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Nationalism was a central force in the History of Finland for the last two centuries. The Finnish national awakening in the mid-19th century was the result of members of the Swedish-speaking upper classes deliberately choosing to promote Finnish culture and language as a means of nation building, i.e. to establish a feeling of unity between all people in Finland including (and not of least importance) between the ruling elite and the ruled peasantry. The publication in 1835 of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, a collection of traditional myths and legends which is the folklore common to the Finns and to the Karelian people (the Finnic Russian Orthodox people who inhabit the Lake Ladoga-region of eastern Finland and present-day NW Russia), stirred the nationalism that later led to Finland's independence from Russia. Nationalism was contested by the pro-Russian element and by the internationalism of the labor movement. The result was a tendency to class conflict over nationalism, but the early 1900s the working classes split into the Valpas (class struggle emphasis) and Mäkelin (nationalist emphasis).〔Osmo Jussila, "Nationalism and Revolution: Political Dividing Lines in the Grand Duchy of Finland during the Last Years of Russian Rule," '' Scandinavian Journal of History'' (1977) 2#4 pp 289-309.〕 ==Language== Particularly following Finland's incorporation into the Swedish central administration during the 16th and 17th centuries, Swedish was spoken by about 15% of the population, especially the upper and middle classes. Swedish was the language of administration, public institutions, education and cultural life. Only the peasants spoke Finnish. The emergence of Finnish to predominance resulted from a 19th-century surge of Finnish nationalism, aided by Russian bureaucrats attempting to separate Finns from Sweden and to ensure the Finns' loyalty.〔Michael C. Coleman, "'You Might All Be Speaking Swedish Today': language change in 19th-century Finland and Ireland," ''Scandinavian Journal of History,'' March 2010, Vol. 35 Issue 1, pp. 44–64,〕 In 1863, the Finnish language gained an official position in administration. The language issue overlapped both liberalism and nationalism, and showed some a class conflict as well, with the peasants pitted against the conservative Swedish-speaking landowners and nobles. As complications, the Finnish activists divided into "old" (no compromise on the language question and conservative nationalism) and "young" (liberation from Russia) Finns. The leading liberals were Swedish-speaking intellectuals who called for more democracy; they became the radical leaders after 1880. The liberals organized for social democracy, labor unions, farmer cooperatives, and women's rights.〔Mikko Juva, "Nationalism, Liberalism Och Demokrati Under Språkstridens Första Skede i Finlan" (liberalism and democracy during the first period of the language conflict in Finland' ) ''Historisk Tidskrift,'' 1961, Issue 4, pp. 357–368〕 In 1892 Finnish finally became an equal official language and gained a status comparable to that of Swedish. Nevertheless, the Swedish language continued to be the language of culture, arts and business all the way to 1920s. Legislation since 1922 gives Finnish and Swedish equal official status.〔Sirkku Latomaa and Pirkko Nuolijärvi, "The language situation in Finland." ''Current Issues in Language Planning'' (2002) 3#2 pp: 95-202.〕 By 2000 about 6% of the population spoke Swedish as their first language, or 300,000 people. However since the late 20th century there has been a steady migration of older, better educated Swedish speakers to Sweden.〔Charlotta Hedberg and Kaisa Kepsu, "Migration as a mode of cultural expression? The case of the Finland‐Swedish minority's migration to Sweden." ''Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography'' (2003) 85#2: 67-84 (online )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Finnish nationalism」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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