In Finland, the far right was strongest in 1920–1940 when the

Academic Karelia Society The Academic Karelia Society (''Akateeminen Karjala-Seura'', AKS) was a ethnic Finn, Finnish nationalist and Finno-Ugric countries, Finno-Ugric activist organization aiming at the growth and improvement of newly independent Finland, founded by aca ...

, Lapua Movement,

Patriotic People's Movement Patriotic People's Movement ( fi, Isänmaallinen kansanliike, IKL, sv, Fosterländska folkrörelsen) was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapua Movement. It existed from 1 ...

(IKL) and Export Peace operated in the country and had hundreds of thousands of members. In addition to these dominant far-right and fascist organizations, smaller Nazi parties operated as well.

History

Nazi parties failed to attain seats in the parliament, although former and future MPs and ministers were active in the Nazi movement. The fascist IKL achieved success in the parliamentary elections of

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

and

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

. Fascist IKL and the conservative National Coalition Party had an electoral alliance in the 1933 parliamentary election after the radical anti-communist "Lapua wing" led by Eino Suolahti and Edwin Linkomies took over party leadership. The National Coalition Party distanced itself from IKL and the far right after the alliance suffered a major election loss.Jyrki Vesikansa: ”''Heil Hitler, meill' Kosola!''” Lapuan liike: Iltalehden erikoislehti, s. 62–67. Helsinki: Alma Media, 2015. The far-right groups exercised considerable political power, pressuring the government to outlaw communist parties and newspapers and expel

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

from the armed forces.Iltalehti Teema Historia: Lapuan liike, Alma Media, 2015, p. 34-35. Conservative and White Guard authorities supported the far right to a large extent, National Coalition Party and the right-wing of Agrarian League supporting the Lapua movement. The social-democratic politician

Onni Happonen Onni Happonen (21 May 1898 – 1 September 1930) was a Finnish politician representing the Social Democratic Party of Finland. He was kidnapped and murdered by the fascist Lapua Movement. Happonen was born in Pölläkkä, Heinävesi, Southern ...

was arrested by police who then turned him over to a fascist lynch mob to be killed. The government chose to appease the far-right and acquiesced to their demands following the show of power during the Peasant March and

Vaasa riot The Vaasa riot took place on 4 June 1930 in Vaasa, Finland. The riot unfolded with a violent attack by radical members of the right wing Lapua Movement on Communist supporters and bystanders at a court house in Vaasa. No intervention was witnes ...

. During the Cold War, all partied deemed fascist were banned according to the

Paris Peace Treaties The Paris Peace Treaties (french: Traités de Paris) were signed on 10 February 1947 following the end of World War II in 1945. The Paris Peace Conference lasted from 29 July until 15 October 1946. The victorious wartime Allied powers (princi ...

and all former fascist activists had to find new political homes. Despite Finlandization, many continued in public life. Yrjö Ruutu, the leader of the National Socialist Union of Finland (SKSL) joined the Finnish People's Democratic League. Juhani Konkka, the party secretary and editor-in-chief of the party newspaper ''National Socialist'', abandoned politics and became an accomplished translator, receiving a cultural award of the Soviet Union. Three former members of the Waffen SS served as ministers of defense; the Finnish SS Battalion officers Sulo Suorttanen and Pekka Malinen as well as , a soldier in the consisting of pro-Nazi Finns who rejected the peace treaty. The most prominent neo-Nazi group is the Nordic Resistance Movement, which is tied to multiple murders, attempted murders and assaults on political enemies was founded in 2006 and proscribed in 2019. The second biggest Finnish party, the Finns Party, has been described as far right. The leader of the Finns party, Jussi Halla-aho, has been convicted of hate speech due to his comments stating that, "Prophet Muhammad was a pedophile and Islam justifies pedophilia and Pedophilia was Allah's will." Finns Party members have frequently supported far-right and neo-Nazi movements such as the Finnish Defense League, Soldiers of Odin, Nordic Resistance Movement, Rajat Kiinni (Close the Borders), and Suomi Ensin (Finland First). An anti-mosque demonstration was supported by the youth branch of the PS, whose chairman, Jarmo Keto, said that, "Islam as an ideology is responsible for many conflicts and terror attacks. Thus such a mosque project is an irresponsible idea." In 2021 the

Blue-and-Black Movement The Blue-and-Black Movement ( fi, Sinimusta Liike, SML, sv, Blåsvarta Rörelsen) is a neo-fascist party in Finland. The party's goal is an independent, vibrant and sovereign Finland, and keeping it as the homeland of Finns. The party was born ...

