Thesis
The third way: Finnish official and popular memory development through the cold war
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2008
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101132
Abstract
Between 1939 and 1944 Finland lost two wars in defense of their status as a sovereign nation but managed to survive as an autonomous state. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union created a solid sphere of influence that provided them with a buffer zone that stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Adriatic in the south. Finland, despite being a small, defeated nation, managed to remain largely outside of this system of satellite states by plying a very careful course between conciliation and defiance. The Finnish government openly advocated friendship with the Soviet Union and publicly declared Finland to their continuing partner. Acceptance of a share of the blame for both the Winter and Continuation wars typified the statements of shared respect from the Finnish government. However, on the popular level, a great deal of animosity still existed toward the Soviets along with strong popular sentiment that both wars occurred due to Russian aggression. Despite the co-existence of these two widely separated paths of memory development, neither the official nor the popular memory attempted to supersede or eliminate the other. It is this peaceful co-existence that makes Finland a unique case within the field of memory studies. This thesis helps define the role and purpose of both sets of memory that developed in Finland during the Cold War. It will show that the official memory espoused by government officials was designed as a utilitarian measure to placate Soviet authorities and allow Finns to remain autonomous and develop a popular memory free from interference by the Soviets. It will also show, through the study of cemeteries and popular media, that popular memory not only existed throughout the Cold War, it remained vibrant and continued to develop despite lacking a national movement for the remembrance of Finland's wars with the Soviet Union. This special interaction between official and popular memory makes Finland a unique case study of an alternative form of memory development.
Metrics
4 File views/ downloads
26 Record Views
Details
- Title
- The third way
- Creators
- Todd Lind Mosebar
- Contributors
- Raymond Chien Sun (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- History, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525274101842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis