Congratulations Finland – 101 Years!

Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0 - gallery.insaneworks.fi
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Today Finland is 101 years old. Congratulations Finland, congratulations us!

The movement for Finland's independence started after the revolutions in Russia, caused by disturbances inside Russia from hardships connected to the First World War. This gave Finland an opportunity to withdraw from Russian rule. After several disagreements between the non-socialists and the social-democrats over who should have power in Finland, on 4 December 1917, the Senate of Finland, led by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, finally made a Declaration of Independence which was adopted by the Finnish parliament two days later.

During the early decades of independence, Independence Day was a very solemn occasion marked by patriotic speeches and special church services. From the 1970s onwards, however, Independence Day celebrations have taken livelier forms, with shops decorating their windows in the blue and white of the Finnish flag, and bakeries producing cakes with blue and white icing. Today, rock stars and entertainers have been accepted as worthy interpreters of Finnish patriotism.

It is traditional for Finnish families to light two candles in each window of their home in the evening. This custom dates to the 1920s; but even earlier, candles had been placed in Finnish windows on poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg's birthday as a silent protest against Russian oppression. A popular legend has it that two candles were used as a sign to inform young Finnish men on their way to Sweden and Germany to become jägers that the house was ready to offer shelter and keep them hidden from the Russians

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(Finland)

I don't have a 2 candle burning tradition. I have cats. Wild cats I might add. :) If I occasionally burn candles it's because it's so dark or because I want to take photographs.

Tampere does have an Independence day fireworks tradition at 18:00 in the city center. (Six o'clock in the evening.) And I've watched it several times before. Last year we missed it because we were in the movie theater watching the latest version or The Unknown Soldier. A war novel by Finnish author Väinö Linna. But it's not about the first days of Finlands independence. Not even about the civil war. It's not about 1917 or 1918. For us, Finns, the second world war was also a fright for our independence. Against Russia but also against Germany. Although we joined our forces with Germany and got help from them. In my opinion, in Finlands perspective, it was just the lesser of two evils. We just wanted to stay independent.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Soldier_(novel)

There are 3 movie versions of the novel. 1955, 1985 and 2017 movies. I found clips only from two of those movies with subtitles in English for you. First movie and the latest movie. First battle and the last battle. Enjoy!

P.S.
Hey all you Finns, people living in Finland, people wanting to be Finns or people who just love Finnish mentality. Say few words, attach a link, throw a YouTube video for me or a crazy Finn gif. Show me your Finnishness and I'll show you mine! ;P

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https://steempeak.com/idea/@insaneworks/i-have-an-idea-talents-and-talent-supporters-please-read-this
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https://steempeak.com/music/@insaneworks/always-searching-for-new-music-and-artists
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