-party was founded. According to Oula Silvennoinen, a historian known for his work on Finnish co-operation with the Germans during World War Two, the party's ideology is

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sent ...

Nazism in Finland

Several Nazi parties operated in Finland in the 1930s and 1940s, among them the

Finnish People's Organisation The Finnish People's Organisation (Finnish: , SKJ) (Swedish: , FFO) was a bilingual Nazi party founded by Jaeger Captain Arvi Kalsta. Supporters of the movement were also called Kalstaites after the leader. The inaugural meeting of the organization ...

(SKJ) led by Jäger Captain Arvi Kalsta with 20,000 members and the Blue Cross with 12,000 members. Even the Swedish-speaking Finns had their own Nazi organizations like the

People's Community Society The People's Community Society (Samfundet Folkgemenskap, SF) was a Finnish-Swedish Nazi organization from 1940 to 1944, founded at Söderkulla Manor in the autumn of 1940 in Söderkulla, Sipoo, Finland. Admiral Hjalmar von Bonsdorff was elected i ...

led by the former governor Admiral

Hjalmar von Bonsdorff Hjalmar von Bonsdorff (26 November 1869 in Helsinki, Finland – 5 April 1945 in Stockholm, Sweden) was a Finnish admiral.Gunnar Lindqvist and the Black Guard led by

Örnulf Tigerstedt Axel Örnulf Tigerstedt (29 September 1900, Helsinki, Finland – 6 November 1962, Strängnäs, Sweden) was a Finnish-Swedish poet, novelist, translator, journalist and a supporter of Nazism before and during the Second World War. Biography Tig ...

.Örnulf Tigerstedt

Uppslagsverket Finland ''Uppslagsverket Finland'' ('Encyclopedia Finland') is a Swedish-language encyclopedia with a focus on Finland and in particular Finland-Swedish subjects. The encyclopedia is published by initiative of an association dedicated to this task, ( ...

One of Finland's largest publishing companies, Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, was granted publishing rights to

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...

after the Winter War in 1940 and Lauri Hirvensalo was approved as a translator by a German publishing house after WSOY confirmed his "Aryan" ancestry. In 1941–1944, 32,000 copies of the book were sold, a large number in Finland and professor Veikko Antero Koskenniemi wrote a glowing review of the book for

Uusi Suomi ''Uusi Suomi'' (Finnish for ''The New Finland'') was a Finnish daily newspaper that was published from 1919 to 1991. The headquarters was in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Uusi Suomi'' was established in 1919 as a continuation of two ...

newspaper. Koskenniemi was also the vice-president of the Association of European Writers (, ESV), organised by

Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

. The group had about 40 prominent Finnish authors, including Mika Waltari,

Tito Colliander Tito Fritiof Colliander (10 February 1904 – 21 May 1989) was a Finnish Eastern Orthodox Christian writer. Biography Colliander was born in St. Petersburg, the son of Colonel Sigfried Joakim Colliander and his wife Dagmar Ilmatar, née von Schou ...

Jarl Hemmer Jarl Robert Hemmer (18 September 1893 – 6 December 1944) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in six consecutive years. Biography Hemmer was born into a wealthy family, from Vaasa, Finl ...

and

Maila Talvio Maila Talvio née Winter, married Mikkola (October 17, 1871, Hartola – January 6, 1951, Helsinki), was a Finnish writer. Talvio was a leading Finnish writer on the temperance question and several of her works were translated into Swedish and o ...

. The Nazi groups existed as a cooperating network and there was some overlap among the groups, Colliander for example also belonged to Tigerstedt's Black Guard, and Tigerstedt himself also belonged to a Nazi party known as the Patriotic People's Party (). Despite this, some of the groups competed with one another, for instance the SKSL and the SKJ disagreed about the language question. While the SKSL insisted on Finnish language nationalism, the SKJ was bilingual, had many prominent Swedish-speaking Finnish Nazis such as von Bonsdorff and

Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

's personal friend

Thorvald Oljemark Hjalmar Thorvald Oljemark (24 March 1900 - 25 April 1938) was a Finnish manor owner and a Nazi. He was one of the founders of the Nazi party called the Finnish People's Organisation and also worked as its propaganda chief and editor-in-chief of t ...

and was popular among the Swedish-speaking population of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, He ...

. Even outside of the actual National Socialist movements, there was glorification of the Nazi Germany in Finnish society. The Finnish police magazine wrote about German police sports and the "Citizens' Reporting Service" () set up by Reinhard Heydrich uncritically and emphasizing the effectiveness of the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

. The Finnish secret police operated under Ministry of the Interior, led by pro-Nazi and antisemitic Toivo Horelli. The State Police itself was led by also openly pro-Nazi and antisemitic

Arno Anthoni Arno Kalervo Anthoni (11 August 1900 – 9 August 1961) was a Finnish lawyer who was the director of the Finnish State Police Valpo in 1941–1944. He was openly antisemite and pro-Nazi, having close relations to the German Sicherheitspolizei. ...

and under him it cooperated with the SS,

Einsatzkommando Finnland Einsatzkommando Finnland was a German paramilitary unit active in northern Finland and northern Norway during World War II, while Finland was fighting against the Soviet Union with the support of Nazi Germany. The official name of the unit was '' ...

and Sicherheitsdienst. The State Information Service, responsible for propaganda and censorship, also employed the aforementioned right-wing extremists and published pro-German material like ''

Finnlands Lebensraum ''Finnlands Lebensraum'' is a 1941 Finnish propaganda book that was published to support the Greater Finland ideology. It was written by the geographer Väinö Auer, the historian Eino Jutikkala and the ethnographer Kustaa Vilkuna, who worked fo ...

''. It has been alleged that yet another Nazi group, the Finnish Realm Union (, SVL) was prepared by the Nazi Germany to perform a National Socialist coup against the Finnish government in the case Finland seeks a separate peace with the Soviet Union. According to authors Juha Pohjonen and Oula Silvennoinen the famous Finnish war hero Captain Lauri Törni was also part of this operation. The SVL was led by

Mauno Vannas Mauno Viktor Vannas (until 1905 Johansson, 18 August 1891 Uusikaupunki - 19 December 1964 Helsinki) was a Finnish doctor, University of Helsinki permanent ophthalmology professor and inventor of Vannas' scissors.Kivelä, Tero – Nikupaavo, Aino ...

, professor of

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

and

Rolf Nevanlinna Rolf Herman Nevanlinna (né Neovius; 22 October 1895 – 28 May 1980) was a Finnish mathematician who made significant contributions to complex analysis. Background Nevanlinna was born Rolf Herman Neovius, becoming Nevanlinna in 1906 when his fat ...

, mathematics professor and developer of Nevanlinna theory and its program had been personally approved by Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg. The SVL functioned as an umbrella organization of the pro-German and National Socialist groups. The Finnish Realm Union included strikingly many representatives of art, culture and science; the most well-known were the sculptor

Wäinö Aaltonen Wäinö Valdemar Aaltonen (8 March 1894 – 30 May 1966) was a Finnish artist and sculptor. The Chambers Biographical Dictionary describes him as "one of the leading Finnish sculptors". He was born to a tailor in the village of Karinainen, Finla ...

, the geologist

Väinö Auer Väinö Auer (; January 7, 1895, Helsinki – March 20, 1981, Helsinki), the son of senator , was a Finnish geologist and geographer, chiefly remembered as an explorer of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. He is also noted for his pioneering studies o ...

, the composer Yrjö Kilpinen, the linguist

J. J. Mikkola Jooseppi Julius (J. J.) Mikkola (July 6, 1866, Ylöjärvi – September 28, 1946, Helsinki), was Finnish linguist and professor. Mikkola is regarded as one of the most important Finnish linguists of Slavic languages of his era. Biography Mikkola ...

and the film director Risto Orko. In addition to the coup plans, the Germans created a

Pro-German resistance movement in Finland The Pro-German resistance movement in Finland was set up during the latter stages of the Second World War after the Moscow Armistice by Nazi Germany and the extreme right in Finland, who prepared for armed struggle against the expected Soviet occup ...

, recruiting Finnish SS-men and extreme right-wingers. The resistance movement operated for several years after the war.

Some pre-1945 Nazi groups

* Black Guard * Blue Cross (1942–1944) * Finnish Realm Union (1940s) *

Finnish-Socialist Worker's Party The Finnish-Socialist Workers' Party (Finnish language, Finnish: , SSTP) was a Finnish Nazism, Nazi party that operated from 1934 to 1944 and was led by engineer Ensio Uoti.Ekberg 1991, s. 95–99. The party program In its program, the party sta ...

(1934–1944) *

Finnish National Socialist Labor Organisation The Finnish National Socialist Labor Organisation (Finnish language, Finnish: , SKT) was a Finnish Nazi party led by Teo Snellman. The movement that operated during the armistice and the Continuation War was also known as the National Reform Labor ...

(1940–1944) *

(1933–1936) *

Finnish Labor Front The Finnish Labor Front (Finnish: , ST) was a Nazi party in Finland during the 1930s. The Finnish Labor Front was founded in August 1936 and registered in January 1937. The founders , and had previously been active in the Finnish People's O ...

(1930s) *

Labor Organisation of Brothers-in-Arms The Labor Organisation of Brothers-in-Arms ( Finnish: , AT) was a Finnish nazi party operating from 1942, led by Arvi Nuorimo and JE Tuominen. History The party was found when the United Front party, led by Tuominen, merged with the supporters o ...

* National Socialists of Finland (1941–1944) * Organisation of National Socialists (1940–1944) * National Socialist Union of Finland (1930s) *

Party of Finnish Labor The Party of Finnish Labor (Finnish: , STP) was a Finnish far-right party operating in the 1930s and 1940s, led by engineer Niilo Rauvala. The party's motto was: "Finland into a great and rich nation state". In 1940s, the organization was known a ...

(1932–1945) * Patriotic People's Party (1930s) *

(1940–1944) * Rising Finland (1940s)

Contemporary

("the Finnish Resistance Movement") is the Finnish branch of the Nordic Resistance Movement. The members also participate in hand-to-hand combat and shooting training arranged by the organization. The group also advocates pan-Finno-Ugrism, or "Kindred-folk ideology" ("'' Heimoaate''"), and unification with ethnically Finnic

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

is part of the group's program. The organisation is responsible for multiple violent crimes, including attacking anti-racism and gay pride demonstrations and stabbing participants of a left-wing event. According to an investigation by

Yleisradio Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

, two thirds of the members have a conviction for a violent crime. The FRM is responsible for killing an antifascist activist in 2016 in Helsinki. The group also awarded the title of "activist of the year" to a member convicted of torturing a man to death and possessing illegal weapons. The group assaults people they consider political enemies in their homes, a practice they dub "home visits". In 2020 a local Finns Party campaign chairman was left critically injured after being beaten with a clawhammer in his home in Jämsä. A man connected to the group is charged with attempted murder along with another man. The FRM also vandalized the Israeli embassy over 20 times and defaced synagogues, causing the Finnish ambassador to be called to the Israeli foreign ministry in Jerusalem twice. On January 8, 2021, Finnish police arrested yet another FRM member for murder, this time in Riihimäki. On 17 March, 2021 Finnish police arrested an FRM member and confiscated several crates of explosives from his apartment. The FRM and other far-right nationalist parties organize an annual torch march demonstration in Helsinki on the

Finnish independence day Independence Day of Finland ( fi, itsenäisyyspäivä; sv, självständighetsdagen) is a national public holiday, and a flag flying day, held on 6 December to celebrate Finland's declaration of independence from the Russian Empire when the Bols ...

which ends at the

Hietaniemi cemetery The Hietaniemi cemetery ( fi, Hietaniemen hautausmaa, sv, Sandudds begravningsplats) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state ...

where members visit the war graves. The event is protested by antifascists, leading to counter-demonstrators being violently assaulted by FRM members who act as security. The demonstration attracts close to 3,000 participants according to the estimates of the police and hundreds of officers patrol Helsinki to prevent violent clashes. The march is attended and promoted by the Finns Party while it is condemned by left-wing parties.

Iiris Suomela Iiris Suomela (born 1 May 1994) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Green League at the Pirkanmaa constituency. She is also a member of the Board of the student union of the University of Tampere. Wh ...

of the

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

characterized it as "obviously neo-Nazi" and expressed her disappointment in it being attended by such a large number of people. In addition to violent crimes, the FRM is closely connected to the proscribed terrorist organization National Action. A Finnish corporal who had served in Afghanistan and was a member of both the FRM and National Action was convicted of terror offenses and membership in the proscribed organization while living in Llansilin. The leader of National Action, Benjamin Raymond, also visited the FRM in Finland and held speeches and was pictured posing with an assault rifle. The FRM also cooperates with the neo-Nazi military formation Azov Battalion according to

Yle Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

. Dozens of the Finns are also part of the

Iron March Iron March was a far-right neo-fascist and neo-Nazi web forum. The site opened in 2011 and attracted neo-fascist and neo-Nazi members, including militants from organized far-right groups and members who would later go on to commit acts of ter ...

terror network famous for spawning the Atomwaffen Division. Even though the FRM rejects

parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

unlike the Swedish branch, there have been numerous cases where members of the Finns Party have attracted criticism from the other parties and antifascists for attending events organized by or with the FRM. Several members of the Finns Party took part in an event where the participants shot and threw knives at targets, using photos of members of the

Rinne Cabinet The cabinet of Antti Rinne was the 75th government of Finland. It was formed following the parliamentary election of 2019 and was formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 6 June 2019. The cabinet consisted of a coalition formed by the ...

and attended an event commemorating

Eugen Schauman Eugen Waldemar Schauman (russian: Евгений Владимирович Шауман, ''Evgeny Vladimirovich Shauman''); ( – ) was a Swedish speaking Finnish nationalist and nobleman. Schauman assassinated the Imperial Russian Governor-Gener ...

who assassinated

Nikolay Bobrikov Nikolay Ivanovich Bobrikov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Бо́бриков; in St. Petersburg – June 17, 1904 in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland) was a Russian general and politician. He was the Governor-General of Finla ...

. Finns Party Youth members and leaders also attend "Etnofutur" ethnonationalist conferences in Estonia organized by the

Blue Awakening The Conservative People's Party of Estonia ( et, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond, EKRE) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the m ...

together with the FRM. The founder of Blue Awakening and current MP for

EKRE The Conservative People's Party of Estonia ( et, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond, EKRE) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the m ...

Ruuben Kaalep has been described as a neo-Nazi and connected to the local proscribed terror group and

Atomwaffen The Atomwaffen Division (''Atomwaffen'' meaning "nuclear weapons" in German), also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, is an international far right-wing extremist and neo-Nazi terrorist network. Formed in 2013 and based in the ...

affiliate

Feuerkrieg Division The Atomwaffen Division (''Atomwaffen'' meaning "nuclear weapons" in German language, German), also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, is an international Far-right politics, far right-wing extremist and Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi Rig ...

. On 30 November 2017, the Pirkanmaa District Court banned the Nordic Resistance Movement in Finland for 'flagrantly violated the principles of good practice'. The ban was appealed and a request by the police for a temporary ban was turned down. In September, 2018 the

Court of appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

in Turku upheld the ban. In March, 2019, the Supreme Court placed a temporary ban on the group. On September 22, 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the ban. The Supreme Court noted in its ruling that "The use of violence linked to the organization's activities has to be considered a part of the organization's operations... The operating methods that were considered unlawful represented a substantial part of the organization's operations, and he organizationonly engaged in a limited amount of other types of activities". The National Bureau of Investigation suspects the Nordic Resistance Movement to be continuing its operations under the names

Kohti Vapautta! Kohti Vapautta! () is a Finnish neo-Nazi organization. It was founded in 2019, and was named after traditional Independence Day rallies. According to the Finnish government, the group is the Finnish branch of the Nordic Resistance Movement, wh ...

and Suomalaisapu. In its annual threat assessment for 2020, the bureau found that despite of the ban, the threat of far-right terrorism had risen. According to the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

Center for Research on Extremism:

some NRM activists have reasoned that only radical measures will be effective post-ban, thus coming to support e.g. the accelerationist model of activity. Certain members of the group have also appeared as contributors to publications that promote esoteric forms of neo-Nazism. A corresponding shift towards a more “cultic” direction has also been observed in the United Kingdom after the banning of the National Action (NA).

Far-right and antisemitic media

In 1918 during the Civil War the White Guard leader and leading ideologue

Martti Pihkala Martti Aleksander Pihkala (until 1906 Gummerus , 18 January 1882 – 10 June 1966) was a National Coalition Party MP who became known as a Jäger activist, Ostrobothnia White Guard founder, in the 1920s and 1930s, leader of the strikebreaking or ...

published a book "What kind of Finland we must create?" which argued for an extensive eugenics program and forced sterilization and extermination of communists, promiscuous women and "racial undesirables". It has been argued the book inspired mass killings perpetrated by the victorious Whites. In 1919 the White Guard associated propaganda organ Church-National Enlightenment Bureau published "What is Bolshevism" targeted at former Red Guards. The book argued that communism was a Jewish plot and communist leaders were almost exclusively Jewish and Jews were a race "that has a peculiar ability to live without working at the expense of others by swindling". " The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" appeared in Finnish first in 1920, translated from the original Russian language. From the 1920s to 1940s Finland had numerous far-right and antisemitic newspapers and magazines. According to a study done by Jari Hanski of 433 magazines, journals and newspapers from the period, 16.4% contained antisemitism. Several of the anti-Semitic magazines had a national socialist or other extreme right party or group behind them. The publishing company Vasara (their magazines were ''Tapparamies'' and ''

Siniristi Siniristi (Finnish: ''Blue Cross'', until 1933 ''Tapparamies'', (Finnish: ''the Axman'')) was a Finnish Nazi magazine published between 1931 and 1939 and published by Publishing Company Oy Vasara that was operated by Gunnar von Hertzen and Y. W. ...

''), Finnish People's Organisation (''Herää Suomi, Hakaristi and Hakkorset''), the Finnish Labor Front society (''Työrintama'' and ''Kansallinen työ''), the Blue Cross-society (''Kustaa Vaasa'' and ''Uusi Eurooppa'') and the independent magazines ''För Frihet och Rätt'', ''Fascisti'', ''Kansallinen Sana'' and ''Vapaa Suomi'' "were all very active in their effort to prove that Jews sought world domination". The largest Finnish extreme right party, the IKL published 30 magazines and newspapers ('' Ajan Suunta, Aktivisti, Lapuan päiväkäsky, IKL, Sinimusta'' and ''Luo Lippujen'' among others) which published antisemitic articles as well". In the 1930s, the

Patriotic Citizens of Viitasaari The Patriotic Citizens of Viitasaari (Finnish: ) was an organization operating in Viitasaari in Central Finland. The association was one of the first prominent, explicitly anti-Semitic and Anti-Masonry, anti-Masonic organizations in Finland. From 1 ...

published numerous anti-semitic and anti-freemasonry booklets in prints of tens of thousands. In addition to native Finnish fascist and Nazi organisations, German and Russian Nazi organizations also published material. The Russian National Fascist Organization operated in the country, and white emigre fascist newspapers like ''Nash Put'' and ''

Fashist ''Fashist'' (russian: link=no, Фашистъ, 'Fascist') was a Russian fascist publication, issued from Putnam, Connecticut, United States.. It was published by Anastasy Vonsyatsky. ''Fashist'' was distributed among Russian exiles around the w ...

'' were published by white general and emigre leader

Severin Dobrovolski Severin Tsezarevich Dobrovolsky (Russian: Северин Цезаревич Добровольский, also Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, September 10, 1881 – 26 January 1946) was a Russian White émigré, who lived after the Russian Civil War as a poli ...

. The

Nordische Gesellschaft The ''Nordische Gesellschaft'' ("Nordic Society") was an association founded in 1921, with the objective of strengthening German-Nordic cultural and political cooperation. It was based in Lübeck, Germany. The association had both German and Scan ...

led by Alfred Rosenberg also published pro-Nazi magazines in Finland. Like other far-right propagandists, Dobrovolski and the Helsinki liaison of Nordische Gesellschaft Anitra Karsten also worked for the State Information Service. In addition to far-right printed media, movies with nationalist-antisemitic themes were also published. In the most popular film of 1938, ( Jäger's Bride) for instance the main antagonist is a Jewish spy whom the hero assaults while shouting antisemitic abuse. The writer and director of the film, Risto Orko, would later become the CEO of the biggest Finnish film company

Suomi-Filmi Suomi-Filmi, lit. ''Finland-Film'', is a Finnish film production and distribution company established in 1919 by Erkki Karu. Suomi-Filmi produced around 160 feature-length films and for most of its history was one of the two most important film comp ...

and join the Nazi Finnish Realm Union. In 2013, the

Simon Wiesenthal Centre The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...

asked president Niinistö to condemn a neo-Nazi newspaper circulated to some 660,000 households. The newspaper published articles denying the Holocaust and articles such as "Zionist terrorism" and "CNN, Goldman Sachs and Zionist Control" translated from David Duke.Oosi, Riikka
Kärkkäisen tuomio ei yllätä asiantuntijaa
Yle. October 21, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2017.Hirvonen, Tuomas
Juutalaiskirjoittelusta tuomittu Magneettimedia lopetetaan - uusi lehti tilalle
Yle. November 4, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2017.

Terrorism

Arguably the first modern act of right-wing terrorism is the assassination of General-Governor

by Finnish nationalist

in 1904. However, this characterization is controversial in Finnish society where Schauman is widely idolized; Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen had to defend himself against backlash after describing the act as such. Schauman's act inspired the nationalist movement and was quickly followed by the assassination of Eliel Soisalon-Soininen, the

Chancellor of Justice The Chancellor of Justice is a government official found in some northern European countries, broadly responsible for supervising the lawfulness of government actions. History In 1713, the Swedish King Charles XII, preoccupied with fighting the ...

by Lennart Hohenthal. Soisalon-Soininen was the highest ranking servant of the Tsar in Finland after the governor-general, and therefore an "arch-traitor" in the eyes of the nationalists. In 1904-1905 a secret Finnish nationalist society Verikoirat (''the Bloodhounds'') assassinated Russians, police officers and informants and bombed police stations. The group also planned assassinating the Tsar while he was vacationing in Primorsk but missed him. In 1905-1907 another secret society Karjalan Kansan Mahti (''Might of the Karelians'') were responsible for multiple murders of Russians and weapon thefts and bank robberies. 10,000 leftists were executed by the victorious White Guard forces during the White Terror of the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

in 1918. In 1919 group called Aktivistien Keskus (''Base of the Activists'') planned a large scale sabotage in St. Petersburg. 35 Ingrian Finns were armed with handguns and explosives. The plan was to blow up the water works, the power plant and certain factories and set up fires all around the city that could not be put out. The operation was partially successful; the waterworks were destroyed and targets around the city were bombed and set on fire, but the bombing of the power plant failed and one man was captured. Dozens of people were killed and wounded.Mainio, Aleksi: ''Terroristien pesä – Suomi ja taistelu Venäjästä 1918–1939''. Siltala, Helsinki 2015, pages 14-15, 24-28. In 1927 a group consisting of Finnish guides and White Russian emigres crossed into the USSR from Finland and bombed Soviet government offices with dozens of casualties. The Russians belonged to a group called the "White Idea" that aligned with the

Russian Fascist Party Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. In 1920s-1940s far-right and fascist groups attacked left-wing events and politicians systematically, resulting in deaths. The groups were responsible for burning down and bombing gathering places of the leftists. Minister of the Interior

Heikki Ritavuori Heikki Ritavuori (23 March 1880, Turku – 14 February 1922, Helsinki; name until 1906 ''Henrik Rydman''), was a Finnish lawyer, a politician from the National Progressive Party, a member of the Parliament of Finland and Minister of the Interio ...

was assassinated for supposedly being too lenient towards communists. In 1945 after the armistice with the Soviet Union, nationalist youth groups bombed multiple left-wing targets in Helsinki. Attacks in

Haaga Haaga ( sv, Haga köping) is a district and a former municipality in the Western major district of Helsinki with a population of 25,435.http://www.hel2.fi/tietokeskus/helsinki_alueittain_2005/203Haaga.pdf 2005 statistics about Haaga Haaga is d ...

and

Vallila Vallila () is a neighbourhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Vallila is a central-northern neighbourhood, bordered by Pasila to the west and Alppiharju to the south. Like Kallio, Vallila is mostly residential and has a reputation of being a ...

against left-wing meeting halls and papers followed, with youths planting improvised ethanol bottle explosives. A group identifying themselves as "fascists from

Munkkiniemi Munkkiniemi ( sv, Munksnäs, Helsinki slang: ''Munkka'') is a neighbourhood in Helsinki. Subdivisions within the district are Vanha Munkkiniemi, Kuusisaari, Lehtisaari, Munkkivuori, Niemenmäki and Talinranta. The land in Munkkiniemi was from th ...

" used dynamite and IEDs built from anti-aircraft shells to cause an explosion at the offices of the ''Vapaa Sana'' newspaper. During the Cold War, far-right activism was limited to small illegal groups like the clandestine Nazi occultist group led by

Pekka Siitoin Timo Pekka Olavi Siitoin (May 20, 1944 in Varkaus, Finland – December 8, 2003 in Vehmaa, Finland) was a Finnish occultist and neo-Nazi. He was born in Varkaus, Finland. According to Siitoin, he was born to a German military officer and ...

who made headlines after

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

of the printing houses of the

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP; sv, Finlands Kommunistiska Parti) 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 ...

. His associates also sent a

letter bomb A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with t ...

to the headquarters of the Finnish Democratic Youth League. Another group called the "New Patriotic People's Movement" bombed the left-wing Kansan Uutiset newspaper and the embassy of communist Bulgaria, although there were no casualties and the bomb at the embassy caused minor damage. In the , Neo-Nazis hijacked an airliner in Oulu Airport, demanding 60,000 marks for a Neo-Nazi party they were affiliated with. The skinhead culture gained momentum during the late 1980s and peaked during the late 1990s. In 1991, Finland received a number of Somali immigrants who became the main target of Finnish skinhead violence in the following years, including four attacks using explosives and a racist murder. Asylum seeker centres were attacked, in

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...

skinheads would force their way into an asylum seeker centre and start shooting with shotguns. At worst Somalis were assaulted by 50 skinheads at the same time. During the European migrant crisis 40 asylum seeker reception centres were targets of arson attacks. In its annual threat assessment for 2020, the National Bureau of Investigation found that despite of the ban of the NRM, the threat of far-right terrorism had risen and identified 400 persons of interest "motivated and with the capacity to perform terrorism in Finland". International links and funding networks were pointed out as a special source of concern. On December 4, 2021, the Finnish police arrested a five-man cell in Kankaanpää on suspicion of planning a terror attack and confiscated numerous firearms including assault rifles and tens of kilos of explosives. According to the Finnish media the men adhered to the ideology of

and

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

and used

-like symbols. In July 2022, a group of youth stole all the rainbow flags from a library in Lapua and left an improvised explosive device behind. There were no casualties but a gay pride event was interrupted by the explosion. On 26 August 2022 a bomb exploded near a pride in

Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; sv, Nyslott, lit=New Castle) is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region, which is why the city is also nicknamed the "Capital of Saimaa". Together with Mikkel ...

, the police has arrested two locals for the act.Pride-tapahtuman lähistöllä Savonlinnassa räjäytettiin kotitekoinen pullopommi – poliisi epäilee teosta kahta alaikäista poikaa
Itä-Savo, 29 August 2022 File:IKL at Ilmajoki.jpg, Members of IKL saluting at the statue of

Jaakko Ilkka Jaakko Pentinpoika Ilkka (1550s, Ilmajoki – late January, 1597, Isokyrö) was a wealthy Ostrobothnian landowner and leader of the Cudgel War, a 16th-century Finnish peasant revolt against Swedish rule. Life Early years Ilkka's father, Pen ...

File:White Victory Parade.jpg, 15th anniversary of White Victory Parade, SKJ and IKL marching File:Vaalimainontaa.jpg,

Finnish-Socialist Workers' Party The Finnish-Socialist Workers' Party (Finnish: , SSTP) was a Finnish Nazi party that operated from 1934 to 1944 and was led by engineer Ensio Uoti.Ekberg 1991, s. 95–99. The party program In its program, the party stated that its core goal wa ...

campaign truck File:Isänmaallisen kansanliikkeen juhlakokous lokakuussa 1936.jpg, IKL meeting in 1936 File:Finnish Hitler Jugend.jpeg, Finnish Hitler Jugend saluting a memorial for German combatants of

Finnish civil war The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

in Helsinki. File:SKJ poster.jpg, SKJ poster: "Worker, free yourself from your oppressors!"

References

{{Finnish far right

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Far-right politics in Europe Political movements in Finland Politics of Finland