Toivo Mikael Kivimäki (5 June 1886 – 6 May 1968), ( J.D.), was a Finnish politician of the National Progressive Party who served as the head of the department of civil law at

Helsinki University The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public university, public Research university, research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turk ...

1931–1956,

Prime Minister of Finland The prime minister of Finland ( fi, Suomen pääministeri; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol ...

1932–1936, and

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 ...

Envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an automobile brand used to sell Br ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

1940–1944.

Early career

He was elected as member of the Parliament for terms 1922, 1924-1927 and 1929–1940. Before prime ministership, Kivimäki served as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

1928-1929 and

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

1931–1932.

After WWII

In 1946, Kivimäki together with half-a-dozen other leading politicians were put on "

war-responsibility trials The war-responsibility trials in Finland ( fi, Sotasyyllisyysoikeudenkäynti, sv, Krigsansvarighetsprocessen) were trials of the Finland, Finnish wartime leaders held responsible for "definitely influencing Finland in getting into a war with the ...

" executed under pressure from the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

victors in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Kivimäki was sentenced to five years in prison after being found responsible for the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

. After Finland signed the

Paris Peace Treaties, 1947 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 the Finno–Soviet Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, 1948, the international situation was deemed somewhat stabilized, and Kivimäki was pardoned. He returned to his career in academia.

Legacy

As with all politicians connected with the Continuation War, Kivimäki was for decades seen in a somewhat critical light. During the era of

finlandization Finlandization ( fi, suomettuminen; sv, finlandisering; german: Finnlandisierung; et, soomestumine; russian: финляндизация, finlyandizatsiya) is the process by which one powerful country makes a smaller neighboring country refrai ...

, many prominent Finns expressed themselves cautiously on such subjects in order not to disturb sensitive Allied victors of the war; a cautiousness that without doubt influenced Finland's post-war generation's understanding and views. * As Prime Minister, Kivimäki headed Finland's (until 1987) most long-lived

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

, aiming at stabilizing the turbulent politics in Finland after the semi-

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

Mäntsälä Rebellion The Mäntsälä rebellion ( fi, Mäntsälän kapina, ) was a failed coup attempt by the Lapua Movement to overthrow the Finnish government. On 27 February 1932 some 400 armed members of the ''Suojeluskunta'' militia interrupted a meeting of ...

had been put down. * He achieved the reversal of Finland's foreign policy into a

neutralist A neutral country is a state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, CSTO or the SCO). As a type of ...

pro-

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n stance, and a Swedish rapprochement, that may well have been prepared for in the most initiated circles, but that in the contemporary tense phase of the

language strife in Finland Finland's language strife ( sv, Finska språkstriden, lit=Finnish language dispute) ( fi, Suomen kielitaistelu, lit=Finnish language struggle) was a major conflict in mid-19th century Finland. Both the Swedish and Finnish languages were commonly u ...

was not at all easy to explain to the public opinion. * As an Envoy to the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, Kivimäki was in a position to observe the anti-Semitic nature of the Nazi regime and the disappearance of German Jews to concentration camps. Kivimäki succeeded in reversing Nazi Germany's anti-Finnish stance, obtaining support and favours but at the price of Finland having to form an alliance with Hitler. Finland avoided formal treaties with Nazi Germany up until the Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement, which was signed after the fall of Viipuri in June 1944. Several individuals and factors were critical for the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

and the

. Kivimäki without any doubt occupies a prominent position among pro-Axis Finnish leaders.

Cabinets

* Kivimäki Cabinet

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kivimaki, Toivo Mikael 1886 births 1968 deaths People from Tarvasjoki People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish Party politicians National Progressive Party (Finland) politicians Prime Ministers of Finland Ministers of the Interior of Finland Ministers of Justice of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1922–24) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1924–27) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1929–30) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1930–33) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1933–36) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1936–39) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1939–45) Finnish people of World War II Continuation War Prisoners and detainees of Finland Recipients of Finnish presidential pardons University of Helsinki alumni Academic personnel of the University of Helsinki Finnish bankers