Those in opposition to the festival arranged their own events and demonstrations in Helsinki – some of them had to be controlled by using tear gas.

The Soviet Lenin cult was also visible in Finland. President Urho Kekkonen stressed Lenin's role as the man who guaranteed independence. On the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth in 1970, more than one thousand events, celebrations and conferences were organized – even the National Coalition's youth section organized their own event. 14

Anniversaries of the FCMA Treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union were also celebrated. 1973 was the 25th anniversary of the treaty, which was celebrated through 1,500 events, a commemorative postage stamp and an anniversary edition of the treaty. In the main ceremony, organized in Finlandia Hall, Urho Kekkonen was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples.

The call of the Soviet Union

Finns were curious about the Soviet Union. Trips to the neighbouring country became more common starting from the 1950s and reached their peak popularity at the end of the 1980s. Finns were the most common Western visitors to the Soviet Union, due to both short distances and cheap prices.

The Soviet Union was the destination of official friendship exchanges, work and holiday trips and group tours. In order to travel, one needed a visa, which usually restricted visits to a single city, such as Leningrad or Moscow. New travel destinations were opened on the shores of the Black Sea and in Central Asia, around the Aral Sea. People travelled to Siberia by train, looking for exotic experiences.

Arranging one's own activities as a traveller in the Soviet Union was not possible. When you got there, a ready-made program with sights and currency exchanges was waiting. More experienced travellers exchanged their currency at the destination and got more by selling goods they brought from Finland. This was forbidden, but tights, jeans, watches, chewing gum and coffee were in demand. Group tours were often eventful as the cheap vodka lead to fights and other issues.

Competition, culture and education

The Soviet Union impressed Finns in sports arenas. The Big Red Machine, the nearly invincible Soviet ice hockey team, symbolized the country. 147 official hockey matches were played between the Soviet Union and Finland, and the Big Red Machine won an astounding 134 of them.

During the cold war, Finnish culture was mostly influenced by the West. The people listened to Western music and watched American movies. Soviet influence on Finnish literature, arts and entertainment was fairly minimal. An exception is the 1976 Finnish-Soviet film Luottamus (Trust), which tells the story of how the recognition of independence was accepted by Lenin.

It became popular to study Russian in school. While in 1966 only half a percent of high school graduates took the final exam in Russian, a decade later it was eight percent. In educational materials, the Soviet Union was treated with respect. The most scandalous material may have been a handout that was used in history education in Pirkkala. The blatantly Marxist handout was partially copied directly from Soviet materials.

Kuvatekstit

At Stalin's funeral in 1953, the coffin was carried by his successors: Malenkov, Beria, Molotov, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Mikoan, Bulganin and Khrushchev. Lenin was waiting for his apprentice in the mausoleum. 15

Nikita Khrushchev criticized Stalin, not the Soviet Union's communist party. The air of infallibility and pomposity was also apparent in the 1986 party congress.

Nikita Khrushchev giving a speech on the Lenin Museum's balcony in 1957 while people from Tampere watch from the Hämeenpuisto park below.

Over the years, Leonid Brezhnev was awarded all of the highest titles and most valued badges. In 1975, Soviet leaders celebrated the October Revolution on the podium of Lenin's mausoleum.

The Soviet leadership's attempts to modernize agriculture made raising cattle more popular. A successful cattle tender poses for a picture in the 1960s.

An oil tower rose from the Caspian Sea at the beginning of the 1960s. At the turn of the decade, the chemical and oil refining industries were the targets of large investments.

The Soviet Union was the biggest importer of grain in the international market. Grain was being harvested at the Andreyevsky collective farm in the Odessa region in the early 1980s.

The last monument of the Soviet system was the giant Baikal-Amur railway project. The railway's eastern and western parts were connected in September 1984.

Even though financial and social problems increased over the decades, the St. Petersburg Nevsky Prospekt stayed busy.

The Soviet All-Union Pioneer Organization was meant for children between the ages of 10 and 14. Pioneers on a guided tour in the Central Lenin Museum in Moscow.

Soviet women were educated and participated in working life. After a long day at work, domestic chores awaited them at home. Mothers with strollers on a walk in Moscow in the 1970s.

The people were not informed of the economic crisis: false statistics gave the impression of economic growth and increased well-being. Customers in a supermarket in Moscow in the early 1980s.

Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky on the set of the film Solaris. Solaris received an award at the Cannes film festival in 1972.

During the thaw, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classics were once again allowed. The author's study, now a museum, in his apartment in Saint Petersburg.

Vladimir Vysotsky didn't avoid forbidden subjects in his works. His poetic songs spoke in favour of freedom.

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's 50th birthday was celebrated at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy in 1984. The space pavilion displayed the most recent Soviet technological advances. 16

In spite of the poor relationship between China and the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev visited Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing at the end of the 1950s.

Divided Berlin was a symbol and a stage for the Cold War. An American soldier at Checkpoint Charlie between East and West Berlin.

Foreign students studying Russian in the Soviet Union in 1981.

The gothic-style Charles Bridge in Prague witnessed the revolution in Czechoslovakia and how it was crushed by the Warsaw Pact troops.

In 1972 the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, visited Moscow when the two superpowers signed an agreement to limit nuclear weapons.

The Finnish peace movement actively supported Finland's neutrality policy. A peace march on Hämeenkatu, Tampere, in the 1970s.

Presidents Urho Kaleva Kekkonen and Juho Kusti Paasikivi at Kekkonen's inauguration in March 1956.

During the 1960s and 1970s, President Kekkonen would often visit the Soviet Union. Kekkonen and the chairman of the Soviet Union’s Council of Ministers Alexei Kosygin, got along well.

Väinö Tanner had resisted Stalin since March 1917 and was bitterly hated by the communists after the civil war.

The Note ensured that Kekkonen's policies would continue, affected Finland's international image, reminded Finland that it was connected to the Soviet Union and acted as a warning not to lean too much towards the West.

The Soviet Union exported family cars, trucks and motorcycles to Finland. The extremely popular Lada was presented to the Finns in 1971.

In 1977, Kekkonen made his fourth official state visit to the Soviet Union. A dinner with the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.

Finland and the Soviet Union had an increasing number of shared construction projects in the 1970s. Finnish and Soviet builders at the Kostomuksha mining combine.

During the meeting, the leaders of the superpowers met at the Soviet embassy. U.S. President Gerald Ford grins while Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev entertains photographers.

The Soviet Union boasted its military powers in the Victory Day parade at the Red Square in Moscow in the 1980s. 17

A peace march organized by the Finland-Soviet Union Association and the Finnish Defenders of Peace on Itsenäisyydenkatu, Tampere, in 1976.

Youth festival participants marching in the closing procession on the 6th of August 1962. People in Helsinki gathered along the streets to watch.

The most famous queue in the Soviet Union could be found on the Red Square in Moscow and it led to Lenin's mausoleum.

The impressive Luzhniki Stadium, then Lenin Stadium, was at the heart of the summer Olympics organized in Moscow in 1980.